Hebrews 10:38

Now the just shall live by faith The true reading here (though not in the Hebrew) perhaps is, "But myrighteous one shall live by faith" (as in א, A, K), and this is all the more probable because the "my" is omitted by St Paul, and therefore might be omitted here by the copyists. In D, as in some mss. of the LXX., "my" is found after "faith." In the original Hebrew the passage seems to mean "But the righteous shall live by his fidelity." On the deeper meaning read into the verse by St Paul see my Life of St Paul, i. 369. The Rabbis said that Habakkuk had compressed into this one rule the 365 negative and 248 positive precepts of the Law.

but if any man draw back The introduction of the words "any man" by the A.V. is wholly unwarrantable, and at first sight looks as if it were due to dogmatic bias and a desire to insinuate the Calvinistic doctrine of the "indefectibility of grace." But throughout this Epistle there is not a word which countenances the dogma of "final perseverance." The true rendering is "And -if he draw backMy soul approveth him not;" " i.e. "if my just man draw back" (comp. Ezekiel 18:24, "when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness)." The verb implies that shrinking from a course once begun which is used of St Peter in Galatians 2:12. It means, primarily, "to strike or shorten sail," and then to withdraw or hold back (comp. Acts 20:20; Acts 20:27). This quotation follows the LXX. in here diverging very widely from the Hebrew of Habakkuk 2:4, which has "Behold his (the Chaldean's) soul in him is puffed up, it is not humble (lit. - level"); but the righteous shall live by his faithfulness." All that we have seen of previous quotations shews us how free was the use made, by way of illustration, of Scripture language. Practically the writer here applies the language of the old Prophet, not in its primary sense, but to express his own conceptions (Calvin). On the possible defection of "the righteous" see Article 16 of our Church.