Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 4:8

"For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day." — Hebrews 4:8 (ASV)

This sentence expresses a contrary-to-fact condition: “If Joshua had given them rest [as he did not], God would not have spoken later about another day [as he did].” The name “Joshua” is the Hebrew form of the Greek name “Jesus.” “Joshua” is a good way of rendering the text, as it makes clear to the English reader who is in mind. The Greek text, however, says “Jesus”; and both the writer and his original readers would have been mindful of the connection with the name of Christ, even though the emphasis in the passage lies elsewhere. There had been a “Jesus” who could not lead his people into the rest of God, just as there was another “Jesus” who could.