Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience,
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:
- 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,
- 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 21:43“Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing its fruit.
- Heb 3:18–19To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient?
- 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.
- Matt 22:9–10Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.’
- Acts 13:46–47Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, “It was necessary that God’s word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
- Acts 28:28“Be it known therefore to you, that the salvation of God is sent to the nations, and they will listen.”
- Heb 4:9There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
- Gal 3:8The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations will be blessed.”
- Luke 14:21–24“That servant came, and told 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 the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’
- Num 14:31But your little ones, that you said should be captured or killed, them I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected.
- Num 14:12I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
- Isa 65:15You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen; and the Lord Yahweh will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,
- 1 Cor 7:29But I say this, brothers: the time is short, that from now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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.