1. The Superiority of Jesus to Joshua

Elaborating further on the typological connection between the experience of the generation of the exodus and that of the readers, the author goes on in Heb 4:1-10 to argue that Jesus (the son) is superior to Joshua because Jesus is able to bring the "rest" that Joshua could not. Reference to this "rest" first appeared in the citation from Ps 95:7b-11 (LXX Ps 94:7b-11) earlier in Heb 3:7-11, and is reintroduced in Heb 4:1, 5, 6, 11. The author assumes that "rest" is the same for the generation of the exodus and for the readers, as type to antitype. (In this the author's contrast is between two generations of God's chosen people.) It should be noted that in Greek Jesus and Joshua are really the same name (Iêsous), which makes the typology even clearer: the second Jesus is the antitype of the first Jesus (Joshua), insofar as he, like his typological correspondent, is to lead God's people into the promised rest. (On the author's use of the Old Testament in Heb 4, see Schierse, Verheißung und Heilsvollendung, 112-15; Schröger, Der Verfasser des Hebräerbrief als Schriftausleger, 109-15; Hofius, Katapausis.)

    In Heb 4:1, the author says that, since the promise of rest remains open "we should be cautious" (lit. "let us fear") that none of the readers seems to miss entering that rest. The conjunction oun ("therefore") connects Heb 4:1-10 with 3:7-19 as the conclusion that follows from it. In fact, Heb 4:1-10 represents the application to the readers of Ps 95:11, the last line of the portion of Ps 95 cited by the author: "They shall not enter into my rest." "Not to enter the rest" is the consequence of "turning away from the living God" (Heb 3:12). (The aorist participle kateleipomenês ["remaining open"] indicates a present fact.) The use of the verb "to seem" (to miss) implies that the author does not really think that any of his readers has actually missed entering the rest, and so functions to attenuate his warning.) The "rest" (katapausis) referred to previously was the "rest" that the generation of the exodus was supposed to enter, the promised land, but did not because of their unbelief (Num 14:22-23). Since the generation of exodus could not enter the "rest," meaning the promised land, the "rest" remained unentered; the author then exegetically exploits this idea of a rest that still remains to be entered. Implicitly, however, he is referring to another "rest" that still remains open to be entered; this is the typological counterpart to the land as rest, eschatological salvation, its antitype. The next generation of Israelites did enter the rest understood as the promised land (see Deut 31:7; Josh 21:43, and especially Josh 22:4: "Now the Lord our God has given rest to our brothers" (LXX: nun de katepausen hurios ho theos hêmôn tous adelphous hêmôn), but, according to the author, in spite of this historical fact, there is another "rest" that still remains to be entered and will remain open until the end. (No doubt, he means that the rest remains open as long as it remains "Today" [Heb 3:13]. For the author "Today" is the period of time in history when it is possible to become a "partner with Christ" [Heb 3:14].) (There is a parallel to the use of "rest" [katapausis] to mean eternal life in Joseph and Aseneth [8:9]: "And let her enter your rest, which you have prepared for your chosen ones, and live in your eternal life for ever and ever." Hofius point out correctly, however, that for the author of Hebrews the "rest" is still future and is the eschatological hope of the readers, even though he wrongly claims that it consists of entrance into the holy of holies in the eschatological tabernacle [Katapausis].)

