Limitless Word
And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?
Hebrews 3:18 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient?
  • KJV And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
  • BSB And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
  • NASB And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?
  • NLT And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him?

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 that the disobedient would not enter His rest. Disobedience, rooted in unbelief, excluded them from the promise.

Overview

The exclusion from rest fell upon those who were 'disobedient,' a disobedience the next verse identifies as unbelief. The oath of Psalm 95 is shown to have a moral cause: rebellion against God's voice. This prepares the conclusion that unbelief is the root that bars entry into God's rest.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Heb 4:6Seeing 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,
  • Deut 1:34–35Yahweh heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying,
  • Num 14:30surely you shall not come into the land, concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
  • Ps 106:24–26Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They didn’t believe his word,
  • Deut 1:26–32Yet you wouldn’t go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God.
  • Num 20:12Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
  • Deut 9:23When Yahweh sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, “Go up and possess the land which I have given you,” you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God, and you didn’t believe him, nor listen to his voice.
  • Heb 4:2For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn’t profit them, because it wasn’t mixed with faith by those who heard.
  • Heb 3:11as I swore in my wrath, ‘They will not enter into my rest.’”
  • Num 14:11Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?
  • Num 14:23surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

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 3:18YouTube · 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 3:18 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.