Hebrews 10:37 Future Indicative vs. Subjunctive

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Aubrey Sequeira
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Joined: October 15th, 2013, 9:53 am

Hebrews 10:37 Future Indicative vs. Subjunctive

Post by Aubrey Sequeira »

In the citation of Habakkuk 2:3–4 in Hebrews 10:37–38, Hebrews has a negated future indicative as opposed to the LXX's emphatic-negative subjunctive.
Heb 10:37 - ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἥξει καὶ οὐ χρονίσει·
Hab 2:3b LXX - ἐρχόμενος ἥξει καὶ οὐ μὴ χρονίσῃ.

The author of Hebrews has edited Hab 2:3–4 and made other modifications to the citation to fit his discourse (including flipping the clauses in 2:4), but is there any significance to this particular change from subjunctive to future indicative for χρονίζω?
Harold Attridge in his Hermeneia Commentary on Hebrews says the author "strengthens the remark by using the future (οὐ χρονισει) for the subjunctive (οὐ μη χρονισῃ)" (Attridge, Hebrews, 302).
However, I have not seen this claim anywhere else and am not sure if it can be substantiated by any grammars.

So is the future indicative more certain / emphatic in any sense? Or is it the other way around?
Or is the change insignificant from a syntactical standpoint and we perhaps have a case of different text traditions?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
Ken M. Penner
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Re: Hebrews 10:37 Future Indicative vs. Subjunctive

Post by Ken M. Penner »

Possibly relevant bibliography:
Gheorghita, Radu. The Role of the Septuagint in Hebrews: An Investigation of Its Influence with Special Consideration to the Use of Hab 2:3-4 in Heb 10:37-38. Mohr Siebeck, 2003. Print. http://books.google.ca/books?id=vf1-2enFqucC
Ken M. Penner
Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, St. Francis Xavier University
Co-Editor, Digital Biblical Studies
General Editor, Lexham English Septuagint
Co-Editor, Online Critical Pseudepigrapha pseudepigrapha.org
Barry Hofstetter
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Re: Hebrews 10:37 Future Indicative vs. Subjunctive

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

We are taught that οὐ μή + the subjunctive is the strongest form of negative in Greek, e.g.,

c. Emphatic Negation Subjunctive
1) Definition
Emphatic negation is indicated by οὐ μή plus the aorist subjunctive or, less frequently, οὐ μή plus the future indicative (e.g., Matt 26:35; Mark 13:31; John 4:14; 6:35). This is the strongest way to negate something in Greek.
One might think that the negative with the subjunctive could not be as strong as the negative with the indicative. However, while οὐ + the indicative denies a certainty, οὐ μή + the subjunctive denies a potentiality. The negative is not weaker; rather, the affirmation that is being negatived is less firm with the subjunctive. οὐ μή rules out even the idea as being a possibility: “ου μή is the most decisive way of negativing someth. in the future.”
Emphatic negation is found primarily in the reported sayings of Jesus (both in the Gospels and in the Apocalypse); secondarily, in quotations from the LXX. Outside of these two sources it occurs only rarely. As well, a soteriological theme is frequently found in such statements, especially in John: what is negatived is the possibility of the loss of salvation.


Wallace, D. B. (1999). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics - Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (p. 468). Zondervan Publishing House and Galaxie Software.

See also Smyth 2754, "used in emphatic negatives, predictions and prohibitions"

Now, the author to the Hebrews has an excellent command of Greek, and I think would have been aware of the distinction between the use of the subjunctive and indicative, so unless he's following a different text of the LXX, his alteration is intentional. My feeling is that he is thinking of the specific event, and not the potentiality of the event. Does that seem to fit with the flow of the author's argument here?
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
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