Bible Strands
Psalms 95:11
So I swore on oath in My anger, “They shall never enter My rest.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks for God to Israel, recalling the wilderness generation that rebelled after the Exodus. This declaration immediately follows the statement that God was angry with that generation for forty years.
The words — The Hebrew term נִשְׁבַּ֥עְתִּי (nish.Ba'.ti) translates literally to "I swore an oath," while מְנוּחָתִֽי (me.nu.cha.T/i) means "my rest." These words anchor the declaration of a binding divine judgment.
The thread — This declaration appears in Numbers 14:23 regarding the wilderness generation, is quoted in Hebrews 3:11 to warn against unbelief, and reappears in Hebrews 4:3 to contrast unbelief with faith. The text establishes a recurring scriptural pattern of excluded access to God's promised rest.
Why it lands — The text states that persistent rebellion results in permanent exclusion from God's rest. It requires readers to examine their own faithfulness rather than assume entitlement to divine promises.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Cross-references
- Hebrews 4:3 Now we who have believed enter that rest. As for the others, it is just as God has said: “So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’” And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world.
- Numbers 14:23 not one will ever see the land that I swore to give their fathers. None of those who have treated Me with contempt will see it.
- Hebrews 3:11 So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’”
- Hebrews 4:5 And again, as He says in the passage above: “They shall never enter My rest.”
- Hebrews 3:18 And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
- Jeremiah 6:16 This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: ‘Where is the good way?’ Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’
- Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Deuteronomy 1:34 When the LORD heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath, saying,
- Deuteronomy 12:9 For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you.
- Numbers 14:28 So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.