Page 41 - Hebrews- Student Textbook

3. 5:11-6:12
4. 10:19-39
5. 12:14-29

4:1

"Beware, while a promise remains of entering His rest" This is a continuing word play (i.e., "His rest,"
cf. vv. 1,3,5,8,9,10,11) in which the author uses rabbinical hermeneutical methodology to talk about four
parts of the people of God's history and hope.

1. Gen. 2:2, God's rest on the seventh day of creation
2. Num. 13-14, Joshua's rest which was the Promised Land
3. Ps. 95:7-11 God's rest was still available in David's day
4. vv. 1 and 10-11 the day of rest as a reference to peace with God and life with God (heaven)

4:2 "we have had good news preached to us just as they also"

NASB" because it was not united by faith in those who heard"
NKJV" not being mixed with faith in those who heard it"
NRSV" because they were not united by faith with those who listened"
TEV" they did not accept it with faith"
NJB" because they did not share the faith of those who did listen"

There is a Greek manuscript variation in this phrase. The best attested reading has a PERFECT PASSIVE
ACCUSATIVE MASCULINE PLURAL PARTICIPLE, which would refer to the faith of Joshua and Caleb (cf. NASB,
NKJV, NRSV, REB). The other option is a PERFECT PASSIVE NOMINATIVE MASCULINE SINGULAR PARTICIPLE, which
would refer to faith in the message heard (cf. TEV, NJB, NIV).

The theological issue involves the faith (salvation) or lack of faith of the Israelite adults (20 years and
up) who participated in the exodus. Did their lack of faith in the spies' report mean that (1) they were
not allowed to enter Canaan or (2) they were not allowed to enter heaven? This question is not easy to
answer because of the author's word play on the term "rest." It seems best to affirm their initial faith in
YHWH (i.e., salvation), but admit they lacked the faith to trust His every promise (i.e., taking Canaan).
This is the very question related to the first century readers. Was their lack of persistence a sign they
were never saved or did it show their weak faith? Here F. F. Bruce says, "The practical implication is
clear: it is not the hearing of the gospel by itself that brings salvation, but its appropriation by faith; and
if a genuine faith, it will be a persistent faith"
36

4:4 "For He has said somewhere" Here Uttly explains that, “This reflects a rabbinical idiom of belief in
the inspiration of the entire OT (cf. 2:6). The "where" (i.e., the exact location of the text) and "who" (i.e.,
the human author of the text), were not as important as God's authorship of all Scripture. This does not
imply the author forgot where the OT reference was to be found.”
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36 F. F. Bruce, The New International Commentary Series on Hebrews, (p. 73).

37 Uttly
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