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Though it tarry, wait for it; ] Because it will surely come, it will not delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him:

But the just shall live by his faith.

In contrast with both the writer of the Epistle gives: oJ ejrcovmeno" h{xei kai; ouj cronivsei :
oJ de; divkaiov" [ mou ] ejk pivstew" zhvsetai ,
kai; eja;n uJposteivlhtai oujk eujdokei' hJ yuchv mou ejn aujtw'/ : He that cometh shall come, and shall not tarry. But my righteous (just) one shall live by faith;

And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him.

A comparison of these words with those of the LXX. taken in connexion with the introductory clause, shews that the writer is freely using familiar language to convey his own thought. The LXX. had given a personal interpretation to the Vision which embodied the divine promise: wait for Him ( i.e. the Lord, or His representative); and the writer of the Epistle, in the light of his Christian faith, defines the Person ‘He that cometh,’ even the Ascended Christ, adding the article and so separating ejrcovmeno" from h{xei . It was natural therefore that he should at once connect with this assurance of the coming of the Saviour the reward of faith, and transpose to the end the clause which reveals the peril of slackened zeal. By this adaptation prophetic words conveyed the lesson which he desired to enforce, and the associations which they carried with them gave a solemn colouring to the thought of necessary endurance. The deliverance from Chaldaea, however real, was not such as Israel looked for.

The text of the Epistle has influenced some MSS. of the LXX. (which give some oJ ejrcovmeno" and others ouj cronivsei -iei' ) and patristic quotations: Euseb. Dem. Ev. 6.14 (p. 276); Cyr. Alex. In Is. Heb. 8:3 (2.134); Theophlct. ad loc.

It is interesting to notice that the words of the same passage are combined with words of Malachi (Mal. 3:1) in Clem. 1 ad Cor.
23... summarturouvsh" kai; th'" grafh'" o{ti

tacu; h{xei kai; ouj croniei' , kai; ejxaivfnh" h{xei oJ kuvrio" eij" to;n nao;n aujtou' , kai; oJ a{gio" o}n uJmei'" prosdoka'te (LXX. oJ a[ggelo" th'" diaqhvkh" o}n uJmei'" qelete ).

ii. The past triumphs of Faith (Hebrews 11:1-40)

The reference to Faith, as the characteristic of the true people of God, leads the writer of the Epistle to develop at length the lesson of Faith given in the records of the Old Covenant. From the first the divine revelation has called out Faith. The elementary presuppositions of religion, the existence and moral attributes of God and the creation of the world, rest on Faith. Hence it is to be expected that Faith should still find its appropriate trial. Thus


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