Humanitext Reader

New Testament · Hebrews §4.1-4.16

The Promise of God's Rest and Jesus the High Priest

Passage 4 of 13 · Greek

Summary

The author explains that the promise of entering God's rest remains for believers, interpreting the scriptures from Genesis and Psalms to show that this rest is not yet fully realized but preserved for the faithful, and exhorts the readers to hold fast to their confession in Jesus the great high priest.

§4.1φοβηθῶμεν οὖν μή ποτε καταλειπομένης ἐπαγγελίας "εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν αὐτοῦ" δοκῇ τις ἐξ ὑμῶν ὑστερηκέναι·
Therefore, let us fear lest, while the promise of "entering his rest" still remains, any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.
§4.2καὶ γάρ ἐσμεν εὐηγγελισμένοι καθάπερ κἀκεῖνοι, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ὠφέλησεν ὁ λόγος τῆς ἀκοῆς ἐκείνους, μὴ συνκεκερασμένους τῇ πίστει τοῖς ἀκούσασιν.
For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they did; but the word they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.
§4.3"Εἰσερχόμεθα" γὰρ "εἰς [τὴν] κατάπαυσιν" οἱ πιστεύσαντες, καθὼς εἴρηκεν " Ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου Εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου, " καίτοι "τῶν ἔργων" ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου γενηθέντων,
For we who have believed "enter that rest," just as he has said, "As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest,'" although "his works" were finished from the foundation of the world.
§4.4εἴρηκεν γάρ που περὶ τῆς ἑβδόμης οὕτως "Καὶ κατέπαυσεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ," §4.5καὶ ἐν τούτῳ πάλιν "Εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου. " §4.6ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀπολείπεται τινὰς "εἰσελθεῖν εἰς" αὐτήν, καὶ οἱ πρότερον εὐαγγελισθέντες οὐκ "εἰσῆλθον" διʼ ἀπείθειαν, §4.7πάλιν τινὰ ὁρίζει ἡμέραν, "Σήμερον," ἐν Δαυεὶδ λέγων μετὰ τοσοῦτον χρόνον, καθὼς προείρηται, " Σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν· " §4.8εἰ γὰρ αὐτοὺς Ἰησοῦς κατέπαυσεν, οὐκ ἂν περὶ ἄλλης ἐλάλει μετὰ ταῦτα ἡμέρας.
For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works"; and again in this passage, "They shall not enter my rest." Since therefore it remains for some to "enter" it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to "enter" because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time, as has been said before, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day after that.
§4.9ἄρα ἀπολείπεται σαββατισμὸς τῷ λαῷ τοῦ θεοῦ· §4.10ὁ γὰρ "εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν" "κατάπαυσιν αὐτοῦ" καὶ αὐτὸς "κατέπαυσεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ" ὥσπερ "ἀπὸ τῶν" ἰδίων "ὁ θεός. "
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered his rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
§4.11Σπουδάσωμεν οὖν "εἰσελθεῖν εἰς" ἐκείνην "τὴν κατάπαυσιν," ἵνα μὴ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τις ὑποδείγματι πέσῃ τῆς ἀπειθείας.
Let us therefore strive to "enter" that "rest," so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
§4.12Ζῶν γὰρ ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐνεργὴς καὶ τομώτερος ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν μάχαιραν δίστομον καὶ διικνούμενος ἄχρι μερισμοῦ ψυχῆς καὶ πνεύματος, ἁρμῶν τε καὶ μυελῶν, καὶ κριτικὸς ἐνθυμήσεων καὶ ἐννοιῶν καρδίας·
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
§4.13καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν κτίσις ἀφανὴς ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, πάντα δὲ γυμνὰ καὶ τετραχηλισμένα τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ, πρὸς ὃν ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος.
And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
§4.14Ἔχοντες οὖν ἀρχιερέα μέγαν διεληλυθότα τοὺς οὐρανούς, Ἰησοῦν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ κρατῶμεν τῆς ὁμολογίας· θεοῦ,
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
§4.15οὐ γὰρ ἔχομεν ἀρχιερέα μὴ δυνάμενον συνπαθῆσαι ταῖς ἀσθενείαις ἡμῶν, πεπειρασμένον δὲ κατὰ πάντα καθʼ ὁμοιότητα χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
§4.16προσερχώμεθα οὖν μετὰ παρρησίας τῷ θρόνῳ τῆς χάριτος, ἵνα λάβωμεν ἔλεος καὶ χάριν εὕρωμεν εἰς εὔκαιρον βοήθειαν.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Notes

  1. §4.1καταλειπομένης ἐπαγγελίας — καταλειπομένης ἐπαγγελίας is a genitive absolute construction (present passive participle and genitive singular noun), which can be translated temporally ('while the promise remains') or concessively ('although the promise remains'). The following infinitive phrase εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν αὐτοῦ is in apposition to the noun ἐπαγγελίας.
  2. §4.2μὴ συνκεκερασμένους τῇ πίστει τοῖς ἀκούσασιν — This is a textually difficult passage with various readings. Adopting the accusative plural συνκεκερασμένους, the phrase means that those who heard (the wilderness generation) were not 'united by faith' with the message they heard. τοῖς ἀκούσασιν is a dative of association or reference governed by the participle.
  3. §4.3καίτοι τῶν ἔργων... γενηθέντων — A genitive absolute construction introduced by the conjunction καίτοι ('although'). It expresses a concession: although God's creative works were already completed (γενηθέντων, an aorist participle with perfective force) from the foundation of the world, the promise of rest is still spoken of as future in the Psalms.
  4. §4.8Ἰησοῦς — The Greek name Ἰησοῦς is the Septuagint form of the Hebrew 'Joshua', while also being the name of 'Jesus'. In context, it refers to the historical leader Joshua, but the author exploits this homonymy for a typological comparison with Jesus the Christ, who brings the true rest. Grammatically, this is a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence (εἰ with aorist indicative, followed by οὐκ ἄν with imperfect indicative).
  5. §4.14Ἰησοῦν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ κρατῶμεν τῆς ὁμολογίας· θεοῦ — An extremely unusual word order or intercalation in the manuscript tradition. The main hortatory clause 'let us hold fast our confession' (κρατῶμεν τῆς ὁμολογίας) is inserted right in the middle of the genitive phrase 'Jesus the Son of God' (Ἰησοῦν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ), between the article τοῦ and the noun θεοῦ. To provide a coherent translation, the logical syntax has been reconstructed as 'since we have a great high priest..., Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.'

Cite this passage

New Testament, Hebrews §4.1-4.16. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0031.tlg019.humanitext-grc2:4.1-4.16

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