Limitless Word
As I swore in My anger, ‘They certainly shall not enter My rest.’ ”
Hebrews 3:11 · New American Standard Bible
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.)
  • BSB So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’”
  • NKJV So I swore in My wrath, ‘They 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 1:34–35Yahweh heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying,
  • Heb 4:3For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest”; although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
  • Num 32:10–13Yahweh’s anger burned in that day, and he swore, saying,
  • Num 14:20–23Yahweh said, “I have pardoned according to your word:
  • Num 14:35I, Yahweh, have spoken. I will surely do this to all this evil congregation, who are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.”
  • Deut 2:14The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea, until we had come over the brook Zered, were thirty-eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the middle of the camp, as Yahweh swore to them.
  • Heb 4:5and in this place again, “They will not enter into my rest.”
  • Num 14:27–30“How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
  • Heb 4:9There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
  • Ps 95:11Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They won’t enter into my rest.”
  • Num 14:25Since the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley, tomorrow turn, and go into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”
  • Heb 3:18–19To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient?

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Hebrews videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Hebrews 3:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HebrewsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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.