Why (as the Holy Ghost said, To day if you will hear his voice,
as.
Hebrews 9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
2 Samuel 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.
Matthew 22:43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
To-day.
Hebrews 3:13,15 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin…
Hebrews 4:7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Psalm 95:7-11 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, …
hear.
Psalm 81:11,13 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me…
Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Matthew 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
“Today, if you hear His voice,
The word "Today" signifies urgency and immediacy, calling the audience to respond in the present moment. It reflects the idea that God's call is always current and requires a timely response. This echoes the daily nature of faith and obedience, as seen in the Israelites' journey in the wilderness, where they were called to trust God daily for provision and guidance. The phrase "if you hear His voice" implies the necessity of being attentive and receptive to God's communication. It suggests that God is continually speaking to His people, and it is their responsibility to listen and respond. This connects to the broader biblical theme of hearing and obeying God's word, as seen in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and James 1:22. The voice of God here can be understood as His guidance through Scripture, the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and the teachings of Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate revelation of God.
The word that begins the verse links us back to the previous six verses, where the writer has just exalted Jesus above Moses. Because Jesus is the faithful Son over God’s house (Hebrews 3:1-6), the conclusion that follows carries weight for every believer.
• The “therefore” reminds us that doctrine always calls for a response; truth about Christ demands trust and obedience (James 1:22).
• It places our attention on Jesus as the greater revelation, echoing Hebrews 1:1-2—God has spoken finally and fully in His Son.
• The warning that unfolds is not for unbelievers alone; it is addressed to “holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling” (Hebrews 3:1), urging watchfulness within the family of faith.
The author does not simply quote Psalm 95:7-8; he affirms that the Spirit is speaking now, in the present tense.
• Scripture is living and active (Hebrews 4:12); what the Spirit once inspired, He still voices to every generation (2 Peter 1:20-21).
• Recognizing the Spirit’s authorship highlights the unity of the Bible—the same Spirit who spoke through David addresses us through Hebrews.
• Because it is God’s direct address, ignoring or resisting it is tantamount to resisting the Spirit Himself (Acts 7:51). Our posture must be humble, ready to listen (Isaiah 66:2).
One word captures urgency. The invitation is not for some distant moment but for the present.
• “Today” signals that God’s grace is immediate; the opportunity is open now (2 Corinthians 6:2).
• It also implies that the window can close; Israel’s wilderness generation missed their “today” and fell short of rest (Hebrews 3:16-19).
• Each sunrise renews the call, yet no one is guaranteed another. Responding “today” safeguards the heart from the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13).
Hearing here means more than receiving sound; it is an attentive, obedient listening.
• The conditional “if” places responsibility on us. God speaks, but we decide whether to heed (Matthew 7:24-27).
• Hearing leads to faith (Romans 10:17). When God’s voice is welcomed, it softens the heart, much like rain softens soil for growth (Deuteronomy 32:2).
• The verse prepares for the warning that follows: “do not harden your hearts.” Failure to act on God’s voice calcifies the spirit and invites judgment (Psalm 95:8-11).
• Practical ways to “hear” include regular Scripture intake, worship gatherings where the Word is preached (Colossians 3:16), and a posture of yielded prayerful reflection (1 Samuel 3:10).
Hebrews 3:7 is a Spirit-delivered alert: because Jesus is greater than all who came before, God’s people must listen to Him without delay. Scripture’s living voice calls “today,” urging a soft, responsive heart. The verse sets the stage for a sober warning against hardness and unbelief, yet it also offers a gracious invitation—right now—to trust, obey, and enter God’s rest.
(7) Wherefore.--Since without steadfastness all will be lost. With the words introducing the quotation compare Hebrews 9:8; Hebrews 10:15.Whether the marks of parenthesis here introduced in our ordinary Bibles (not inserted by the translators of 1611) express the true connection of the verses is a question very hard to decide, and one that does not admit of full discussion here. It is very possible that the writer (like St. Paul in Romans 15:3; Romans 15:21; 1Corinthians 1:31) may have merged his own exhortation in that which the quotation supplies (Hebrews 3:8); and the objection that Hebrews 3:12 would naturally in that case have been introduced by some connective word is shown to be groundless by such passages as Hebrews 8:13; Hebrews 10:23; Hebrews 12:7; Hebrews 12:25. On the other hand, if we connect "Wherefore," in this verse, with "Take heed" in Hebrews 3:12, we have greater regularity of structure--a strong argument in this Epistle. It seems unlikely, moreover, that the writer (whose tenderness of tone and sympathy are so manifest in his words of warning) would at this stage adopt as his own the stringent and general exhortation, "harden not your hearts:" the spirit of Hebrews 3:12 ("lest haply there shall be in any one of you") is altogether different. On the whole, therefore, it seems best to consider Hebrews 3:7 ("To-day . . .") to Hebrews 3:11 (". . . my rest") as a pure quotation, enforcing the warning that follows. . . .