    In Heb 4:2, the author refers back to the unbelief of the generation of the exodus and typologically compares that generation with the present generation, which includes his readers. He says that the generation of the exodus had "good news" preached to them, just as his readers had. But he then adds that "the word that they heard" (logos tês akoês) provided them with no benefit. (The phrase logos tês akoês is a genitive of quality: "the heard word"). It should be noted that here is a textual problem that has implications for exegesis. Was the participle used is sunkekerasmenous (accusative plural participle) ("mixed") or the less well-attested sunkek(e)ra(s)menos (nominative single participle)?  If the former then its antecedent is ekeinous, the object of the verb "benefits" (ôphelêsen) ("those ones" for whom the word of faith had no benefit), in which case the meaning would be that the reason that the word heard had no benefit was because those who heard it were not united by faith (tê pistei) (instrumental dative) with those who heard (tois akousasin) (dative of association). The implication is that "those who heard" heard truly or heard to good effect, i.e., heard and believed. Who this group represents is not clear, but could represent every Israelite of that generation except Joshua and Caleb, who alone believed. In this case, it is a mixing or a union of persons with persons. If the latter, then the antecedent subject is logos tês akoês ("word of hearing"), and there are two possible meanings of this clause. First, the dative tê pistei ("faith") could be taken to function as the object of the participle, so that the meaning is that the word was not mixed with faith in those who heard it (dative of reference). Second, the meaning could be that the reason that the word heard had no benefit was that it was not mixed or incorporated by faith (instrumental dative) in those who heard (tois akousasin) (dative of advantage). It is probable that the correct reading is sunkekerasmenous (accusative plural participle) ("mixed"), because this is best supported by the textual evidence. On either reading, however, the point is that what is heard, then and now, is of no use unless there is the response of faith. In the author's interpretation, the good news of liberation from Egyptian slavery and a promised land is typological of the good news of the freedom from one who holds the power of death ("Through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives" [Heb 2:15]) and of the possibility of eschatological salvation, described variously so far as "salvation" (Heb 1:14; 2:3, 10), "glory" (Heb 2:10), "heavenly calling" (Heb 3:1) and being "partners with Christ" (Heb 3:14). Those who hear of the good news of eschatological salvation must believe what is heard. (In the Tosepta, based on an interpretation of Ps 95 in light of Num 14, Rabbi argues that the generation of the exodus would not receive a share in the world to come, while R. Eliezer, relying upon Ps 50:5, argues that it would [see also Abot R.N. 36]. This means that, parallel to the author of Hebrews, the early rabbis interprets the "rest" of Ps 95 eschatologically [see Hofius, Katapausis, 44-47.)

    In Heb 4:3a the author says that, in contrast to them, "we who believe enter the rest," alluding to Ps 95:11. But it must be noted that the psalmist is referring to the events of the exodus and therefore, for him, rest means the promised land. For the author, however, the rest that the generation of the exodus failed to enter and the rest that believers enter is the same rest, but this cannot mean that the rest spoken about is the promised land. The author can equate the rest entered into by his readers with the rest not entered into by the generation of the exodus, because the promised land is a type of eschatological salvation. The present tense is used ("We enter the rest"), so that eschatological salvation as rest is seen a present reality, even if it does have a consummation in the future (see Heb 9:10 "the time of reformation"). (On the theme of faith in the Letter to the Hebrews, see E. Gräßer, Der Glaube im Hebräerbrief.)

    In Heb 4:3b-5, the argument becomes even more complicated, because the author introduces another notion of rest, that of the Sabbath rest; he identifies the rest that the Israelites of the generation of the exodus failed to enter and the rest that his readers could enter (i.e., eschatological salvation) with God's own Sabbath rest in Gen 2:2-3 and Exod 20:11. (In introducing LXX Gen 2:2-3, the author uses the vague formula "For he has spoken somewhere..." [eirêken gar pou...].) Exegetically, the author can do this because, unlike the MT, the same word for rest in the LXX is used in these contexts, suggesting that one and the same rest is being referred to in all the contexts (katapausis (Ps 95 [94]); katapauô Gen 2:2-3; Exod 20:11). The author uses a nother gezera shawa type of interpretation: what Ps 95 and Gen 2:2-3 have is common is the word "reast" (katapausis); this allows the author to interpret one passage in light of the other.  In Heb 4:3b, he says that God's Sabbath rest remains a possibility, even though God has already entered it at the completion of creation; this is because God's Sabbath rest is a type of "rest" as eschatological salvation. In fact, the Sabbath rest that God entered into upon his completion of creation and the rest that the generation of the exodus did not enter into, but could have, are the same rest, insofar as both are typological of rest as eschatological salvation. The author semantically identifies different uses of the same word ("rest"), so that all instances in which that word occurs are assumed to be speaking of the same thing. He does this on the assumption of the typological correspondences between the types (Sabbath rest and promised land) and antitype, eschatological salvation. (In m. Tamid 7:4, the "time to come" is compared to the Sabbth and is called "rest in life everlasting.") (This is contrary to Hofius, who argues that the author means by sabbatimos the opportunity to praise God. Again, Hofius does not appreciate the typological interpretation of the author [Katapausis, 106-10].

