Rest (Noun and Verb)
Rest (Noun and Verb)
“cessation, refreshment, rest” (ana, “up,” pauo, “to make to cease”), the constant word in the Sept. for the Sabbath “rest,” is used in Mat 11:29; here the contrast seems to be to the burdens imposed by the Pharisees. Christ’s “rest” is not a “rest” from work, but in work, “not the rest of inactivity but of the harmonious working of all the faculties and affections, of will, heart, imagination, conscience, because each has found in God the ideal sphere for its satisfaction and development” (J. Patrick, in Hastings’ Bib. Dic.); it occurs also in Mat 12:43; Luk 11:24; Rev 4:8, RV, “(they have no) rest” [AV, “(they) rest (not)”], where the noun is the object of the verb echo, “to have;” so in Rev 14:11.
in classical Greek, denotes “a causing to cease” or “putting to rest;” in the NT, “rest, repose;” it is used (a) of God’s “rest;” Act 7:49; Heb 3:11, Heb 3:18; Heb 4:1, Heb 4:3 (twice), RV (1st part), “that rest” (the AV, “rest,” is ambiguous), Heb 4:5, Heb 4:11; (b) in a general statement, applicable to God and man, Heb 4:10.
for the significance of which see EASE, B, is translated “rest” in 2Co 2:13, AV (RV, “relief”); 2Co 7:5 (ditto); in 2Th 1:7, the subject is not the “rest” to be granted to the saints, but the Divine retribution on their persecutors; hence the phrase “and to you that are afflicted rest with us,” is an incidental extension of the idea of recompense, and is to be read parenthetically. The time is not that at which the saints will be relieved of persecution, as in 1Th 4:15-17, when the Parousia of Christ begins, but that at which the persecutors will be punished, namely, at the epiphany (or out-shining) of His Parousia (2Th 2:8). For similar parentheses characteristic of epistolary writings see 1Th 4:10; 1Th 1:6; 1Th 2:15-16.
“a Sabbath-keeping,” is used in Heb 4:9, RV, “a sabbath rest,” AV marg., “a keeping of a sabbath” (akin to sabbatizo, “to keep the Sabbath,” used, e.g., in Exo 16:30, not in the NT); here the sabbath-keeping is the perpetual sabbath “rest” to be enjoyed uninterruptedly by believers in their fellowship with the Father and the Son, in contrast to the weekly Sabbath under the Law. Because this sabbath “rest” is the “rest” of God Himself, Heb 4:10, its full fruition is yet future, though believers now enter into it. In whatever way they enter into Divine “rest,” that which they enjoy is involved in an indissoluble relation with God.
“a resting, reclining” (akin to keimai, “to lie”), is used in Joh 11:13, of natural sleep, translated “taking rest,” RV.
Note: In Act 9:31, AV, eirene, “peace” (RV), is translated “rest.”
akin to A, No. 1, in the Active Voice, signifies “to give intermission from labor, to give rest, to refresh,” Mat 11:28; 1Co 16:18, “have refreshed;” Phm 1:7, “are refreshed;” in the Middle Voice, “to take or enjoy rest,” Mat 26:45; Mar 6:31; Mar 14:41; Luk 12:19, “take thine ease;” 1Pe 4:14; Rev 6:11; Rev 14:13. See REFRESH. In the papyri it is found as an agricultural term, e.g., of giving land “rest” by sowing light crops upon it. In inscriptions it is found on gravestones of Christians, followed by the date of death (Moulton and Milligan).
akin to A, No. 2, used transitively, signifies “to cause to cease, restrain,” Act 14:18; “to cause to rest,” Heb 4:8; intransitively, “to rest,” Heb 4:4, Heb 4:10. See CEASE, A, No. 6, RESTRAIN.
“to spread a tabernacle over” (epi, “upon,” skene, “a tent”), is used metaphorically in 2Co 12:9, “may rest upon (me),” RV, marg., “cover,” “spread a tabernacle over.”
“to pitch one’s tent, lodge,” is translated “shall rest,” in Act 2:26, AV (RV, “shall dwell”). See LODGE.
“to be still, to rest from labor,” is translated “they rested” in Luk 23:56. See PEACE (hold one’s), No. 3.
“to cause to rest,” is used in the Middle Voice, metaphorically, signifying “to rest upon” (epi, “upon,” and No. 1), in Luk 10:6; Rom 2:17.
Note: For “find rest” Rom 15:32, RV, see REFRESH, No. 2.