Habakkuk 2:4

His soul. For the first half of the verse the LXX reads, “If he should draw back, my soul has no pleasure in him,” a reading which appears in Heb. 10:38. It is interesting to note that the Hebrew text quoted in the recently discovered Habakkuk Commentary of the Dead Sea scrolls (see p. 1047) is in agreement with the Masoretic text in this instance. In their primary application these words reprove the prophet for his rashness and lack of faith. Just. Heb. saddiq, “righteous,” “guiltless,” or “just,” used in reference to a person or thing examined and found in good condition. This closing clause sets forth the character of the good man as opposed to that of the evil man described in the first part of the verse. Faith. Heb. ’amunah, “constancy,” “reliability,” or “faithfulness,” used here to describe one’s relation to God. Trust in God issues forth from the assurance that God will guide, protect, and bless those who do His will. Habakkuk here grandly affirms that he who lives by a simple faith and trust in the Lord will be saved, but the “soul which is lifted up” through its own willful pride and perverseness in sin will perish. Where the Masoretic text reads “his” faithfulness, the LXX reads “my” faithfulness, God Himself being the speaker. In the quotation of this text found in Heb. 10:38, comparatively few NT MSS follow the LXX, whereas the majority of the MSS have neither “his” nor “my” modifying “faith.” The readings of both the Masoretic text and the LXX are based on great truths, for a person will “live,” accepted in the sight of God, by his trusting faithfulness to his God, which in turn is based on God’s faithfulness in His dealings with His children. It is likely that this variation in the readings is due to the similarity in form of the Hebrew letters waw and yod as written during the time of the translation of the LXX. As written in that period these letters appear practically identical. Used as suffixes to ’amunah, waw would mean “his,” and yod, “my.” While primarily this verse refers to those who, because of their faith in the Lord, will be saved from the Chaldeans and will still find peace, though Judah be destroyed, in a larger sense the verse enunciates a truth that is applicable to all time. More than once Paul employs this OT declaration as the theme of a dissertation on righteousness by faith (see Rom. 1:16, 17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38, 39).