Habakuk 1:12
Konteks1:12 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 3:12
Konteks3:12 You furiously stomp on the earth,
you angrily trample down the nations.
Habakuk 2:8
Konteks2:8 Because you robbed many countries, 8
all who are left among the nations 9 will rob you.
You have shed human blood
and committed violent acts against lands, cities, 10 and those who live in them.
Habakuk 2:10
Konteks2:10 Your schemes will bring shame to your house.
Because you destroyed many nations, you will self-destruct. 11
Habakuk 1:14
Konteks1:14 You made people like fish in the sea,
like animals in the sea 12 that have no ruler.
Habakuk 2:7
Konteks2:7 Your creditors will suddenly attack; 13
those who terrify you will spring into action, 14
and they will rob you. 15
Habakuk 3:13
Konteks3:13 You march out to deliver your people,
to deliver your special servant. 16
You strike the leader of the wicked nation, 17
laying him open from the lower body to the neck. 18 Selah.
Habakuk 2:16-17
Konteks2:16 But you will become drunk 19 with shame, not majesty. 20
Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised foreskin! 21
The cup of wine in the Lord’s right hand 22 is coming to you,
and disgrace will replace your majestic glory!
2:17 For you will pay in full for your violent acts against Lebanon; 23
terrifying judgment will come upon you because of the way you destroyed the wild animals living there. 24
You have shed human blood
and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.
Habakuk 1:13
Konteks1:13 You are too just 25 to tolerate 26 evil;
you are unable to condone 27 wrongdoing.
So why do you put up with such treacherous people? 28
Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour 29 those more righteous than they are? 30
Habakuk 1:2
Konteks1:2 How long, Lord, must I cry for help?
But you do not listen!
I call out to you, “Violence!”
But you do not intervene! 31
Habakuk 3:8
Konteks3:8 Is the Lord mad at the rivers?
Are you angry with the rivers?
Are you enraged at the sea? 32
Is this why 33 you climb into your horse-drawn chariots, 34
your victorious chariots? 35
Habakuk 3:15
Konteks3:15 But you trample on the sea with your horses,
on the surging, raging waters. 36
Habakuk 1:3
Konteks1:3 Why do you force me to witness injustice? 37
Why do you put up with wrongdoing? 38
Destruction and violence confront 39 me;
conflict is present and one must endure strife. 40
Habakuk 2:15
Konteks2:15 “You who force your neighbor to drink wine 41 are as good as dead 42 –
you who make others intoxicated by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger, 43
so you can look at their genitals. 44
Habakuk 3:9-10
Konteks3:9 Your bow is ready for action; 45
you commission your arrows. 46 Selah.
You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface. 47
3:10 When the mountains see you, they shake.
The torrential downpour sweeps through. 48
The great deep 49 shouts out;
it lifts its hands high. 50
Habakuk 2:19
Konteks2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead 51 –
he who says 52 to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’
Can it give reliable guidance? 53
It is overlaid with gold and silver;
it has no life’s breath inside it.
Habakuk 3:14
Konteks3:14 You pierce the heads of his warriors 54 with a spear. 55
They storm forward to scatter us; 56
they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition. 57
Habakuk 2:12
Konteks2:12 The one who builds a city by bloodshed is as good as dead 58 –
he who starts 59 a town by unjust deeds.
Habakuk 3:6
Konteks3:6 He takes his battle position 60 and shakes 61 the earth;
with a mere look he frightens 62 the nations.
The ancient mountains disintegrate; 63
the primeval hills are flattened.
He travels on the ancient roads. 64
Habakuk 3:2
Konteks3:2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; 65
I am awed, 66 Lord, by what you accomplished. 67
In our time 68 repeat those deeds; 69
in our time reveal them again. 70
But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy! 71
Habakuk 2:9
Konteks2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. 72
He does this so he can build his nest way up high
and escape the clutches of disaster. 73
Habakuk 3:3
Konteks3:3 God comes 74 from Teman, 75
the sovereign 76 one from Mount Paran. 77 Selah. 78
His splendor covers the skies, 79
his glory 80 fills the earth.
