The issue at stake was whether or not the sacrifice of Christ sufficed to deal with human weakness, temptation and sin. It proves this sufficiency by adopting the specific terms of Judaism itself, i.e. the offering of an unblemished sacrifice at Yom Kippur in atonement for the sins of the people. Jesus is cast as both sacrificial victim and high priest performing the rite. Because he was in every sense human, although also Son of God, he has intimate personal experience of human temptation and sinfulness. According to the apostolic tradition, however, he never succumbed to that very real testing of his faith's integrity and his intimate relationship with God defined by his sonship.
Scholars still debate the date and authorship of the letter.
Others believe a time of threatened persecution closer to the end of the 1st century CE is more appropriate. Both date and author remain unknown, although a 3rd century reference by Tertullian associated it with Barnabas, a member of the priestly tribe of Levi. As to its purpose, a Jewish scholar, Yigael Yadin, argued that it was written to counter the teachings of the Essenes community centred at Qumran, but also spread throughout Palestine. The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Essenes told of the unusual expectation of two messianic figures, one priestly and one royal, both of whom would be subservient to the archangel Michael. This radical view may explain why Christ's superiority to angels, the Mosaic ritual laws and Aaronic priesthood play such a large part in this letter.