The Meaning of "my rest" in Ps 95:11b

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Introduction

Psalm 95 finishes with YHWH's oath, אִם־יְ֝בֹא֗וּן אֶל־מְנוּחָתִֽי "They will not enter into my rest!" (95:11b). From the original context of the rebellion at Meribah/Massah (see v. 9), it is clear that the "rest" not to be enjoyed was the promised land.[1] For the original audience of the psalm (and contemporary readership), however, belonging to a later generation than those who were denied entry into the promised land of Canaan, the denotation of "rest" is not clear. If one of the purposes of the psalm is to make the hearer feel hopeful that they, unlike their ancestors, will enter into YHWH's rest,[2] this raises the question: what is the denotation of "my rest" (מְנוּחָתִי) in this new context? For the original audience of Psalm 95, YHWH's "rest," which they are encouraged to strive to enter, could refer to one of three things:

  1. the land once again, perhaps after the Babylonian exile;
  2. the temple; or
  3. an eschatological state of union with YHWH.


These will be explored in the argument maps which follow.[3]

Argument Maps

The land of Canaan

Some scholars argue that for the Psalm's original audience "my rest" denotes the land of Canaan. 


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[Land of Canaan]: "My rest" denotes the land of Canaan for the Psalm's original audience (Schniedewind 1995, 547 :A:). #dispreferred
 + <Original context>: The original context of v. 11's oath was entering the promised land after the Exodus, which served as a model for the exilic community in Babylon, such that "the Babylonian exile was their Egypt and wilderness, and the psalmist enjoins them to listen to God's voice so that they may 'enter into his rest,' that is, so they might again be his people and might return to the land of Israel" (Schniedewind 1995, 547 :A:).#dispreferred
  + [Co-text and canonical context]: See vv. 9-10: "do not harden your heart as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the wilderness ... For forty years I was disgusted with a generation"; cf. the Massah/Meribah grumbling in Exod 17:7; Deut 9:22, which were then referenced once more when Moses and Aaron were denied entry into the promised land (Num 20:10-13, 24; 27:14; Deut 32:51), and Num 14:34: "For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you" (NIV; cf. Heb 3:17-19). #dispreferred
  <_ <Post-exilic dating>: Although a post-exilic date is plausible for Ps 95, it is not a certainty.
  <_ <Exile>: If the psalm were post-exilic, the appeal to covenant obedience would most likely reference the exile and not the wilderness wanderings. 
   - <People's origins>: Returning to the people's origins in the wilderness wanderings makes for a stronger rhetorical argument for covenant faithfulness (Alonso Schökel 1993, 274 :C:), especially as the first mention of the people being shepherded (Ḥakham 1979, 202 :C:; Ps 77:21; 78:52). "It could also serve to explain to the post-exilic generation why the exile and loss of land took place" (Prinsloo 1995, 407). "It reuses language and imagery from well known, highly charged foundational narratives ... resulting in a deeper experience of the teaching that is being imparted" (Harkins 2023, 96-97 :A:).#dispreferred
 - <Discourse context>: The psalm up to this point has provided an invitation and exhortation to temple worship. If one reads the "land" into the contemporary reading of "my rest," this "does not locate verse 11 within the structure of the entire psalm and therefore delimits its context too narrowly" (Braulik 1986, 35 :A:, own translation; cf. Van Petegem 2008, 242 :A:). 
  + [vv. 1-2]: "Come, let us shout for joy to YHWH! Let us cry out to the rock of our salvation! Let us approach his presence with praise; in songs we will cry out to him."
  + [vv. 6-11]: "Come (בֹּ֭אוּ), let us shout bow down and kneel... 'They will not enter (יְ֝בֹא֗וּן) into my rest!'"