    In Heb 4:6-7, the author writes that the rest remains open for some to enter it and those who first heard it did not enter because they not did believe. This is why God sets a time appropriate to enter that rest, the "Today" of which David, the psalmist, wrote in Ps 95 (94): since it is always today then it is always time to enter that rest, at least until the time appointed by God for final judgment. (As stated previously, for the author, "Today" is the period in which repentance and forgiveness are possible.) The author assumes that the rest not entered into by the generation of the exodus and the Sabbath rest are typological of rest as eschatological salvation. Thus, David's admonition is assumed to be addressed also to those alive in these latter days, during the period of fulfillment (known as the "last days" [Heb 1:2] and "the world to come" [Heb 2:5]): "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." The fact that the rest remains open explains why David could admonish his own generation that "Today" they should not harden their hearts; what he meant, in the author's view, was that his generation should not only not harden their hearts, but enter into the rest that remains open, eschatological salvation. It is reasoned that there still remained for those of David's generation a "rest" into which they could enter, or else David would not have admonished them not to be like the generation of the exodus, which did not enter the rest. This means that Joshua could not have given the people true rest, but only a typological rest (4:8). The giving of true rest, the anitype of the promised land and Sabbath rest, is possible only by means of the antitype of Joshua, Jesus, the son.

    In Heb 4:9, the author, having identified the Sabbath rest with the rest that still remains open, so long as it is "Today," can now say that a Sabbath rest (sabbatismos) still remains open for the people of God. (The Sabbath is called "the day of rest" (hê hêmera tês katapauseôs) in 2 Macc 15:1.) He means that the possibility of eschatological salvation remains open. The implication is that there will come a time when the possibility of eschatological salvation will come to an end, which is coincidental with final judgment (see 1 Enoch 94:10; 104.8-9; 4 Ezra 7.82, 102-15; 9.10-12 for parallels). In Heb 4:10, the author says that those who enter this rest cease from their labors as God did. Rest from labor is typological of eternal salvation (because of the obviously analogical relation between them):  Life in an unredeemed world is experienced as burdensome, from which one needs rest. Thus, the "Sabbath rest" is something that still lies in the future, and would seem to be a synonym for the consummation of eschatological salvation.
 

2. Summary of Typology in Heb 3:7-4:10

Type	Antitype
1a. "Good News" of liberation from Egypt and entrance into promised land	1b. "Good News" of liberation from one who holds the power of death (the devil) (Heb 2:14-15) and entrance into eschatological salvation
2a. Unbelief and disobedience of the generation of the exodus	2b. Unbelief and disobedience of the generation of the generation of "the latter days" (Heb 1:2)
3a. Punishment of generation of the exodus consisting of not being allowed to enter "the rest"	3b. (Potential) punishment of generation of "the latter days" consisting of not being allowed to enter "the rest"
4a. "The rest" as promised land 5a. "The rest" as God's Sabbath rest, when God ceased from work	4b, 5b. "The rest" as eternal salvation
6a. Joshua (Jesus) as the one who leads people into "the rest" (promised land)	6b. Jesus (the son) as the one who leads people into "the rest" (eternal salvation)