The adverb Now does not translate a specific word in the Greek text, but contrasts the past failure of the Jewish people to enter into God’s rest (3.19) with the fact that such a rest is still promised to those who believe in Christ.
God has offered us the promise: the word us in Good News Translation identifies the people to whom God makes the promise. The Greek does not state this explicitly until at least verse 3. God has offered us the promise must be expressed in some languages as “God has promised us” or “God has said that we could.” In some languages the equivalent of promise is “to say strongly.”
In a number of languages it is impossible to say that we may receive that rest, since rest is not something which is received in the sense of receiving some object as a gift. In fact, receive that rest is essentially a kind of substitute passive, and therefore in many languages it is best translated as “that we may rest” or “that we may be permitted to rest.”
Then, here and in verse 11, translates a Greek word meaning “therefore.” In these two cases, then is not an expression of time. Possible equivalents of then are “as a result of this” or “because of all this.”
Let us take care includes both the writer and his readers, but probably no one else, as you later in the verse shows. It may be difficult to state clearly the relationship between Let us take care and that none of you will be found to have failed. In reality, the phrase Let us take care is directed to the persons who are admonished not to fail. One might translate “We should all be concerned that not one of you will be found to have failed,” in which case the form “We” should be inclusive. But it may be more appropriate to say “All of you must be watchful in order that not one of you will be found to have failed.”
Will be found to have failed presents two problems. The first problem is whether will be found implies a judgment by God. The Greek term may mean (a) “be judged,” though it is not the most common term for “judge,” (b) “think,” or (c) “seem.” Meaning (a) is more likely to imply a judgment by God. Compare the English expression “he was found guilty,” that is, by a judge or jury. This meaning is chosen by Revised Standard Version, “be judged,” and by Good News Translation, be found. Meaning (b) is chosen by Jerusalem Bible and Translator’s New Testament, “think.” Phillips adopts (c), “that none of us even looks like failing…,” as do other common language translations and Bible de Jérusalem. A comparison with 3.12 suggests the first meaning: the writer is not concerned with what seems to be, or with what people think, but with their real condition (their heart, 3.12), and with what will really happen to them, as the following verses show.
A literal translation of that none of you will be found to have failed can be misleading, since found might suggest “to have been discovered accidentally.” The passive construction can also be misleading, if an active form is more natural or even required. Therefore it may be better to introduce God as the ultimate agent; for example, “so that God will not judge any of you to have failed.”
The second problem, which is linked with the first, concerns the meaning of the words translated to have failed. Greek dictionaries give “to come too late” as the so-called root meaning of this verb. This produces the translation “none of you must think that he has come too late for it,” that is, for what God promised (Jerusalem Bible), or “be convinced of being left behind” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible; similarly Bijbel in Gewone Taal). This meaning fits the context well here, and there are parallels outside the New Testament, but it is difficult to find this meaning in any other New Testament passage. Segond “let us fear then…, lest anyone among you seem to have come too late” is almost the opposite of what the writer means, since the readers cannot control the time of their birth, and the writer means to encourage them. A more common meaning of the Greek verb translated failed is “to miss,” “to fail to reach a goal,” and this meaning is given by common language translations and most other modern translations.
To have failed to receive is equivalent in many languages to “to not receive,” so that the clause that none of you will be found to have failed to receive may be expressed as “so that God will not judge any of you as not having received.” However, it is usually better to keep explicit the idea of failure on the part of the people. In some instances it may be better to express the concept of “receiving” by direct discourse; for example, “so that God will not judge any of you by saying, ‘You have failed to receive the promised rest.’ ” If direct discourse is used, the phrase that promised rest may be translated as “that rest that I have promised” or “the fact that I have promised to cause you to rest.”
For rest, see comments on 3.11. Jerusalem Bible, Bijbel in Gewone Taal translate correctly “place of rest.”
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .