The rest was not appropriated by those under Moses, nor, in the full sense, by those under Joshua, nor in David's time.

It remaineth that some must enter therein (ἀπολείπεται τινὰς εἰσελθεῖν εἰς αὐτήν)

Ἀπολείπεται "remains over from past times." The promise has not been appropriated. It must be appropriated in accordance with God's provision. The rest was not provided for nothing. God's provision of a rest implies and involves that some enter into it. But the appropriation is yet in the future. It remains that some enter in.

They to whom it was first preached (οἱ πρότερον εὐαγγελισθέντες)

Lit. they who were first the subjects of the announcement of the glad tidings. It is desirable to avoid the word preached. See on Hebrews 4:2. The Israelites under Moses and Joshua are meant.

Because of unbelief (δι' ἀπείθειαν)

Rend. for unbelief, disobedience. Comp. Hebrews 3:18. Ἀπείθεια disobedience is the active manifestation of ἀπιστία unbelief.

Again he limiteth a certain day (πάλιν τινὰ ὁρίζει ἡμέραν)

For limiteth rend. defineth. For the verb see on declared, Romans 1:4. The meaning is, he gives another opportunity of securing the rest, and calls the period in which the opportunity is offered today.

In David

The date of the composition of Psalm 95:1-11 is uncertain. In lxx (94) it is called a Psalm of David. In the words in David the writer may adopt the lxx title, or may mean simply in the Psalms. In the Hebrew the Psalm has no inscription.

After so long a time (μετὰ τοσοῦτον χρόνον)

The time between Joshua and David. After this long interval he renews the promise in the Psalm.

As it is said (καθῶς προείρηται)

Rend. as it hath been before said; referring to the citations, Hebrews 3:7, Hebrews 3:8, Hebrews 3:15.

But it might be said that under Joshua the people did enter into the promised rest. He therefore shows that Israel's rest in Canaan did not fulfill the divine ideal of the rest.

Jesus (Ἰησοῦς)

Rend. Joshua, and see on Matthew 1:21.

After this (μετὰ ταῦτα)

After the entrance into Canaan under Joshua.

There remaineth therefore a rest (ἄρα ἀπολείπεται σαββατισμὸς)

Remaineth, since in the days of neither Moses, Joshua, or David was the rest appropriated. He passes over the fact that the rest had not been entered into at any later period of Israel's history. Man's portion in the divine rest inaugurated at creation has never been really appropriated: but it still remaineth. This statement is justified by the new word for "rest" which enters at this point, σαββατισμὸς instead of κατάπαυσις, N.T.o , olxx, oClass., signifies a keeping Sabbath. The Sabbath rest points back to God's original rest, and marks the ideal rest - the rest of perfect adjustment of all things to God, such as ensued upon the completion of his creative work, when he pronounced all things good. This falls in with the ground-thought of the Epistle, the restoration of all things to God's archetype. The sin and unbelief of Israel were incompatible with that rest. It must remain unappropriated until harmony with God is restored. The Sabbath-rest is the consummation of the new creation in Christ, through whose priestly mediation reconciliation with God will come to pass.

For the people of God (τῷ λαῷ τοῦ θεοῦ)

For the phrase see Romans 9:25; Romans 11:1; 1 Peter 2:10. and comp. Israel of God, Galatians 6:16. The true Israel, who inherit the promise by faith in Christ.

Only in such a Sabbath-rest is found the counterpart of God's rest on the seventh day.

For he that is entered into his rest (ὁ γὰρ εἰσελθὼν εἱς τὴν κατάπαυσιν αὐτοῦ)

Whoever has once entered. His, God's. The aorist marks the completeness of the appropriation - once and for all.

He also hath ceased from his own works (καὶ αὐτος κατέπαυσεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ)

Omit own. The statement is a general proposition: any one who has entered into God's rest has ceased from his works.

As God did from his (ὤσπερ ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων ὁ θεός)

Rend. as God (did) from his own. Ἰδίων own signifies more than mere possession. Rather, works peculiarly his own, thus hinting at the perfect nature of the original works of creation as corresponding with God's nature and bearing his impress. The blessing of the Sabbath-rest is thus put as a cessation from labors. The basis of the conception is Jewish, the rest of the Sabbath being conceived as mere abstinence from labor, and not according to Christ's conception of the Sabbath, as a season of refreshment and beneficent activity, Mark 2:27; John 5:17. Our writer's conception is not the rabbinical conception of cessation of work, but rather of the cessation of the weariness and pain which accompany human labor. Comp. Revelation 14:13; Revelation 21:4; Luke 11:7; Luke 18:5; Galatians 6:17.

