HEB 4:8 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 4:1–13: We must have faith in God and enter his rest

The word “rest” is used in 4:1, and it is the important topic that connects chapter 4 to chapter 3.It is the link between chapters 3 and 4, just as 2:1 was the link between chapter 1 and chapter 2, and 3:1 was a link between chapter 2 and chapter 3. The author used the word “rest” in a figurative way to refer to depending on God. God wants his people to rest from their own work, as God rested from his work on the seventh day after he created the world. In chapter 3, God promised the people of Israel a place to rest. In chapter 4, the author used a special time of rest as a symbol. This time was one day each week, which the people called the Sabbath Day (seventh day). Both the place and the time of rest are symbols of the rest that God’s people have when they depend on him for everything.

Two sentences in this section are especially important in stating this theme:

4:9	There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. (BSB)
4:11	Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, (BSB)

The theme of this section is clear: God has planned a good life of rest for believers when they depend on him. We must be careful to believe and obey him so that we do not miss the life of rest that he promised. Some words that are connected to this theme in chapters 3 and 4 are “faith,” “believe,” “unbelief,” and “disobedience.”

Some other examples of headings for this section are:

God’s people can still experience God’s rest

We should trust God and receive his promise of rest

Paragraph 4:6–8

It is important to notice that the clauses in this paragraph are closely connected. However, the author did not always talk about events in the order in which they happened.In the Greek text, verses 4:6–7 are one long sentence, which begins with two connecting words, epei oun, “since therefore.” “Therefore” (oun) indicates that the following statement is a conclusion of the previous argument. “Since” (epei) indicates that statement is a reason for the following statement. These two connecting words also occurred in 2:14, and oun occurred again in 4:1. The RSV and the BSB reflect the structure of this long sentence exactly. The NIV omits both connectives. In some languages it is more natural to use a different order. For examples, see the General Comment on 4:6b–8b at the end of 4:8b.

4:8a–b

if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day: Here the author asked his audience to imagine something that did not happen. The clause if Joshua had given them rest implies that Joshua did not give the people the type of rest that God promised. If the people already had the rest that God promised, God would not need to promise it again.

Some other ways to translate this sentence are:

We know that Joshua did not lead the people into that rest, because God spoke later about another day. (NCV)

Joshua was not able to cause people to rest as God promised, that is why God spoke again about another day.Compare Translator’s Handbook (page 80).

Suppose that Joshua gave the people rest. Then God would not need to speak about a future day when he will give them rest.

In some languages a rhetorical question may be a natural way to translate this sentence. For example:

If Joshua had given them rest, would God speak later about a different day when he will give it to them?

4:8a

For if Joshua had given them rest,

For if Joshua had caused them to get/enter that rest,
We know that Joshua was not able to give/provide true rest for the people of Israel, because

For: The word For introduces an explanation or reason for the previous statement. Many English versions leave it implied.

if Joshua had given them rest: Here the author referred to background information about 4:8a. Most people who heard or read Hebrews already knew that Joshua led the people of Israel into the land of Canaan. God wanted to give them rest there, but they disobeyed him. So they did not receive the true rest, which is a life of depending on God.

Some ways to translate if Joshua had given them rest are:

If Joshua had given the people the rest that God had promised… (GNT)

Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest (NLT)

For more information about Joshua, see the OT book of Joshua, especially Joshua 11:23 and 23:1. God did use Joshua to give the people of Israel the promised land. But the book of Judges shows that they did not gain true rest because they did not obey the Lord.

Joshua: After Moses died, Joshua became the leader of the Israelites. It was Joshua who led the Israelites into Canaan, the land God promised them. See Joshua 1:1–11:23 to read about those events.

The name Joshua and the name “Jesus” are different forms of the same name. The KJV has the form “Jesus” in this verse to refer to the Joshua who led the Israelites into Canaan. It is recommended that you spell the names Joshua and “Jesus” differently so that readers will not become confused.

4:8b

God would not have spoken later about another day.

God would not speak later about a future/different day when they will enter it.
after that, God talked about another day when he will give it to them.

God would not have spoken later about another day: Here the author implies that sometime after Joshua died, God spoke again about another day when he will give his people rest. The author refers here to the quotation from Psalm 95:7b–11, where God used King David to repeat that promise about rest. King David lived hundreds of years after Joshua died.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

there would no longer have been any of God’s words speaking of another day

it would not be necessary for God to tell us again about a different future time

about another day: In this context, the phrase about another day refers to another time for people to have the opportunity to obtain God’s rest.

