Hebrews 3:11

11 And being angry I made an oath, saying, They may not come into my rest.

Hebrews 3:11 Meaning and Commentary

Hebrews 3:11

So I sware in my wrath
Swearing is ascribed to God, to show the certainty of the thing spoken of; as of mercies, when he swears in love, and by his holiness; so here, of punishment, when he swears in wrath, in indignation, in sore displeasure, and the threatened evil is irrevocable and inevitable:

they shall not enter into my rest;
into the land of Canaan, called God's rest, because he promised it, and gave it to the Israelites as their rest; and where he himself had a place of rest; and where he gave the Messiah, the author of peace and rest; and which was a type of heaven, that rest from toil and labour, which remains for the people of God; and into which it is said this generation did not enter; for the Jews say F6,

``the generation of the wilderness have no part in the world to come:''

but this seems too harsh, for doubtless there were many who died in the wilderness, that went safe to heaven, notwithstanding all their sins and provocations.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 Tzeror Hammor, fol. 118. 1.

Hebrews 3:11 In-Context

9 When your fathers put me to the test, and saw my works for forty years.
10 So that I was angry with this generation, and I said, Their hearts are in error at all times, and they have no knowledge of my ways;
11 And being angry I made an oath, saying, They may not come into my rest.
12 My brothers, take care that there is not by chance in any one of you an evil heart without belief, turning away from the living God:
13 But give comfort to one another every day as long as it is still Today; so that no one among you may be made hard by the deceit of sin:
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