Heb. 10:26-39, Comments (2)

Two more commentaries on the final warning passage of Hebrews.

·       (10:37) The exhortation to patience is strengthened by the promise of the soon coming of Messiah. The expression is very much stronger in the Greek text. Expositor’s translates it: “For yet a little—a very little—while and He that cometh will come and will not delay.” Another translates it: “For yet a little—ever so little—while.” The expression comes from Habakkuk 2:3. Vincent says: “In the Hebrew (Hab. 2:3), the subject of the sentence is the vision of the extermination of the Chaldees. ‘The vision—will surely come.’ As rendered in the LXX either Jehovah or Messiah must be the subject. The passage was referred to Messiah by the later Jewish theologians, and is so taken by our writer.” The disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus, “Art thou He that should come or look we for another?” The expression “He that should come” is Jewish and refers to Messiah.

Translation. For yet a little—a very little while, and He that cometh will come and will not delay.

·       (10:38) The writer now quotes the words of Habakkuk 2:4, “The just shall live by faith,” repeated by Paul in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11. This was the divine spark that lit the Reformation when Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, found them in his Greek New Testament, illuminated by the Holy Spirit. That is, the justified person is justified by God upon the basis of and in answer to his faith in the Lord Jesus.

·       After stating again the terms of salvation, a personal faith in Messiah as High Priest, the writer warns those among his readers who only made a profession of faith, that if any draw back to the temple sacrifices, renouncing their professed faith in Messiah, his soul shall have no pleasure in that person. The words “any man” are not in the Greek text. The translation should read “If he.” We must keep in mind that this letter is written to the professing Church which is made up of true believers and of unbelievers. Here the writer is thinking of the one who professes to be justified but who has only an intellectual faith, not a heart trust (Acts 8:13, 21). The verb translated “draw back” means “to shrink in fear.” The persecution would be that which is feared in this case.

Translation. Now, the just shall live by faith. But if he draw back in fear, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

[Wuest, K. S. (1997, c1984). Wuest's word studies from the Greek New Testament : For the English reader (Heb 10:36-38). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.]

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10:37,38 The loose reference to Hab. 2:3,4 (cf. Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11) is introduced by a phrase taken from Is. 26:20. This is the second reference to the Isaiah passage (cf. v. 27) which is part of a song of salvation. The passage in Is. 26 (or, its greater context, Is. 24–27) is perhaps uppermost in the writer’s mind. The Habakkuk reference is altered considerably so that it is more of an interpretive paraphrase drawing on other OT concepts and contexts. Habakkuk 2:4,5 is descriptive of the proud who do not live by faith. It is the proud who are self-sufficient and who fail to realize the necessity of patient endurance and trust in God. The proud Jew will be rejected if he does not exercise faith. He will be judged along with the nations.  [MacArthur, J. J. (1997, c1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.) (Heb 10:37). Nashville: Word Pub.]