Shabbat, God’s rest

Contents

The day of rest on earth serves to call us to the rest of eternal life, that is, to perfect peace between creatures and God.
But rest on earth implies harmony between creatures, as in heaven.
This is made possible by the same divine breath of love that animates us all.
When creatures rediscover this breath that unites them with God which realizes their unity, God rests in them, and they in God.
God is always at work to lead us to this rest, and the seventh day, when creatures rest in God and God rests in them, has no end: the work of salvation is complete.

Related articles

This article is closely linked to We are God’s children, not his servants, and is an in-depth look at The filial relationship
Links 3 to 5 continue the article on the filial relationship:

This article is an in-depth of the filial relationship, because we need to rediscover the link that unites us all to the source of life, in order to live as brothers and sisters and enjoy the peace, the rest.
When the Book of Genesis says that God rested from his work (Genesis 2:1-3), it means that he has fulfilled his design, his will to lead us to the peace of heaven, where we rest in him and he in us. For the father is always at work to bring his children to peace with each other and with him. Jesus explains: “My Father is always at work.”(John 5:17) And he performs many miracles on the Sabbath, to help us truly journey towards that day when the sun will not set, as shown in the book of Genesis. That is, a day that will have no end, because supreme happiness will be realized, our trusting filial relationship with God our Father will be restored, and brotherly love will reign among creatures, then God will rest from his work. The Father’s work is to lead the multitude of his children to perfect happiness, and that they may be filled with joy (John 15:11), then he will rest in them, and their thanksgiving, their gratitude, their happiness, will fill him according to the eternal beatitude of the Trinity: the exchange of love between father and son, where love is the perfect bond that gives life to the world.

So that the purpose and meaning of our lives may always be before us, God prescribes that we devote one day of the week to him, that is, to fulfilling his will, to living on earth as in heaven. It means tasting the joy that God has planned for us, tasting the source of eternal life in which we become one: with him and with each other, animated by the same love, the same life, which is the spirit of God that he has breathed into all of us, into all humanity, and which is the bond of love that unites the Father and the Son in the divine Trinity, but which also unites the Father to his adopted children whom Christ has united to himself, to his person, to his own body. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” (John 6:54) This means that those who accept life as a gift from God share in the thanksgiving of the only-begotten Son, who unites them to God in filial trust. This presupposes, then, that unity and perfect harmony reign between the members of the body of Christ that we are. Christ is the head of the body (Colossians 1:18) and we are its members, animated by the same breath of love that unites the Son to the Father, and we too can say: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (see Le Royaume des cieux, les membres d’un même corps).

This is God’s true rest: when his children finally live in perfect unity with each other and with him. This is the seventh day, when the sun does not set, but shines in each and every one of us, as the book of Revelation 22:5 says: “The night will disappear, they will no longer need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; they will reign for ever and ever.”

Indeed, when Jesus meets someone who has died to earthly life, he tells us that he is resting, that he is asleep, for he is resting with God (John 11:11 and Luke 8:52). The Lord’s Day on earth should therefore be a day in which we anticipate this trusting rest in God, a day in which we already taste on earth the joy of living in unity and peace, and therefore abstain from all servile, slave work. But what is it that makes us slaves, what is it that binds us? Evil and the chain of violence: when we respond to offence with offence, for we are all equally sinners, equally deprived of the glory of God (Letter to the Romans 3:23-24 in The Justice of God). This is the evil we are forbidden to do on the Sabbath, an effort to celebrate and move towards our destiny, the happiness of the kingdom of heaven. The slave work that the Bible forbids on the Sabbath is that which sows division between men; this is the evil that shackles us. It is then that Christ frees us by his forgiveness, tearing down the wall of hatred that divides us. Matthew 18:18: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” John 20:22-23: “When he had said this, he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you remit, they will be remitted; whose sins you uphold, they will be upheld.” Ephesians 2:14: “It is he, Christ, who is our peace: of the two, the Jew and the other peoples, he has made one reality; by his crucified flesh he has destroyed what separated them, the wall of hatred.” It’s all about understanding the deeper meaning of what God tells us in the Scriptures: “On that day you shall abstain from all slave work” (Exodus 20:10).

