Hebrews 4:1
New International Version
Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.

New Living Translation
God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it.

English Standard Version
Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

Berean Standard Bible
Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it.

Berean Literal Bible
Therefore, of the promise to enter into His rest left remaining, we should fear, lest ever any of you should seem to have fallen short.

King James Bible
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

New King James Version
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.

New American Standard Bible
Therefore, we must fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.

NASB 1995
Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.

NASB 1977
Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore, let us fear, lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have fallen short of it.

Amplified Bible
Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still remains and is freely offered today, let us fear, in case any one of you may seem to come short of reaching it or think he has come too late.

Christian Standard Bible
Therefore, since the promise to enter his rest remains, let us beware that none of you be found to have fallen short.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Therefore, while the promise to enter His rest remains, let us fear that none of you should miss it.

American Standard Version
Let us fear therefore, lest haply, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Let us fear, therefore, lest, while The Promise of entering into his rest stands, any of you should be found to come short of entering.

Contemporary English Version
The promise to enter the place of rest is still good, and we must take care that none of you miss out.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Let us fear therefore lest the promise being left of entering into his rest, any of you should be thought to be wanting.

English Revised Version
Let us fear therefore, lest haply, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
God's promise that we may enter his place of rest still stands. We are afraid that some of you think you won't enter his place of rest.

Good News Translation
Now, God has offered us the promise that we may receive that rest he spoke about. Let us take care, then, that none of you will be found to have failed to receive that promised rest.

International Standard Version
Therefore, as long as the promise of entering his rest remains valid, let us be afraid! Otherwise, some of you will fail to reach it,

Literal Standard Version
We may fear, then, lest a promise being left of entering into His rest, anyone of you may seem to have come short,

Majority Standard Bible
Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it.

New American Bible
Therefore, let us be on our guard while the promise of entering into his rest remains, that none of you seem to have failed.

NET Bible
Therefore we must be wary that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.

New Revised Standard Version
Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

New Heart English Bible
Let us fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest.

Webster's Bible Translation
Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

Weymouth New Testament
Therefore let us be on our guard lest perhaps, while He still leaves us a promise of being admitted to His rest, some one of you should be found to have fallen short of it.

World English Bible
Let’s fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest.

Young's Literal Translation
We may fear, then, lest a promise being left of entering into His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Sabbath Rest
1Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it. 2For we also received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it.…

Cross References
Acts 3:19
Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

2 Corinthians 6:1
As God's fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain.

Galatians 5:4
You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.


Treasury of Scripture

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

us therefore.

Hebrews 4:11
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Hebrews 2:1-3
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip…

Hebrews 12:15,25
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; …

a promise.

Hebrews 4:9
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

Numbers 14:34
After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

1 Samuel 2:30
Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

his.

Hebrews 4:3-5
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world…

See on ch.

Hebrews 3:11
So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

any.

Matthew 7:21-23,26,27
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven…

Matthew 24:48-51
But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; …

Matthew 25:1-3
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom…

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Hebrews 4
1. The Sabbath-Rest for Christians is attained by faith.
12. The power of God's word.
14. By our high priest Jesus, the Son of God,
16. we may and must go boldly to the throne of grace.














(1) Let us therefore fear.--The emphasis rests upon "fear," not upon "us." It is noteworthy that the writer begins with "Let us," though about to write "lest any of you;" he will have gained his object if he brings his readers to share his fear.

Lest, a promise being left us.--Rather, lest haply, a promise being (still) left. No word must be inserted here that can diminish the generality of the words; in the sequel the statement will be repeated with all possible clearness. Here it is simply said that such a promise remains unexhausted, waiting for complete fulfilment. No Hebrew Christian would doubt this. As in Hebrews 1, the writer's aim is not to establish a truth absolutely new, but to show that in this and in that Scripture a received truth lies contained. Most of our earlier versions (following Luther and Erasmus) give to this clause a different turn, which cannot be correct: "Lest any of you by forsaking the promise of entering in His rest."

Any of you should seem to come short of it.--Rather, any one of you should be accounted to have come short of it. The difficulty here lies in the words rendered "seem" or "be accounted." It appears impossible that the meaning can be "should even seem," or "should think himself," or "should show himself," to have failed. It may be that the writer avoids positive and direct language in speaking of what lies beyond mortal ken, and therefore reverently says "should seem to have come short of it." It is more probable that he is influenced by the figure contained in the next word, the falling short of a mark; and is thus led to refer to the judge who witnesses and declares the failure,--"Lest any one . . . be held (or, be adjudged) to have come short of" the promise.

