Rest is a gift Jesus gives: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” In Matthew 11:28, the Greek word is anapauō (G373): to give rest, to refresh, to let someone stop and breathe again. Strong’s says it is made from ana, ‘up, again’, and pauō, ‘to stop’.
Get DeepWordWhat the original says
Behind “I will give you rest” in this verse is the Greek word anapauō (said ah-nah-POW-oh).
It means to give rest, to refresh, to let someone stop and breathe again. Strong’s says it is made from ana, ‘up, again’, and pauō, ‘to stop’.
This form, anapausō, is a plain statement about the future, with ‘I’ as the one who acts: I will give rest. The word just before it, kagō, ‘and I’, puts extra weight on the ‘I’: Jesus himself will do it.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘rest’ 7 times and ‘refresh’ 4 times, counting their other forms. Paul uses it when he asks a friend, “Refresh my heart in Christ” (Philemon 1:20):
Word by word
| οἱ | κοπιῶντες | καὶ | πεφορτισμένοι | κἀγὼ | ἀναπαύσω | ὑμᾶς |
| you who | toiling | and | burdened | and I myself | will give rest | to you |
Original form
What this tells us
Jesus has just thanked his Father for showing his ways to ordinary people: “You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” (Matthew 11:25). Then he turns to the crowd and speaks to everyone who is tired. Not only the religious experts, and not only the strong: “all you who are weary and burdened”. The word for “rest” is anapauō: to let someone stop, put the load down, and breathe again. Jesus does not offer a method or a program. He offers himself: “Come to Me”. And he says the rest is his to give: “I will give you rest.” He goes on to speak of a yoke, the wooden frame that let an animal pull a load: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29), and “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). It is still a yoke; life does not stop asking things of us. But it is shared with someone gentle. Some readers hear in these words the weight of religious rules laid on people, and others every kind of weariness; the invitation fits both. What are you carrying that you were never meant to carry alone? The invitation in this verse has only one condition, and it is a single word: come.
What the original says
Behind “let us rest” in this verse is anapauō again (said ah-nah-POW-oh), the word you met in Matthew 11:28.
It is the same word: to rest, to stop for a while and be refreshed.
This form, anapausasthe, is a command to several people: rest. The small word after it, oligon, ‘a little’, makes it a short rest, “for a while”.
Jesus says it here to tired disciples. In one of his stories a rich man says it to himself, “Take it easy” (Luke 12:19), with the same word. In all, the Berean has ‘rest’ 7 times:
Word by word
| ἔρημον | τόπον | καὶ | ἀναπαύσασθε | ὀλίγον | ἦσαν | γὰρ |
| solitary | place | and | do rest | a little | were | for |
Original form
What this tells us
The apostles have just come back from their first mission, sent out two by two: “the apostles gathered around Jesus and brought Him news of all they had done and taught” (Mark 6:30). Around them the crowd never stops: “many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.” The word for “rest” is anapauō, the same word Jesus used in Matthew 11:28. Here it is not a promise but a plan: “Come with Me privately to a solitary place, and let us rest for a while.” Jesus himself calls his tired friends to stop, before they have finished everything. Mark shows Jesus doing the same: “Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray” (Mark 1:35). And the rest in this story does not last long. When the boat lands a crowd is waiting, and Jesus “had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34). Rest is not running away from people; it is part of what lets you go back to them, the way a runner stops for water so she can finish the race. If you feel guilty for stopping, notice who says it first in this verse. Resting for a while can be something Jesus asks of you, not a lack of love for others.
What the original says
Behind “I will give you rest” in this verse is the Hebrew word nuach (said NOO-akh).
It means to rest, to settle down, to come to a stop. In this form it means to give rest: to settle someone safely.
