Hebrews 3:11

11 in my anger, I swore that they would not enter 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Tzeror Hammor, fol. 118. 1.

Hebrews 3:11 In-Context

9 Yes, your fathers put me to the test; they challenged me, and they saw my work for forty years!

10 Therefore, I was disgusted with that generation I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, they have not understood how I do things';

11 in my anger, I swore that they would not enter my rest."

12 Watch out, brothers, so that there will not be in any one of you an evil heart lacking trust, which could lead you to apostatize from the living God!

13 Instead, keep exhorting each other every day, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you will become hardened by the deceit of sin.