Verse 1. - Let us fear, therefore, lest, a promise being still left of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short. This verse is a renewed warning against remissness, based (as is shown by the connecting οϋν) on the preceding argument, but introducing also, by means of the clause, καταλειπομένης, etc., a new thought, the elucidation of which is the subject of what follows. The new thought is that the true "rest of God," typified only by the rest of Canaan, remains still for the attainment of Christians. That this is the case has not yet been shown; and hence the clause, "a promise being still left." etc., does not point to a conclusion already arrived at, but to what is coming. The new thought is taken up in ver. 2, and what has been thus intimated in ver. 1 is asserted as a conclusion after proof in ver. 9. ἄρα ἀπολείπεται, etc. A different view of the drift of the warning in this verse, main-rained very decidedly by Ebrard, demands attention. It rests on the interpretation of δοκῇ ὑστερήκεναι, which is taken to mean "should think that he has come too late," i.e. for the promise of the rest, under the idea that its meaning had been exhausted in the rest of Canaan. It may be said in support of this view that such is the most obvious meaning of the phrase; that δοκεῖν in the New Testament most commonly means "think" or "suppose;" that the primary sense of ὑστερεῖν is that of being behindhand, either in place or in time; and that the perfect ὑστερήκεναι is thus accounted for, whereas, according to the usual interpretation, the whole phrase is unsuitable: why was not ὑστερήση written, if a mere warning against remissness was intended? Further, it may be said that what immediately follows is in favor of this view of the purport of the caution in ver. 1, being an evident carrying out of its idea. Thus the verse is supposed to be not at all a continuation of the previous hortatory section, but rather serving as the thesis of the coming argumentative section, though put in the form of a caution because imperfect appreciation of the view to be now established was at the root of the danger of the Hebrew Christians. Some of them at least did not fully grasp the true character of the gospel as being the fulfill-merit of the old dispensation, the realization of its types and promises. They were inclined to rest in the Law as a revelation to which the gospel was only supplementary, and hence to regard the promised land, the offer of which was before their time, as the only rest intended; and therefore the writer, after adducing the example of the Israelites under Moses as a warning against remissness, prefaces his exposition. of the true rest of God by a warning against misapprehending it. But against this view of the meaning of δοκῇ ὑστερήκεναι there are the following reasons:

(1) The word φοβήθωμεν suggests rather (like βλέπετε) a warning against conduct that might lead to forfeiture than a correction of an inadequate conception; and οϋν connects the warning with what has gone before, in which the view of what the true rest is has not entered.

(2) Though δοκεῖν is most frequently used in the New Testament in its sense of "thinking," "seeming to one's self," yet it has there, as in Greek generally, the sense also of "appearing," "seeming to others;" and certainly, as far as the word itself is concerned, may have this sense here. Also the verb ὑστερεῖν, though its primary idea (as of ὕστερος) is that of "coming after," is nevertheless invariably used in the New Testament to express "deficiency," or "falling short" (cf. especially in this Epistle, Hebrews 12:15): it is never elsewhere (though capable of the meaning) used to express lateness in time.

(3) The phrase, δοκῇ ὑστερήκεναι, in the sense of "seem to have fallen short" (rather than ὑστερήσῃ) is capable of being accounted for. One explanation of it, adopted by Alford, is indeed hardly tenable. He accounts for the past tense by supposing reference to the final judgment; taking it to mean, "lest any one of you should then appear [i.e. be found] to have fallen short." But the word δοκεῖν, which, however used, refers, not to what is made evident, but to what is thought or seems, refuses to be thus misinterpreted. It is better to take it as a softening expression. We may suppose that the writer (with a delicacy that reminds us of St. Paul) was unwilling to imply his own expectation of any failure; and so he only bids his readers beware of so living as even to present the appearance of it or suggest the thought of it to others. According to this view, the tense of ὑστερήκεναι is intelligible, the supposed deficiency spoken of being previous to its being perceived or suspected. It is not necessary to supply an understood genitive, such as "the promise," or "the rest," after ὑστερήκεναι. It may be used (as elsewhere) absolutely, to express deficiency or failure; i.e. in the conditions required for attainment. One view of its meaning is that it has reference to the idea of being behindhand in a race: but there is nothing in the context to suggest this figure. . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Therefore,
οὖν (oun)
Conjunction
Strong's 3767: Therefore, then. Apparently a primary word; certainly, or accordingly.

[ while ] the promise
ἐπαγγελίας (epangelias)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1860: A promise. From epaggello; an announcement.

of entering
εἰσελθεῖν (eiselthein)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 1525: To go in, come in, enter. From eis and erchomai; to enter.

His
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

rest
κατάπαυσιν (katapausin)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2663: From katapauo; reposing down, i.e. abode.

still stands,
καταλειπομένης (kataleipomenēs)
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 2641: From kata and leipo; to leave down, i.e. Behind; by implication, to abandon, have remaining.

let us be careful
Φοβηθῶμεν (Phobēthōmen)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 5399: From phobos; to frighten, i.e. to be alarmed; by analogy, to be in awe of, i.e. Revere.

that none
μή‿ (mē)
Adverb
Strong's 3361: Not, lest. A primary particle of qualified negation; not, lest; also (whereas ou expects an affirmative one) whether.

of
ἐξ (ex)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

you
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

be deemed
δοκῇ (dokē)
Verb - Present Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1380: A prolonged form of a primary verb, doko dok'-o of the same meaning; to think; by implication, to seem.

to have fallen short [of it].
ὑστερηκέναι (hysterēkenai)
Verb - Perfect Infinitive Active
Strong's 5302: From husteros; to be later, i.e. to be inferior; generally, to fall short.


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NT Letters: Hebrews 4:1 Let us fear therefore lest perhaps anyone (Heb. He. Hb)
Hebrews 3:19
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