General Comment on 4:6b–8b

In some languages it is more natural to combine verses 4:6b–8b to tell the events in the order that they happened. One way these three verses can be combined is:

^6bThose who first heard the Good News did not receive that rest, ^6cbecause they did not believe/obey God. ^8aIf Joshua had given the people the rest that God had promised, ^8bGod would not have spoken later about another day. ^7aBut many years later God set another day, which he called “Today.” ^7bHe spoke of it through David ^7cin the Scripture already quoted: ^7dIf you hear God’s voice today, ^7edo not be stubborn.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

γὰρ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἰ Γάρ αὐτούς Ἰησοῦς κατέπαυσεν οὐκ ἄν περί ἄλλης ἐλάλει μετά ταῦτα ἡμέρας)

The word For introduces further explanation about the day called “Today.” If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces explanation, or you could leave it untranslated. Alternate translation: [Further,]

Note 2 topic: grammar-connect-condition-contrary

εἰ & αὐτοὺς Ἰησοῦς κατέπαυσεν

if & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἰ Γάρ αὐτούς Ἰησοῦς κατέπαυσεν οὐκ ἄν περί ἄλλης ἐλάλει μετά ταῦτα ἡμέρας)

The author is making a conditional statement that sounds hypothetical, but he is already convinced that the condition is not true. He knows that Joshua did not give the Israelite ancestors the kind of rest he is discussing. He proves that the conditional statement is not true by showing that it would contradict what is true: the Holy Spirit did actually speak about another day, as the previous verse shows. Use a natural form in your language for introducing a condition that the speaker believes is not true. Alternate translation: [if Joshua had actually given them rest]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

αὐτοὺς Ἰησοῦς κατέπαυσεν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἰ Γάρ αὐτούς Ἰησοῦς κατέπαυσεν οὐκ ἄν περί ἄλλης ἐλάλει μετά ταῦτα ἡμέρας)

The author speaks as if Joshua were the one who could have given rest to the Israelite ancestors. This expression means that what Joshua did could have enabled the Israelite ancestors to receive rest from God. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make it clearer that the rest comes from God, who worked through Joshua. Alternate translation: [God had used Joshua to give them rest] or [Joshua had helped them rest]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

αὐτοὺς & κατέπαυσεν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἰ Γάρ αὐτούς Ἰησοῦς κατέπαυσεν οὐκ ἄν περί ἄλλης ἐλάλει μετά ταῦτα ἡμέρας)

See how you translated the word rest in [4:1](../04/01.md). Alternate translation: [enabled them to rest with God] or [enabled them to enter into God’s resting place]

Note 5 topic: writing-pronouns

οὐκ ἂν & ἐλάλει

not (Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἰ Γάρ αὐτούς Ἰησοῦς κατέπαυσεν οὐκ ἄν περί ἄλλης ἐλάλει μετά ταῦτα ἡμέρας)

Here, just as in [4:7](../04/07.md), the word he could refer to: (1) the Holy Spirit, whom the author identifies as the speaker of the Psalms quotation (See: [3:7](../03/07.md)). Alternate translation: [God’s Spirit would not have spoken] (2) God considered as a unity. Alternate translation: [God would not have spoken]

ἡμέρας

day

The author refers to a day because the quotation he is discussing refers to “today.” If possible, use a word or phrase here that is related to how you translated “today” in the quotation (See: [4:7](../04/07.md)). The author does not mean that there is only one period of 24 hours during which people can “enter the rest.” If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that refers to a specific point in time. Alternate translation: [time] or [moment in time]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

μετὰ ταῦτα

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἰ Γάρ αὐτούς Ἰησοῦς κατέπαυσεν οὐκ ἄν περί ἄλλης ἐλάλει μετά ταῦτα ἡμέρας)

The phrase these things refers to what happened when Joshua was leading the Israelite ancestors. He guided them into the land that God had promised to give them, and he led them as they fought their enemies and then settled in that land. The author’s point is that, since David speaks about entering the rest much later than this, the events related to Joshua must not count as getting rest. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [after Joshua led the people into the land]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear HEB 4:8

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 4:1–13: We must have faith in God and enter his rest

Paragraph 4:6–8

4:8a–b

4:8a

4:8b

General Comment on 4:6b–8b

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)