Habakuk 3:19
Konteks3:19 The sovereign Lord is my source of strength. 81
He gives me the agility of a deer; 82
he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. 83
(This prayer is for the song leader. It is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.) 84
Habakuk 1:17
Konteks1:17 Will he then 85 continue to fill and empty his throw net? 86
Will he always 87 destroy 88 nations and spare none? 89
Habakuk 2:11
Konteks2:11 For the stones in the walls will cry out,
and the wooden rafters will answer back. 90
Habakuk 3:18
Konteks3:18 I will rejoice because of 91 the Lord;
I will be happy because of the God who delivers me!
Habakuk 2:6
Konteks2:6 “But all these nations will someday taunt him 92
and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: 93
‘The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead 94
(How long will this go on?) 95 –
he who gets rich by extortion!’ 96
Habakuk 2:18
Konteks2:18 What good 97 is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it? 98
What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles? 99
Why would its creator place his trust in it 100
and make 101 such mute, worthless things?
Habakuk 1:5
Konteks1:5 “Look at the nations and pay attention! 102
You will be shocked and amazed! 103
For I will do something in your lifetime 104
that you will not believe even though you are forewarned. 105
Habakuk 2:3
Konteks2:3 For the message is a witness to what is decreed; 106
it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out. 107
Even if the message 108 is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently; 109
for it will certainly come to pass – it will not arrive late.
[1:12] 1 tn Heb “Are you not from antiquity, O
[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.”
[2:8] 10 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.
[2:10] 11 tn Heb “you planned shame for your house, cutting off many nations, and sinning [against] your life.”
[1:14] 12 tn The Hebrew word רֶמֶשׂ (remesh) usually refers to animals that creep, but here the referent seems to be marine animals that glide through the water (note the parallelism in the previous line). See also Ps 104:25.
[2:7] 13 tn Heb “Will not your creditors suddenly rise up?” The rhetorical question assumes the response, “Yes, they will.” The present translation brings out the rhetorical force of the question by rendering it as an affirmation.
[2:7] sn Your creditors will suddenly attack. The Babylonians are addressed directly here. They have robbed and terrorized others, but now the situation will be reversed as their creditors suddenly attack them.
[2:7] 14 tn Heb “[Will not] the ones who make you tremble awake?”
[2:7] 15 tn Heb “and you will become their plunder.”
[3:13] 16 tn Heb “anointed one.” In light of the parallelism with “your people” in the preceding line this could refer to Israel, but elsewhere the Lord’s anointed one is always an individual. The Davidic king is the more likely referent here.
[3:13] 17 tn Heb “you strike the head from the house of wickedness.”
[3:13] 18 tn Heb “laying bare [from] foundation to neck.”
[2:16] 19 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] 21 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] 22 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.
[2:17] 23 tn Heb “for the violence against Lebanon will cover you.”
[2:17] 24 tc The Hebrew appears to read literally, “and the violence against the animals [which] he terrified.” The verb form יְחִיתַן (yÿkhitan) appears to be a Hiphil imperfect third masculine singular with third feminine plural suffix (the antecedent being the animals) from חָתַת (khatat, “be terrified”). The translation above follows the LXX and assumes a reading יְחִתֶּךָ (yÿkhittekha, “[the violence against the animals] will terrify you”; cf. NRSV “the destruction of the animals will terrify you”; NIV “and your destruction of animals will terrify you”). In this case the verb is a Hiphil imperfect third masculine singular with second masculine singular suffix (the antecedent being Babylon). This provides better symmetry with the preceding line, where Babylon’s violence is the subject of the verb “cover.”
[2:17] sn The language may anticipate Nebuchadnezzar’s utilization of trees from the Lebanon forest in building projects. Lebanon and its animals probably represent the western Palestinian states conquered by the Babylonians.
[1:13] 25 tn Heb “[you] are too pure of eyes.” God’s “eyes” here signify what he looks at with approval. His “eyes” are “pure” in that he refuses to tolerate any wrongdoing in his presence.
[1:13] 26 tn Heb “to see.” Here “see” is figurative for “tolerate,” “put up with.”
