Clement of Rome : The all-merciful and beneficent Father has bowels [of compassion] towards those that fear Him, and kindly and lovingly bestows His favours upon those who come to Him with a simple mind. Wherefore let us not be double-minded; neither let our soul be lifted up on account of His exceedingly great and glorious gifts. Far from us be that which is written, "Wretched are they who are of a double mind, and of a doubting heart; who say, These things we have heard even in the times of our fathers; but, behold, we have grown old, and none of them has happened unto us." Ye foolish ones! compare yourselves to a tree: take [for instance] the vine. First of all, it sheds its leaves, then it buds, next it puts forth leaves, and then it flowers; after that comes the sour grape, and then follows the ripened fruit. Ye perceive how in a little time the fruit of a tree comes to maturity. Of a truth, soon and suddenly shall His will be accomplished, as the Scripture also bears witness, saying, "Speedily will He come, and will not tarry;" [Hebrews 10:37] and, "The Lord shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Holy One, for whom ye look." [Malachi 3:1] — Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 23 Eusebius of Caesarea : And here it is clearly foretold that that one will come whom prophecy says will come. Who could this be but he who is referred to in the words, "Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord, the Lord God also has shone upon us"? With which also Zechariah agrees, when he says, "Behold a man, the Dawn is his name, and he shall rise from below." The same prophet too, noting the time, adds, "At eventide it shall be light. If he delays, wait for him." Instead of this, Aquila reads, "If he tarry expect him, for he that comes will come and will not tarry." And the epistle to the Hebrews has this in mind.… But note how clearly the epistle arranges what was obscure in the prophetic writing, because of the inversion of the clauses. For the prophecy says, "He that comes will come and will not tarry," and then adds, "If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him." Without what follows, this addition would seem absurd. For how could it be said of the just that God takes no pleasure in him? But the placing side by side of the divided clauses by a change in the arrangement of them preserves the sense. For after "Yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and shall not tarry," it adds next, "but my righteous one shall live by faith." Then what was first in the prophecy it places second, "and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him."For as Scripture has already once foretold through the prophecy that the light promised to all nations by Christ's coming "shall rise late and in the evening, and shall not deceive" (for so Aquila interprets instead of "come to nothing"), it next exhorts to patience, because the coming of the subject of the prophecy is to be late and in the evening, as seen in the words, "If he tarry await him, or if he delay expect him, for he that comes will come and will not tarry." Thus he encourages the hearer to trust the prediction, saying that he that trusts it, shown by his very faith to be just, shall live the life according to God. On the other hand, he that does not trust, drawing back through lack of boldness, and putting no faith in the words "My soul has no pleasure in him." So, then, if we follow this course and place the first clause last and the last first, we shall preserve the sense of the passage, putting "The just shall live by faith" after "For he that comes will come and will not tarry," by transposing the clauses and adding to this, "If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him." And Aquila agrees with this interpretation, saying, "If he delay, expect him, for he that comes will come and will not tarry. Lo, if he be sluggish, my soul is not true in him, and the just shall live by faith." — PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 6.14 John Chrysostom : He then also hinting this, what does he say? "Yet a little while and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry." For lest they should say, And when will He come? He comforts them from the Scriptures. For thus also when he says in another place, "Now is our salvation nearer," he comforts them because the remaining time is short. And this he says not of himself but from the Scriptures. But if from that time it was said, "Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry," it is plain that now He is nearer. Wherefore also waiting is no small reward. — Homily on Hebrews 21 Oecumenius : And when can we receive the promise? Do not become sluggish, he says: he who repays is near. "For yet a very little while, and he who is coming will come and will not delay." For what he says,"a very little while, [ὅσον ὅσον], signifies a very short time. — The Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Hebrews