We have seen, in the preceding verses, that full and final rest for the people of God could not be found in Moses and the law, not in Joshua and the land, nor in David and the prophets. This rest could only be found in the New Covenant in Christ, which David himself prophesied about its coming in a future “day”. As we reach the climax of this section of Hebrews, we find it continuing on in the theme of the superiority of the New Covenant in Christ to everything in the Old Covenant, here in terms of the superiority of its rest. This verse begins with the present active indicative of apoleipo- to leave behind or remain. The use of this verbal form shows us that this rest’s remaining is a statement of fact (indicative mood) of a present reality (present tense). Full and final rest has been left unfulfilled until the arrival of Christ, and this rest remains a present reality available to all who are in Him. This rest is referred to through the usage of the term “sabbatismos” here. This usage is the first time in which this term appears anywhere in Greek literature. It is likely made up by the author of Hebrews to describe a new reality present in the New Covenant era. The Greek language does not contain the term sabbath, a concept absent from Greek culture, so the Hebrew shabbat is simply transliterated into Greek as sabbath. This term sabbath, of course, would appear in the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament), but the writer here adds the “ismos” ending to the term, which is what causes its uniqueness. The ending ismos is used to refer to a state or condition of things resulting from the concept behind the term to which it is added. The term sabbath (shabbat) essentially means “rest”, so sabbatismos here refers to a state or condition of rest, as opposed to the temporary, one day period of rest in the Old Covenant law, revealing one facet of the superiority of this New Covenant rest. The rest that “remains” is then, first of all, superior as to its duration, no longer a one day pause in the work process, but a continual reality of the believer’s existence. The rest which remains is, then, a settled state or condition of existence available to the people of God in the New Covenant in Christ. As we continue on in our examination of this chapter, we will find that this rest is superior as to its nature as well as its duration. We will also find that while this rest remains available, it requires something of the believer to be entered into. Our next sequence of posts will examine the nature of this rest, and exactly how we are to go about entering it, that this “sabbatismos” may be the state or condition of our own existence.