[1:13] 27 tn Heb “to look at.” Cf. NEB “who canst not countenance wrongdoing”; NASB “You can not look on wickedness with favor.”
[1:13] 28 tn Heb “Why do you look at treacherous ones?” The verb בָּגַד (bagad, “be treacherous”) is often used of those who are disloyal or who violate agreements. See S. Erlandsson, TDOT 1:470-73.
[1:13] 30 tn Heb “more innocent than themselves.”
[3:8] 32 sn The following context suggests these questions should be answered, “Yes.” The rivers and the sea, symbolizing here the hostile nations (v. 12), are objects of the Lord’s anger (vv. 10, 15).
[3:8] 33 tn Heb “so that.” Here כִּי (ki) is resultative. See the note on the phrase “make it” in 2:18.
[3:8] 34 tn Heb “you mount your horses.” As the next line makes clear, the Lord is pictured here as a charioteer, not a cavalryman. Note NRSV here, “when you drove your horses, // your chariots to victory.”
[3:8] 35 tn Or “chariots of deliverance.”
[3:15] 36 tn Heb “the foaming of the mighty [or “many”] waters.”
[1:3] 37 tn Heb “Why do you make me see injustice?”
[1:3] 38 tn Heb “Why do you look at wrongdoing?”
[1:3] sn Habakkuk complains that God tolerates social injustice and fails to intervene on behalf of the oppressed (put up with wrongdoing).
[1:3] 40 tn Heb “and there is conflict and strife he lifts up.” The present translation takes the verb יִשָּׂא (yisa’) in the sense of “carry, bear,” and understands the subject to be indefinite (“one”).
[2:15] 41 tn No direct object is present after “drink” in the Hebrew text. “Wine” is implied, however, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[2:15] 42 tn On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:15] 43 tc Heb “pouring out your anger and also making drunk”; or “pouring out your anger and [by] rage making drunk.” The present translation assumes that the final khet (ח) on מְסַפֵּחַ (misapeakh, “pouring”) is dittographic and that the form should actually be read מִסַּף (missaf, “from a bowl”).
[2:15] sn Forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger. The Babylonian’s harsh treatment of others is compared to intoxicating wine which the Babylonians force the nations to drink so they can humiliate them. Cf. the imagery in Rev 14:10.
[2:15] 44 tn Heb “their nakedness,” a euphemism.
[2:15] sn Metaphor and reality are probably blended here. This may refer to the practice of publicly humiliating prisoners of war by stripping them naked. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 124.
[3:9] 45 tn Heb “[into] nakedness your bow is laid bare.”
[3:9] 46 tn Heb “sworn in are the arrow-shafts with a word.” The passive participle of שָׁבַע (shava’), “swear an oath,” also occurs in Ezek 21:23 ET (21:28 HT) referencing those who have sworn allegiance. Here the
[3:9] 47 tn Heb “[with] rivers you split open the earth.” A literal rendering like “You split the earth with rivers” (so NIV, NRSV) suggests geological activity to the modern reader, but in the present context of a violent thunderstorm, the idea of streams swollen to torrents by downpours better fits the imagery.
[3:9] sn As the
[3:10] 48 tn Heb “a heavy rain of waters passes by.” Perhaps the flash floods produced by the downpour are in view here.
[3:10] 49 sn The great deep, which is to be equated with the sea (vv. 8, 15), is a symbol of chaos and represents the Lord’s enemies.
[3:10] 50 sn Lifting the hands here suggests panic and is accompanied by a cry for mercy (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19). The forces of chaos cannot withstand the Lord’s power revealed in the storm.
[2:19] 51 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who says.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:19] 52 tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.
[2:19] 53 tn Though the Hebrew text has no formal interrogative marker here, the context indicates that the statement should be taken as a rhetorical question anticipating the answer, “Of course not!” (so also NIV, NRSV).
[3:14] 54 tn Some take “warriors” with the following line, in which case one should translate, “you pierce [his] head with a spear; his warriors storm forward to scatter us” (cf. NIV). The meaning of the Hebrew term פְּרָזוֹ (pÿrazo), translated here “his warriors,” is uncertain.
