Another Note on Λόγος as Christ in Hebrews 4,12-13 131 rary interpretation would seem to imply that it is effective positively or negatively, depending on the choice of the Christians. Positively, in that it effects for them entry into God’s rest if they do not allow their hearts to become hardened by a lack of faith-trust; negatively, in that it efficaciously condemns them if they allow their hearts to become hardened and thus fail to enter into God’s rest through lack of faith-trust. But in either case the decisive element would seem to be attitude of the individual Christian to the hardening of his or her heart through lack of faith-trust. If such is the case, the language of v. 12 seems misdirected: it should be about the power of human choice, not about the power of Scripture. In other words, the contemporary reading of λόγος in Heb 4,12-13 would seem to imply that the author is addressing each and every Christian with the implicit warning that each and every one could enter or each and every one could fail: it was up to them to decide by the way they controlled their heart in the listening of the word in Scripture. In the case a Christian succeeded in not allowing his heart to be hardened, the word would efficaciously usher him into God’s rest; in the case he did not succeed, the word would efficaciously note his failure. But a close reading of the text in question would seem to indicate a quite different interpretation. With regard to the desert generation which perished in the desert, there seems to be no distinction: all perished (cf. 3,16-19; 4,6). The word of God was directed to them as a warning not to lose trust in God’s saving presence, but they did, and the result was their failure to enter God’s rest (cf. the citations of Scripture, which speak of failure in the plural: 3,7b-11; 3,15; 4,3; 4,5; 4,7). Thus the threat of failure was, at least potentially, over the group as a whole (as a matter of fact, the threat of failure for the group materialized). But this does not seem to be the case with the Christians. Whenever the author warns his addressees about the possibility of failure, he does so in individual terms. Cf.: 3,12 (“lest there be in any one of you”); 3,13 (“lest any one of you become hardened”); 4,1 (“lest any one of you be thought to have fallen short”); 4,11 (“lest any one fall into the same pattern of disobedience”). But when he speaks in terms of positive success, he speaks of a group entering: 3,13 (“encourage each other”); 3,14; 4,2; 4,3; 4,6; 4,11. Therefore, the picture which emerges is not symmetrical. The warning to the Exodus generation was to all on the supposition that all could fail (and, as a matter of fact, all did fail) to enter into God’s rest. But the warning to the Christians is to all on the supposition that isolated individuals could fail to enter into God’s rest, not that all as a group could fail. But with 4,8 a new perspective comes into play. Vv. 4,8-11 stand out- side the framing device of the warning about hardening one’s heart (4,7