Verses 7-11. - Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. The warning, thus led up to, is now introduced by a long quotation from Psalm 95, which is cited at length, because the writer is about to dwell on its whole significance in the remainder of this and also in the succeeding chapter. The warning is connected by διὸ with the conclusion of ver. 6. Since our continuing to be God's house is on the condition of our steadfastness, therefore beware of failing, as the Israelites referred to by the psalmist did. With regard to the construction of the passage, there is some difficulty in discovering the apodosis to the initiatory καθὼς ("as saith the Holy Ghost"). It seems best to suppose one understood, being suggested by "harden not your hearts," which occurs m the midst of the quotation. Sentences thus grammatically incomplete are in the style of St. Paul. Otherwise the apodosis must be found in βλέπετε (ver. 12), the long intervening passage being parenthetical. It is, after all, only a question of grammatical construction; in any case the general meaning is clear. As to the successive clauses of the quotation from Psalm 95. (vers. 7-11), it is to be observed that(1) "If ye will hear his voice" may probably mean in the Hebrew, "Oh that ye would hear his voice!" But the Greek of the LXX., cited in the Epistle, is capable of the same meaning. Here, again, the meaning of the particular phrase does not affect the drift of the passage.
(2) "Harden not your hearts" expresses the abjuration which ensues from resistance of grace. Elsewhere such judicial hardening is attributed to God; as when he is said to have hardened Pharaoh's heart (cf. Isaiah 6:9, etc.; Matthew 13:13). The two modes of expression involve no difference of doctrine. It is God's doing as being judicial; man's as being due to his own perversity. As in the provocation, in the day of the temptation in the wilderness. Here κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν, which is from the LXX., may mean "at the time of" (cf. Acts 16:25, κατὰ τὸ μεσονύκτιον), or "according to," i.e. "after the manner of." The former agrees best with the Hebrew psalm, which has "As at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the wilderness," referring to the two places called by these names from what occurred there, when the people murmured for want of water. The first occurrence was at Rephidim, in the wilderness of Sin, at the commencement of the wandering (Exodus 17:1-8); the second was in the wilderness of Zin, near Kadesh, towards the end of the forty years (Numbers 20:1-14). Both names are assigned to the former place in Exodus 17:7; but elsewhere they are distinguished (see Deuteronomy 33:8). In the text, following the LXX., equivalents of the Hebrew names are given, Massah being rendered literally by πειρασμός: Meribah (equivalent to "strife ") by the unusual word παραπικρασμός, which occurs only here and in the psalm, though the verb παραπικραίνω is common in the LXX. The root of the word being πικρὸς ("bitter"), it may possibly have been suggested by the occurrence at Marah (equivalent to "bitterness"), where there was also a murmuring about water (Exodus 15:23), πικρία being the LXX. equivalent of Marah.
(3) When (οῦ in the sense of ὅπου, as is common in the LXX. and New Testament) your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. In place of the reading of the Textus Receptus, ἐδοκιμασάν με ("proved me"), which agrees with the LXX., the authority of manuscripts is in favor of ἐν δοκιμασίᾳ. This again, like the ether variations of reading, is of no importance with regard to the meaning. But further, in the original Hebrew, and apparently in the LXX., "forty years" is connected with the clause that follows: "forty years long was I grieved," etc.; whereas, in the text, the interposition of διὸ at the beginning of ver. 10, necessitates its connection with "saw my works." It is possible that the writer of the Epistle intended a reference to the corresponding forty years from the manifestation of Christ to the destruction of Jerusalem, which were drawing to their close at the time of writing, and during which the Israelites of his day were trying God by their rejection of the gospel, or, in the case of some of the believers addressed, by their wavering allegiance to it. The supposition that this idea was in the writer's mind is supported by the fact that Jewish writers refer to the psalm as assigning forty years for the days of the Messiah (see reference in Bleek, Delitzsch, Alford, etc.). That the writer had an intention in his variation from the original is the more likely from his following it correctly afterwards in ver. 17. . . .
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