Thomas Aquinas Commentary Hebrews 4:9-13

"There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no man fall after the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do." — Hebrews 4:9-13 (ASV)

Having cited two authorities—one from Genesis 2 and the other from Psalm 94—and drawn his conclusion from the second authority, the Psalm, the Apostle now draws the same conclusion from the first. In regard to this, he does two things:

1. He gives the conclusion.
2. He gives the reason for the consequence (Hebrews 4:10).

Regarding the first point, it should be noted that the Apostle has so far mentioned a threefold rest: the first is God’s rest from His works; the second is a temporal rest, which the children of Israel had in the promised land; the third is eternal rest, which is symbolized by the first two. But before mentioning eternal rest, the Apostle says that after the earthly rest, there remains a day of rest for the people of God.

This was represented in the Old Law by the Sabbath, which symbolized eternal rest: If you call the Sabbath delightful, and the holy of the Lord glorious (Isaiah 58:13); And there shall be month after month and Sabbath after Sabbath (Isaiah 66:23), meaning eternal rest. And he says, a Sabbath rest, because just as the Sabbath in the Old Law represented God’s rest from His works, so that eternal rest will be that of the saints from their labors (Revelation 14:13).

For this reason, he adds, For whoever enters God’s rest also ceases from his works. This is because just as God worked six days and rested on the seventh, so the present time is signified by the six days, because six is a perfect number. Therefore, one who works perfectly rests from his works on the seventh day, as God did from His. This is not a rest from all works, because certain works remain, for example, to see, to love, and to praise: And they rested not day and night saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty (Revelation 4:8). Rather, it is a rest from laborious works: But they who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall work and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).

Then, in verse 11, he exhorts us to hurry. In regard to this, he does two things:

1. He gives the advice to hurry.
2. He shows the danger in delay (verse 11b).

He says, therefore, because there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, let us strive to enter that rest. He says, enter, because it does not consist in external goods, to which one goes out, but in internal goods: You shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance (Exodus 15:17); Enter into the joy of the Lord (Matthew 25:21).

Therefore, there are many reasons for striving to enter. One is that the way is long: A certain nobleman went into a far country (Luke 19:12). It is said to be long because of the difference of condition, for in that rest is the fullness of all good and immunity from all evil, as well as perfect vision and possession, whereas here we find the opposite. Furthermore, we must hurry because our time is very short, The days of man are short (Job 14:5), and because that time, besides being short, is uncertain: Man knows not his own end (Ecclesiastes 9:12). We must also hurry because the call is urgent, for an inner call drives us with the goad of charity: When he shall come as a violent stream, which the spirit of the Lord drives on (Isaiah 59:19); The charity of Christ presses us (2 Corinthians 5:14); I have run the way of your commandments (Psalms 119:32). Finally, there is danger in delay, as is clear from the foolish virgins who arrived late and could not enter.

Therefore, he says, that no one fall by the same sort of disobedience. This is as if to say: the ancients could not enter because of unbelief. For this reason, we must beware of the example set by another’s sin, lest we become unbelieving, or by another’s punishment, lest we be excluded as they were: she went into the hill country with haste (Luke 1:39). For the punishment of others is brought to our notice as a warning: The wicked man being scourged, the fool shall be wiser (Proverbs 19:25).

From this, it seems that a person who is not corrected by another’s punishment will be punished more severely. But this would imply that the sin of Adam, who did not sin by following another’s example, would be less serious. I answer that these sayings are always to be understood with the condition that other things are equal. For it sometimes happens that while two sins are not inherently more serious than one another, an attendant circumstance can make one more serious than the other. For example, two acts of adultery are of themselves equal; yet one which is committed with malice aforethought is more serious than one which is committed through passion or weakness. In the same way, an idle word is more grievous when it is spoken from malice.

But how we are to strive is taught by the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 9:25, because every one that strives for the mastery refrains himself from all things. Therefore, one must strive by putting off impediments, not only refraining from all sin but also avoiding the occasions of sin: I will lead you by the paths of equity (Proverbs 4:11). But we are warned against hurrying: He that is hasty with his feet shall stumble (Proverbs 19:2). I answer that there are two ways of hurrying: one is by being headlong, and this is reprehensible; the other is by being energetic, and this is praiseworthy. For, as the Philosopher says, all people should take a long time to consider, but be quick to carry out their decisions. Therefore, when hurry destroys counsel, it is precipitate and vicious. In this sense, the objection is valid. But hurry in executing one’s decision is virtuous and praiseworthy. This is the type of hurry to which the Apostle exhorts us here.

