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Habakkuk 1

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Habakkuk's Complaint 1–4

1
The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. ​
2
O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save. ​
3
Why dost thou show me iniquity, and look upon perverseness? for destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up. ​
4
Therefore the law is slacked, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted. ​

God's Answer: The Rise of the Chaldeans 5–11

5
Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvellously; for I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you. ​
6
For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs. ​
7
They are terrible and dreadful; their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. ​
8
Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their horsemen press proudly on: yea, their horsemen come from far; they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour. ​
9
They come all of them for violence; the set of their faces is forwards; and they gather captives as the sand. ​
10
Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him; he derideth every stronghold; for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.
11
Then shall he sweep by as a wind, and shall pass over, and be guilty, even he whose might is his god. ​

Habakkuk's Second Lament 12–17

12
Art not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, my Holy One? we shall not die. O Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast established him for correction. ​
13
Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he; ​
14
and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
15
He taketh up all of them with the angle, he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth and is glad. ​
16
Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because by them his portion is fat, and his food plenteous. ​
17
Shall he therefore empty his net, and spare not to slay the nations continually? ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Habakkuk 1

Verse 1

Habakkuk the prophet — The name comes from chabaq, 'to embrace'. 'Burden' (massa') is the word that opens Nahum, and 'did see' is chazah, the verb for a prophet's seeing. He is called 'the prophet' (navi) here and again over his prayer in 3:1. The book is his own dialogue with the LORD.

Verse 2

how long shall I cry — The plea is that of Ps 13:1, 'How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD?', and of Ps 22:2, 'I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not'. 'Cry' is shava', and 'cry out' is za'aq, the shout for rescue. 'Violence' is chamas, the word of Mic 6:12. 'Save' is yasha, the root of 'the God of my salvation' (Hab 3:18).

Verse 3

cause me to behold grievance — The prophet is made to 'behold' (nabat, to look steadily) 'grievance' (amal, trouble). In v.13 the same two words return of the LORD, who 'canst not look on iniquity': nabat and amal. 'Strife' is riv, the word of the LORD's own case in Mic 6:2, and 'contention' is madon.

Verse 4

the law is slacked — 'Law' is torah, and 'slacked' is pug, to grow numb, the verb of Gen 45:26, 'Jacob's heart fainted'. 'Judgment' (mishpat) and 'go forth' (yatsa) occur twice: right judgment 'doth never go forth', and 'wrong judgment proceedeth'. 'Compass about' is kathar; in Ps 142:7 it is 'the righteous shall compass me about'.

Verse 5

I will work a work — The verse has pa'al and po'al, 'work a work', and tamah twice, 'wonder marvellously'. 'Believe' is aman, the root of emunah, the 'faith' by which 'the just shall live' (Hab 2:4). Paul quotes the verse in Acts 13:41, where it is addressed to 'despisers': 'a work which ye shall in no wise believe'.

Verse 6

I raise up the Chaldeans — The LORD names the nation. The Chaldeans came against Judah as 'bands' in 2 Kgs 24:2, and Jeremiah warns of 'a mighty nation… an ancient nation' from far (Jer 5:15). 'Dwellingplaces' is mishkan, the word used for the tabernacle. 'Bitter' (mar) and 'hasty' (mahar) describe the people.

Verse 7

their judgment and their dignity — 'Dignity' is se'et, an elevation, the word of 'the excellency of dignity' in Gen 49:3. 'Judgment' (mishpat) and 'proceed' (yatsa) are the pair of v.4, so what Judah's courts did not send out these men send out from themselves. 'Terrible' is ayom, the word for an army 'with banners' in Song 6:4.

Verse 8

swifter than the leopards — Jeremiah has the wolf and the leopard together, with a lion, in Jer 5:6: 'a lion… a wolf of the evenings… a leopard'. The 'eagle that hasteth to eat' is the figure of the curse in Deut 28:49: 'a nation against thee from far… as swift as the eagle flieth'. 'Evening wolves' are the figure for Judah's judges in Zeph 3:3.

Verse 9

gather the captivity as the sand — 'Sup up' translates megammah, a word found only here, set with the 'east wind' (qadim), as in 'an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD' (Hos 13:15). The captives are gathered 'as the sand' (chol), the measure that Joseph used of grain, 'as the sand of the sea' (Gen 41:49).

Verse 11

imputing this his power unto his god — 'Mind' is ruach, wind or spirit, and 'change' is chalaph, to sweep on. He 'shall pass over' (abar, as in Nah 1:8) and 'offend' (asham, to be guilty, the root of the trespass offering). Nebuchadnezzar spoke thus: 'Is not this great Babylon, that I have built… by the might of my power?' (Dan 4:30).

Verse 12

from everlasting — Qedem is the word of Mic 5:2, 'from of old, from everlasting', and 'Holy One' is qadosh. 'O mighty God' is tsur, 'Rock', as in 'He is the Rock' (Deut 32:4). 'Correction' is yakach, the verb of 'rebuke' in Mic 4:3 and 'plead' in Mic 6:2. The prophet reasons that the LORD set the Chaldeans in place for judgment.

Verse 13

of purer eyes than to behold evil — The words are those of Ps 5:4–5, 'neither shall evil dwell with thee… thou hatest all workers of iniquity'. 'Deal treacherously' is bagad, as in Jer 12:1, 'wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?'. 'Holdest thy tongue' is charash, to be silent, the word for the deaf in Mic 7:16.

Verse 15

they catch them in their net — Cherem is a net, the word of Mic 7:2, 'hunt every man his brother with a net', and mikmereth is the drag or dragnet. The LORD himself speaks of fishers and hunters sent against Israel (Jer 16:16). Their joy in the catch is told in 'rejoice' (samach) and 'are glad' (gil).

Verse 16

sacrifice unto their net — 'Sacrifice' is zabach and 'burn incense' is qatar, the verbs of worship, here offered to the means of the catch. Their 'portion' is 'fat' and their 'meat plenteous', which is why they honour it. The verse is the act that follows v.11, where the Chaldean ascribes 'this his power' to his god.

Verse 17

Shall they therefore empty their net — 'Empty' is ruq, to draw out, the verb of the enemy's 'I will draw my sword' (Ex 15:9). 'Spare' is chamal, and 'slay' is harag. 'Continually' (tamid) is the word that closes Nahum, where wickedness 'passed continually' (Nah 3:19); the prophet asks whether the net is to go on being emptied.