This promise of rest carries with it a special responsibility for the people of God.

Let us labor therefore (σπουδάσωμεν οὖν)

For the verb, see on Ephesians 4:3. Give diligence, not hasten, which is the primary meaning.

That rest (ἐκείνην τὴν κατάπαυσιν)

The Sabbath-rest of God, instituted at creation, promised to the fathers, forfeited by their unbelief, remaining to us on the condition of faith.

Lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief (ἵνα μὴ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τις ὑποδείγματι πέσῃ τῆς ἀπειθείας)

Πέσῃ fall is to be taken absolutely; not, fall into the same example. Υ̓πόδειγμα example, mostly in Hebrews. Rejected as unclassical by the Attic rhetoricians. Originally a sign which suggests something: a partial suggestion as distinct from a complete expression. See Hebrews 8:5; Hebrews 9:23. Thus Christ's washing of the disciples' feet (John 13:15) was a typical suggestion of the whole field and duty of ministry. See on 1 Peter 2:6. It is not easy to give the exact force of ἐν in. Strictly speaking, the "example of disobedience" is conceived as that in which the falling takes place. The fall is viewed in the sphere of example. Comp. 2 Macc. 4:30; 1 Corinthians 2:7. Rend. that no man fall in the same example of disobedience: the same as that in which they fell.

The exhortation is enforced by reference to the character of the revelation which sets forth the rest of God. The message of God which promises the rest and urges to seek it, is no dead, formal precept, but is instinct with living energy.

The word of God (ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ)

That which God speaks through any medium. The primary reference is to God's declarations concerning his rest. The fathers explained it of the personal Word as in the Fourth Gospel. But in the Epistle there is no approach to any definite use of λόγος with reference to Christ, not even in the description of his relation to God in Hebrews 1:1-14, where, if anywhere, it might have been expected. In Hebrews 6:5 and Hebrews 11:3 we find ῥῆμα. Everywhere in the Epistle Christ appears as the Son, not as the Word. In this passage, the following predicates, ἐνεργὴς, τομώτερος, κριτικὸς, would hardly be applied to the Logos, and in Hebrews 4:14 he is styled Jesus the Son of God.

Quick and powerful (ζῶν καὶ ἐνεργὴς)

Note the emphatic position of ζῶν living. Living is the word of God, since it is the word of "the living God" (Hebrews 3:12). Living in its essence. For ἐνεργὴς active, energizing, and kindred words, see on John 1:12; see on Philippians 3:21; see on Colossians 1:29; see on Plm 1:6. Manifesting itself actively in the world and in men's hearts. Comp. 1 Peter 1:23.

Sharper than any two-edged sword (τομώτερος ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν μάχαιραν δίστομον)

Τομώτερος sharper from τέμνειν to cut, N.T.o. olxx. The word of God has an incisive and penetrating quality. It lays bare self-delusions and moral sophisms. For the comparison of the word of God or of men to a sword, see Psalm 57:4; Psalm 59:7; Psalm 64:3; Ephesians 6:17. Philo calls his Logos ὁ τομεύς the cutter, as cutting chaos into distinct things, and so creating a kosmos. Ὑπὲρ than, is literally, above. Πᾶσαν any, is every. Δίσμοτον only here and Revelation 1:16; Revelation 2:12, lit. two-mouthed. In lxx always of a sword. See Judges 3:16; Psalm 149:6; Proverbs 5:4; Sir. 21:3. In Class. of a cave with a twofold mouth (Soph. Philoct. 16); of double-branching roads (Soph. Oed. Col. 900); of rivers with two mouths (Polyb. xxxiv. 10, 5). Στόμα mouth, of the edge of a sword, Luke 21:24; Hebrews 11:34. Often in lxx, as Genesis 34:26; Joshua 10:28, Joshua 10:33, Joshua 10:35, Joshua 10:37, Joshua 10:39; Judges 1:8. So occasionally in Class., as Homer, Il. xv. 389. Κατεσθίειν or κατέσθειν to devour is used of the sword, Deuteronomy 32:42; 2 Samuel 2:26; Isaiah 31:8; Jeremiah 2:30, etc. Μάχαιρα sword, in Class. a dirk or dagger: rarely, a carving knife; later, a bent sword or sabre as contrasted with a straight, thrusting sword, ξίφος (not in N.T. but occasionally in lxx). Ῥομφαία, Luke 2:35 (see note), elsewhere only in Revelation, very often in lxx, is a large broadsword. In lxx of Goliath's sword, 1 Samuel 17:51

Piercing (διΐκνούμενος)

Lit. coming through. N.T.o.

