Hebrews 3:16-19

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hebrews 3:7-19

Here the apostle proceeds in pressing upon them serious counsels and cautions to the close of the chapter; and he recites a passage out of Ps. 95:7; where observe, I. What he counsels them to do?to give a speedy and present attention to the call of Christ. ?Hear his voice, assent to, approve of, and consider, what God in Christ speaks unto you; apply it to yourselves with suitable affections and endeavours, and set about it this very day, for to-morrow it may be too late.? II. What he cautions... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Hebrews 3:7-19

3:7-19 So then, as the Holy Spirit says, "If today you will hear my voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the Provocation, as happened on the day of the Temptation in the wilderness, where your fathers tried to test me, and, in consequence, experienced for forty years what I could do. So my anger was kindled against that generation, and I said, 'Always they wander in their hearts; they do not know my ways.' So I swore in my anger, 'Very certainly they shall not enter in to my rest.'" Have a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 3:16

For some, when, they had heard ,.... The Arabic version adds, "his voice"; the law on Mount Sinai; the voice of words, with the voices and thunderings that attended it; the book of the covenant read; the whole system of laws and ordinances delivered to Moses, and by him to them; and also the Gospel, for that was preached to the Israelites in the wilderness, and heard by them; as appears from Hebrews 4:2 and which seems chiefly intended: and yet some of the hearers of it did provoke ;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 3:17

But with whom was he grieved forty years ?.... As is said in Psalm 95:10 ; see Gill on Hebrews 3:10 , was it not with them that had sinned ; not merely by committing personal iniquities, and particular provocations, which all men are guilty of, but by committing public sins; they sinned as a body of men; they joined together in the commission of sin; every sin is grieving to God, because it is contrary to his nature, is an act of enmity to him, is a transgression of his righteous... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 3:18

And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest ,.... As in Psalm 95:11 , but to them that believed not ? the Lord; notwithstanding the signs and wonders he showed among them, they would not be persuaded by Moses and Aaron, by Joshua and Caleb, to be still and quiet, to cease murmuring, and submit to the will of God, and believe in him; they were disobedient, stubborn, and rebellious, and would go up, when they were bid not to go up; for which reason God swore in his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 3:19

So we see that they could not enter in ,.... To God's rest, the land of Canaan, for they died by the plague before the Lord, and their carcasses fell in the wilderness, before they came to it, Numbers 14:37 and the reason was, because of unbelief ; their distrust of God, his power, and his providence; this instance is produced by the apostle, to show the evil nature of unbelief, and the sad effects of it; to deter persons from it, and that they might take heed of encouraging it; and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 3:16

For some, when they had heard, did provoke - There is a various reading here, which consists merely in the different placing of an accent, and yet gives the whole passage a different turn: - τινες , from τις , who, if read with the accent on the epsilon, τινὲς , is the plural indefinite, and signifies some, as in our translation; if read with the accent on the iota, τίνες , it has an interrogative meaning; and, according to this, the whole clause, τίνες γαρ ακουσαντες... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 3:17

But with whom was he grieved forty years? - I believe it was Surenhusius who first observed that "the apostle, in using the term forty years, elegantly alludes to the space of time which had elapsed since the ascension of our Lord till the time in which this epistle was written, which was about forty years." But this does not exactly agree with what appears to be the exact date of this epistle. However, God had now been a long time provoked by that race rejecting the manifested Messiah, as... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 3:18

To whom sware he - God never acts by any kind of caprice; whenever he pours out his judgments, there are the most positive reasons to vindicate his conduct. Those whose carcasses fell in the wilderness were they who had sinned. And those who did not enter into his rest were those who believed not. God is represented here as swearing that they should not enter in, in order to show the determinate nature of his purpose, the reason on which it was founded, and the height of the aggravation... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 3:19

So we see that they could not enter in - It was no decree of God that prevented them, it was no want of necessary strength to enable them, it was through no deficiency of Divine counsel to instruct them; all these they had in abundance: but they chose to sin, and would not believe. Unbelief produced disobedience, and disobedience produced hardness of heart and blindness of mind; and all these drew down the judgments of God, and wrath came upon them to the uttermost. This whole chapter, as... read more

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