It’s a question, then, of entering into Sabbath rest, of being freed from the slavery of sin. This slave work is the evil, the chain of violence that holds us prisoner, and it is from this that we must be freed, with God’s help, through his forgiveness, which enables us to forgive others. As Jesus says in Luke 6:9: “I ask you whether it is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a soul or to let it perish…”. It is from evil that we must abstain, and good that we must seek. This is when God can rest: when he has led men to the peace of the Kingdom of heaven, to full likeness to him. Then men will taste his rest, the peace he gives us, when he is in us and we in him.

To understand, then, that the weekly Sabbath day, the day of the week dedicated to the life of the kingdom of heaven on earth, is merely an anticipation and a reminder, God also prescribes a whole year in which we are called to live this life of the kingdom of heaven. So he asks us to count a period of seven times seven years, and in the fiftieth year he invites us to enter into a sabbatical year, that is, a jubilee year, a year of joy, of rejoicing in achieving communion with God and with one another, abolishing our divisions. Here are some passages that speak of the Jubilee Year: Leviticus 25; Isaiah 42:5-9 and 61:1-6; Luke 4:16-30; Galatians 5:1, Romans 8:21; Ephesians 1:7-18 and 3:8-16; James 2:5.

Biblical texts

Genesis 2:1-3

וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ הַשָּׁמַ֥יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ וְכָל-צְבָאָֽם׃
1 And the heavens and the earth were completed and all their army.

וַיְכַ֤ל אֱלֹהִים֙ בַּיֹּ֣ום הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מְלַאכְתֹּ֖ו אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה וַיִּשְׁבֹּת֙ בַּיֹּ֣ום הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מִכָּל-מְלַאכְתֹּ֖ו אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָֽׂה׃
2 And Elohim finished on the seventh day the work he had done, and he ceased on the seventh day all the work he had done.

וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת-יֹ֣ום הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י וַיְקַדֵּ֖שׁ אֹתֹ֑ו כִּ֣י בֹ֤ו שָׁבַת֙ מִכָּל-מְלַאכְתֹּ֔ו אֲשֶׁר-בָּרָ֥א אֱלֹהִ֖ים לַעֲשֹֽׂות׃
3 And Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He Elohim ceased every work that he created to be done..

See comments on this text in the article Genesis 2, 1-3 The seventh day

Exodus 20:9-11

שֵׁ֤֣שֶׁת יָמִ֣ים֙ תַּֽעֲבֹ֔ד֮ וְעָשִׂ֖֣יתָ כָּל- מְלַאכְתֶּֽךָ֒
9 Six days you will serve and do all your task.

Here, understanding the verbal root ‘abad is fundamental. Ebed in both Hebrew and Arabic (‘abd) is the servant. In ancient times, this servant was generally a slave, not a free employee. Jesus often reminds us in the Gospel that we are not servants, that we must not put ourselves in the shoes of servants: God has no need of servants, it’s not to be servants that he made us, but he calls us to share in the happiness of sons (See We are God’s children, not his servants) So, here the term that is often translated as “you shall work” is ta’abod from the root ‘abad to serve. It means not to be enslaved to evil on that day, not to perform a commanded task, a servant’s job. We must therefore also understand the word mala’khah. Its interpretation and derivation are debated, between the root l’akh meaning to send, and the root ialakh meaning to go (an intensive mode of the latter could have the meaning of to make go). However, the first four letters of this word form the word mal’akh the angel, the messenger, the one sent to bring a message to mankind. He too performs a task, in the service of God, but not a slave’s task, a task he has freely chosen to worship God. This is why the Bible speaks of good and bad servants. So the word mal’akhah, which is the feminine noun for action, derived from mal’akh, could simply mean the task performed in someone’s service. So the question Jesus asks in the Gospel about the Sabbath is: which task is forbidden to perform on the Sabbath, the good one or the bad one? The one that puts us in the service of Satan, who imprisons us, or the one that puts us in the service of God, who sets us free?