This form, vahanichoti, is ‘and’ joined to a form that means making someone else rest: ‘and I will give rest’. The ‘you’ comes in the small word after it, lakh, ‘to you’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘rest’ 55 times, and also ‘leave’ 15 times and ‘place’ 13 times: it is the word for setting something down and leaving it there, as when Moses tells Aaron about the jar of manna, “Then place it before the LORD” (Exodus 16:33):
Word by word
| וַיֹּאמַר | פָּנַי | יֵלֵכוּ | וַהֲנִחֹתִי | לָךְ |
| and · he said | presence · my | they will go | and · I will give rest | to · you |
Original form
What this tells us
These words come right after Israel’s worst failure in the desert. While Moses was on the mountain, the people made a golden calf, saying, “Come, make us gods who will go before us” (Exodus 32:1). Afterward the LORD tells Moses to lead the people on to the land, but warns, “I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people” (Exodus 33:3). Moses pleads, and the LORD answers with this promise. The word for “rest” is nuach: to settle down, to come to a stop and be at peace. Here it is God’s gift: “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” The rest is tied to the presence. It comes because God goes along. Moses knows this is everything. “If Your Presence does not go with us,” he says, “do not lead us up from here” (Exodus 33:15). The rest promised here was not an easy road; the desert was still ahead of them. Think of a child on a long drive at night who falls asleep in the back seat, not because the road is short but because a parent is at the wheel. What journey are you on that feels too long? The promise here is not that the road gets shorter, but that God goes with you, and gives rest on the way.
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Download on the App StoreWhat the original says
Behind “He rested” in this verse is nuach (said NOO-akh), the word you met in Exodus 33:14.
It is the same word: to rest, to settle down. The Sabbath itself has another name, shabbat, from a verb meaning to stop, to cease.
This form, vaiyanach, is ‘and’ joined to a verb in the way Hebrew tells a story: ‘and he rested’. The one who rests is the LORD: in this commandment God himself is the first to stop.
Across the Berean it is ‘rest’ 55 times and ‘settle’ 6 times, counting the forms of each:
Word by word
| אֲשֶׁר | בָּם | וַיָּנַח | בַּיּוֹם | הַשְּׁבִיעִי |
| that | in · them | and · he rested | on the · day | seventh |
Original form
What this tells us
This is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. It begins, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8), and it includes everyone in the house: “neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates” (Exodus 20:10). Then it gives the reason, going back to creation. The word for “rested” here is nuach: to settle down, to stop. The commandment does not say God was tired. It says he stopped, and then “the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.” Rest is built into the week as something blessed, not something you have to earn. When Moses repeats the commandments, he gives another reason: “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 5:15). Slaves never stop; free people can. Jesus later said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). Christians keep this commandment in different ways, some on Saturday, many on Sunday, others seeing their rest in Christ every day, but all receive it as a gift. Is there room in your week for a day, or even an hour, that you do not have to earn? This verse says the Maker of the world made room for it first.
What the original says
Behind the word “quiet” in this verse is the Hebrew word menuchah (said meh-noo-KHAH).
It means rest, a place of rest, quiet and ease. It belongs to the same family as nuach, the verb for resting you met in Exodus.
This form, menuchot, is plural. Word for word David writes ‘waters of rests’; the Berean puts it as “quiet waters”.
In the Berean Standard Bible it is ‘rest’ 10 times and ‘place’ 7 times, often a ‘resting place’, as in “This is the place of rest, let the weary rest” (Isaiah 28:12):
Word by word
| בִּנְאוֹת | דֶּשֶׁא | יַרְבִּיצֵנִי | עַל | מֵי | מְנֻחוֹת | יְנַהֲלֵנִי |
| in · pastures of | grass | he makes lie down · me | at | waters of | rests | he leads · me |
Original form
What this tells us
Psalm 23 is a psalm of David, the shepherd boy who became king, and it opens with a picture from that work: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). Sheep cannot find good grass or safe water on their own. Someone has to lead them there, and keep them safe while they drink. The word behind “quiet” is menuchah: rest, a resting place. The Hebrew says ‘waters of rest’: not a rushing river but calm water where a sheep can drink without fear. And the shepherd does not only point to it from far off. “He leads me” there, step by step. The next line says what that rest does: “He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:3). Rest here is not only stopping; it is being put back together. Jesus later takes up the same picture: “I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me” (John 10:14). Even in the dark valley, the psalm says, “You are with me” (Psalm 23:4). Rest is a place you are led to, by someone who knows the way. Where might your Shepherd be leading you to rest that you have been walking past? The psalm does not ask you to find the water on your own. It says he leads you to it.
