"Let Us Strive to Enter That Rest" the Logic of Hebrews 4:1-11

Harold W. Attridge

The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 73, No. 1/2, Dedicated to the Centennial of the Society of
Biblical Literature. (Jan. - Apr., 1980), pp. 279-288.

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 "LET US STRIVE TO ENTER THAT REST"
THE LOGIC OF HEBREWS 4:1-1 1
Harold W. Attridge
Perkins School of Theology

Dallas. TX 75275

One of the most controverted questions in the study of the

Epistle to the Hebrews is the nature of the eschatological perspec-
tive which it represents, and a focal point of the debate about this
issue is the passage on the "rest" which awaits the addressees
(4:l-11). The two ends of the spectrum of recent interpretation
are represented by Theissen' on the one hand, who sees Hebrews
here as developing a th nos tic"^ tradition paralleled by materials in
Philo, and by ~ u c h a n a nand
~ Hofius4 on the other, who see
Hebrews as working wholly within the framework of Jewish apoca-
lyptic expectations. Parallels adduced by these interpreters are, to

' ~ e r dTheissen, Untersuchungen zum Hebriierbrief (Gutersloh: Mohn, 1969). For

similar approaches, cf. Ceslaus Spicq, LEpitre aux Hebreux (2 vols; Paris; Galbalda,
1952-53); idem, L'Epitre aux Hebreux (Paris: Gabalda, 1977); C. K. Barrett, "The
Eschatology of the Epistle to the Hebrews," The Background of the New Testament
and its Eschatology (C. H. Dodd Festschrift; ed. W. D. Davies and D. Daube;
Cambridge, 1954) 363-93; F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (NICNT; Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964). For an important recent contribution to the assessment
of the eschatological perspectives of Hebrews, cf. George W. MacRae, "Heavenly
Temple and Eschatology in the Letter to the Hebrews," Semeia 12 (1978) 179-99.
2Theissen consciously builds on the analysis of Hebrews by Ernst Kasemann, Das
wandernde Gottesvolk: Eine Untersuchung zum Hebraerbrief (3d ed.; Gottingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1959). His definition of "Gnostic" is a broad phenome-
nological one. Cf. Untersuchungen, 127, n. 8 , "Gnosis = Riickkehr zum Ursprung
von jeder Schopfung." This is not the context in which to discuss the adequacy of
such a definition. Suffice it to note that Theissen's use of the category does not
presuppose the presence in the first century of the fully developed Gnostic
mythology of the classical systems of the second and third centuries. He is willing
(p. 129) to use the term "Fruhgnosis" vel sim. to describe the religio-historical
framework within which he sees Hebrews operating.
3George Wesley Buchanan, To the Hebrews (AB; Garden City: Doubleday, 1972).
40tfried Hofius, Katapausis: Die Vorstellung vom Endzeitlichen Ruheort im Hebriier-
brief (Tubingen: Mohr, 1970)
280 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW

one degree or another, ill~minating,~ but the concentration on

these parallels may obscure the dynamics of Hebrews' argument,
which should serve as the fundamental criterion by which to assess
the work's eschatology. This brief paper will attempt to illuminate
those dynamics.
The pericope in question is part of a longer section beginning
with 3:l where it is argued that Jesus is superior to Moses as the
son is superior to a servant within a household. The addressees,
who have already been described as "partakers of a heavenly
calling" (3:1), are said to be members of that household, if they
hold fast to their hope (3:6b). What follows, from 3:7-4:11, is
essentially a complex bit of paraenesis which develops the implica-
tions of the conditional clause in 3:6b. That paraenesis proceeds
with an exegesis of Ps 95:7-11, cited in Heb 3:7-11.
The psalm quotation provides three essential components
which are subsequently developed. It begins with the adverb
szmeron. On the one hand, this provides the author with the basis
for the exegetical argument in 4:7-8, that David would not have
spoken of a day of rest after the conquest if the conquest had
made that rest possible. At the same time the author takes that
opening of the psalm as an address to his own generation (3:15, cf.
4:7). Thus "today" has a dual significance. It is interpreted both
within the context of the supposed original utterance of the psalm
by David and within the context of those who hear the challenge
of the psalm "at the end of these days" (1:2). That the promise
and challenge of the Scriptures are available in the author's
"today" is an important element of this paraenetic passage. Note
in particular 4:3, "For we who believe are entering the rest." The
psalm also compares its hearers with the desert generation
(3:8-10). Development of this typology is, of course, a major
element in what follows, where the author takes pains to point out
that the cause of the failure of the desert generation to obtain the
promised rest was its disobedience due to lack of faith (3:18-19).~

