Let Us Therefore Strive to Enter That Rest": An Intertextual and Rhetorical Study of the Old Testament Quotations and Allusions in Hebrews 4:1-11

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the significance of "rest" in Hebrews 4: 1-11 and explore the implications of this "rest" for believers. The methodology chosen to conduct this investigation is taken from Richard Hays' intertextual approach based on echoes and Christopher Stanley's rhetorical approach to intertextuality based on quotations. Due to the heavy usage of the Old Testament quotations and allusions, this combined method offers us a balanced diachronic and synchronic perspective from which to look at the intertextual references used by the author. At the end of the investigation, both approaches produce the same result, that is, the author of Hebrews is communicating a serious message to the readers. "Rest" is equivalent to the covenantal blessing, and the failure to enter it is equivalent to suffering the covenantal curse. We thus have reason to believe that "rest" is salvific. It is the experience of salvation, proleptically experienced in the present but only fully realized in the future. Believers must, therefore, strive to enter this "rest."