Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 4:9

"There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God." — Hebrews 4:9 (ASV)

This verse expresses the logical consequence of what precedes. The Greek word used for “Sabbath-rest” (GK 4878) is most likely a word made up by the author. There were various kinds of “rest.” There was, for example, the kind of rest Israel was to get in its own land when it had rest from wars . When the psalmist wrote Ps 95, he knew firsthand what this kind of rest in Palestine meant, and he was still looking for “rest.” Thus rest from war is not the kind of rest that the author of Hebrews had in mind. Jesus spoke of quite another kind of rest—rest for the souls of people (Matthew 11:28–30). This is nearer to what the author means. He links rest with the original Sabbath, with what God did when he finished Creation and what Christians are called into. This, then, is a highly original view. The author sees the rest as for “the people of God” (cf. 11:2; 1 Peter 2:10). In the OT “the people of God” is the nation of Israel, but in the NT it signifies believers. The rest the author writes about is for such people. Those who shut themselves out by disobedience and unbelief cannot enter into it.