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Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

Hebrews 10:38

‘But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrink back, my soul has no pleasure in him.'

Again taken almost exactly from Habakkuk 2:4 LXX (although ‘of me' (mou) is moved in order to stress that His righteous ones are truly His), but with the phrases transposed to bring out his point. LXX has ‘If he should draw back, my soul has no pleasure in him, but the righteous one shall live by faith of me'. It is again not cited as a quotation but uses what he finds in LXX to express his point.

The Scripture does declare, he says, that ‘my righteous one will live by faith'. Thus if they would be numbered among the righteous, they must show evidence of true faith in Him. For He has no pleasure in those who shrink back from trusting Him, who thus reveal that they are not His righteous ones. Faith in the faithfulness of God is the essence of what a Christian is. Compare its use by Paul in Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11 where the emphasis is on being accounted righteous by faith. Here the emphasis is on faith in the faithfulness of God. Chapter 11 forms a commentary on these words.

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See also Hebrews 10:38 in other biblical comments:

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  • The Bible Study New Testament

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  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

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  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

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  • William Burkitt's Expository Notes

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