Argument Mapn0Land of Canaan"My rest" denotes the land of Canaan for the Psalm's original audience (Schniedewind 1995, 547 🄰). n1Co-text and canonical contextSee vv. 9-10: "do not harden your heart as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the wilderness ... For forty years I was disgusted with a generation"; cf. the Massah/Meribah grumbling in Exod 17:7; Deut 9:22, which were then referenced once more when Moses and Aaron were denied entry into the promised land (Num 20:10-13, 24; 27:14; Deut 32:51), and Num 14:34: "For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you" (NIV; cf. Heb 3:17-19). n4Original contextThe original context of v. 11's oath was entering the promised land after the Exodus, which served as a model for the exilic community in Babylon, such that "the Babylonian exile was their Egypt and wilderness, and the psalmist enjoins them to listen to God's voice so that they may 'enter into his rest,' that is, so they might again be his people and might return to the land of Israel" (Schniedewind 1995, 547 🄰).n1->n4n2vv. 1-2"Come, let us shout for joy to YHWH! Let us cry out to the rock of our salvation! Let us approach his presence with praise; in songs we will cry out to him."n8Discourse contextThe psalm up to this point has provided an invitation and exhortation to temple worship. If one reads the "land" into the contemporary reading of "my rest," this "does not locate verse 11 within the structure of the entire psalm and therefore delimits its context too narrowly" (Braulik 1986, 35 🄰, own translation; cf. Van Petegem 2008, 242 🄰). n2->n8n3vv. 6-11"Come (בֹּ֭אוּ), let us shout bow down and kneel... 'They will not enter (יְ֝בֹא֗וּן) into my rest!'"n3->n8n4->n0n5Post-exilic datingAlthough a post-exilic date is plausible for Ps 95, it is not a certainty.n5->n4n6ExileIf the psalm were post-exilic, the appeal to covenant obedience would most likely reference the exile and not the wilderness wanderings. n6->n4n7People's originsReturning to the people's origins in the wilderness wanderings makes for a stronger rhetorical argument for covenant faithfulness (Alonso Schökel 1993, 274 🄲), especially as the first mention of the people being shepherded (Ḥakham 1979, 202 🄲; Ps 77:21; 78:52). "It could also serve to explain to the post-exilic generation why the exile and loss of land took place" (Prinsloo 1995, 407). "It reuses language and imagery from well known, highly charged foundational narratives ... resulting in a deeper experience of the teaching that is being imparted" (Harkins 2023, 96-97 🄰).n7->n6n8->n0


The temple (preferred)

Some scholars argue that for the Psalm's original audience "my rest" denotes the temple.[4] 


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[The temple]: "My rest" denotes the temple for the Psalm's original audience (Ibn Ezra :C:; Rashi :C:; Ḥakham 1979, 201 :C:; Braulik 1986 :A:).
 + <Discourse context>: The psalm up to this point has provided an invitation and exhortation to temple worship (as perhaps more explicit in the twin-psalm, 81, where the instruments are mentioned), for which the verb בוא provides an inclusio for the second half of the psalm. 
  <_ <Position in the discourse>: If vv. 1-7 primarily invite and exhort to temple worship of YHWH, then by the end of the psalm the worshipers have already entered, so it makes little sense to make them question their credentials for entry at this point. #dispreferred
   - <Entrance liturgy>: The flow of the psalm reflects an entrance liturgy itself, so that by v. 6 the worshipers are only entering the gate of the temple (Ḥakham 1979, 201 :C:) and thus have time to examine themselves.
  + [vv. 1-2]: "Come, let us shout for joy to YHWH! Let us cry out to the rock of our salvation! Let us approach his presence with praise; in songs we will cry out to him."
  + [Ps 81:2-4 (twin psalm)]: "Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre. Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival" (NIV).
  + [vv. 6-11]: "Come (בֹּ֭אוּ), let us shout bow down and kneel... 'They will not enter (יְ֝בֹא֗וּן) into my rest!'"
 + <Creation language>: Vv. 3-5 use creation language to discuss YHWH's superiority and sovereignty, and the concepts of creation and kingship are closely related to the concept of temple. "The temple is viewed as a microcosmos while the cosmos is viewed in temple terms... Establishing control over an ordered cosmos is followed by building a temple (which represents that ordered cosmos) for the deity, in which he can take up his rest." (Walton 2018, 166).
  + [vv. 3–5]: "because YHWH is a great God and great king over all gods, \[a God\] in whose hand are the unexplored depths of the earth and the peaks of the mountains are his; to whom belongs the sea—he made it—and the dry land which his hands formed."
 + <Ancient versions>: Targum Psalms and the Christian Palestinian Aramaic Psalms explicitly identify "rest" with the temple.
  + [TgPss and CPA Psalms]: "that they should not come into the rest of the house of my sanctuary (לנייח בית מקדשי)" (Stec 2004, 179); "They shall never enter into the house of my rest (ܠܒܝܬ ܢܝܚܝ)."
 + <Semantic flexibility>: Understanding the intended denotation of מְנוּחָה as the temple licenses its semantic application to both the people's rest provided by YHWH and the place where YHWH himself rests, consistent with the creation language of vv. 3-5 in light of Gen 2:2 (cf. Heb 4:1-5).
  + [Ps 132:8, 14]: "Arise, LORD, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might... This is my resting place for ever and ever;  here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it" (NIV; cf. Isa 66:1; 1 Chr 28:2).
 + <Hebrews>: The author of the letter to the Hebrews understood "rest" as referring to the temple in the original context of the psalm.
  - <Eschatalogical reading>: In the middle of his discourse, the author to the Hebrews' makes the eschatalogical interpretation explicit.#dispreferred
   + [Hebrews 4:9, 11]: "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God ... Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest" (NIV).#dispreferred
  + <Hebrews 3:6, 4:14>: The letter to the Hebrews envelopes its lengthy exposition of Ps 95:7c-11, which occupies Hebrews 3:7-4:11, with mention of both God's "house" and the "high priest," to which 3:1-6 belong as a "cohesive unit" (Steyn 2010, 196 :A:).
   + [Hebrews 3:6, 4:14]: "And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory... Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess" (NIV).
 + <Liturgy>: Ps 95 has belonged to Sabbath liturgy as early as the Talmud (Boeckler 2015, 77 :A:), and perhaps even earlier.


