Verses 37-38
After all, we will not have long to persevere. The Lord’s return is near (Revelation 22:20). In the meantime we need to keep walking by faith. If we abandon that purpose, we will not please God.
"This observation [in Hebrews 10:38 b] is a figure of speech called litotes in which a positive idea is expressed by negating the opposite. As the larger context makes plain, he means, ’God will be severely angered’ (see Hebrews 10:27)." [Note: Hodges, The Gospel . . ., p. 74.]
The allusions in these verses are to Isaiah 26:21 and Habakkuk 2:3-4 in the Septuagint. The writer took all his Old Testament quotations from this version except the one in Hebrews 10:30, which he took from the Hebrew Bible. "My righteous one" is a believer. "Shrinking back" refers to apostasy. [Note: Lane, Hebrews 9-13, p. 305; Moffatt, p. 158.]
"Paul is concerned with the way a man comes to be accepted by God; the author [of this epistle] is concerned with the importance of holding fast to one’s faith in the face of temptations to abandon it." [Note: Morris, p. 111.]
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