Habakuk 1:16
Konteks1:16 Because of his success 1 he offers sacrifices to his throw net
and burns incense to his dragnet; 2
for because of them he has plenty of food, 3
and more than enough to eat. 4
Habakuk 3:7
Konteks3:7 I see the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by trouble; 5
the tent curtains of the land of Midian are shaking. 6
Habakuk 3:17
Konteks3:17 When 7 the fig tree does not bud,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
when the olive trees do not produce, 8
and the fields yield no crops; 9
when the sheep disappear 10 from the pen,
and there are no cattle in the stalls,
Habakuk 2:4
Konteks2:4 Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, 11
but the person of integrity 12 will live 13 because of his faithfulness. 14
Habakuk 1:1
Konteks1:1 The following is the message 15 which God revealed to Habakkuk the prophet: 16
Habakuk 2:12
Konteks2:12 The one who builds a city by bloodshed is as good as dead 17 –
he who starts 18 a town by unjust deeds.
Habakuk 2:17
Konteks2:17 For you will pay in full for your violent acts against Lebanon; 19
terrifying judgment will come upon you because of the way you destroyed the wild animals living there. 20
You have shed human blood
and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.
Habakuk 1:5
Konteks1:5 “Look at the nations and pay attention! 21
You will be shocked and amazed! 22
For I will do something in your lifetime 23
that you will not believe even though you are forewarned. 24
Habakuk 2:2
Konteks“Write down this message! 26 Record it legibly on tablets,
so the one who announces 27 it may read it easily. 28
Habakuk 2:8-9
Konteks2:8 Because you robbed many countries, 29
all who are left among the nations 30 will rob you.
You have shed human blood
and committed violent acts against lands, cities, 31 and those who live in them.
2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. 32
He does this so he can build his nest way up high
and escape the clutches of disaster. 33
Habakuk 2:14
Konteks2:14 For recognition of the Lord’s sovereign majesty will fill the earth
just as the waters fill up the sea. 34
Habakuk 2:18
Konteks2:18 What good 35 is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it? 36
What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles? 37
Why would its creator place his trust in it 38
and make 39 such mute, worthless things?
Habakuk 1:9
Konteks1:9 All of them intend 40 to do violence;
every face is determined. 41
They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand. 42
Habakuk 1:15
Konteks1:15 The Babylonian tyrant 43 pulls them all up with a fishhook;
he hauls them in with his throw net. 44
When he catches 45 them in his dragnet,
he is very happy. 46
Habakuk 2:15
Konteks2:15 “You who force your neighbor to drink wine 47 are as good as dead 48 –
you who make others intoxicated by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger, 49
so you can look at their genitals. 50
Habakuk 3:9
Konteks3:9 Your bow is ready for action; 51
you commission your arrows. 52 Selah.
You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface. 53
Habakuk 1:4
Konteks1:4 For this reason the law lacks power, 54
and justice is never carried out. 55
Indeed, 56 the wicked intimidate 57 the innocent. 58
For this reason justice is perverted. 59
Habakuk 2:7
Konteks2:7 Your creditors will suddenly attack; 60
those who terrify you will spring into action, 61
and they will rob you. 62
Habakuk 2:13
Konteks2:13 Be sure of this! The Lord who commands armies has decreed:
The nations’ efforts will go up in smoke;
their exhausting work will be for nothing. 63
Habakuk 3:3
Konteks3:3 God comes 64 from Teman, 65
the sovereign 66 one from Mount Paran. 67 Selah. 68
His splendor covers the skies, 69
his glory 70 fills the earth.
Habakuk 1:13
Konteks1:13 You are too just 71 to tolerate 72 evil;
you are unable to condone 73 wrongdoing.
So why do you put up with such treacherous people? 74
Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour 75 those more righteous than they are? 76
Habakuk 2:5
Konteks2:5 Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man! 77
His appetite 78 is as big as Sheol’s; 79
like death, he is never satisfied.
He gathers 80 all the nations;
he seizes 81 all peoples.
[1:16] 2 sn The fishing implements (throw net and dragnet) represent Babylonian military might. The prophet depicts the Babylonians as arrogantly worshiping their own power (sacrifices…burns incense, see also v. 11b).
