ACC ~ Hebrews 3 v17 - 19

THEY DIED IN THE DESERT. JEROME: They died, for they could not enter the promised land. They merely looked over toward the land of promise, but they could not enter it. The Jews beheld the promised land but could not enter it. They died in the desert. . . .We, their children, under the leadership of Jesus, have come to the Jordan and entered the promised land. HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 10 (PSALM 76).

GOD BROUGHT IN THEIR CHILDREN. THEODORET OF CYR: God urged them to leave for the promised land, but some spoke in opposition, citing fear and the multitude of the enemy. Hence God consumed them all individually in the desert and brought in their children in place of them. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 3.

A SIMILAR SITUATION. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: He wishes to show that all who went out through Moses perished because of their unbelief, so that these might fear all the more since they were in a similar situation to those against whom he was making the argument. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 3.16-18.

BECAUSE THEY DID NOT BELIEVE. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: “To whom did he swear that they should never enter his rest?” To those who did not want to obey Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb … “So we see that they were unable to enter” the land promised to them, not because of their evil actions, even though they were wicked, but “because of unbelief” in the Word of God. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.