Two items in Hebrews fit well with a Roman destination: (1) the generosity of the readers (6:10; 10:32–34), known to be true of the Roman church, and practically impossible for the impoverished Jerusalem church; (2) the persecution of former days (10:32), which may refer to Claudius’s expulsion of the Jews from Rome in 49, or Nero’s persecution in the 60s. Establishing the date of Hebrews depends in part upon the identification of the persecution mentioned in 10:32–34. This persecution is referred
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