[1:16] 3 tn Heb “for by them his portion is full [or, “fat”].”
[1:16] 4 tn Heb “and his food is plentiful [or, “fat”].”
[3:7] 5 tn Heb “under trouble I saw the tents of Cushan.”
[3:7] sn Cushan was located in southern Transjordan.
[3:7] 6 tn R. D. Patterson takes תַּחַת אֲוֶן (takhat ’aven) in the first line as a place name, “Tahath-Aven.” (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah [WEC], 237.) In this case one may translate the verse as a tricolon: “I look at Tahath-Aven. The tents of Cushan are shaking, the tent curtains of the land of Midian.”
[3:17] 8 tn Heb “the produce of the olive disappoints.”
[3:17] 10 tn Or “are cut off.”
[2:4] 11 tn The meaning of this line is unclear, primarily because of the uncertainty surrounding the second word, עֲפְּלָה (’apÿlah). Some read this as an otherwise unattested verb עָפַל (’afal, “swell”) from which are derived nouns meaning “mound” and “hemorrhoid.” This “swelling” is then understood in an abstract sense, “swell with pride.” This would yield a translation, “As for the proud, his desires are not right within him” (cf. NASB “as for the proud one”; NIV “he is puffed up”; NRSV “Look at the proud!”). A multitude of other interpretations of this line, many of which involve emendations of the problematic form, may be found in the commentaries and periodical literature. The present translation assumes an emendation to a Pual form of the verb עָלַף (’alaf, “be faint, exhausted”). (See its use in the Pual in Isa 51:20, and in the Hitpael in Amos 8:13 and Jonah 4:8.) In the antithetical parallelism of the verse, it corresponds to חָיָה (khayah, “live”). The phrase לֹא יָשְׁרָה נַפְשׁוֹ בּוֹ (lo’ yoshrah nafsho bo), literally, “not upright his desire within him,” is taken as a substantival clause that contrasts with צַדִּיק (tsadiq, “the righteous one”) and serves as the subject of the preceding verb. Here נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is understood in the sense of “desire” (see BDB 660-61 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ for a list of passages where the word carries this sense).
[2:4] 12 tn Or “righteous.” The oppressed individuals mentioned in 1:4 are probably in view here.
[2:4] 13 tn Or “will be preserved.” In the immediate context this probably refers to physical preservation through both the present oppression and the coming judgment (see Hab 3:16-19).
[2:4] 14 tn Or “loyalty”; or “integrity.” The Hebrew word אֱמוּנָה (’emunah) has traditionally been translated “faith,” but the term nowhere else refers to “belief” as such. When used of human character and conduct it carries the notion of “honesty, integrity, reliability, faithfulness.” The antecedent of the suffix has been understood in different ways. It could refer to God’s faithfulness, but in this case one would expect a first person suffix (the original form of the LXX has “my faithfulness” here). Others understand the “vision” to be the antecedent. In this case the reliability of the prophecy is in view. For a statement of this view, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 111-12. The present translation assumes that the preceding word “[the person of] integrity” is the antecedent. In this case the
[1:1] 15 tn Heb “The burden” (so KJV, ASV). The Hebrew term מַשָּׂא (masa’), usually translated “oracle” (NAB, NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “utterance” (BDB 672 s.v. III מַשָּׂא), in prophetic literature is a technical term introducing a message from the
[1:1] 16 tn Heb “The message [traditionally, “burden”] which Habakkuk the prophet saw.”
[2:12] 17 tn On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:12] 18 tn Or “establishes”; or “founds.”
[2:17] 19 tn Heb “for the violence against Lebanon will cover you.”
[2:17] 20 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.
[1:5] 21 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] 22 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] 23 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] 24 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.”
[2:2] 25 tn Heb “the
[2:2] 26 tn Heb “[the] vision.”
[2:2] 28 tn Heb “might run,” which here probably means “run [through it quickly with one’s eyes],” that is, read it easily.
[2:8] 31 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.
[2:9] 32 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] 33 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.
