Hebrews 3:18
in Hebrews 3And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were disobedient?
KJV
And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
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This verse in Hebrews 3
Commentary
14 notes on this verseThey died, for they could not enter the promised land. They merely looked over toward the land of promise, but they could not enter it. The Jews beheld the promised land but could not enter it. They died in the desert.… We, their children, under the leadership of Jesus, have come to the Jordan and entered the promised land.
This site's exposition
with those who sinned
on Hebrews 3:17-19
Numbers 14:29 is echoed in whose bodies fell in the wilderness. Sin, disobedience and unbelief are named together, and the chapter closes on the last, because of their unbelief, apistia, the danger of verse 12.
This site's exposition
to those who disobeyed
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the Greek as disobedience and call it practical unbelief, citing Deuteronomy 1:26. John Wesley names unbelief the parent of all evil. Its essence is departing from the living God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
A commentator
Theodore of MopsuestiaFRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 3.16-18 · Written before 428.
proposed
He wishes to show that all who went out through Moses perished because of their unbelief, so that these might fear all the more since they were in a similar situation to those against whom he was making the argument.
A commentator
Ephrem the SyrianCOMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS · Written before 373.
proposed
"To whom did he swear that they should never enter his rest?" To those who did not want to obey Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb … "So we see that they were unable to enter" the land promised to them, not because of their evil …
God urged them to leave for the promised land, but some spoke in opposition, citing fear and the multitude of the enemy. Hence God consumed them all individually in the desert and brought in their children in place of them.
"To whom did he swear?" This is to be read as a question. Against whom, He says, did He have a hostile spirit?
"For some when they had heard did provoke, howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses: And with whom was He grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware He that they should not enter into His rest, but to them that believed not? So we see, that they could not enter in because of unbelief." After again repeating the testimony, he adds also the question, which makes the argument clear. For he said (he repeats), "To-day if ye hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation." Of whom does he speak (he says) as having been hardened? Of whom as not believing? Is it not of the Jews? Now what he says is to this effect. They also heard, as we hear: but no profit came to them. Do not suppose then that by "hearing" what is proclaimed ye will be profited; seeing that they also heard, but derived no benefit because they did not believe. Caleb then and Joshua, because they agreed not with those who did not believe, escaped the vengeance that was sent forth against them. And see how admirably he said, not, They did not agree, but, "they were not mixed" - that is, they stood apart, but not factiously when all the others had one and the same mind. Here it seems to me that a faction too is hinted at.
6 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
Above he said: "was it not against those who sinned," but now: "the disobedient." He seems to be alluding to such believers from among the Hebrews, because many of them fell into other transgressions as well, besides faintheartedness and unbelief in the future.
194. – And he says of that land, and to whom did he swear, i.e., firmly decree, that they should never enter into his rest, but to them that were incredulous.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And to whom did he swear? &c. Whence observe, (1.) God is grieved only with those of his people who sin against him, and continue in sin. (2.) God is grieved and provoked most by sins publicly committed by the generality of a nation; when sin becomes epidemic, it is most provoking.
And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
To whom sware he - God never acts by any kind of caprice; whenever he pours out his judgments, there are the most positive reasons to vindicate his conduct. Those whose carcasses fell in the wilderness were they who had sinned. And those who did not enter into his rest were those who believed not. God is represented here as swearing that they should not enter in, in order to show the determinate nature of his purpose, the reason on which it was founded, and the height of the aggravation which occasioned it.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And to whom sware he - note, Heb 3:11. But to them that believed not - That did not confide in God; Deu 1:32. “Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God.” In consequence of this want of faith, God solemnly sware unto them that they should not enter into the promised land; Deu 1:34-35. “And the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, “Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land which I sware to give unto your fathers, save Caleb,” etc. The distinct reason, therefore, assigned by Moses why they did not enter the promised land, was a want of faith, and this accords directly with the design of the apostle here. He is exhorting those whom he addressed to beware of an evil heart of unbelief; Heb 3:12. He says that it was such a heart that excluded the Hebrews from the promised land. The same thing, says he, must exclude you from heaven - the promised home of the believer; and if that firm confidence in God and his promises which he requires is wanting, you will be excluded from the world of eternal rest.
The words behind it
13 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| τίσιν | tisin | To whom | G5101 → | 563 times |
| δὲ | de | then | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| ὤμοσεν | omosen | did He swear that | G3660 → | 26 times |
| μὴ | me | not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| εἰσελεύσεσθαι | eiseleusesthai | to enter | G1525 → | 194 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κατάπαυσιν | katapausin | rest | G2663 → | 9 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | of Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| εἰ | ei | only | G1487 → | 508 times |
| μὴ | me | except | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| τοῖς | tois | to those | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀπειθήσασιν; | apeithesasin | having disobeyed? | G544 → |
τίσινTo whom
tisinG5101 →563 times
δὲthen
deG1161 →2765 times
ὤμοσενdid He swear that
omosenG3660 →26 times
μὴnot
meG3361 →1066 times
εἰσελεύσεσθαιto enter
eiseleusesthaiG1525 →194 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
κατάπαυσινrest
katapausinG2663 →9 times
αὐτοῦof Him
autouG846 →5565 times
εἰonly
eiG1487 →508 times
μὴexcept
meG3361 →1066 times
τοῖςto those
toisG3588 →19766 times
ἀπειθήσασιν;having disobeyed?
apeithesasinG544 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 20:12But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 1:37
The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.
- Numbers 27:14
for when the congregation contended in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you rebelled against My command to show My holiness in their sight regarding the waters.” Those were the waters of Meribah in…
- Ezekiel 36:23
I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the…
- Numbers 20:24
“Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will not enter the land that I have given the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.
- Deuteronomy 3:23–27
At that time I also pleaded with the LORD:
- Deuteronomy 1:37
Through
Hebrews 4:6Since, 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,
it leads to
- Matthew 21:43
Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
- Hebrews 3:18–19
And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
- Hebrews 4:2
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 those who comprehended it.
- Matthew 21:43
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies17
On this verse
On this chapter
About Hebrews
This page draws on 16 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 10 (PSALM 76); John Calvin, Commentary on Hebrews; John Chrysostom, Homily on Hebrews 6; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, The Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Hebrews; Theodore of Mopsuestia, FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 3.16-18; Theodoret of Cyrus, INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 3; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Hebrews and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Hebrews.