Argument Mapn0The temple"My rest" denotes the temple for the Psalm's original audience (Ibn Ezra 🄲; Rashi 🄲; Ḥakham 1979, 201 🄲; Braulik 1986 🄰).n1vv. 1-2"Come, let us shout for joy to YHWH! Let us cry out to the rock of our salvation! Let us approach his presence with praise; in songs we will cry out to him."n9Discourse contextThe psalm up to this point has provided an invitation and exhortation to temple worship (as perhaps more explicit in the twin-psalm, 81, where the instruments are mentioned), for which the verb בוא provides an inclusio for the second half of the psalm. n1->n9n2Ps 81:2-4 (twin psalm)"Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre. Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival" (NIV).n2->n9n3vv. 6-11"Come (בֹּ֭אוּ), let us shout bow down and kneel... 'They will not enter (יְ֝בֹא֗וּן) into my rest!'"n3->n9n4vv. 3–5"because YHWH is a great God and great king over all gods, [a God] in whose hand are the unexplored depths of the earth and the peaks of the mountains are his; to whom belongs the sea—he made it—and the dry land which his hands formed."n12Creation languageVv. 3-5 use creation language to discuss YHWH's superiority and sovereignty, and the concepts of creation and kingship are closely related to the concept of temple. "The temple is viewed as a microcosmos while the cosmos is viewed in temple terms... Establishing control over an ordered cosmos is followed by building a temple (which represents that ordered cosmos) for the deity, in which he can take up his rest." (Walton 2018, 166).n4->n12n5TgPss and CPA Psalms"that they should not come into the rest of the house of my sanctuary (לנייח בית מקדשי)" (Stec 2004, 179); "They shall never enter into the house of my rest (ܠܒܝܬ ܢܝܚܝ)."n13Ancient versionsTargum Psalms and the Christian Palestinian Aramaic Psalms explicitly identify "rest" with the temple.n5->n13n6Ps 132:8, 14"Arise, LORD, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might... This is my resting place for ever and ever;  here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it" (NIV; cf. Isa 66:1; 1 Chr 28:2).n14Semantic flexibilityUnderstanding the intended denotation of מְנוּחָה as the temple licenses its semantic application to both the people's rest provided by YHWH and the place where YHWH himself rests, consistent with the creation language of vv. 3-5 in light of Gen 2:2 (cf. Heb 4:1-5).n6->n14n7Hebrews 4:9, 11"There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God ... Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest" (NIV).n16Eschatalogical readingIn the middle of his discourse, the author to the Hebrews' makes the eschatalogical interpretation explicit.n7->n16n8Hebrews 3:6, 4:14"And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory... Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess" (NIV).n17Hebrews 3:6, 4:14The letter to the Hebrews envelopes its lengthy exposition of Ps 95:7c-11, which occupies Hebrews 3:7-4:11, with mention of both God's "house" and the "high priest," to which 3:1-6 belong as a "cohesive unit" (Steyn 2010, 196 🄰).n8->n17n9->n0n10Position in the discourseIf vv. 1-7 primarily invite and exhort to temple worship of YHWH, then by the end of the psalm the worshipers have already entered, so it makes little sense to make them question their credentials for entry at this point. n10->n9n11Entrance liturgyThe flow of the psalm reflects an entrance liturgy itself, so that by v. 6 the worshipers are only entering the gate of the temple (Ḥakham 1979, 201 🄲) and thus have time to examine themselves.n11->n10n12->n0n13->n0n14->n0n15HebrewsThe author of the letter to the Hebrews understood "rest" as referring to the temple in the original context of the psalm.n15->n0n16->n15n17->n15n18LiturgyPs 95 has belonged to Sabbath liturgy as early as the Talmud (Boeckler 2015, 77 🄰), and perhaps even earlier.n18->n0


