The Meaning of Hebrews 10:38 Explained

Hebrews 10:38

KJV: Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

YLT: and 'the righteous by faith shall live,' and 'if he may draw back, My soul hath no pleasure in him,'

Darby: But the just shall live by faith; and, if he draw back, my soul does not take pleasure in him.

ASV: But my righteous one shall live by faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Now  the just  shall live  by  faith:  but  if  [any man] draw back,  my  soul  shall have  no  pleasure  in  him. 

What does Hebrews 10:38 Mean?

Context Summary

Hebrews 10:26-39 - Beware Of Backsliding
The willful sin here referred to does not consist in isolated acts, but in a determined course of action, persisted in until the very desire for a better life wanes and dies out of the soul.
These strong remonstrances were needed in those days of sore persecution. Three considerations are adduced, urging steadfastness: (1.) The certain punishment which must follow on the rejection of the greatest gifts that God can make, so much richer than anything presented under the Mosaic covenant. (2.) The sufferings already endured, the reward for which would-be forfeited, if these harried souls were now to draw back. (3.) The near advent of the Christ, who would not fail to compensate His faithful servants.
Then we are reminded that the just-those who have been accepted in the Beloved-live; that is, may derive all the reinforcements of soul strength and patience that they require, from the unseen and eternal world where Jesus waits to succor and uphold. [source]

Chapter Summary: Hebrews 10

1  The weakness of the law sacrifices
10  The sacrifice of Christ's body once offered,
14  for ever has taken away sins
19  An exhortation to hold fast the faith with patience and thanksgiving

Greek Commentary for Hebrews 10:38

If he shrink back [εαν υποστειληται]
Condition of third class with εαν — ean and the first aorist middle subjunctive of υποστελλω — hupostellō old verb to draw oneself under or back, to withdraw, as already in Acts 20:20, Acts 20:27; Galatians 2:12. See Romans 1:17 for the quotation also of “the just shall live by faith.” [source]
Now the just shall live by faith [μου]
Cited by Paul, Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11. In the original prophecy the just man is contrasted with the haughty Chaldaean invaders, who are puffed up and not upright. Through his steadfast obedience to God he shall be kept alive in the time of confusion and destruction. [source]
But if any man draw back [καὶ ἐὰν ὑποοτείληται]
Omit if any man. Rend. “and if he draw back,” that is, the just man. The possibility of the lapse of even the just is assumed. See on Hebrews 6:4-6. The verb only here, Acts 20:20, Acts 20:27; Galatians 2:12. See on Acts 20:20. Rare in lxx. [source]
Shall have no pleasure [οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ]
Rend. “hath no pleasure.” “If he draw back - in him,” not in the Hebrew, which reads, “behold, puffed up within him is his soul, it is not upright.” The clauses of the lxx are transposed here. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Hebrews 10:38

Mark 12:30 Soul [ψυχῆς]
The word is often used in the New Testament in its original meaning of life. See Matthew 2:20; Matthew 20:28; Acts 20:10; Romans 11:3; John 10:11. Hence, as an emphatic designation of the man himself. See Matthew 12:18; Hebrews 10:38; Luke 21:19. So that the word denotes “life in the distinctness of individual existence” (Cremer). See further on ψυχικός , spiritual, 1 Corinthians 15:44. [source]
Acts 20:20 Kept back [ὑπεστειλάμην]
A picturesque word. Originally, to draw in or contract. Used of furling sails, and of closing the fingers; of drawing back for shelter; of keeping back one's real thoughts; by physicians, of withholding food from patients. It is rather straining a point to say, as Canon Farrar, that Paul is using a nautical metaphor suggested by his constantly hearing the word for furling sail used during his voyage. Paul's metaphors lie mainly on the lines of military life, architecture, agriculture, and the Grecian games. The statement of Canon Farrar, that he “constantly draws his metaphors from the sights and circumstances immediately around him, ” is rather at variance with his remark that, with one exception, he “cannot find a single word which shows that Paul had even the smallest susceptibility for the works of nature” (“Paul,” i., 19). Nautical metaphors are, to say the least, not common in Paul's writings. I believe there are but three instances: Ephesians 4:14; 1 Timothy 1:19; 1 Timothy 6:9. Paul means here that he suppressed nothing of the truth through fear of giving offence. Compare Galatians 2:12; Hebrews 10:38. [source]
Acts 20:20 How that I shrank not [ως ουδεν υπεστειλαμεν]
Still indirect discourse (question) after επισταστε — epistasthe (ye know) with ως — hōs like πως — pōs in Acts 20:18. First aorist middle of υποστελλω — hupostellō old verb to draw under or back. It was so used of drawing back or down sails on a ship and, as Paul had so recently been on the sea, that may be the metaphor here. But it is not necessarily so as the direct middle here makes good sense and is frequent, to withdraw oneself, to cower, to shrink, to conceal, to dissemble as in Habakkuk 2:4 (Hebrews 10:38). Demosthenes so used it to shrink from declaring out of fear for others. This open candour of Paul is supported by his Epistles (1 Thessalonians 2:4, 1 Thessalonians 2:11; 2 Corinthians 4:2; Galatians 1:10). [source]
Galatians 2:12 He did eat with the Gentiles [μετα των ετνων συνηστιεν]
It was his habit (imperfect tense). He drew back (υπεστελλεν — hupestellen). Imperfect tense, inchoative action, “he began to draw himself (εαυτον — heauton) back.” Old word υποστελλω — hupostellō See middle voice to dissemble (Acts 20:20, Acts 20:27), to shrink (Hebrews 10:38). Separated himself Inchoative imperfect again, “began to separate himself” just like a Pharisee (see note on Galatians 1:15) and as if afraid of the Judaizers in the Jerusalem Church, perhaps half afraid that James might not endorse what he had been doing. Fearing them that were of the circumcision (ποβουμενος τους εκ περιτομης — phoboumenos tous ek peritomēs). This was the real reason for Peter‘s cowardice. See Acts 11:2 for “οι εκ περιτομης — hoi ek peritomēs ” (they of the circumcision), the very phrase here. It was not that Peter had changed his views from the Jerusalem resolutions. It was pure fear of trouble to himself as in the denials at the trial of Christ. [source]
Galatians 2:12 He drew back [υπεστελλεν]
Imperfect tense, inchoative action, “he began to draw himself (εαυτον — heauton) back.” Old word υποστελλω — hupostellō See middle voice to dissemble (Acts 20:20, Acts 20:27), to shrink (Hebrews 10:38). [source]
Hebrews 11:7 Of the righteousness which is by faith [τῆς κατὰ πίστις δικαιοσύνης]
In the O.T. Noah is the first to receive the title of δίκαιος righteous Genesis 6:9; comp. Ezekiel 14:14, Ezekiel 14:20; Matthew href="/desk/?q=mt+9:29&sr=1">Matthew 9:29; Titus 1:1, Titus 1:4. Paul has δικαιοσύνη and δίκαιος fromor out of faith ( ἐκ πίστεως ), by faith ( διὰ πίστεως ), founded on faith ( ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει ), and of faith ( πίστεως ), none of which are found either in Hebrews or in the Pastorals. Κατὰ πίστιν signifies according to faith as a standard; but the conception at bottom is not essentially different from Paul's, unless there be imported into his conception the scholastic fiction of imputed righteousness. Paul, in Habakkuk href="/desk/?q=hab+2:4&sr=1">Habakkuk 2:4. See Hebrews 10:38. [source]

What do the individual words in Hebrews 10:38 mean?

The one however righteous of Mine by faith will live and if he might shrink back not takes pleasure the soul of Me in him
δὲ δίκαιός μου ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται καὶ ἐὰν ὑποστείληται οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ψυχή μου ἐν αὐτῷ

  The  one 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
δὲ  however 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
δίκαιός  righteous 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: δίκαιος  
Sense: righteous, observing divine laws.
μου  of  Mine 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Singular
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
πίστεως  faith 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: πίστις  
Sense: conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it.
ζήσεται  will  live 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ζάω  
Sense: to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead).
ὑποστείληται  he  might  shrink  back 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ὑποστέλλω  
Sense: to draw back, let down, lower.
εὐδοκεῖ  takes  pleasure 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εὐδοκέω  
Sense: it seems good to one, is one’s good pleasure.
ψυχή  soul 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: ψυχή  
Sense: breath.
μου  of  Me 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Singular
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.