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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Hebrews 4:11 - 4:11
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This promise of rest carries with it a special responsibility for the people of God.
Let us labor therefore (σπουδάσωμεν οὖν)
For the verb, see on Eph 4:3. Give diligence, not hasten, which is the primary meaning.
That rest (ἐκείνην τὴν κατάπαυσιν)
The Sabbath-rest of God, instituted at creation, promised to the fathers, forfeited by their unbelief, remaining to us on the condition of faith.
Lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief (ἵνα μὴ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τις ὑποδείγματι πέσῃ τῆς ἀπειθείας)
Πέσῃ fall is to be taken absolutely; not, fall into the same example. Υ̓πόδειγμα example, mostly in Hebrews. Rejected as unclassical by the Attic rhetoricians. Originally a sign which suggests something: a partial suggestion as distinct from a complete expression. See Heb 8:5; Heb 9:23. Thus Christ's washing of the disciples' feet (Joh 13:15) was a typical suggestion of the whole field and duty of ministry. See on 1Pe 2:6. It is not easy to give the exact force of ἐν in. Strictly speaking, the “example of disobedience” is conceived as that in which the falling takes place. The fall is viewed in the sphere of example. Comp. 2 Macc. 4:30; 1Co 2:7. Rend. that no man fall in the same example of disobedience: the same as that in which they fell.