Limitless Word
Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
Hebrews 4:6 · King James Version
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,
  • BSB 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,
  • 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 say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
  • Heb 3:18–19And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
  • Heb 4:2For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
  • Matt 22:9–10Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
  • Acts 13:46–47Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
  • Acts 28:28Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
  • Heb 4:9There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
  • Gal 3:8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
  • Luke 14:21–24So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
  • Num 14:31But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.
  • Num 14:12I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
  • Isa 65:15And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:
  • 1 Cor 7:29But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though 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.