S~heissen(Untersuchungen, 124-29) criticized Kasemann's reliance on Barnabas

15. Instead he appeals to texts of Philo which deal with the theme of "rest in God,"
such as Quod Deus immut. 1 1 , to which Kasemann had already drawn attention;
Ques. Exod. 2.46; and Op$c. mund. 100. On the other hand, Hofius (Katapausis,
59-74) surveys a variety of apocalypses where the motif of an eschatological place
of rest appears, calling particular attention to 4 Ezra 7:36 and 8:52.
6The The charge against the desert generation in 3:18 involves an interesting
variant, d r x ~ u ~ r j a a a ~(P46,
v, Lat) instead of &xc~t77jaaarv,a variant which is
 HAROLD W. ATTRIDGE 281

Finally, the conclusion of the psalm quotation (3:ll) provides the

basis for the argument about God's rest in 4:l-11. The crux of the
author's argument lies in those verses and they merit closer
scrutiny.
The theme of this section is enunciated in the first verse of
chapter four. A promise to enter God's "rest" has been left in
force. That promise is, however, conditional on faithful obedience
to God. Therefore the current heirs of the promise are warned to
be fearful of falling short (4:l) and are encouraged to strive to
enter the "rest" (4:ll).
In order for these exhortations to make sense it is necessary
for our author to show that the promise is still in effect. That, in
fact, is the major import of the verses standing between the
inclusio of the two hortatory subjunctives of 4:l and 11. The
author could conceivably have made his point with a simple
observation which now forms almost an aside in this section. In vv
7-8, he again cites the opening of Psalm 97 and remarks that
David's call to hear the voice of God "today" would make little
sense if the "rest" mentioned in the psalm had been achieved by
the members of the Exodus generation. Had the author been
content with this observation, he would have advanced a relatively
simple typology. The Christian community would correspond to
the Exodus generation as antitype to type. The type did not
achieve its divinely intended goal because of faithless disobedience.
Therefore the antitype must pick up where the type left off, be
faithful and obedient to God's will and enter the "rest." This is
basically the way in which the argument here is understood by
those who see Hebrews as operating within an apocalyptic
framework, with a local understanding of katapausis. On this
reading the remarks of vv 3-5 are otiose, to say the least.
In fact, however, the author seems to lay heavy emphasis on
those verses, for they apparently provide the demonstration of his
essential contention, that the promise to enter God's rest still
remains open. Note that v 6 summarizes the preceding argument
and seems to draw an exegetical inference from it. What vv 3-5 in
effect achieve is to define God's "rest" in such a way as to support
the claim that the achievement of that rest remains a possibility.
paralleled in the allusions to the failure of the desert generation in Heb 4:6, 11. As
most commentators recognize, the substitution of "faithlessness" for "disobedi-
ence" in these verses'is most likely a simplifying correction, under the influence of
the prominence of "faithlessness" in 3:19 and 4:2. Of course, for Hebrews lack of
faith and disobedience are intimately connected.
282 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW

The author argues by means of a gezara shawa.' In Heb 4:3, the

term katapausis from Psalm 95 is associated with the verb kate-
pausen in Gen 2:2. This suggests that the "rest" promised in the
psalm is the same as the rest into which God himself entered on
the first ~ a b b a t hThat
. ~ suggestion is made explicit in v 9, "There-
fore a sabbatismos is left for the people of God." It seems clear
then that the author's argument, in his own estimation, hinges
upon the equation of katapausis and sabbatismos, that is, upon the
redefinition of the first term by means of the second.
What, in fact, has the author achieved by the redefinition? For
those who view this pericope simply in terms of Jewish apocalyptic
eschatology, the author's argument is hardly clear. For Buchanan,
who understands "rest" in the light of OT usage9 as a reference to
"quiet, independent existence on the promised land,"1 the term
sabbatismos reflects the association of "rest" terminology with the
sabbath rest, and the sabbatical and jubilee years." Its use in Heb
4:9 "provided a basis for understanding national 'rest' in sabbatical
terms."12 But ultimately for Buchanan the use of the sabbatismos
terminology is simply to point to God's behavior as a prototype for
that of Israel, who will, like God, rest from her works.13 While the

