Hebrews 4:9 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

Bible Comments

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. There, remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God - It was not,

1. The rest of the Sabbath; it was not,

2. The rest in the promised land,

for the psalmist wrote long after the days of Joshua; therefore there is another rest, a state of blessedness, for the people of God; and this is the Gospel, the blessings it procures and communicates, and the eternal glory which it prepares for, and has promised to, genuine believers.

There are two words in this chapter which we indifferently translate rest, καταπαυσις and σαββατισμος· he first signifying a cessation from labor, so that the weary body is rested and refreshed; the second meaning, not only a rest from labor, but a religious rest; sabbatismus, a rest of a sacred kind, of which both soul and body partake. This is true, whether we understand the rest as referring to Gospel blessings, or to eternal felicity, or to both.

Hebrews 4:9

9 There remaineth therefore a restc to the people of God.