O descanso sabático em Hebreus

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation, The Sabbath Rest in Hebrews, seeks to define this “rest” and understand what the canonical author wanted to teach about the fact that there is still a sabbatismòs (a special kind of rest) for the people of God. With this in view, this research also wants to understand whether, according to the author of Hebrews, this rest was related only to the spiritual realm, or whether it would have also involved life as a whole. To achieve that end, we made an exegetical analysis of Hebrews 4 – the basic biblical text – as well as Genesis 2:1-3, Numbers 13 and 14, and Psalm 95 (LXX 94). It was also necessary to research the methods adopted by the author of Hebrews, who demonstrated skill in the use of various methods of interpretation. We wanted to understand particularly how the author of Hebrews interpreted the Old Testament, and how he employed the adopted methods on the texts of the Old Testament. Finally, we tried to synthesize the various findings during the course of this research, arriving at eight peculiarities of the Sabbath “rest”. According to Hebrews, we live in a bi-dimensional reality (earthly and spiritual), certain of the transitory nature of our lives, for we are only wayfarers on an earthly pilgrimage. Therefore, we need to prepare ourselves for entering into the divine rest. This rest is not synonymous with inactivity and requires, therefore, also our total commitment.