One of the most controverted questions in the study of the Epistle to the Hebrews is the nature of the eschatological perspective which it represents, and a focal point of the debate about this issue is the passage on the “rest” which awaits the addressees (4:1–11). The two ends of the spectrum of recent interpretation are represented by Theissen on the one hand, who sees Hebrews here as developing a “Gnostic” tradition paralleled by materials in Philo, and by Buchanan and Hofius on the other, who see Hebrews as working wholly within the framework of Jewish apocalyptic expectations. Parallels adduced by these interpreters are, to one degree or another, illuminating, but the concentration on these parallels may obscure the dynamics of Hebrews' argument, which should serve as the fundamental criterion by which to assess the work's eschatology. This brief paper will attempt to illuminate those dynamics.