An eschatological state

Some scholars argue that for the Psalm's original audience "my rest" denotes an eschatological state. 


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[Eschatological state]: "My rest" denotes an eschatological state for the Psalm's original audience (Rashi :C:). #dispreferred
 + <Creation language and Sabbath>: Vv. 3-5 draw upon creation language, which is associated with God's Sabbath rest (Gen 2:2), which in turn points to a future eschatological Sabbath rest (Ps 92). (The author to the letter of the Hebrews similarly understands "my rest" in relation to the future "Sabbath" \[Steyn 2010, 196 :A:\]).#dispreferred
  + [vv. 3–5]: "because YHWH is a great God and great king over all gods, \[a God\] in whose hand are the unexplored depths of the earth and the peaks of the mountains are his; to whom belongs the sea—he made it—and the dry land which his hands formed."#dispreferred
  + [Hebrews 4:4-5]: "For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: 'On the seventh day God rested from all his works.' And again in the passage above he says, 'They shall never enter my rest'" (NIV).#dispreferred
 + <Hebrews>: The author to the letter of the Hebrews understands the warning to be valid even in his day.#dispreferred
  + [Hebrews 4:1, 11]: "the promise of entering his rest still stands ... Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience" (NIV).#dispreferred
 + <Rest in the land>: There is a Biblical theological thread in which life in the promised land (cf. v. 11b), which resulted in peace from enemies under the administration of a Davidic king (2 Sam 7:10-11), was ultimately fulfilled in the eschatalogical rest in the "land" brought about by the messianic king (see, e.g., Isa 11:10).#dispreferred
  + [Messianic king]: "Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house" (2 Sam 7:10-11, ESV; cf. Heb 3:1-6); "In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his *resting place* (מְנֻחָת֖וֹ) shall be glorious" (Isa 11:10, ESV).#dispreferred
 - <Discourse context>: The psalm up to this point has provided an invitation and exhortation to temple worship, for which the verb בוא provides an inclusio for the second half of the psalm. The eschatological rest interpretation does not clearly fit this discourse context.
  + [vv. 1-2]: "Come, let us shout for joy to YHWH! Let us cry out to the rock of our salvation! Let us approach his presence with praise; in songs we will cry out to him."
  + [vv. 6-11]: "Come (בֹּ֭אוּ), let us shout bow down and kneel... 'They will not enter (יְ֝בֹא֗וּן) into my rest!'"


Argument Mapn0Eschatological state"My rest" denotes an eschatological state for the Psalm's original audience (Rashi 🄲). n1vv. 3–5"because YHWH is a great God and great king over all gods, [a God] in whose hand are the unexplored depths of the earth and the peaks of the mountains are his; to whom belongs the sea—he made it—and the dry land which his hands formed."n7Creation language and SabbathVv. 3-5 draw upon creation language, which is associated with God's Sabbath rest (Gen 2:2), which in turn points to a future eschatological Sabbath rest (Ps 92). (The author to the letter of the Hebrews similarly understands "my rest" in relation to the future "Sabbath" [Steyn 2010, 196 🄰]).n1->n7n2Hebrews 4:4-5"For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: 'On the seventh day God rested from all his works.' And again in the passage above he says, 'They shall never enter my rest'" (NIV).n2->n7n3Hebrews 4:1, 11"the promise of entering his rest still stands ... Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience" (NIV).n8HebrewsThe author to the letter of the Hebrews understands the warning to be valid even in his day.n3->n8n4Messianic king"Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house" (2 Sam 7:10-11, ESV; cf. Heb 3:1-6); "In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place  (מְנֻחָת֖וֹ) shall be glorious" (Isa 11:10, ESV).n9Rest in the landThere is a Biblical theological thread in which life in the promised land (cf. v. 11b), which resulted in peace from enemies under the administration of a Davidic king (2 Sam 7:10-11), was ultimately fulfilled in the eschatalogical rest in the "land" brought about by the messianic king (see, e.g., Isa 11:10).n4->n9n5vv. 1-2"Come, let us shout for joy to YHWH! Let us cry out to the rock of our salvation! Let us approach his presence with praise; in songs we will cry out to him."n10Discourse contextThe psalm up to this point has provided an invitation and exhortation to temple worship, for which the verb בוא provides an inclusio for the second half of the psalm. The eschatological rest interpretation does not clearly fit this discourse context.n5->n10n6vv. 6-11"Come (בֹּ֭אוּ), let us shout bow down and kneel... 'They will not enter (יְ֝בֹא֗וּן) into my rest!'"n6->n10n7->n0n8->n0n9->n0n10->n0


