Hebrews 4:1-6

God’s Promised Rest

4:1 Therefore we must be wary ¹  that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it. 4:2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in ²  with those who heard it in faith. ³  4:3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” ⁴  And yet God’s works ⁵  were accomplished from the foundation of the world. 4:4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,” ⁶  4:5 but to repeat the text cited earlier: ⁷  “They will never enter my rest!” 4:6 Therefore it remains for some to enter it, yet those to whom it was previously proclaimed did not enter because of disobedience.

[4:1]  ¹ tn Grk “let us fear.”

[4:2]  ² tn Or “they were not united.”

[4:2]  ³ tc A few mss (א and a few versional witnesses) have the nominative singular participle συγκεκερασμένος (sunkekerasmeno", “since it [the message] was not combined with faith by those who heard it”), a reading that refers back to the ὁ λόγος (Jo logo", “the message”). There are a few other variants here (e.g., συγκεκεραμμένοι [sunkekerammenoi] in 104, συγκεκεραμένους [sunkekeramenou"] in 1881 Ï), but the accusative plural participle συγκεκερασμένους (sunkekerasmenou"), found in Ì^13vid,46 A B C D* Ψ 0243 0278 33 81 1739 2464 pc, has by far the best external credentials. This participle agrees with the previous ἐκείνους (ekeinou", “those”), a more difficult construction grammatically than the nominative singular. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, συγκεκερασμένους is preferred.

[4:3]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 95:11.

[4:3]  ⁵ tn Grk “although the works,” continuing the previous reference to God. The referent (God) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:4]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Gen 2:2.

[4:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “and in this again.”