Then, in verse 12, he gives the reason for this advice, especially in regard to the danger. This reason is taken from Christ, in whom there are two natures: one is the divine, according to which He is the Word of the Father; the other is the human, according to which He is the high priest offering Himself on the Cross. First, therefore, he gives the reason based on the divinity; secondly, the reason based on the humanity (verse 14). He says three things about the Son of God: first, he describes His power; secondly, His knowledge (verse 12); thirdly, His authority (verse 13b). He shows His power in three ways: first, its nature; secondly, its vigor (verse 12b); thirdly, its action (verse 12c).

He says, therefore, The word of God is living. This text is difficult, although it is clearer than another text: for where we have sermo the Greek has logos, which is the same as verbum, ‘word’; hence a saying, that is, a word. This is the way Augustine explains John’s statement: The word that I have spoken, meaning, I who am the Word. Your almighty word leapt down from heaven from the royal throne . Similarly here, the word (sermo) of God is living, that is, the living Word (Verbum) of God.

For the Word of God, conceived from all eternity in the intellect of the Father, is the primordial Word of which Sirach 1:5 says: The word of God on high is the fountain of wisdom. And because it is primordial, all other words are derived from it, these words being nothing more than certain conceptions expressed in the angelic mind or ours. For this reason, that Word is the expression of all words, being their font. And what is said of that Word is somehow applied to the other words according to their mode.

But it is said of that Word that it is living. A thing is called living when it has its own movement and activity. For as a gushing fountain is called living, so, too, that Word has eternal vigor: For ever, O Lord, your word stands firm in heaven (Psalms 119:89); For as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son also to have life in himself (John 5:26). Or it can be referred to His human nature, for it is living, although others may regard it as dead, because it rose to die no more: I was dead, and behold, I am living for ever and ever (Revelation 1:18). Similarly, the word of Scripture is living and unfailing: Not as though the word of God had miscarried (Romans 9:6).

Then when he says, and active [effectual], he shows its vigor. The word is said to be effectual because of its supreme power and the infinite force it has, for all such things were made by it: By the word of the Lord the heavens were established (Psalms 33:6). It is also effectual because all the words uttered by God and delivered by angels or men draw their efficacy from it: His word is full of power (Ecclesiastes 8:4); The word which shall go forth shall not return to me void, but it shall do whatsoever I please, and it shall prosper in the things for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11).

Then, in verse 12b, he shows its action. In regard to this he does two things: first, he describes its action; secondly, he explains this (verse 12c).

He says, therefore: And more piercing than any two-edged sword. Something is said to pierce when it enters the depths of a thing. This can take place in two ways: in one way, because it acts on the inmost recesses of a thing, You have wrought all our works for us (Isaiah 26:12); in another way, because it knows the innermost parts of a thing, He needed not that any should give testimony of man: for he knew what was in man (John 2:25); I will penetrate to all the lower parts of the earth . For God’s action and knowledge reach into the inmost parts of a thing; for this reason, he says, than any two-edged sword.

A sword is more penetrating because it is sharp, and this is especially true of a two-edged sword, which is sharp on both edges. And because the word of God is sharp in its action and its knowledge, it is compared to a two-edged sword: And the sword of the spirit which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17); In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword shall visit Leviathan (Isaiah 27:1). Or it is called two-edged in regard to its activity, because it is sharp enough to promote good and destroy evil: From his mouth came out a sharp two-edged sword (Revelation 1:16). Or it is called two-edged in regard to its knowledge, and it is said to be more piercing than any two-edged sword, that is, than any human intellect, which is called two-edged because it is open to either side of a conclusion until it comes to the end of its scrutiny and fixes its point there, namely, in the truth. For in the ordering of causes, we see that a prior cause works at a greater depth than a subsequent one. For this reason, that which nature produces is more profound than that which is produced by art. Therefore, because God is the first cause, His action produces that which is most inward in a thing, namely, its being.

Then when he says, and piercing to the division of the soul and of the spirit, he explains what he had said above about its action. In regard to this he does two things: first, he shows this in regard to spiritual things; secondly, in regard to material things (verse 12d).

