Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Hebrews 4:9

ἄρα. In classical Greek ἄρα can never occupy the first place in a clause, but this rule is frequently violated in the N.T. (Luke 11:48; Romans 10:17, &c.); and, indeed, in Hellenistic Greek the delicate ironic use of ἄρα to express surprise (“it seems,” “after all”) is almost obliterated.

σαββατισμός. From σαββατίζειν (Heb. שָׁבַת, Exodus 16:30). Since the word used for “rest” is here a different word from that which has been used through the earlier part of the argument (κατάπαυσις) it is a pity that King James’s translators, who indulge in so many needless variations, did not here introduce a necessary change of rendering. The word means “a Sabbath rest,” and supplies an important link in the argument by pointing to the fact that “the rest” which the author has in view is God’s rest, a far higher conception of rest than any of which Canaan could be an adequate type. The Sabbath, which in 2Ma 15:1 is called “the Day of Rest,” is a nearer type of Heaven than Canaan. Dr Kay supposes that there is an allusion to Joshua’s first Sabbatic year, when “the land had rest from war” (Joshua 14:15), and adds that Psalms 92-104. have a Sabbatic character, and that Psalms 92. is headed “a song for the Sabbath day.”

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Hebrews 4:9

Old Testament

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