What the original says
Behind “finds rest” in this verse is the Hebrew word dumiyah (said doo-mee-YAH).
It means silence, stillness: the quiet of someone who has stopped arguing and is waiting. The Berean puts it as “finds rest”.
This form, dumiyah, is a noun, ‘silence’, and the sentence has no verb at all. Word for word it reads ‘only toward God, silence, my soul’.
It is a rare word, in only 4 verses of the Old Testament, all of them in the Psalms. The Berean puts it as ‘rest’ 2 times and as ‘still’ and ‘awaits’ once each:
Word by word
| אַךְ | אֶל | אֱלֹהִים | דּוּמִיָּה | נַפְשִׁי | מִמֶּנּוּ | יְשׁוּעָתִי |
| only | toward | God | silence | being · my | from · him | salvation · my |
Original form
What this tells us
David writes this psalm under pressure, surrounded by people who want to bring him down. Right after this verse he says of God, “He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress; I will never be shaken” (Psalm 62:2). His rest is not the calm of a quiet day. It is rest in the middle of a hard one. The word behind “finds rest” is dumiyah: silence, stillness. Word for word David says ‘only toward God, silence, my soul’. Rest here is the quiet of someone who has stopped arguing, stopped planning his defense, and is waiting on God. He comes back to it later and speaks to himself: “Rest in God alone, O my soul, for my hope comes from Him” (Psalm 62:5). Then he speaks to everyone: “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him” (Psalm 62:8). The silence is not empty. It comes after pouring everything out. Think of a child who has cried hard in a parent’s arms and finally goes quiet, not because the problem is solved, but because she is held. Silence can feel frightening when life is loud. In this psalm it is where the soul finally rests: with God, and with God alone.
What the original says
Behind “a Sabbath rest” in this verse is the Greek word sabbatismos (said sab-bah-tis-MOS).
It means a Sabbath rest, a keeping of Sabbath. It is built on sabbaton, the Greek form of the Hebrew shabbat.
This form, sabbatismos, is a noun, the subject of the verb before it, apoleipetai, ‘there remains’. The rest is still ahead, waiting for those it is meant for.
It is found only here in the New Testament. Elsewhere in Hebrews 3 and 4 the Berean’s “rest” stands for katapausis, a different word, as in “They shall never enter My rest” (Hebrews 3:11):
Word by word
| ἄρα | ἀπολείπεται | σαββατισμὸς | τῷ | λαῷ | τοῦ | θεοῦ |
| so then | there remains | a Sabbath rest | for the | people | the | of God |
Original form
What this tells us
Hebrews looks back at Israel in the desert, the generation that never entered the promised land. It quotes Psalm 95, where God says, “They shall never enter My rest” (Hebrews 3:11). Then it says the promise is still open: “while the promise of entering His rest still stands” (Hebrews 4:1), no one should miss it. The word here is sabbatismos, a Sabbath rest, found nowhere else in the New Testament. The writer has been speaking of the promised land as rest, and of God’s rest on the seventh day. Now he says there is a deeper rest than both, and it has not run out: “There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” The next verse explains it: “For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:10). Christians read this rest in more than one way: as rest from trying to earn God’s favor, which begins when we trust Christ, or as the final rest with God after this life, and many hold both. Either way the writer says, “Now we who have believed enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:3). Whatever kind of tired you are today, this verse says the story does not end in exhaustion. A Sabbath rest remains, and it is for the people of God.
Behind "rest" are 22 different words
Your English Bible says "rest" 135 times. Behind it stand several Hebrew and Greek words:
Reflect
Read it as yours
Jesus said these words to a crowd of tired people. Read them slowly, as if he were saying them to you:
Name it
What is making you most tired right now? Write it down, and then write one small way you could stop and rest this week.
Carry with you
Where could you stop for a while this week, and let Jesus carry what you are carrying?
A note
Being worn out is not a sign that your faith has failed. If tiredness does not lift with sleep for weeks, see a doctor; if it feels like more than tiredness, talking with a counselor or a pastor can help.