וְי֙וֹם֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔֜י שַׁבָּ֖֣ת ׀ לַיהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑֗יךָ לֹֽ֣א- תַעֲשֶׂ֣֨ה כָל- מְלָאכָ֡֜ה אַתָּ֣ה ׀ וּבִנְךָֽ֣- וּ֠בִתֶּ֗ךָ עַבְדְּךָ֤֨ וַאֲמָֽתְךָ֜֙ וּבְהֶמְתֶּ֔֗ךָ וְגֵרְךָ֖֙ אֲשֶׁ֥֣ר בִּשְׁעָרֶֽ֔יךָ
10 And on the seventh day of rest (Sabbath) for the Lord your God you shall do no work you and your son and your daughter, your servant and your maid, your livestock and the stranger within your gates.

Mela᾽khah this is a commanded task, a servile work. The Sabbath day is sanctified, it celebrates the glory of god, the completion of the work of creation, its perfection. Anything that detracts from the perfection of God’s glory is banned. Everything is focused on him; it is he who is glorified. We do not listen to anyone else’s commands; we cannot serve two masters.

כִּ֣י שֵֽׁשֶׁת- יָמִים֩ עָשָׂ֨ה יְהוָ֜ה אֶת- הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם וְאֶת- הָאָ֗רֶץ אֶת- הַיָּם֙ וְאֶת- כָּל- אֲשֶׁר- בָּ֔ם וַיָּ֖נַח בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֑י עַל- כֵּ֗ן בֵּרַ֧ךְ יְהוָ֛ה אֶת- י֥וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֖ת וַֽיְקַדְּשֵֽׁהוּ׃
11 Since in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that [is] in them and rested in the seventh day, therefore the Lord blessed the day of rest (Sabbath) and sanctified it.

The six days of creation and the seventh day of rest constitute the week in which we contemplate God’s eternal plan in its relationship to humanity. In Christian exegesis, this week is paralleled by Holy Week, the week in which Jesus manifests God’s work and his plan to us, by entering Jerusalem to give his life. Jesus, the Son of God, is the Word of God who gives life to the world in a gesture that expresses God’s love for his children. Many parallels will be drawn between this week of the world’s creation and God’s rest, and Holy Week, when Jesus gives his life for the many. Indeed, from the moment Jesus enters Jerusalem on the first day of the week, his purpose becomes clearer day by day, until the sixth day when he gives his life on the cross and accomplishes a new creation, saying to Mary: “Woman, behold your Son” and to the apostle John: “Son, behold your mother”. Then, on the seventh day, he rested in the tomb (see article Genesis 1,1 – 2,3 The seven days, stages of love).

Numbers 28:25: Thou shalt not do servile work.

וּבַיֹּום֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מִקְרָא-קֹ֖דֶשׁ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֑ם כָּל-מְלֶ֥אכֶת עֲבֹדָ֖ה לֹ֥א תַעֲשֽׂוּ׃
And on the seventh day there shall be a holy assembly (miqra’ qodesh) for you, you shall do no servile task (mele᾽khet ‘avodah).

mele᾽khet ‘avodah: here the text clearly specifies that the task not to be performed is that of the slave, the servant. In the Gospel, we are often reminded that what holds man in slavery is evil, the chain of violence of which man is a prisoner.

miqra’ qodesh: a holy assembly. The word assembly here is built on the root qara’, which means to call. This corresponds to the Greek verb kaléō from which the word ek-klesía will be derived, designating the church, the assembly of of those who have been invited, called. The holy assembly on earth is an anticipation of the heavenly assembly, the heavenly Jerusalem, where God’s children will finally live in peace and harmony, as members of the same body, animated by the same divine spirit of love. This is the wedding feast, where humanity, like a bride, is united with divinity: all God’s children are called, invited, to this meal, none excluded. Every human being receives life to share in God’s joy, the exchange of love (see Guests at the Meal and The Kingdom of Heaven).

Matthew 12:11-12: It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath days.

ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Τίς ἔσται ἐξ ὑμῶν ἄνθρωπος ὃς ἕξει πρόβατον ἕν, καὶ ἐὰν ἐμπέσῃ τοῦτο τοῖς σάββασιν εἰς βόθυνον, οὐχὶ κρατήσει αὐτὸ ἐγερεῖ;
11 Then he said to them, “What man of you will he be who [when he] owns a sheep, if it falls into a hole in [the days] of the Sabbaths, will he not catch it and bring it up?

πόσῳ οὖν διαφέρει ἄνθρωπος προβάτου. ὥστε ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν καλῶς ποιεῖν.
12 How much, then, a man differs from a sheep. Therefore it is lawful to do good [on the days] of the Sabbaths.”

Mark 2:23-28: The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

23 Καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς σάββασιν παραπορεύεσθαι διὰ τῶν σπορίμων, καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἤρξαντο ὁδὸν ποιεῖν τίλλοντες τοὺς στάχυας.
And it came to pass that this one [Jesus] in [the days] of the Sabbaths passed through the wheat fields, and his disciples, as they went, began to pluck ears of corn.

24 καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι ἔλεγον αὐτῷ- ἴδε τί ποιοῦσιν τοῖς σάββασιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν;
And the Pharisees said to this one [Jesus]: “See what they do in [the days] of the Sabbaths, which is not lawful?”

25 καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς- οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτε τί ἐποίησεν Δαυὶδ ὅτε χρείαν ἔσχεν καὶ ἐπείνασεν αὐτὸς οἱ μετ’ αὐτοῦ,
and he said to them: “You have never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him,

26 πῶς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ Ἀβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως ἔφαγεν, οὓς οὐκ ἔξεστιν φαγεῖν εἰ μὴ τοὺς ἱερεῖς, ἔδωκεν καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ οὖσιν;
how he entered the house of God in the days of Abiatar the high priest and ate the loaves of the offering, which it is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and he gave some also to those who were with him?”

27Καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς- τὸ σάββατον διὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐγένετο καὶ οὐχ ὁ ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὸ σάββατον-
and he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath:

28ὥστε κύριός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ τοῦ σαββάτου.
therefore the son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.”

Luke 6:6-10: Is it permitted on the Sabbath to do good or evil?

6 Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν ἑτέρῳ σαββάτῳ εἰσελθεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν καὶ διδάσκειν. καὶ ἦν ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖ καὶ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ἡ δεξιὰ ἦν ξηρά.
6 It was on another [Sabbath] that he entered the synagogue and taught. There was a man there whose hand, his right hand, was withered.

7 παρετηροῦντο δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι εἰ ἐν τῷ σαββάτῳ θεραπεύει, ἵνα εὕρωσιν κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ.
7 The scribes and Pharisees watched him [Jesus] in order to find [something] to accuse him of if he healed [on] the Sabbath.

8 αὐτὸς δὲ ᾔδει τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς αὐτῶν, εἶπεν δὲ τῷ ἀνδρὶ τῷ ξηρὰν ἔχοντι τὴν χεῖρα- ἔγειρε καὶ στῆθι εἰς τὸ μέσον- καὶ ἀναστὰς ἔστη.
8 But he saw their reasoning and said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand in the middle.” The man, having risen, stood.

9 εἶπεν δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς πρὸς αὐτούς- ἐπερωτῶ ὑμᾶς εἰ ἔξεστιν τῷ σαββάτῳ ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι, ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀπολέσαι;
9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you [whether] it is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a soul or to let it perish?”

10 καὶ περιβλεψάμενος πάντας αὐτοὺς εἶπεν αὐτῷ- ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρά σου. ὁ δὲ ἐποίησεν καὶ ἀπεκατεστάθη ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ.
10 And directing his gaze around them all, he said to this one, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored [to its original condition].

Luke 13:10-16: a woman bound by Satan is released from this bond

10 Ἦν δὲ διδάσκων ἐν μιᾷ τῶν συναγωγῶν ἐν τοῖς σάββασιν.
10 [Jesus] was teaching in one of the synagogues in [the days] of the Sabbaths.