According to the Apostle, there are three things in man: body, soul, and spirit: That your whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless in the coming of our Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We know what the body is. But the soul is that which gives life to the body, whereas the spirit in bodily things is something subtle and signifies an immaterial substance: Egypt is man and not God: and their horses, flesh, and not spirit (Isaiah 31:3). Therefore, the spirit in us is that by which we are akin to spiritual substances, but the soul is that through which we are akin to the animals. Consequently, the spirit is the human mind, namely, the intellect and will.

This has led some to assert that there are different souls in us: one which perfects and gives life to the body and is called a soul in the proper sense; another is the spirit, having an intellect by which we understand and a will by which we will. Consequently, those two are called substances rather than souls. But this opinion was condemned in the book, The Dogmas of the Church. Therefore, we must say that the essence of the soul is one and the same; by its essence it gives life to the body, and by its power, which is called the intellect, it is the principle of understanding eternal things.

How this is possible will be clear. For the more perfect a form is, the less its activity depends on matter. Thus the forms of the elements, because they are most imperfect, do not extend beyond matter. Therefore, since the soul is the most noble of forms, it should have an action which altogether transcends the power of matter. That action is called understanding, which is followed by its natural inclination, namely, willing.

But there is a threefold difference among the actions of the soul. First, the soul is that to which the powers pertain by which the soul acts in conjunction with the body, whereas the spirit is that to which the powers pertain by which it acts without the body. The first difference between those powers and the actions proceeding from them is the difference between reason and sensibility, which is a power through which the soul acts with the body, because reason apprehends universals, but the sensibility apprehends material and sensible things. The second difference is between the parts of the sensibility, because the sensibility has one state insofar as it tends to its proper object according to its nature, and another state insofar as it is regulated by reason. For the concupiscible appetite is considered one way when it is regarded as a force relative to its object, and another way when it is regarded as partaking of reason. The third difference is between the parts of reason itself relative to its different objects: because it either tends to God, and this is supreme in it; or to spiritual effects, or to temporal effects.

The Word of God effects and distinguishes between all those divisions and species: namely, how the sensibility is distinguished from reason; also, the species of the same sensibility in itself; also, the species of the function of reason, and what arises in the rational soul from the consideration of spiritual and earthly things. Or it can be explained according to a Gloss in two ways: so that the soul refers to carnal sins which involve bodily pleasures, such as lust and gluttony; but the spirit refers to spiritual sins, which involve an act of the mind, such as pride, vainglory, and the like. Or by soul is understood evil thoughts, and by spirit good thoughts. Then the sense is this: reaching, that is, discerning, to the division of the soul and the spirit, meaning between carnal and spiritual sins, or between good and evil thoughts.

Then when he says, of joints and of marrow, he declares what he had said about God’s activity in regard to temporal things. But it should be noted that something fails to penetrate something else for two reasons: one is due to juncture and the other to concealment. But neither of these can impede the word of God. There are in us, of course, certain joints, namely, of nerves and arteries; and there are parts which are enclosed and hidden, such as the marrow enclosed in the bones. But all these are open to the divine gaze; consequently, there is nothing too difficult for Him to penetrate. Or by joints can be understood the union of the soul’s parts to one another, as soul to spirit. As if to say: Not only does He reach to a knowledge of the difference and division of the soul and spirit, but to a knowledge of how they are joined. For he knows how the sensibility is ruled by reason. But marrow can be taken to mean that which is concealed in the reason and sensibility: Fear him that can send both body and soul to hell (Matthew 10:28).

Then, in verse 12d, he treats of the Word’s knowledge. In regard to this he does two things: first, he shows that all things are subject to His knowledge; secondly, how He knows (verse 13b).

There are two reasons why a thing is not known. One is because it is concealed within something; this is how the secrets of the heart are concealed, because it is very deep and inscrutable: The heart is perverse above all things and inscrutable (Jeremiah 17:9). In the heart thoughts are concealed, but the Word of God knows them: Take away the evil of your devices from my eyes (Isaiah 1:16). Therefore, in regard to this he says, a discerner of thoughts.

In another way, something is not known because it is altogether unknown and invisible; this is how the things of the will are unknown. But in the will is one’s intention, which is invisible by its very nature. For what a person does or thinks is revealed in his work, but the intention for which he does it is utterly uncertain. But not even these are hidden from God; for this reason, he continues, and intentions of the heart: The searcher of hearts and reins, that is, of thoughts and intentions (Psalms 7:10).

