John Calvin Commentary Hebrews 10:38

"But my righteous one shall live by faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him." — Hebrews 10:38 (ASV)

Now the just, etc. He means that patience is born of faith; and this is true, for we will never be able to carry on our struggles unless we are sustained by faith, even as, on the other hand, John truly declares that our victory over the world is by faith (1 John 5:4). It is by faith that we ascend on high, that we leap over all the perils of this present life and all its miseries and troubles, and that we possess a quiet standing in the midst of storms and tempests.

Then the Apostle announced this truth: that all who are counted just before God do not live otherwise than by faith. And the future tense of the verb live signifies the perpetuity of this life. Let readers consult on this subject Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11, where this passage is quoted.

But if any man draw back, etc. This is the rendering of עפלה (elation), as used by the Prophet, for the words are, “Where there will be elation or munition, the soul of that man will not continue right in him.” The Apostle gives here the Greek version, which partly agrees with the words of the Prophet and partly differs from them.

For this drawing back differs but little, if anything, from that elation or pride with which the ungodly are inflated, since their refractory opposition to God proceeds from that false confidence with which they are intoxicated. This is why they renounce His authority and promise themselves a quiet state, free from all evil.

They may be said, then, to draw back when they set up defenses of this kind, by which they drive away every fear of God and reverence for His name. And thus by this expression is implied the power of faith no less than the character of impiety; for pride is impiety, because it does not render to God the honor due to Him by making a person obedient to Him.

From self-security, insolence, and contempt, it happens that as long as it is well with the wicked, they dare, as one has said, to insult the clouds.

But nothing is more contrary to faith than this drawing back, for the true character of faith is that it draws a person to submission to God, even when that person is being pulled away by their own sinful nature.

The other clause, “He will not please my soul,” or as I have rendered it more fully, “My soul shall not delight in him,” is to be taken as the expression of the Apostle’s feeling. For it was not his purpose to quote exactly the words of the Prophet, but only to refer to the passage to invite readers to a closer examination of it.