Even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow (ἄρχι μερισμοῦ ψυχῆς καὶ πνεύματος ἁρμῶν τε καὶ μυελῶν)

Μερισμὸς dividing, only here and Hebrews 2:4, is not to be understood of dividing soul from spirit or joints from marrow. Soul and spirit cannot be said to be separated in any such sense as this, and joints and marrow are not in contact with each other. Μερισμὸς is the act of division; not the point or line of division. Joints and marrow are not to be taken in a literal and material sense. In rendering, construe soul, spirit, joints, marrow, as all dependent on dividing. Joints and marrow (ἁρμῶν, μυελῶν, N.T.o ) are to be taken figuratively as joints and marrow of soul and spirit. This figurative sense is exemplified in classical usage, as Eurip. Hippol. 255, "to form moderate friendships, and not πρὸς ἄρκον μυελὸν ψυχῆς to the deep marrow of the soul." The conception of depth applied to the soul is on the same figurative line. See Aesch. Agam. 778; Eurip. Bacch. 203. Attempts to explain on any psychological basis are futile. The form of expression is poetical, and signifies that the word penetrates to the inmost recesses of our spiritual being as a sword cuts through the joints and marrow of the body. The separation is not of one part from another, but operates in each department of the spiritual nature. The expression is expanded and defined by the next clause.

A discerner (κριτικὸς)

N.T.o. olxx. The word carries on the thought of dividing. From κρίνειν to divide or separate, which runs into the sense of judge, the usual meaning in N.T., judgment involving the sifting out and analysis of evidence. In κριτικὸς the ideas of discrimination and judgment are blended. Vulg. discretor.

Of the thoughts and intents of the heart (ἐνθυμήσεων καὶ ἐννοιῶν καρδίας)

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From the word of God the writer proceeds to God himself as cognizant of all things; thus giving a second ground for the exhortation of Hebrews 4:11.

Creature (κτίσις)

See on Romans 8:19; see on 2 Corinthians 5:17; see on Colossians 1:15. Here in the sense of thing created.

Opened (τετραχηλισμένα)

N.T.o. olxx. Only later Greek. Evidently connected with τράχηλος neck, throat. The exact metaphor, however, it is impossible to determine. The following are the principal explanations proposed: taken by the throat, as an athlete grasps an adversary; exposed, as a malefactor's neck is bent back, and his face exposed to the spectators; or, as the necks of victims at the altar are drawn back and exposed to the knife. The idea at the root seems to be the bending back of the neck, and the last explanation, better than any other, suits the previous figure of the sword. The custom of drawing back the victim's neck for sacrifice is familiar to all classical students. See Hom. Il. i. 459; ii. 422; Pindar, Ol. xiii. 114. The victim's throat bared to the sacrificial knife is a powerful figure of the complete exposure of all created intelligence to the eye of him whose word is as a two-edged sword.

With whom we have to do (πρὸς ὃν ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος)

Rend. with whom is our reckoning; that is to whom we have to give account.

Hebrews 2:17, Hebrews 2:18 is now resumed. This and the following verse more naturally form the conclusion of the preceding section than the introduction to the following one.

Great high priest (μέγαν)

Emphasizing Christ's priestly character to Jewish readers, as superior to that of the Levitical priests. He is holding up the ideal priesthood.

Passed into the heavens (διεληλυθότα τοὺς οὐρανούς)

Rend. "passed through the heavens." Through, and up to the throne of God of which he wields the power, and is thus able to fulfill for his followers the divine promise of rest.

Jesus the Son of God

The name Jesus applied to the high priest is forcible as recalling the historical, human person, who was tempted like his brethren. We are thus prepared for what is said in Hebrews 4:15 concerning his sympathizing character.

We have not an high priest who cannot, etc.

Whatever may be thought to the contrary; whatever contrary conclusion may be drawn from the character of the Levitical priests, or from Christ's exalted dignity and purity.

Touched with the feeling (συνπαθῆσαι)

Only here and Hebrews 10:34. This is more than knowledge of human infirmity. It is feeling it by reason of a common experience with (σύν) men.

