Limitless Word
Since, then, it remains for some to enter His rest, and since those who formerly heard the good news did not enter because of their disobedience,
Hebrews 4:6 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Seeing 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,
  • KJV Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
  • NKJV Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience,
  • NASB Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who previously had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience,
  • NLT So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God.

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

Since the rest remains open and the original hearers failed to enter because of disobedience, it must still await others. The promise of rest has not lapsed.

Overview

The author reasons that because God's rest exists and the first recipients forfeited it through unbelief, the promise still stands for others to enter. The failure of one generation did not annul God's purpose. This keeps the invitation, and the warning, urgently before the readers.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 13

  • Matt 21:43Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
  • Heb 3:18–19And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
  • Heb 4:2For we also received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it.
  • Matt 22:9–10Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’
  • Acts 13:46–47Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
  • Acts 28:28Be advised, therefore, that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!”
  • Heb 4:9There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
  • Gal 3:8The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and foretold the gospel to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”
  • Luke 14:21–24The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
  • Num 14:31But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it.
  • Num 14:12I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”
  • Isa 65:15You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but to His servants He will give another name.
  • 1 Cor 7:29What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;

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 4:6YouTube · 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 4:6 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.