[3:14] 55 tc Heb “his shafts.” Some emend to “your shafts.” The translation above assumes an emendation to מַטֶּה (matteh, “shaft, spear”), the vav-yod (ו-י) sequence being a corruption of an original he (ה).
[3:14] 56 tn Heb “me,” but the author speaks as a representative of God’s people.
[3:14] 57 tn Heb “their rejoicing is like devouring the poor in secret.”
[2:12] 58 tn On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:12] 59 tn Or “establishes”; or “founds.”
[3:6] 61 tn This verb has been traditionally understood as “measure” (from מוּד, mud), but the immediately following context (vv. 6b-7) favors the meaning “shake” from מָוד (mavd; see HALOT 555 s.v.).
[3:6] 62 tn Heb “makes [the nations] jump [in fear].”
[3:6] 63 tn Or “crumbled,” broke into pieces.”
[3:6] 64 tn Heb “ancient ways [or, “doings”] are his.” The meaning of this line is unclear. Traditionally it has been translated, “his ways are eternal.” However, in this context (see vv. 3, 7) it is more likely that the line speaks of the
[3:2] 65 tn Heb “your report,” that is, “the report concerning you.”
[3:2] 66 tn Heb “I fear.” Some prefer to read, “I saw,
[3:2] 68 tn Heb “in the midst of years.” The meaning of the phrase, which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain (cf. NIV “in our day”; NEB, NASB “in the midst of the years”).
[3:2] 69 tn Heb “revive it” (i.e., “your work”).
[3:2] 70 tn Heb “make known.” The implied object is “your deeds”; the pronoun “them,” referring to “deeds” in the previous line, was employed in the translation to avoid redundancy. The suffix on the form חַיֵּיהוּ (khayyehu, “revive it”) does double duty in the parallelism.
[3:2] 71 tn Heb “in turmoil remember [to show] compassion.”
[2:9] 72 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:9] 73 tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”
[2:9] sn Here the Babylonians are compared to a bird, perhaps an eagle, that builds its nest in an inaccessible high place where predators cannot reach it.
[3:3] 74 tn In vv. 3-15 there is a mixture of eleven prefixed verbal forms (without vav [ו] consecutive or with vav conjunctive), sixteen suffixed forms, and three prefixed forms with vav consecutive. All of the forms are best taken as indicating completed action from the speaker’s standpoint (all of the prefixed forms being regarded as preterites). The forms could be translated with the past tense, but this would be misleading, for this is not a mere recital of God’s deeds in Israel’s past history. Habakkuk here describes, in terms reminiscent of past theophanies, his prophetic vision of a future theophany (see v. 7, “I saw”). From the prophet’s visionary standpoint the theophany is “as good as done.” This translation uses the English present tense throughout these verses to avoid misunderstanding. A similar strategy is followed by the NEB; in contrast note the NIV and NRSV, which consistently use past tenses throughout the section, and the NASB, which employs present tenses in vv. 3-5 and mostly past tenses in vv. 6-15.
[3:3] 75 sn Teman was a city or region in southern Edom.
[3:3] 76 tn Or traditionally, “holy one.” The term קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy [one]”) here refers to God’s sovereignty. See v. 3b.
[3:3] 77 sn The precise location of Mount Paran is unknown, but like Teman it was located to the southeast of Israel. Habakkuk saw God marching from the direction of Sinai.
[3:3] 78 tn Selah. The meaning of this musical term (which also appears in vv. 9, 13, and in the Psalms as well) is unknown.
[3:3] 80 tn Heb “praise.” This could mean that the earth responds in praise as God’s splendor is observed in the skies. However, the Hebrew term תְּהִלָּה (tÿhillah, “praise”) can stand by metonymy for what prompts it (i.e., fame, glory, deeds).
[3:19] 81 tn Or perhaps, “is my wall,” that is, “my protector.”
[3:19] 82 tn Heb “he makes my feet like those of deer.”
[3:19] 83 tn Heb “he makes me walk on my high places.”
[3:19] sn Difficult times are coming, but Habakkuk is confident the
[3:19] 84 tn Heb “For the leader, on my stringed instruments.”
