Passage

Hebrews 4.8

Book: Hebrews · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

6. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some should enter thereinto, and they to whom the good tidings were before preached failed to enter in because of disobedience, 7. he again defineth a certain day, To-day, saying in David so long a time afterward (even as hath been said before), To-day if ye shall hear his voice, Harden not your hearts.

8. For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day.

There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God. 10. For he that is entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:6-10, ASV)

WEB

6. Seeing therefore it remains that some should enter therein, and they to whom the good news was before preached failed to enter in because of disobedience, 7. he again defines a certain day, today, saying through David so long a time afterward (just as has been said), “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.”

8. For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day.

There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10. For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:6-10, WEB)

KJV

6. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: ^{it was: or, the gospel was} 7. Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

8. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. ^{Jesus: that is, Joshua}

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. ^{rest: or, keeping of a sabbath} 10. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:6-10, KJV)

YLT

6. since then, it remaineth for certain to enter into it, and those who did first hear good news entered not in because of unbelief 7. again He doth limit a certain day, 'To-day,' (in David saying, after so long a time,) as it hath been said, 'To-day, if His voice ye may hear, ye may not harden your hearts,'

8. for if Joshua had given them rest, He would not concerning another day have spoken after these things;

there doth remain, then, a sabbatic rest to the people of God, 10. for he who did enter into his rest, he also rested from his works, as God from His own. (Hebrews 4:6-10, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the anonymous author of Hebrews. Pauline authorship was doubted in antiquity and Origen concluded that who wrote it, God knows
Audience: Jewish believers under pressure to fall back from Christ into the older covenant observances
Location: unknown; the closing greeting from those of Italy (13:24) points in two directions at once
Time period: most likely before AD 70, since the sacrificial system is discussed as still operating

Theological reading

For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day.

A single conditional carrying a large argument, and it turns on a fact of translation that older English obscured. The Greek is Iesous, which is the same name as Jesus; the reference is to Joshua son of Nun, and the King James rendering "Jesus" here has confused readers for centuries. The context settles it: the man who led Israel into the land.

The argument is chronological and quite tight. Joshua brought Israel into Canaan. Centuries later David, in Psalm 95, is still saying today, if ye will hear his voice. If the conquest had delivered the rest God promised, there would have been nothing left to offer, and the psalm would be an anachronism. Since the offer is still open in David's mouth, the rest Joshua gave was not the thing itself.

The method is worth noticing as much as the conclusion. The author reasons from the date of a text to the persistence of its promise, which assumes a reader who knows when the psalm was written and takes the sequence seriously. That is careful exegesis, not proof-texting.

The typology follows: the land was a real gift and a partial one, standing to the true rest as shadow to substance, which is the letter's governing relation between the older covenant and Christ. See Mosaic Law.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G2424 - Iesous, Iesous, Strong's G2424

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Genesis Hermeneutics, via Hebrews 4.3-11
Mosaic Capital Punishment, via Hebrews 4.1-11
Mosaic Law, via Hebrews 4.1-11

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.