Conclusion (B)

All three of the possible interpretations of "my rest" discussed above have valid strengths. Nevertheless, relying on a specific historical provenance for the "land" position weakens its likelihood. Further, while the eschatological interpretation became more plausible later into the Second Temple period and beyond,[5] and is not incompatible with that of the temple, the Psalm's liturgical context and, indeed, the rest of the psalm, make the temple the most likely denotation of "my rest" in Ps 95:11b.

The interpretation of the present understanding of "my rest" in Ps 95:11 as the temple is attested explicitly in Targum Psalms and the CPA Psalms and is consistent with the only other use of מְנוּחָה in the Psalms (see Ps 132:8, 14).[6] The strongest argument against this position concerns the placement of the warning at the very end of the psalm, before which the worshipers have already been invited in and exhorted to worship. Nevertheless, the flow of the psalm may reflect an entrance liturgy itself, so that by v. 6 the worshipers are only entering the gate of the temple.[7] The interruption brought about by the prophetic speech (vv. 7c-11), then, gives the worshiper an opportunity to pause and consider the result of their ancestors' idolatry, and thus whether their worship is fitting for the presence of YHWH, such that "by recounting the rebellious actions of the earlier generation the speaker calls into question the sincerity of the present generation."[8]

Research

Translations

Ancient

  • LXX: Εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου.[9]
    • “If they shall enter into my rest!”[10]
  • Iuxta Hebraeos: ut non introirent in requiem meam
    • "so that they would not enter into my rest."
  • Christian Palestinian Aramaic Psalms: ܐܢ ܝܥܘܠܘܢ ܠܒܝܬ ܢܝܚܝ.[11]
    • "They shall never enter into the house of my rest."
  • Peshitta: ܕܠܐ ܢܥܠܘܢ ܠܢܝܚܬܝ[12]
    • "so that they would not enter into my rest."
  • Targum: אם יעלון לנייח בית מקדשי [13]
    • "that they should not come into the rest of the house of my sanctuary."[14]

Modern

The gloss "my rest" does not inform the conclusion of the present exegetical issue one way or another. Nevertheless, below are a selection of modern translations which provide concrete spatial denotations:

  • "They will never enter my place of rest!" (CEB)
  • "no entrarían en el lugar de mi reposo" (DHH)
  • "You will never enter the land where I would have given you rest" (GNT)
  • "They shall never come to My resting-place!" (JPS)
  • "They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them" (NET)
  • "ils n'entreront pas dans le lieu où je leur ai préparé le repos" (NFC; cf. PDV)
  • "Non, ils n'entreront pas dans mon lieu de repos!" (TOB)

