The Meaning of Hebrews 4:4 Explained

Hebrews 4:4

KJV: For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

YLT: for He spake in a certain place concerning the seventh day thus: 'And God did rest in the seventh day from all His works;'

Darby: For he has said somewhere of the seventh day thus, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works:

ASV: For he hath said somewhere of the seventh day on this wise, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For  he spake  in a certain place  of  the seventh  [day] on this wise,  And  God  did rest  the seventh  day  from  all  his  works. 

What does Hebrews 4:4 Mean?

Context Summary

Hebrews 4:1-10 - The Rest That Joshua Could Not Give
The good news of Canaan's rest was preached to Israel but availed nothing, because the hearers were destitute of faith. They said, Can God? instead of, God can! They thought of their enemies as giants and themselves as grasshoppers, because they left God out of account. Take God into account -and we are giants and our enemies grasshoppers.
To all of us Christ offers rest, not in the other life only, but in this. See Hebrews 4:3; Hebrews 4:11. Rest from the weight of sin, from care and worry, from the load of daily anxiety and foreboding. The rest that arrives from handing all worries over to Christ, and receiving from Christ all we need. Have we entered into that experience? In Hebrews 4:6; Hebrews 4:11, where a.v. reads, "unbelief," r.v., reads, "disobedience." If we disobey, we cannot believe; but when we believe we are sure to obey. In Hebrews 4:10 we are directed to our risen Lord, who has finished the work of Redemption and rests, as God did when He pronounced Creation to be "very good." When we understand what He meant by "It is finished," we, too, shall rest. [source]

Chapter Summary: Hebrews 4

1  The Sabbath-Rest for Christians is attained by faith
12  The power of God's word
14  By our high priest Jesus, the Son of God,
16  we may and must go boldly to the throne of grace

Greek Commentary for Hebrews 4:4

Somewhere on this wise [που ουτως]
See Hebrews 2:6 for που τις — pou tis for a like indefinite allusion to an Old Testament quotation. Here it is Genesis 2:2 (cf. Exodus 20:11; Exodus 31:17). Moffatt notes that Philo quotes Genesis 2:2 with the same “literary mannerism.” Rested First aorist active indicative of καταπαυω — katapauō intransitive here, but transitive in Hebrews 4:8. It is not, of course, absolute rest from all creative activity as Jesus shows in John 5:17. But the seventh day of God‘s rest was still going on (clearly not a twenty-four hour day). [source]
[]
d What was implied in the preceding verse is now stated. [source]
Did rest from all his works [κατέπαυσεν - ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ]
The verb only in Hebrews and Acts 14:18. Works, plural, following lxx. The Hebrew has work. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Hebrews 4:4