'cf. Hofius, Katapausis, 55

8 ~ h i move
s in the argument is already implicit in the comment that the author
appends to his citation of Ps 95:ll in Heb 4:3, K ~ ~ T OTOY L ZPYww ~wapohijs
~ d a p vyev-r)@iw.rwv,"even though the works had been completed from the
foundation of the world." The force of this remark is to emphasize that the divinely
promised "rest," (or "my rest," in the words of Ps 9 5 : l l ) is not primarily a future
reality pertaining primarily to human beings, but a feature of God's own existence
which precedes and stands outside of human history. Buchanan's translation
(Hebrews, 531, "namely, [from] the works [that] took place from the foundation of
the world," obscures the force of the remark, and is grammatically impossible.
Although the particle ~ a i r omay~ have the significance which Buchanan gives it
here, the anarthrous participle y t v r ) O i v ~ w vcannot be construed as attributive, as
Buchanan does. Hence the particle K ~ ~ T Omust L be seen in its more normal, adversa-
tive sense, used here with a genitive absolute.
9 ~ f especially
. Deut 12:9 and Exod 33:14. Buchanan (Hebrews, 64) also cites
Deut 29:9, which is quite irrelevant to the issue.
I0Buchanan, Hebrews, 71.
lllbid., 64.
I21bid., 71. Buchanan here also cites Isa 58:13-14, which is hardly an appropriate
parallel. Isa 58:12, to be sure, speaks of national restoraton, which is promised as a
reward for the behavior enjoined in vv 9-10. The national restoration is not spoken
of as "sabbatical" in any sense. V 13 constitutes yet another injunction, to keep the
sabbath, which will also have its reward, as promised in v 14.
I3~uchanan.Hebrews, 71.
 HAROLD W. ATTRIDGE

prototypical function of God's rest in this passage is clear, Bu-

chanan's insistence on the interpretation of the key terminology
here in essentially political terms leaves the relationship between
type and antitype purely formal. Buchanan, in fact, fails to recog-
nize that in Heb 4:4-5 an attempt is made to redefine the term
katapausis.
For Hofius, for whom the "rest" is a locale, specifically the
heavenly fatherland (Heb 11:14), the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb
11:10, 16; 12:22; 13:4), and the heavenly temple (10:la),14 the
term sabbatismos provides a more precise definition of what the
people of God have to expect in their eschatological katapausis,
namely, the festivity ,and praise of a sabbath celebration.15Some of
these connotations may well attach to the term used in Hebrews,
but to determine the basic sense of the term here by appeal to
parallel material is questionable. The most relevant factors for
interpreting katapausis here are (1) the fact that it summarizes the
implications of the gezara shawa argument of Heb 4:4-5, and (2)
that it is in turn interpreted by the remark of v 10 "he who enters
his rest himself has rested from his work as God did from his."
Thus the redefinition of katapausis in Ps 95:ll by the author of
Hebrews decisively dissociates the term from its potential political
or apocalyptic connotations. To enter God's "rest" is not to take
possession of the land of Israel, nor to enter a concrete eschatolo-
gical temple. Rather, it is to have a share in God's eternal
"sabbatical" repose.16

I4Hofius, Katapausis, 53-54. Hofius argues that the eschatological resting place
can be associated with realities created from the foundation of the world, a notion
with abundant parallels in apocalyptic and rabbinic literature. This understanding
does not do justice to the way in which Hebrews formulates the connection between
God's rest and the works of creation. Note in particular Heb 4:36 (on which see
also n. 8 above). God's rest, in the words of the psalm "my rest," is not included
among the things created ab initio, i.e., it is not one of God's works. It is rather the
state into which God enters when those works are accomplished. Any other
relationship between the "works" of creation and the "rest" would make unintelli-
gible the parallel drawn between God and his faithful people in Heb 4:lO.
I51bid., 102-10. In discussing the term sabbatismos, which is a hapax in the NT,
Hofius provides a useful collection of comparative material from later sources. This
material is not decisive, however, for the interpretation of the term in Hebrews.
Hofius also properly criticizes Kasemann's speculation that sabbatismos reflects
Gnostic aeonic speculation about the Hebdomad.
I6The logic of the author of Hebrews' argument also reduces the significance of
the observation by Hofius (Katapausis, 98) that there is a clear distinction between
the katapausis language of Hebrews and the anapausis language of Gnostic texts, a
284 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW

The redefinition of God's rest provided in vv 3-9 substantially

affects the logic of the typological exhortation used here. The
author of Hebrews does not make a simple analogy between his
contemporaries and the Exodus generation, but rather advances a
rather complex argument which may be outlined as follows. The
Christian community corresponds to the Exodus generation as
antitype to type. Furthermore, the goal which the Exodus genera-
tion pursued corresponds to the goal which Christians pursue in
the same way, as antitype to type. However, the type in this
analogy (the rest in the land of Canaan) is itself an antitype of a
more original type, the state of rest which God himself entered at
the completion of the week of creation.
The complex relationship among the items under discussion in
this pericope is by no means unique. A similar set of relationships
obtains in at least one other appeal to the Exodus generation in
early Christian paraenesis and precisely the same relationship is
perceived by the author of Hebrews in his discussion of the temple
cult. These two parallels will be discussed in turn.
In 1 Cor 10:l-13 Paul also appeals to the Exodus generation in
his warning to the Corinthian community not to presume on the
efficacy of their sacramental activity." As in Hebrews the main
thrust of the analogy is the comparison between Israelites and
Christians and, as in Hebrews, the inference drawn from the
analogy is an ethical one: "These things occurred as types of us, so
that we might not be desirous of evils, as many of them desired"
(1 Cor 10:6). "Do not be idolaters . . . nor let us commit
fornication . . . nor let us tempt Christ" (1 Cor 10:7-9). The basis
of the comparison is also, as in Hebrews, a presumption that
Christians live at the end of time: "These things happened in a
typical way to them, and were written as a warning for us, on
whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Cor 10:11, cf. Heb 1:2).
fact which supports for Hofius the contention that Hebrews is speaking of a specific
locale over against some Gnostic language about an eschatological state. It must be
recognized that the term for the divine "rest" which Hebrews uses in this pericope
is determined by the psalm which is the subject of the author's exegesis. The
meaning of that language, however, depends on the exegesis. The relationship
between Hebrews' concept of rest and that which appears in Gnostic sources needs
to be more carefully considered and that cannot be done in detail here. Such an
investigation will probably reveal important similarities due to the background of
popular Platonism which affects both Hebrews and Gnosticism.
"For analysis of the pericope and reference to further literature see in particular
the commentary by Hans Conzelmann, 1 Corinthians (Hermeneia; Philadelphia;
Fortress, 1975) 164-69.
 HAROLD W. ATTRIDGE 285

Paul, just as the author of Hebrews, is not content with the

simple correspondence between the failure of the Exodus genera-
tion and the potential failure of the Corinthian community. He
also finds further analogies between the Exodus experience and
the Christian experience which lend his basic exhortation added
force. The Israelites, like the Christians, experienced a "baptism"
by passing through the sea and being led by the cloud (1 Cor
10:2). They also partook of a "eucharist" in the manna (1 Cor
10:3). They in fact partook of "Christ" in the rock which followed
them.
In highlighting those aspects of the Exodus experience which
can be interpreted typologically of the Christian sacraments, Paul is
obviously focusing on an aspect of the OT account which is of little
interest to Hebrews.'* His typological exegesis is suited to the
needs of his particular argument with the Corinthian community.
Nonetheless, there is a generic similarity between the way Paul
and the author of Hebrews use Exodus traditions. Both find in the
events recounted in the Hebrew Scripture a significance which is
perceptible only on the basis of the antitypes of those events in
Christian experience.19 This phenomenon perhaps makes more
comprehensible the reinterpretation of the "rest" motif in He-
brews. The author of Hebrews, like Paul, is by no means bound to
the primary, literal force of the language recounting those events.
Another related feature of Paul's exegesis in 1 Corinthians 10
parallels the moves which Hebrews makes. As in Hebrews, Paul
finds that the events of the Exodus acquire their eschatological
significance because they are in some way related to a primordial
reality. This is certainly the force of the rather obscure remark that
the rock which followed the Israelites in the desert was Christ (1

I8LJnlessthe enigmatic reference to the "altar from which those who serve the
tabernacle have no right to eat" (Heb 13:lO) alludes to the eucharist, which is
unlikely. For discussion of this verse, see J. M. Creed, "Hebrews xiii.10," ET 50
(1938-39) 13-15; E. L. Randall, "The Altar of Hebr. 13,lO" Australasian Catholic
Record (1969) 197-208; Floyd V. Filson, 'Yesterday': A Study of Hebrews in the
Light of Chapter 13 (London: SCM, 1967) 48-54; and the commentary by F. F.
Bruce, Hebrews, 401-2. In any case, it is clear that Christian sacraments are not a
major interest of Hebrews.
19whether or not Paul's reading of the Exodus story as a typology of Christian
sacraments was based on a previous Jewish justification of baptism is not relevant to
our considerations here. It is clear that the significance which Paul gives the OT
types derives from his judgment as to what the antitypes are. On the issue of a pre-
Pauline tradition behind 1 Cor 10:2, cf. Conzelmann, I Corinthians, 165, n. 17.
286 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW

Cor 10:4).20 In this remark Paul apparently accords a higher

significance to the Exodus events than does the author of He-
brews. For the latter there seems to be no question that the rest
pursued by the Exodus generation was anything more than the
settlement in the land (cf. esp. Heb 4:8). That literal "rest,"
however, pointed to another, more basic reality which actually
constituted the content of God's promise. For Paul, the Exodus
generation actually did have access to "Christ." In both cases the
correspondence drawn between historical types and antitypes is
made possible because the types themselves stand in some rela-
tionship to some prior reality.
The formal correspondences between Paul and Hebrews on the
significance of the Exodus events suggest that both are operating
within a tradition of Christian reflection on the subject. That
Hebrews in particular is dealing with a traditional type of exegesis
here is not surprising, given the location within the plan of the
whole work of the pericope in question. The heart of the dogmatic
argument of Hebrews, focusing in Christ the High Priest of a new
covenant, extends from 5:14-10:39. The novelty of the argument
is clearly indicated in 6:l-3. What precedes the central dogmatic
section, from 1:l-4:13, is in many ways a prologue, bounded by
the references to God's word (1:l; 2:2; 4:12-13).
The second, and perhaps more significant, parallel to the com-
plex exegetical logic of Heb 4:3-10 appears later in the epistle, in
the discussion of the relationship of the old and new sacrificial
systems, within the context of the discussion of the old and new
covenants. Basic to this discussion, as to the analogy between the
Exodus generation and the Christian community, is the correspon-
dence between new and old (Heb 8:8, 13). Intersecting this
analogy is, however, another, comparing and contrasting the earth-
ly and the heavenly. On the one hand the relationship between old
and new is of type to antitype, as is clear from the whole

*O~orthe haggadic basis of the remark in 1 Cor 10:4, cf. Conzelmann, 1

Corinthians, 166, n. 25. Conzelmann correctly draws attention to two important
features of the typological argument of Paul. On the one hand (p. 166, n. 18) "the
very structure of the typology itself . . . tells against the direct equation of
sacrament then and now." Paul is not arguing that the OT types are to be precisely
equated with their NT antitypes. At the same time, the type has its significance
because of its relationship to a prior reality. "The 'was' of the typological statement,
of the interpretation of the rock as being Christ, means real pre-existence, not
merely symbolic significance" ( I Corinthians, 167).
 HAROLD W. ATTRIDGE 287

discussion. On the other hand the OT type in this relationship

clearly derives its significance from the antitype: "For the Law,
having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image
of those things . . ." (Heb 10:l). The types are, moreover,
antitypes of more fundamental realities: "For Christ did not enter
into holy place made by hands, antitypes of the true holy places,
but into heaven itself' (Heb 9:24).
The significance of Christ's entry into the heavenly sanctuary
presents its own problems, and the ultimate significance of the
whole typological scheme underlying the argument of Hebrews
needs to be assessed as to the way in which the primordial "type"
is ultimately conceived. This issue cannot be treated in detail
here.21 What is important to note for our purposes is the way in
which the logic of the argument functions. The old covenant's type
does not, by any means, precisely define the significance of the
new covenant's antitype. Rather, the former achieves its signifi-
cance from the intersection of two vectors, as it were, the defini-
tive events establishing new covenant and the primordial realities
to which those events of the new covenant both point and provide
access.
Thus the exegetical logic implicit in the typological use of the
Exodus in other early Christian paraenesis, the logic made explicit
in the comparison of new and old covenants in Hebrews 9-10, and
indeed throughout much of Hebrews generally, is precisely the
logic at work in the passage in the Exodus generation in Heb
3:l-4:ll.

Conclusion
Hebrews is by no means an easy text to understand. It
combines various Jewish and Hellenistic traditions in a subtle and
intricate way and often significantly redefines the significance of
traditional material. Parallels to its imagery and language from
apocalyptic, Jewish philosophical and Greek religious sources can
often be suggestive about the significance of the text or about the
presuppositions of its original audience, but they cannot be by

* ' ~ l t i m a t e l ~the
, significance of the types in Hebrews' cultic argument must be
seen in the way that they point to the interiority of the new covenant, an interiority
intimately associated with the primordial realities of which the types themselves are
antitypes. Heb 10:s-10 is central for developing this understanding. Note also 8:10
and 9:14.
288 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW

themselves decisive for exegesis of Hebrews. This is especially true

in those passages where our author deals with eschatological ma-
terial. At work throughout Hebrews is a complex process of
interpretation of inherited symbols. The logic of this process must
be carefully observed if any adequate interpretation of the text is
to be possible. While this paper has not definitely solved the
question of Hebrews' eschatology, it has attempted to provide
some guidelines for its resolution.