Secondary Literature

Alonso Schökel, L. 1993. Salmos 73-150: Traducción, introducciones y comentario. Navarra: Verbo Divino.
Boeckler, Annette M. 2015. "The Liturgical Understanding of Psalms in Judaism: Demonstrated with Samples from Psalms 90-106, with a Special Focus on Psalm 92, Mizmor shir leYom haShabbat." European Judaism: A Journal for the New Europe 48, no. 2: 70-82.
Braulik, Georg. 1986. "Gottes Ruhe—Das Land oder der Tempel? Zu Psalm 95,11." Pages 33-44 in E. Haag and F.L. Hossfeld (eds.) Freude an der Weisung des Herrn: Beiträge zur Theologie der Psalmen, SBB 13. Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk.
Ḥakham, Amos. 1979. ספר תהלים: ספרים ג–ה (in Hebrew; The Book of Psalms: Books 3-5). Jerusalem: Mossad Harav Kook.
Harkins, Angela, K. 2023. "Retelling Foundational Events in Psalm 106: Experiencing and Remembering the Past." Pages 83-104 in C. D. Bergmann, T. Rajak, B. Kranemann, R. Ullrich (eds.) The Power of Psalms in Post-Biblical Judaism. Leiden: Brill.
Hossfeld, F. 2005. "Psalm 95." Pages 458-462 in K. Baltzer (ed.) A Commentary on Psalms 51-100. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Press.
Ibn Ezra, Abraham. Ibn Ezra on Psalms.
Kistemaker, S. 1961. The Psalm Citations in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Amsterdam: Wed. G. van Soest.
Kraus, Hans-Joachim Kraus. 1993. A Continental Commentary: Psalms 60–150. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
Prinsloo, W. S. 1995. "Psalm 95: If only you will listen to his voice!" Pages 393-410 in M. Daniel Carroll R; David J. A Clines; Philip R Davies & J. W Rogerson (eds.) The Bible in Human Society: Essays in Honour of John Rogerson. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
Rashi. Rashi on Psalms.
Savran, George W. 2003. "The Contrasting Voices of Psalm 95." Revue Biblique 110, no. 1: 17-32.
Schniedewind, W. M. 1995. "'Are we his people or not?' Biblical Interpretation during Crisis." Biblica 76, no. 4: 540-550.
Steyn, G. J. 2010. "The Reception of Psalm 95(94):7-11 in Hebrews 3-4." Pages 194-228 in D. J. Human & G. J. Steyn (eds.) Psalms and Hebrews: Studies in Reception. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.
Tucker, W. Dennis Jr. 2000. "Psalm 95: Text, Context, and Intertext." Biblica 81, no. 4: 533-541.
Van Petegem, Pieter Bob. 2008. "Sur le Psaume 95." Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 22, vol. 2: 237-251.
Walton, John H. 2018. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible. Ada, MI: Baker Academic.

References

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95:11

  1. ↑ See our discussion in the Story Behind layer; cf. especially Num 14.
  2. ↑ "Psalm 95 ends so abruptly that we can talk of an open ending where the readers/listeners must decide for themselves what else is going to happen" (Prinsloo 1995, 405).
  3. ↑ Non-committal is the view of Hossfeld: "The goal is YHWH's rest, with all its rich connotations ranging from the land as heritage, to the Temple, to peace with God" (2005, 461), and Kistemaker: "God’s rest after creation, Israel’s rest in Canaan, and the true rest for the people of God” (1961, 132 :M:). Minor positions, which will not be discussed in detail here, include "rest" as simply a spiritual state of covenantal well-being with YHWH, or "rest" as death. The former is argued by Tucker: "But in Ps 95,11 the threat of the oracle, 'they shall not enter my rest', is not really whether a worshiper can enter into the temple of God, but whether they will remain in the presence of God" (2000, 540). Similarly, Kraus understands the rest as "a salvific blessing that is not material but personal, and that has its root and center in God himself" (1993, 248), such that "my rest" could simply denote the opposite of "my wrath" (Ḥakham 1979, 201). Furthermore, in extra-biblical Second Temple Hebrew we have attestation of מְנוּחָה as rest = death: נספיתה למנוחות "you are swept away to the (great) rest" (4Q525 14:ii14; cf. the verbal נוח in Job 3:13, 17; Dan 12:13). It should be appreciated that these two positions are much more compatible with the eschatological reading than that of the land of Canaan or the Jerusalem temple.
  4. ↑ Some, of course, read an intentional polysemy into the denotation, such as Savran's understanding of "the dual sense of מנוחה as both temple and land" (2003, 29).
  5. ↑ Certainly, sharing the interpretation of Hebrews as Jesus as faithful in the house of God, our great high priest, and indeed the Word 'tabernacling' with us (John 1:14), the temple being his body (John 2:21). Steyn notes that, "The author [of Hebrews] is at least aware of the original context of the Promised Land, as his exposition shows here in 3:16–18. However, as his exposition develops, the term is being reinterpreted in terms of a Sabbatical period that does not need to be detached necessarily from a temple context (2010, 221).
  6. ↑ That is, besides Ps 23:2, which is less relevant to this point.
  7. ↑ So Ḥakham 1979, 201.
  8. ↑ Savran 2003, 29.
  9. ↑ Rahlfs 1931, 246.
  10. ↑ NETS.
  11. ↑ CAL
  12. ↑ CAL
  13. ↑ CAL
  14. ↑ Stec 2004, 179.