Hebrews 4:1-3
God’s Promised Rest
4:1 Therefore we must be wary 1 that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.
4:2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in 2 with those who heard it in faith. 3
4:3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” 4 And yet God’s works 5 were accomplished from the foundation of the world.
1 tn Grk “let us fear.”
2 tn Or “they were not united.”
3 tc A few mss (א and a few versional witnesses) have the nominative singular participle συγκεκερασμένος (sunkekerasmeno", “since it [the message] was not combined with faith by those who heard it”), a reading that refers back to the ὁ λόγος (Jo logo", “the message”). There are a few other variants here (e.g., συγκεκεραμμένοι [sunkekerammenoi] in 104, συγκεκεραμένους [sunkekeramenou"] in 1881 Ï), but the accusative plural participle συγκεκερασμένους (sunkekerasmenou"), found in Ì13vid,46 A B C D* Ψ 0243 0278 33 81 1739 2464 pc, has by far the best external credentials. This participle agrees with the previous ἐκείνους (ekeinou", “those”), a more difficult construction grammatically than the nominative singular. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, συγκεκερασμένους is preferred.
4 sn A quotation from Ps 95:11.
5 tn Grk “although the works,” continuing the previous reference to God. The referent (God) is specified in the translation for clarity.