Difficult Passages · Who, Where, and Which
Will the vision tarry, or not tarry?
It may seem to tarry to those who wait; it won’t tarry past its appointed time.
The Passages
Habakkuk 2:3
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
Hebrews 10:37
37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
The Difficulty
“For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:3).
The Answer
The verse gives its own key: the vision is “for an appointed time.” It may seem to tarry to those who wait for it, coming later than they hoped, and so they are told to wait; it won’t tarry past the time appointed. Gill reads it of the Messiah, who would come “and not stay a moment longer than the time appointed of the Father,” and Hebrews applies it so: “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10:37).
Sources
-
not that he really would or did tarry; but he might seem to do so, not coming so soon as the Old Testament saints expected … and as it was foretold he would come, so assuredly he would come, and not stay a moment longer than the time appointed of the Father
Checked against: Internet Archive scan of the first edition, 2026-10-28
