Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’”

“The Greek is the same, Mr 8:12. my rest--Canaan, primarily, their rest after wandering in the wilderness: still, even when in it, they never fully enjoyed rest; whence it followed that the threat extended farther than the exclusion of the unbelieving from the literal land…”

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.

“Compare Heb 3:10, "They do always err in their heart." unbelief--faithlessness. Christ is faithful; therefore, saith Paul to the Hebrews, we ought not to be faithless as our fathers were under Moses. departing--apostatizing.”

As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”

“"It entirely depends on yourselves that the invitation of the ninety-fifth Psalm be not a mere invitation, but also an actual enjoyment." ALFORD translates, "Since (that is, 'for') it is said," &c., regarding Heb 3:15 as a proof that we must "hold . . .”

For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?

“For some--rather interrogatively, "For WHO was it that, when they had heard (referring to 'if ye will hear,' Heb 3:15), did provoke (God)?"”

And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?

“But--Translate, "Moreover," as it is not in contrast to Heb 3:16, but carrying out the same thought. corpses--literally, "limbs," implying that their bodies fell limb from limb.”

Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it.

“"To-day," rightly used, terminates in the rest which, when once obtained, is never lost (Re 3:12). A foretaste of the rest Is given in the inward rest which the believer's soul has in Christ.”

For we also received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of…

“Hearing alone is of as little value as undigested food in a bad stomach [THOLUCK]. The whole of oldest extant manuscript authority supports a different reading, "unmingled as they were (Greek accusative case agreeing with 'them') in faith with its hearers," that is, with its…”

Now we who have believed enter that rest. As for the others, it is just as God has said: “So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never…

“Two other oldest manuscripts read, "Let us enter." into rest--Greek, "into the rest" which is promised in the ninety-fifth Psalm. as he said--God's saying that unbelief excludes from entrance implies that belief gains an entrance into the rest.”

For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this manner: “And on the seventh day God rested from all His works.”

“God's rest is not a rest necessitated by fatigue, nor consisting in idleness, but is that upholding and governing of which creation was the beginning [ALFORD]. Hence Moses records the end of each of the first six days, but not of the seventh.”

Since, then, it remains for some to enter His rest, and since those who formerly heard the good news did not enter because of their disobedience,

“God wishes not His rest to be empty, but furnished with guests (Lu 14:23). they to whom it was first preached entered not--literally, "they who first (in the time of Moses) had the Gospel preached to them," namely, in type, see on Heb 4:2.”

God again designated a certain day as “Today,” when a long time later He spoke through David as was just stated: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden…

“Translate as the Greek order is, "He limited a certain day, 'To-day.'" Here Paul interrupts the quotation by, "In (the Psalm of) David saying after so long a time (after five hundred years' possession of Canaan)," and resumes it by, "as it has been said…”

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.

“Answer to the objection which might be made to his reasoning, namely, that those brought into Canaan by Joshua (so "Jesus" here means, as in Ac 7:45) did enter the rest of God.”

There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

“This verse indirectly establishes the obligation of the Sabbath still; for the type continues until the antitype supersedes it: so legal sacrifices continued till the great antitypical Sacrifice superseded it, As then the antitypical heavenly Sabbath-rest will not be till Christ, our Gospel Joshua, comes…”

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow.

“Re 19:15 similarly represents the Word's judicial power as a sharp sword going out of Christ's mouth to smite the nations. The same word which is saving to the faithful (Heb 4:2) is destroying to the disobedient (2Co 2:15, 16).”

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

“The Greek perfect tense implies that this is our continuous state in relation to God. "Show, O man, shame and fear towards thy God, for no veil, no twisting, bending, coloring, or disguise, can cover unbelief" (Greek, 'disobedience,' Heb 4:11).”

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess.

“Jesus--the antitypical Joshua (Heb 4:8). hold fast--the opposite of "let slip" (Heb 2:1); and "fall away" (Heb 6:6).”

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet…

“If the Greek "aneu" had been used, sin would have been regarded as the object absent from Christ the subject; but choris here implies that Christ, the subject, is regarded as separated from sin the object [TITTMANN].”

Every high priest is appointed from among men to represent them in matters relating to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

“Being "from men," He can be "for (that is, in behalf of, for the good of) men." ordained--Greek, "constituted," "appointed." both gifts--to be joined with "for sins," as "sacrifices" is (the "both . . .”

He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and misguided, since he himself is beset by weakness.

“Who can--Greek, "being able"; not pleasing himself (Ro 15:3). have compassion--Greek, "estimate mildly," "feel leniently," or "moderately towards"; "to make allowance for"; not showing stern rigor save to the obstinate (Heb 10:28).”

No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.

“The sin of Korah was, not content with the ministry as a Levite, he took the sacerdotal priesthood also. No Christian minister, as such, is ever called Hiereus, that is, sacrificing priest.”

So also Christ did not take upon Himself the glory of becoming a high priest, but He was called by the One who said to Him: “You are My Son…

“This appointment was involved in, and was the result of, the Sonship of Christ, which qualified Him for it. None but the divine Son could have fulfilled such an office (Heb 10:5-9).”

And in another passage God says: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

“"The order of Melchisedec" is explained in Heb 7:15, "the similitude of Melchisedec." The priesthood is similarly combined with His kingly office in Zec 6:13. Melchisedec was at once man, priest, and king.”

During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was…

“This all shows that "Christ glorified not Himself to be made an High Priest" (Heb 5:5), but was appointed thereto by the Father. prayers and supplications--Greek, "both prayers and supplications."”

Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered.

“He was obedient already before His passion, but He stooped to a still more humiliating and trying form of obedience then. The Greek adage is, "Pathemata mathemata," "sufferings, disciplinings." Praying and obeying, as in Christ's case, ought to go hand in hand.”

and was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

“Greek, rather, "Addressed by God (by the appellation) High Priest." Being formally recognized by God as High Priest at the time of His being "made perfect" (Heb 5:9).”