Albert Barnes Commentary Hebrews 3:10

"Wherefore I was displeased with this generation, And said, They do always err in their heart: But they did not know my ways;" — Hebrews 3:10 (ASV)

Therefore I was grieved. On the word grieved, see Barnes on Ephesians 4:30.

The word here means that He was offended with them, or that He was indignant at them.

They do alway err in their heart. Their long trial of forty years had been sufficient to show that it was a characteristic of the people that they were disposed to wander from God. Forty years are enough to show what their character is. They had seen His works; they had been called to obey Him; they had received His law; yet their conduct during that time had shown that they were not disposed to obey Him.

The same is true of an individual. A man who has lived in sin for forty years—who during all that time has rebelled against God, disregarded all His appeals, and lived for himself rather than for his Maker—has shown what his character is.

Longer time is unnecessary; and if God should then cut him down and consign him to hell, He could not be blamed for doing so.

A man who during forty years will live in sin and resist all the appeals of God shows what is in his heart; and no injustice is done if then he is summoned before God, and He swears that he shall not enter into His rest.

And they have not known my ways. They have been rebellious. They have not been acquainted with the true God, or they have not approved My doings. The word know is often used in the Scriptures in the sense of approving or loving. See Barnes on Matthew 7:23.