So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’”
Parallel translations
- WEB as I swore in my wrath, ‘They will not enter into my rest.’”
- KJV So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
- NKJV So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
- NASB As I swore in My anger, ‘They certainly shall not enter My rest.’ ”
- NLT So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God swore in His anger that the unbelieving generation would not enter His rest. Their rebellion barred them from the promised rest.
Overview
The solemn oath of Psalm 95 declares that the wilderness generation forfeited entry into the 'rest,' originally the land of Canaan. The author will develop 'rest' into a rich theme pointing beyond the land to God's ultimate rest. This first mention warns that unbelief can permanently exclude a person from the promised blessing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Deut 1:34–35When the LORD heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath, saying,
- Heb 4:3Now 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 enter My rest.’” And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world.
- Num 32:10–13So the anger of the LORD was kindled that day, and He swore an oath, saying,
- Num 14:20–23“I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied.
- Num 14:35I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this entire wicked congregation, which has conspired against Me. They will meet their end in the wilderness, and there they will die.”
- Deut 2:14The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.
- Heb 4:5And again, as He says in the passage above: “They shall never enter My rest.”
- Num 14:27–30“How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me.
- Heb 4:9There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
- Ps 95:11So I swore on oath in My anger, “They shall never enter My rest.”
- Num 14:25Now since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”
- Heb 3:18–19And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.
How Hebrews 3:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.