[2:14] 34 tn Heb “for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the
[2:18] 35 tn Or “of what value.”
[2:18] 36 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] 37 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] 38 tn Heb “so that the one who forms his image trusts in it?” As earlier in the verse, כִּי (ki) is resultative.
[1:9] 41 tn Heb “The totality of their faces is to the east” (or “is forward”). The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מְגַמַּת (megammat) is unclear. For a discussion of options see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 93. NEB has “a sea of faces rolls on”; NIV “their hordes advance like a desert wind”; NRSV “with faces pressing forward.”
[1:9] 42 tn Heb “and he gathers like sand, prisoners.”
[1:15] 43 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Babylonian tyrant) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NASB “The Chaldeans”; NIV “The wicked foe”; NRSV “The enemy”). Babylonian imperialism is here compared to a professional fisherman who repeatedly brings in his catch and has plenty to eat.
[1:15] 44 tn Apparently two different types of fishing nets are referred to here. The חֵרֶם (kherem, “throw net”) was used by fishermen standing on the shore (see Ezek 47:10), while the מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret, “dragnet”) was used by men in a boat. See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 165.
[1:15] 45 tn Heb “and he gathers.”
[1:15] 46 tn Heb “Therefore he is happy and rejoices.” Here two synonyms are joined for emphasis.
[2:15] 47 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] 48 tn On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:15] 49 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] 50 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] 51 tn Heb “[into] nakedness your bow is laid bare.”
[3:9] 52 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] 53 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
[1:4] 54 tn Heb “the law is numb,” i.e., like a hand that has “fallen asleep” (see Ps 77:2). Cf. NAB “is benumbed”; NIV “is paralyzed.”
[1:4] 55 tn Heb “never goes out.”
[1:4] 57 tn Heb “surround” (so NASB, NRSV).
[1:4] 58 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[1:4] 59 tn Heb “comes out crooked.”
[2:7] 60 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] 61 tn Heb “[Will not] the ones who make you tremble awake?”
[2:7] 62 tn Heb “and you will become their plunder.”
[2:13] 63 tn Heb “Is it not, look, from the
[3:3] 64 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] 65 sn Teman was a city or region in southern Edom.
[3:3] 66 tn Or traditionally, “holy one.” The term קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy [one]”) here refers to God’s sovereignty. See v. 3b.
[3:3] 67 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] 68 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] 70 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).
[1:13] 71 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] 72 tn Heb “to see.” Here “see” is figurative for “tolerate,” “put up with.”
[1:13] 73 tn Heb “to look at.” Cf. NEB “who canst not countenance wrongdoing”; NASB “You can not look on wickedness with favor.”
[1:13] 74 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] 76 tn Heb “more innocent than themselves.”
[2:5] 77 tn Heb “Indeed wine betrays a proud man and he does not dwell.” The meaning of the last verb, “dwell,” is uncertain. Many take it as a denominative of the noun נָוָה (navah, “dwelling place”). In this case it would carry the idea, “he does not settle down,” and would picture the drunkard as restless (cf. NIV “never at rest”; NASB “does not stay at home”). Some relate the verb to an Arabic cognate and translate the phrase as “he will not succeed, reach his goal.”
[2:5] sn The Babylonian tyrant is the proud, restless man described in this line as the last line of the verse, with its reference to the conquest of the nations, makes clear. Wine is probably a metaphor for imperialistic success. The more success the Babylonians experience, the more greedy they become just as a drunkard wants more and more wine to satisfy his thirst. But eventually this greed will lead to their downfall, for God will not tolerate such imperialism and will judge the Babylonians appropriately (vv. 6-20).
[2:5] 78 tn Heb “who opens wide like Sheol his throat.” Here נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is understood in a physical sense, meaning “throat,” which in turn is figurative for the appetite. See H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 11-12.
[2:5] 79 sn Sheol is the proper name of the subterranean world which was regarded as the land of the dead. In ancient Canaanite thought Death was a powerful god whose appetite was never satisfied. In the OT Sheol/Death, though not deified, is personified as greedy and as having a voracious appetite. See Prov 30:15-16; Isa 5:14; also see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 168.
