Habakuk 2:15

2:15 “You who force your neighbor to drink wine ¹  are as good as dead ²  –

you who make others intoxicated by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger, ³ 

so you can look at their genitals. ⁴ 

Habakuk 2:19

2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead ⁵  –

he who says ⁶  to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’

Can it give reliable guidance? ⁷ 

It is overlaid with gold and silver;

it has no life’s breath inside it.

Habakuk 1:14

1:14 You made people like fish in the sea,

like animals in the sea ⁸  that have no ruler.

Habakuk 3:6

3:6 He takes his battle position ⁹  and shakes ¹⁰  the earth;

with a mere look he frightens ¹¹  the nations.

The ancient mountains disintegrate; ¹² 

the primeval hills are flattened.

He travels on the ancient roads. ¹³ 

[2:15]  ¹ 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]  ² tn On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.

[2:15]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[2:19]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.

[2:19]  ⁷ 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).

[1:14]  ⁸ 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.

[3:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “he stands.”

[3:6]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “makes [the nations] jump [in fear].”

[3:6]  ¹² tn Or “crumbled,” broke into pieces.”

[3:6]  ¹³ 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 Lord taking the same route as in the days of Moses and Deborah (see Deut 33:2; Judg 5:4). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 154.