[1:17] 86 tn Heb “Will he then empty his throw net?” The words “continue to fill and” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[1:17] 87 tn Or “continually.”
[1:17] 89 tn Or “without showing compassion.”
[2:11] 90 sn The house mentioned in vv. 9-10 represents the Babylonian empire, which became great through imperialism. Here the materials of this “house” (the stones in the walls, the wooden rafters) are personified as witnesses who testify that the occupants have built the house through wealth stolen from others.
[2:6] 92 tn Heb “Will not these, all of them, take up a taunt against him…?” The rhetorical question assumes the response, “Yes, they will.” The present translation brings out the rhetorical force of the question by rendering it as an affirmation.
[2:6] 93 tn Heb “and a mocking song, riddles, against him? And one will say.”
[2:6] 94 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who increases [what is] not his.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe,” “ah”) was used in funeral laments and carries the connotation of death.
[2:6] 95 tn This question is interjected parenthetically, perhaps to express rhetorically the pain and despair felt by the Babylonians’ victims.
[2:6] 96 tn Heb “and the one who makes himself heavy [i.e., wealthy] [by] debts.” Though only appearing in the first line, the term הוֹי (hoy) is to be understood as elliptical in the second line.
[2:18] 97 tn Or “of what value.”
[2:18] 98 tn Heb “so that the one who forms it fashions it?” Here כִּי (ki) is taken as resultative after the rhetorical question. For other examples of this use, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §450.
[2:18] 99 tn Heb “or a metal image, a teacher of lies.” The words “What good is” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line. “Teacher of lies” refers to the false oracles that the so-called god would deliver through a priest. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 126.
[2:18] 100 tn Heb “so that the one who forms his image trusts in it?” As earlier in the verse, כִּי (ki) is resultative.
[1:5] 102 tn Or “look among the nations and observe.” The imperatival forms in v. 5 are plural, indicating that the Lord’s message is for the whole nation, not just the prophet.
[1:5] 103 tn The Hebrew text combines the Hitpael and Qal imperatival forms of the verb תָּמַה (tamah, “be amazed”). A literal translation might read, “Shock yourselves and be shocked!” The repetition of sounds draws attention to the statement. The imperatives here have the force of an emphatic assertion. On this use of the imperative in Hebrew, see GKC 324 §110.c and IBHS 572-73 §34.4c.
[1:5] 104 tc Heb “for a work working in your days.” Following the LXX reading, some supply a first person singular pronoun with the participle פֹּעֵל (po’el). Ellipsis of a first singular pronoun before participles is relatively rare (see GKC 360 §116.s); perhaps an original אֲנֹכִי (’anoki; or אֲנִי, ’aniy) followed the initial כִּי (ki) and was omitted by homoioteleuton.
[1:5] 105 tn Heb “you will not believe when it is told.” In this context the force of כִּי (ki) may be “when,” “if,” or “even though.”
[2:3] 106 tn Heb “For the vision is still for the appointed time.” The Hebrew word עוֹד (’od, “still”) is better emended to עֵד (’ed, “witness”) in light of the parallelism (see the note on the word “turn out” in the following line). The “appointed time” refers to the time when the divine judgment anticipated in vv. 6-20 will be realized.
[2:3] 107 tn Heb “and a witness to the end and it does not lie.” The Hebrew term יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) has been traditionally understood as a verb form from the root פּוּחַ (puakh, “puff, blow”; cf. NEB “it will come in breathless haste”; NASB “it hastens toward the goal”) but recent scholarship has demonstrated that it is actually a noun meaning “witness” (cf. NIV “it speaks of the end / and will not prove false”; NRSV “it speaks of the end, and does not lie”). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 106. “The end” corresponds to “the appointed time” of the preceding line and refers to the time when the prophecy to follow will be fulfilled.
[2:3] 108 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the message) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:3] 109 tn Heb “If it should delay, wait for it.” The Hebrew word חָזוֹן (khazon, “vision, message”) is the subject of the third person verbs in v. 3 and the antecedent of the pronominal suffix in the phrase “for it.”