Infirmities (ἀσθενείαις)

Not sufferings, but weaknesses, moral and physical, which predispose to sin and facilitate it.

Like as we are (καθ' ὁμοιότητα)

Lit. according to likeness. Ἡμῶν of us or our is to be understood, or, as some, ἡμῖν, according to his likeness to us.

Without sin (χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας)

This, of course, implies that he was not led into sin by temptation, and also that no temptation aroused in him sin already present and dormant. It is not meant that temptation arising from sin external to himself was not applied to him.

Come - unto (προσερχώμεθα)

oP., often in Hebrews, and commonly in the same sense as here - approach to God through the O.T. sacrifices or the sacrifice of Christ. Paul's word προσαγωγή access expresses the same idea. See Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:12. The phrase come boldly expresses a thought which the Epistle emphasizes - that Christianity is the religion of free access to God. Comp. 2 Corinthians 3:12, 2 Corinthians 3:13.

Unto the throne of grace (τῷ θρόνῳ τῆς χάριτος)

The phrase N.T.o. Throne of glory, Matthew 19:28; Matthew 25:31 : of majesty, Hebrews 8:1. In Revelation throne occurs over forty times, either the throne, or his throne, or throne of God. Once throne of the beast, Revelation 16:10. Throne of grace expresses grace as the gift of divine power.

Mercy - grace (ἔλεος - χάριν)

Mercy for past sins; grace for future work, trial, and resistance to temptation.

To help in time of need (εἰς εὔκαιρον βοήθειαν)

Lit. for seasonable help, or help in good time; before it is too late; while there is still time to seek God's rest. Others, however, explain, when it is needed; or, before temptation leads to sin.

Every high priest (πᾶς ἀρχιερεὺς)

Every Levitical high priest. Αρχιερεὺς oP.

Taken (λαμβανόμενος)

Rend. being taken, or since he is taken: not who is taken. The point is that the high priest's efficiency for men depends on his being taken from among men.

Is ordained (καθίσταται)

Constituted priest. See on Titus 1:5.

For men (ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων)

On behalf of men.

In things pertaining to God (τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν)

As respects his relation to God. See on Hebrews 2:17.

That he may offer (ἵνα προσφέρῃ)

Προσφέρειν, lit. to bring to (the altar). Comp. Matthew 5:23. oP., who, however, has the kindred noun προσφορὰ offering. Very often in lxx; nineteen times in Hebrews, and always, with one exception (Hebrews 12:7), in the technical sense, as here.

Gifts - sacrifices (δῶρα - θυσίας)

Δῶρα offerings generally: θυσίας bloody sacrifices. The distinction, however, is not constantly observed. Thus, θυσὶαι, of unbloody offerings, Genesis 4:3, Genesis 4:5; Leviticus 2:1; Numbers 5:15; δῶρα, of bloody offerings, Genesis 4:4; Leviticus 1:2, Leviticus 1:3, Leviticus 1:10.

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Have compassion (μετιοπαθεῖν)

N.T.o. olxx. oClass. Originally of the rational regulation of the natural passions, as opposed to the Stoic ἀπάθεια, which involved the crushing out of the passions. Often, in later Greek, of moderating anger. It is not identical with συνπαθῆσαι (Hebrews 4:5), but signifies to be moderate or tender in judgment toward another's errors. Here it denotes a state of feeling toward the ignorant and erring which is neither too severe nor too tolerant. The high priest must not be betrayed into irritation at sin and ignorance, neither must he be weakly indulgent.

The ignorant (τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι)

Comp. ἀγνοημάτων ignorances, Hebrews 9:7, and Numbers 15:22-31, where the distinction is drawn between sins of ignorance and sins of presumption. Atonement for sins of ignorance was required by the Levitical law as a means of educating the moral perception, and of showing that sin and defilement might exist unsuspected: that God saw evil where men did not, and that his test of purity was stricter than theirs.

For that he himself also is compassed with infirmity (ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸς περίκειται ἀσθένειαν)

Sympathy belongs to the high-priestly office, and grows out of the sense of personal infirmity. The verb is graphic: has infirmity lying round him. Comp. Hebrews 12:1, of the encompassing (περικείμενον) cloud of witnesses. Ἀσθένειαν the moral weakness which makes men capable of sin. This is denied in the case of Christ. See Hebrews 7:28.