James Swetnam 102 1l which involves the ‘rest’ of the Promised Land is linked to the ‘rest’ of God after creation 3, suggesting that the author is effecting a ‘spiritualiza- tion’ of the promise made to Abraham: the promise of receiving land becomes a promise of receivng God’s own rest.4 Previous remarks in 3,1- 6 with regard to Moses, based as they seem to be on 2,10-12 and the imagery of leading sons to glory,5 suggest that Christ who is foreshadowed by Moses, is the leader, under God, in this journey to the spiritualized promised land 6. This leader is explicitly invoked at 3,14 under the name of Christ. He is not explicitly mentioned as ‘Jesus’, but another foreshad- owing of his leadership is mentioned—Joshua is presented under the name of ‘Jesus’ ( Ihsou") (4,8) 7. Joshua did not give the people defini- j ' tive entrance into the land; if he had, there would not be talk of another ‘day’ in which entrance is still possible 8. This presentation of the journey of the people of God to enter into his rest—with the apparently gratuitous 9 introduction of Joshua under the name of ‘Jesus’—serves as a preparation for the famous passage at Heb 4,12-13 which speaks of God’s ‘word’ as ‘live and active and sharper than any two-edged sword’: 3 The linking is effected by means of a gezera shawa, ‘an exegetical argument in which a term in one verse of scripture is interpreted according to its use in another’ (cf. H. W. Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews [Hermeneia; Philadelphia 1989], 128-129). 4 Cf. Attridge, Hebrews, 129-130. 5 Cf. Swetnam, «Hebrews 1,1 – 3,6», 62-63. 6 Cf. the use of the word ajrchgov~ in 2,10 and the comments of P. Ellingworth: «Hebrews’ use of provdromo~ (6:20) of Christ suggests that ajrchgov~ in Hebrews may have kept alive the hellenistic metaphor of a pioneer opening a path on which others can follow. This suits both the immediate context here (ajgagovnta) and the development in 3:7 – 4:11 of the theme of God’s wandering people» (P. Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on the Greek Text [NIGTC; Grand Rapids/Carlisle 1993] 161). 7 See Attridge, Hebrews, 130, under Heb 4,8. Attridge notes: «The reference to Joshua, whose name in Greek ( jIhsou`") is the same as that of Jesus, suggests a typolog- ical comparison between one ajrchgov~ of the old covenant and that of the new. Such a typology was explicitly developed in later Christian literature, but it is not exploited here.» The present article will dispute this last observation: the typology is developed with reference to circumcision. 8 «The rest to which the psalm referred cannot have been the rest that Joshua pro- vided in the promised land. For then there would have been no need for the psalmist’s appeal to heed God’s voice ‘today’. The psalm’s reference to divine rest is seen to be not a simple analogy between the exodus generation and the psalmist’s audience, but a prophetic proclamation of the good news itself, a reaffirmation of God’s promise direct- ed to anyone who has faith» (Attridge, Hebrews, 130). 9 ‘Apparently gratuitous’—on the supposition that v. 8 is part of a passage serving as a preparation for 4,12-13 with its emphasis on scripture, there would seem to be no need to mention Joshua, who had nothing to do with God’s word. In v. 8 Joshua’s role as the one presumed to be leading the people into God’s rest is stressed. The ‘word’ of God for the Israelites as for the Christians is contained in the promise to Abraham (Heb 4,1-2; cf. 6,15). Joshua failed in leading the people into the land. But in the current dominant interpretation the word of God will somehow succeed where he did not.