Sabbatismos: Does Hebrews 4:9 Teach Rest on the Sabbath?

Some have been puzzled as to the meaning of Hebrews 4:9, which says, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.”

The confusion generally arises over the Greek word sabbatismos, which is translated “rest” in the New King James Version of the Bible.

A number of other translations, such as the American Standard Version, New International Version, International Standard Version, Christian Standard Bible and English Standard Version, translate this word as “Sabbath rest.” The Bible in Basic English translates it “Sabbath-keeping.”

New Testament Sabbath

There are many examples in the New Testament of Jesus Christ, the apostles and the New Testament Church continuing to keep the seventh-day Sabbath as taught in the Fourth Commandment. And there are no passages in the New Testament where the Sabbath was changed or replaced. (For careful study of this subject, download our free booklet The Sabbath: A Neglected Gift From God.)

But some have pointed out that the Sabbath commandment is not repeated in the New Testament, while most or all of the other commandments are repeated.

But understanding Hebrews 4:9 in context and the meaning of the Greek word sabbatismos helps show that the seventh-day Sabbath continued to be essential to New Testament Christians.

Let’s consider the context and the different words for rest that the writer of Hebrews wove together to make his point.

Physical rest

The writer of Hebrews uses the concept of rest in several different ways in chapters 3 and 4. First, rest (from the Greek word katapausis) is spoken of in the sense of the physical rest from wandering that the ancient Israelites would receive when they entered the Promised Land (Hebrews 3:7-11).

The reason the first generation of Israelites who left Egypt did not experience this rest is because of their great rebellion against God. This rebellion—termed “the rebellion” (verses 8 and 15) and “the day of trial in the wilderness” (verse 8)—was their refusal to go into the land after 10 of the 12 men who spied out the Promised Land gave negative reports (Numbers 14:1-38).

Reflecting back on this dark time in Israel’s history, God said, “Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them. Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them” (Ezekiel 20:12-13).

An important point to note from this passage is that God included Sabbath breaking as part of this generation’s great rebellion.

Sabbath rest

The word rest (from the Greek word katapauo) is also used in this section of Scripture to describe keeping the Sabbath.

As Hebrews 4:4 says, “For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.’”

Spiritual rest

The writer of the book of Hebrews also uses the word rest (from the Greek word katapausis) in the sense of a future relationship with God saying, “We who have believed do enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:3). He further states that “it remains that some must enter” this rest (verse 6).

Recognizing this rest as a future relationship with God, some have mistakenly assumed that the rest (sabbatismos) of Hebrews 4:9 has no connection to the Sabbath. As we’ve seen, such an interpretation overlooks the author’s explicit reference to this command.

While making the point that there is a future rest Christians can have with God, the author also connects the Sabbath to this rest. While making the point that there is a future rest Christians can have with God, the author also connects the Sabbath to this rest, noting: “For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: ‘So I swore in My wrath, “They shall not enter My rest,”’ although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works’” (Hebrews 4:3-4).

Adam Clarke, in his commentary on Exodus 20:8, says regarding the Sabbath: “It typifies the rest which remains for the people of God, and in this light it evidently appears to have been understood by the apostle, Hebrews 4. …

“Some have presumptuously inferred that there is no Sabbath under the Christian dispensation. The truth is, the Sabbath is considered as a type. All types are of full force till the thing signified by them takes place. But the thing signified by the Sabbath is that rest in glory which remains for the people of God, therefore the moral obligation of the Sabbath must continue till time be swallowed up in eternity” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary).

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The meaning of sabbatismos

In his notes on Hebrews 4:9, Albert Barnes says sabbatismos means “Sabbatism” or “keeping of a Sabbath,” as it is rendered in the margin of the King James Version of the Bible. The meaning of Hebrews 4:9 then is, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God” (English Standard Version).

Sabbath-keeping continues for Christians today who look forward to being in God’s Kingdom. This weekly act of keeping the Sabbath reminds us of this glorious hope.

Verse 10 also infers Sabbath-keeping: “For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.”

The point is that if we want to have a relationship with God, we need to imitate Him. Christ kept the Sabbath (Luke 4:16), and we are told that we ought to “walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6).

Sabbatismos in other Greek literature

Because sabbatismos is not found in any other passage in the New Testament, some have mistakenly suggested that the author of the book of Hebrews made up this word and that it has a spiritualized meaning other than keeping the Sabbath. However, secular writings of the first century confirm its usage and its meaning as noted above.

Professor Andrew T. Lincoln states, “The use of sabbatismos elsewhere in extant Greek literature gives an indication of its more exact shade of meaning. It is used in Plutarch, De Superstitione 3 (Moralia 166A) of Sabbath observance. There are also four occurrences in post canonical literature that are independent of Hebrews 4:9. They are Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 23:3; Epiphanius, Adversus Haereses 30:2:2; Martyrium Petri et Pauli 1; Apostolic Constitutions 2:36:2.

“In each of these places the term denotes the observance or celebration of the Sabbath. This usage corresponds to the Septuagint usage of the cognate verb sabbatizo (cf. Exodus 16:30; Leviticus. 23:32; 26:34; 2 Chronicles. 36:21), which also has reference to Sabbath observance. Thus the writer to the Hebrews is saying that since the time of Joshua an observance of the Sabbath rest has been outstanding” (“Sabbath, Rest and Eschatology in the New Testament,” From Sabbath to Lord’s Day, ed. D.A. Carson, 1982, p. 213).

The Sabbath in Hebrews

In his book The Sabbath in the New Testament, Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi wrote, “The Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God (4:9) is not a day of mere idleness for the author of Hebrews, but rather an opportunity renewed every week to enter God’s rest, that is, to free oneself from the cares of work in order to experience freely by faith God’s creation and redemption rest. …

“‘The Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God’ (Heb 4:9) is not only a physical cessation from work to commemorate God’s perfect creation but also a spiritual entering into God’s rest (Heb 4:10) made possible through Christ’s complete redemption. The physical act of resting becomes the vehicle through which one experiences the spiritual rest. We cease from our daily work to allow God to work in us more freely and fully” (1985, pp. 76-77).

There remains a Sabbath rest

So sabbatismos is clearly about celebrating the Sabbath. It continued as the day of rest and worship for the New Testament Church of God. “There remains, therefore, a Sabbath rest for the people of God to keep” (Hebrews 4:9, International Standard Version).

For more on the Sabbath, read the other articles in this section on “The Fourth Commandment: Remember the Sabbath Day.”