Shrinks back (Withdraws) (5288) (hupostello from hupo = under, underneath + stello = to set, place; in middle voice = take care against a thing, avoid = 2Co 8:20) is usually found in the middle voice (reflexive; subject initiates action and participates in result/effect thereof) and conveys the sense of withdraw oneself and so to be timid, to cower, to shrink from, to shy away from. In the active voice (only in Gal 2:12) means to draw down and so to consciously withdraw from a position. As noted in the comment appended to Galatians below, hupostello was used in secular Greek to describe strategic military operations. Vine writes that hupostello... here in (Heb 10:38) the middle voice, suggesting determination in the act, signifies to withdraw from holding the truth. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson or Logos) In classic Greek hupostello was used to describe a dog tucking (letting down) his tail, a ship's sail that was furled (= to wrap around a stay or mast and fasten by a cord) or drawn down. The lowering of the sail slackens the course. The point in Hebrews is that the one who "lowers his sail and slackens his course" is the one in whom God takes no pleasure! Rengstorf writes that hupostello... 1. This word means “to draw aside or back,” “to retreat,” “to withdraw,” “to hold back,” “to keep away from,” “to keep silence,” “to conceal.” 2. In the LXX the term means “to hide” in Job 13:18, “to shrink from” in Dt 1:17, and “to hold back” in Hag. 1:10. The sense “to subordinate” occurs in Philo. 3.a. In the NT Paul says in Gal. 2:11, 12 that when certain people come from James to Antioch, Peter, who has been eating with the Gentiles, “draws back,” or even perhaps “hides.” 3.b. In Acts 20:18ff. Paul stresses to the Ephesians elders (Acts 20:20, 27) that he has not shrunk or held back from declaring all God’s truth to them. 3.c. Heb. 10:37, 38 has the verb in a Christological quotation of Hab 2:4....there can thus be no confidence or reward if (one is) guilty of shrinking back or concealment. (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans or Wordsearch) Hupostello - 4x in 4v - NAS = shrink(2), shrinks back(1), withdraw(1). Acts 20:20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, Vincent comments on hupostello: A picturesque word. Originally, to draw in or contract. Used of furling sails, and of closing the fingers; of drawing back for shelter; of keeping back one’s real thoughts; by physicians, of withholding food from patients. It is rather straining a point to say, as Canon Farrar, that Paul is using a nautical metaphor suggested by his constantly hearing the word for furling sail used during his voyage. Paul’s metaphors lie mainly on the lines of military life, architecture, agriculture, and the Grecian games. The statement of Canon Farrar, that he “constantly draws his metaphors from the sights and circumstances immediately around him,” is rather at variance with his remark that, with one exception, he “cannot find a single word which shows that Paul had even the smallest susceptibility for the works of nature” (“Paul,” i., 19). Nautical metaphors are, to say the least, not common in Paul’s writings. I believe there are but three instances: Ep 4:14; 1Ti 1:19; 6:9. Paul means here that he suppressed nothing of the truth through fear of giving offence. Compare Gal 2:12; He 10:38. Acts 20:27 "For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Comment: Here hupostello is emphasizes that Paul has no reluctance to proclaim the whole truth. May his tribe increase in this day of relative Biblical illiteracy, especially of the truth about God and man in the Old Testament! Galatians 2:12 For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. Comment: Hupostello is in the imperfect tense, indicating that “he was drawing back (over and over, again and again),” suggesting a considerable degree of vacillation. The same word is used of reluctance to proclaim the whole truth, Acts 20:20, 27, and of apostasy from the faith. MacArthur explains that hupostello "was used frequently to describe strategic military operations. This suggests that it was part of Peter’s strategy in the circumstances with which he was faced. Polybius used this word of the drawing back of troops in order to place them under shelter. This suggests a retreat on the part of Peter from motives of caution. The tense is imperfect, indicating that Peter did not start his withdrawal from the Gentile tables at once, but gradually, under the pressure of their criticism. It gives a graphic picture of the Jerusalem apostle’s irresolute and tentative efforts to withdraw from an intercourse that gave offense to these visitors. The verb also was used of furling the sails of a boat. Peter, the former fisherman, was expert at that. Now. he was trimming his sails in a controversy that involved Jewish freedom from the Mosaic law which had been set aside at the Cross." (MacArthur, J. Galatians. Chicago: Moody Press or Logos or Wordsearch) Hebrews 10:38 BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. Hupostello - 5x in the Septuagint - Exod 23:21; Deut 1:17; Job 13:8; Hab 2:4; Hag 1:10; Habakkuk 2:4 "Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith. Comment: Here is the Septuagint rendering - Hab 2:4 If he should draw back (hupostello), my soul has no pleasure (eudokeo) in him: but the just shall live by my faith. Haggai 1:10 "Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld (Lxx = hupostello) its produce. Check these parallel NT verses that present a picture of one who "shrinks back": Mt 13:21. Lk 8:13, 14, 9:62. 1Ti 1:19, 4:1, 5:15, 6:10 2Ti 4:10, 2Pe 2:19, 20, 21,22, 1Jn 2:19. "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/hebrews_1038-39.htm#s