But it should be noted that the word, penetrating, can refer to an action, as has been said. In that case, penetrator and discerner differ. But if it refers to thought, then the phrase, discerner of thoughts, explains it. As if to say: You say that it is more penetrating than any two-edged sword; this is true, because it is a discerner of the joints and the marrow, that is, of thoughts and intentions. For joints are junctures, and thus, thought in which there is a juncture of terms can be called a joint, when it passes from one thing to another: Loose the bands of wickedness (Isaiah 58:6); Woe to you that draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as the rope of a cart (Isaiah 5:18). Also, marrow is something that lies within and is concealed in the bones: His bones are moistened with marrow (Job 21:24).

Then when he says, before him no creature is hidden, he shows that anything invisible according to its nature is not hidden from God. For if something is not seen by us, it is because it is more simple and more subtle than our bodily or intellectual eyes, such as separated substances, which we cannot see in this life. But nothing is simpler and subtler than the divine intellect. Therefore, no creature is invisible in His sight.

But does He know things in a merely general way, as some claim? No; but all things are naked and open to His eyes. By the eye we mean the cognitive power, for spiritual things are understood through sensible things. But it is significant that he says, eyes, because of the variety of things He understands, for He does not know one thing only, but a multitude of things. He says, naked and open, for something is known in two ways: in one way, superficially; in another way, in depth. Thus a naked man is seen superficially, but not one who is clothed. But all things are manifest to God, which are seen superficially, for there is nothing covering a person to impede God’s knowledge, as clothing might: Hell is naked before him (Job 26:6). But he says, open, because nothing is so concealed that it can escape God’s knowledge.

Yet this seems to be contrary to what is stated in Habakkuk 1:13: Your eyes are too pure to behold evil, and you cannot look on iniquity. Therefore, not all things are naked. I answer that in God there is a knowledge of simple understanding and a knowledge of approbation. In the first way He knows all things, even wicked things and things that are not; but in the second way He knows good things insofar as they exist.

Then when he says, with whom we have to do, he shows the perfection of His authority. This authority is the authority to judge: It is he who was appointed by God to be judge of the living and of the dead (Acts 10:42). To Him, therefore, is our speech, when we render an account of our works: For we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the proper things of the body, according as he has done, whether it be good or evil (2 Corinthians 5:10). Therefore, because He is so powerful, so knowing, and so great, let us hasten to enter into that rest.

For three things are required for passing judgment:

1. The power to coerce subjects: Seek not to be made a judge, unless you have strength enough to uproot iniquities . This belongs to Christ: All power is given me in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18).
2. Zeal for what is right is required, in order that judgment be pronounced not from hatred or spite, but from love of justice: Whom the Lord loves he chastises; and as a father in the son he pleases himself (Proverbs 3:12). This love of justice is especially evident in Christ: And justice shall be the girdle of his loins (Isaiah 11:5).
3. Wisdom is required, according to which a judgment is formed: A wise man shall judge his people . But Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24).

Now this power to judge belongs to Christ as man: He gave him power to do judgment, because he is the Son of man (John 5:27). This is not, of course, because of the condition of the nature, according to Augustine, because then all men would have such power, but because of the capital grace, which Christ received in His human nature. This power to judge belongs to Christ according to His human nature for three reasons. First, by reason of His affinity to men. For just as God works through intermediate causes, as being closer to their effects, so He judges through a man in order that the judgment may be gentler. For we have not a high priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, as has been said. Secondly, because in the final judgment, as Augustine says, there will be a resurrection of dead bodies, which God quickens through the Son of man, just as through the same Christ He quickens souls, inasmuch as He is the Son of God. Thirdly, because, as Augustine says in his book, The Words of the Lord, it was proper that those to be judged should see their judge. But the good and the wicked are to be judged. Therefore, in the judgment the form of man will be visible to the good and the wicked, the form of God being reserved for the good.

Furthermore, this power suits Christ on account of His divine personality, on account of His dignity as head, and on account of the fullness of His sanctifying grace. He also obtained it by His merits. For this reason, it was fitting that according to God’s justice the judge should be one who fought for God’s justice and overcame, and that the one unjustly judged should condemn the guilty: I have overcome and I am set down with my Father on his throne (Revelation 3:21); You have sat on the throne who judge justice (Psalms 9:4). As Augustine says in The Words of the Lord, "The judge will sit who stood before a judge, and He will condemn the guilty who was falsely judged guilty."