Habakuk 1:12

Habakkuk Voices Some Concerns

1:12 Lord, you have been active from ancient times; ¹ 

my sovereign God, ²  you are immortal. ³ 

Lord, you have made them ⁴  your instrument of judgment. ⁵ 

Protector, ⁶  you have appointed them as your instrument of punishment. ⁷ 

Habakuk 2:1

2:1 I will stand at my watch post;

I will remain stationed on the city wall. ⁸ 

I will keep watching, so I can see what he says to me

and can know ⁹  how I should answer

when he counters my argument. ¹⁰ 

Habakuk 2:8

2:8 Because you robbed many countries, ¹¹ 

all who are left among the nations ¹²  will rob you.

You have shed human blood

and committed violent acts against lands, cities, ¹³  and those who live in them.

Habakuk 2:16

2:16 But you will become drunk ¹⁴  with shame, not majesty. ¹⁵ 

Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised foreskin! ¹⁶ 

The cup of wine in the Lord’s right hand ¹⁷  is coming to you,

and disgrace will replace your majestic glory!

[1:12]  ¹ tn Heb “Are you not from antiquity, O Lord?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, of course.” The present translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question, rendering it as an affirmation. When used in a temporal sense the phrase מִקֶדֶם (miqedem) means “from antiquity, ancient times,” often referring to earlier periods in Israel’s history. See its use in Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10; Mic 5:2.

[1:12]  ² tn Heb “My God, my holy one.” God’s “holiness” in this context is his sovereign transcendence as the righteous judge of the world (see vv. 12b-13a), thus the translation “My sovereign God.”

[1:12]  ³ tc The MT reads, “we will not die,” but an ancient scribal tradition has “you [i.e., God] will not die.” This is preferred as a more difficult reading that can explain the rise of the other variant. Later scribes who copied the manuscripts did not want to associate the idea of death with God in any way, so they softened the statement to refer to humanity.

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “him,” a collective singular referring to the Babylonians. The plural pronoun “them” has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.

[1:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “for judgment.”

[1:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “Rock” or “Cliff.” This divine epithet views God as a place where one can go to be safe from danger. The translation “Protector” conveys the force of the metaphor (cf. KJV, NEB “O mighty God”).

[1:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “to correct, reprove.”

[2:1]  ⁸ sn Habakkuk compares himself to a watchman stationed on the city wall who keeps his eyes open for approaching messengers or danger.

[2:1]  ⁹ tn The word “know” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “concerning my correction [or, “reproof”].”

[2:8]  ¹¹ tn Or “nations.”

[2:8]  ¹² tn Or “peoples.”

[2:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “because of the shed blood of humankind and violence against land, city.” The singular forms אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”) and קִרְיָה (qiryah, “city”) are collective, referring to all the lands and cities terrorized by the Babylonians.

[2:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “are filled.” The translation assumes the verbal form is a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of Babylon’s coming judgment, which will reduce the majestic empire to shame and humiliation.

[2:16]  ¹⁵ tn Or “glory.”

[2:16]  ¹⁶ tc Heb “drink, even you, and show the foreskin.” Instead of הֵעָרֵל (he’arel, “show the foreskin”) one of the Dead Sea scrolls has הֵרָעֵל (hera’el, “stumble”). This reading also has support from several ancient versions and is followed by the NEB (“you too shall drink until you stagger”) and NRSV (“Drink, you yourself, and stagger”). For a defense of the Hebrew text, see P. D. Miller, Jr., Sin and Judgment in the Prophets, 63-64.

[2:16]  ¹⁷ sn The Lord’s right hand represents his military power. He will force the Babylonians to experience the same humiliating defeat they inflicted on others.