Hebrews 13:5 For he hath said [αὐτὸς γὰρ εἴρηκεν]
Rend. for “he himself.” God himself. For εἴρηκεν hathsaid, see Hebrews 1:13; Hebrews 4:3, Hebrews 4:4; Hebrews 10:9. [source]
Hebrews 1:6 And again, when he bringeth in, etc. [ὅταν δὲ πάλιν εἰσαγάγῃ]
Const. again with bringeth in. “When he a second time bringeth the first-begotten into the world.” Referring to the second coming of Christ. Others explain again as introducing a new citation as in Hebrews 1:5; but this would require the reading πάλιν δὲ ὅταν andagain, when. In Hebrews, πάλιν , when joined to a verb, always means a second time. See Hebrews 5:12; Hebrews 6:1, Hebrews 6:2. It will be observed that in this verse, and in Hebrews 5:7, Hebrews 5:8, God is conceived as spoken of rather than as speaking; the subject of λέγει saithbeing indefinite. This mode of introducing citations differs from that of Paul. The author's conception of the inspiration of Scripture leads him to regard all utterances of Scripture, without regard to their connection, as distinct utterances of God, or the Holy Spirit, or the Son of God; whereas, by Paul, they are designated either as utterances of Scripture in general, or of individual writers. Very common in this Epistle are the expressions, “God saith, said, spake, testifieth,” or the like. See Hebrews 2:11, Hebrews 2:13; Hebrews 3:7; Hebrews 4:4, Hebrews 4:7; Hebrews 7:21; Hebrews 10:5, Hebrews 10:8, Hebrews 10:15, Hebrews 10:30. Comp. with these Romans 1:17; Romans 2:24; Romans 4:17; Romans 7:7; Romans 9:13; Romans 10:5, Romans 10:16, Romans 10:20, Romans 10:21; Romans 11:2. Ὅταν εἰσαγάγῃ wheneverhe shall have brought. The event is conceived as occurring at an indefinite time in the future, but is viewed as complete. Comp. John 16:4; Acts 24:22. This use of ὅταν with the aorist subjunctive never describes an event or series of events as completed in the past. [source]
Hebrews 2:6 But one somewhere [δε που τις]
See Hebrews 4:4 for a like indefinite quotation. Philo uses this “literary mannerism” (Moffatt). He quotes Psalm 8:5-7 and extends here to Hebrews 2:8. Hath testified First aorist middle indicative of διαμαρτυρομαι — diamarturomai old verb to testify vigorously (Acts 2:40). What Neuter, not masculine τις — tis (who). The insignificance of man is implied. The son of man Not ο υιος του αντρωπου — ho huios tou anthrōpou which Jesus used so often about himself, but literally here “son of man” like the same words so often in Ezekiel, without Messianic meaning here. Visited Second person singular present indicative middle of επισκεπτομαι — episkeptomai old verb to look upon, to look after, to go to see (Matthew 25:36), from which verb επισχοπος — episcopos overseer, bishop, comes. [source]
Hebrews 4:3 Do enter [εισερχομετα]
Emphatic futuristic present middle indicative of εισερχομαι — eiserchomai We are sure to enter in, we who believe. He hath said Perfect active indicative for the permanent value of God‘s word as in Hebrews 1:13; Hebrews 4:4; Hebrews 10:9, Hebrews 10:13; Hebrews 13:5; Acts 13:34. God has spoken. That is enough for us. So he quotes again what he has in Hebrews 4:11 from Psalm 95:1-11. Although the works were finished Genitive absolute with concessive use of the participle. Old particle, in N.T. only here and Acts 14:17 (with verb). From the foundation of the world Καταβολη — Katabolē late word from καταβαλλω — kataballō usually laying the foundation of a house in the literal sense. In the N.T. usually with απο — apo (Matthew 25:44) or προ — pro (John 17:24) about the foundation of the world. [source]

What do the individual words in Hebrews 4:4 mean?

He has spoken for somewhere concerning the seventh [day] in this way And rested - God on the day - seventh from all the works of Him
εἴρηκεν γάρ που περὶ τῆς ἑβδόμης οὕτως Καὶ κατέπαυσεν Θεὸς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ

εἴρηκεν  He  has  spoken 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: λέγω  
Sense: to utter, speak, say.
που  somewhere 
Parse: Adverb
Root: πού  
Sense: where?, in what place?.
περὶ  concerning 
Parse: Preposition
Root: περί 
Sense: about, concerning, on account of, because of, around, near.
ἑβδόμης  seventh  [day] 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: ἕβδομος  
Sense: seventh.
οὕτως  in  this  way 
Parse: Adverb
Root: οὕτως  
Sense: in this manner, thus, so.
κατέπαυσεν  rested 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: καταπαύω  
Sense: to make quiet, to cause to be at rest, to grant rest.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Θεὸς  God 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
ἡμέρᾳ  day 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: ἡμέρα  
Sense: the day, used of the natural day, or the interval between sunrise and sunset, as distinguished from and contrasted with the night.
τῇ  - 
Parse: Article, Dative Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἑβδόμῃ  seventh 
Parse: Adjective, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: ἕβδομος  
Sense: seventh.
ἔργων  works 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: ἔργον  
Sense: business, employment, that which any one is occupied.
αὐτοῦ  of  Him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.

What are the major concepts related to Hebrews 4:4?

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