Expositor's Bible Commentary 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)

We should not miss the reference to the anger of God. The Lord is not impassive or indifferent in the face of human sin. He is a “consuming fire” (12:29), and his inevitable reaction to sin is wrath. “Generation” refers to all the Israelites living at a particular time. They showed constancy in error, “always going astray.” “Heart” (GK 2840) as used in the Bible does not stand for the emotions as with us but for the whole inner being—thoughts, feelings, and will. Often the emphasis is on the mind. Thus the writer is stressing that Israel went wholly astray; their inner state was not right with God. The last line of the verse implies that if people really knew the ways of God, they would walk in them. But these people did not know. Their ignorance was culpable, not innocent. They were not blamed simply for not knowing but for not knowing things they ought to have known and acted on.