3:19a–c

So we see that: The phrase So we see that introduces the conclusion of what the author said in 3:7–18. It indicates that the author is about to tell the Hebrews what they should learn and know from what he said in those verses. Some ways to introduce this conclusion are:

So we clearly know that…
-or-
From all this we learn that…

Introduce this conclusion in a natural way in your language.

we: The word we includes both the author and his hearers. However, it is used here as a natural way to introduce a conclusion. In some languages it may be more natural to introduce the conclusion without using we. For example:

Thus it is seen here that…

see: Here the verb see is used in a figurative way to mean “understand, know, learn.” Use a natural verb in your language to introduce the conclusion in this context.

it was because of their unbelief that they were unable to enter: The phrase because of their unbelief tells the reason that the people were unable to enter God’s rest. God did not allow them to enter his rest because they did not believe him. Some other ways to translate the clause are:

19b they couldn’t receive that rest 19c because they did not believe
-or-

19 the reason they were unable to enter the resting place God had prepared, it was their not believing in him

In some languages it is more natural to put the result of not being able to enter God’s rest before the reason (their unbelief). For example:

19c they were unable to enter 19b because of unbelief (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-

19c they were not able to enter God’s rest. 19b That is because they refused to trust God.
-or-
they could not enter for lack of faith (New American Bible, Revised Edition)

Use a natural order in your language.

because of their unbelief: In 3:18 the sin of the Israelites was called disobedience. Here the author called it unbelief. Disobedience and unbelief are very closely connected.

In some languages it may be more natural to use a verb rather than a noun like unbelief. One way to express this meaning as a verb is:

because they did not believe

they were unable to enter: The words unable to enter refer back to the phrase “enter his rest” in 3:18. It is clear from the historical context that “his rest” refers here to Canaan, the country that God promised the Israelites.

In some languages, it may be necessary to say where the people of Israel were unable to enter. If that is true in your language, you should supply a phrase that will agree with how you translated 3:18. For example:

they were not able to enter ⌊God’s rest⌋

© 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.