11 καὶ ἰδοὺ γυνὴ πνεῦμα ἔχουσα ἀσθενείας ἔτη δεκαοκτὼ καὶ ἦν συγκύπτουσα καὶ μὴ δυναμένη ἀνακύψαι εἰς τὸ παντελές.
11 And behold, a woman, having had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years, was completely bent over and could not fully straighten up.

12 ἰδὼν δὲ αὐτὴν ὁ Ἰησοῦς προσεφώνησεν καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ- γύναι, ἀπολέλυσαι τῆς ἀσθενείας σου,
12 When Jesus saw her, he spoke to her and said, “Woman, you have been delivered from your infirmity.”

13 καὶ ἐπέθηκεν αὐτῇ τὰς χεῖρας- καὶ παραχρῆμα ἀνωρθώθη καὶ ἐδόξαζεν τὸν θεόν.
13 And he laid his hands upon her: and immediately she was straightened up and glorified God.

14 Ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ ἀρχισυνάγωγος, ἀγανακτῶν ὅτι τῷ σαββάτῳ ἐθεράπευσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ἔλεγεν τῷ ὄχλῳ ὅτι ἓξ ἡμέραι εἰσὶν ἐν αἷς δεῖ ἐργάζεσθαι- ἐν αὐταῖς οὖν ἐρχόμενοι θεραπεύεσθε καὶ μὴ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ σαββάτου.
14 Then the ruler of the synagogue, having retorted angry because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days in which to work: be healed therefore by coming in these and not on the Sabbath.”

15 ἀπεκρίθη δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος καὶ εἶπεν- ὑποκριταί, ἕκαστος ὑμῶν τῷ σαββάτῳ οὐ λύει τὸν βοῦν αὐτοῦ ἢ τὸν ὄνον ἀπὸ τῆς φάτνης καὶ ἀπαγαγὼν ποτίζει;
15 The Lord replied and said to him, “Hypocrites, does not every one of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stable and lead it to drink?

16 ταύτην δὲ θυγατέρα Ἀβραὰμ οὖσαν, ἣν ἔδησεν ὁ σατανᾶς ἰδοὺ δέκα καὶ ὀκτὼ ἔτη, οὐκ ἔδει λυθῆναι ἀπὸ τοῦ δεσμοῦ τούτου τῇ ἡμέρᾳ σαββάτου;
16 Then more of her who is a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound eighteen years ago, should she not have been loosed from that bond on the Sabbath day?”

Luke 14:1-6: Is it permissible on the Sabbath to heal or not?

1 Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ ἐλθεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς οἶκόν τινος τῶν ἀρχόντων [τῶν] Φαρισαίων σαββάτῳ φαγεῖν ἄρτον καὶ αὐτοὶ ἦσαν παρατηρούμενοι αὐτόν.
1 This was when he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on the [Sabbath] to eat bread, and they [the Pharisees] watched him attentively.

2 Καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν ὑδρωπικὸς ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ.
2 And behold, a man with dropsy was before him.

3 καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν πρὸς τοὺς νομικοὺς καὶ Φαρισαίους λέγων- ἔξεστιν τῷ σαββάτῳ θεραπεῦσαι ἢ οὔ;
3 And answering, Jesus spoke to the men of the law and the Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to heal or not?”

4 οἱ δὲ ἡσύχασαν. καὶ ἐπιλαβόμενος ἰάσατο αὐτὸν καὶ ἀπέλυσεν.
4 They fell silent. Taking hold of him, he healed him and let him go.

5 καὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς εἶπεν- τίνος ὑμῶν υἱὸς ἢ βοῦς εἰς φρέαρ πεσεῖται, καὶ οὐκ εὐθέως ἀνασπάσει αὐτὸν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ σαββάτου;
5 And he spoke to them, “[When] the son or ox of one of you falls into a well, then will he not immediately pull it up on the Sabbath?”

6 καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυσαν ἀνταποκριθῆναι πρὸς ταῦτα.
6 And they were not able to reply to this.

John 5:15-17: My father until now is at work

15 ἀπῆλθεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἀνήγγειλεν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὸν ὑγιῆ.
15 The man went away and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

16 καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐδίωκον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ὅτι ταῦτα ἐποίει ἐν σαββάτῳ.
16 And for this the Jews pursued Jesus, because he had done this on the Sabbath.

17 Ὁ δὲ [Ἰησοῦς] ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς- ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι-
17 Then Jesus answered them, “My Father until now is at work, and I also am at work.”

Hebrews 4:1-11 Entering God’s rest

1 Φοβηθῶμεν οὖν, μήποτε καταλειπομένης ἐπαγγελίας εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν αὐτοῦ δοκῇ τις ἐξ ὑμῶν ὑστερηκέναι.
1 Let us be afraid, then, that any of you will ever feel that you have been left behind, the announcement of entering his [God’s] rest having been forsaken.

2 καὶ γάρ ἐσμεν εὐηγγελισμένοι καθάπερ κἀκεῖνοι- ἀλλ’ οὐκ ὠφέλησεν ὁ λόγος τῆς ἀκοῆς ἐκείνους μὴ συγκεκερασμένους τῇ πίστει τοῖς ἀκούσασιν.
2 Indeed, we are those who received the good news just like these: but the word heard did not benefit them who did not unite with those who heard it with faith.

3 Εἰσερχόμεθα γὰρ εἰς [τὴν] κατάπαυσιν οἱ πιστεύσαντες, καθὼς εἴρηκεν- ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου- εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου, καίτοι τῶν ἔργων ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου γενηθέντων.
3 Indeed, we believers enter into rest, as he said [in Psalm 94:11], “As I swore in my wrath: by no means shall they enter into my rest,” when surely the works [of God] had already taken place from the foundation [of the world].

4 εἴρηκεν γάρ που περὶ τῆς ἑβδόμης οὕτως- καὶ κατέπαυσεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἑβδόμῃ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ,
4 As it was said, indeed about the seventh day: “And God rested in the seventh day from all his works”,

5 καὶ ἐν τούτῳ πάλιν- εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου.
5 And again in this [Psalm 94:11]: “By no means shall they enter my rest.”

6 ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀπολείπεται τινὰς εἰσελθεῖν εἰς αὐτήν, καὶ οἱ πρότερον εὐαγγελισθέντες οὐκ εἰσῆλθον δι’ ἀπείθειαν,
6 Since, then, there are still some left to enter this [God’s rest] and the first to receive the good news did not enter because of their refusal to believe,

7 πάλιν τινὰ ὁρίζει ἡμέραν, σήμερον, ἐν Δαυὶδ λέγων μετὰ τοσοῦτον χρόνον, καθὼς προείρηται- σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ, ἀκούσητε μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν.
7 again, he sets a day, today, saying in [David’s Psalm 94:8], after so much time [since the foundation of the world], as was said before, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not make your hearts hard.”

Psalm 94 recalls the hardening of the hearts of the Jewish people after their liberation from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses for 40 years. Then, it was Joshua who brought the people into the promised land of Israel, but the text of the Epistle to the Hebrews reminds us that the people did not enter God’s rest at that time, since in David’s psalm 94 the invitation to enter God’s rest is repeated. This means, therefore, that they did not enter it at that first moment.

8 εἰ γὰρ αὐτοὺς Ἰησοῦς κατέπαυσεν, οὐκ ἂν περὶ ἄλλης ἐλάλει μετὰ ταῦτα ἡμέρας.
8 If, indeed, Joshua had given them rest, then, after this, he would not have spoken of another day.

9 ἄρα ἀπολείπεται σαββατισμὸς τῷ λαῷ τοῦ θεοῦ.
9 So there remains a sabbatical rest for God’s people.

10 ὁ γὰρ εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτὸς κατέπαυσεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ ὥσπερ ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων ὁ θεός.
10 For he who has entered into his rest rests himself from his works, just as God [has rested] from his.

1 1 Σπουδάσωμεν οὖν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς ἐκείνην τὴν κατάπαυσιν, ἵνα μὴ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τις ὑποδείγματι πέσῃ τῆς ἀπειθείας.
11 Let us hasten, then, to enter into that rest, so that no one falls into that same pattern of refusing to believe.