Habakkuk1
American Standard Version · Public Domain
1The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
2O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save.
3Why dost thou show me iniquity, and look upon perverseness? for destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up.
4Therefore the law is slacked, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted.
5Behold 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.
6For, 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.
7They are terrible and dreadful; their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
8Their 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.
9They come all of them for violence; the set of their faces is forwards; and they gather captives as the sand.
10Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him; he derideth every stronghold; for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.
11Then shall he sweep by as a wind, and shall pass over, and be guilty, even he whose might is his god.
12Art 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.
13Thou 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;
14and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
15He 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.
16Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because by them his portion is fat, and his food plenteous.
17Shall he therefore empty his net, and spare not to slay the nations continually?
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Habakkuk 1.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The wickedness of the land. The fearful vengeance to be executed. (1–11). These judgments to be inflicted by a nation more wicked than themselves. (12–17).
vv1-11
The servants of the Lord are deeply afflicted by seeing ungodliness and violence prevail; especially among those who profess the truth. No man scrupled doing wrong to his neighbour. We should long to remove to the world where holiness and love reign for ever, and no violence shall be before us. God has good reasons for his long-suffering towards bad men, and the rebukes of good men. The day will come when the cry of sin will be heard against those that do wrong, and the cry of prayer for those that suffer wrong. They were to notice what was going forward among the heathen by the Chaldeans, and to consider themselves a nation to be scourged by them. But most men presume on continued prosperity, or that calamities will not come in their days. They are a bitter and hasty nation, fierce, cruel, and bearing down all before them. They shall overcome all that oppose them. But it is a great offence, and the common offence of proud people, to take glory to themselves. The closing words give a glimpse of comfort.
vv12-17
However matters may be, yet God is the Lord our God, our Holy One. We are an offending people, he is an offended God, yet we will not entertain hard thoughts of him, or of his service. It is great comfort that, whatever mischief men design, the Lord designs good, and we are sure that his counsel shall stand. Though wickedness may prosper a while, yet God is holy, and does not approve the wickedness. As he cannot do iniquity himself, so he is of purer eyes than to behold it with any approval. By this principle we must abide, though the dispensations of his providence may for a time, in some cases, seem to us not to agree with it. The prophet complains that God's patience was abused; and because sentence against these evil works and workers was not executed speedily, their hearts were the more fully set in them to do evil. Some they take up as with the angle, one by one; others they catch in shoals, as in their net, and gather them in their drag, their enclosing net. They admire their own cleverness and contrivance: there is great proneness in us to take the glory of outward prosperity to ourselves. This is idolizing ourselves, sacrificing to the drag-net because it is our own. God will soon end successful and splendid robberies. Death and judgment shall make men cease to prey on others, and they shall be preyed on themselves. Let us remember, whatever advantages we possess, we must give all the glory to God.
Key Words
מַשָּׂא: a burden; specifically, tribute, or (abstractly) porterage; figuratively, an utterance, chiefly adoom, especially singing; mental, desire
חֲבַקּוּק: Chabakkuk, the prophet
נָבִיא: a prophet or (generally) inspired man
חָזָה: to gaze at; mentally to perceive, contemplate (with pleasure); specifically, to have avision of
אָן: where?; hence, whither?, when?; also hither and thither
עַד: as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)
שָׁוַע: properly, to be free; but used only causatively and reflexively, to halloo (for help, i.e. freedom from some trouble)
אֵיתָנִים: Ethanim, the name of a month
שָׁמַע: to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
זָעַק: to shriek (from anguish or danger); by analogy, (as a herald) to announce or convene publicly
Cross References
Habakkuk 1Paul explicitly quotes this verse in Antioch of Pisidia to warn Jewish unbelievers of coming judgment.
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Parallels God doing a marvelous, unbelievable work of judgment among His own people.
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Establishes the prophetic term 'burden' (massa) as a heavy, threatening divine message.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Echoes the desperate cry of 'violence' and feeling unheard by God during affliction.
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Parallels Habakkuk's agonizing expostulation with God concerning the prosperity and impunity of the wicked.
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Mosaic covenant curse predicting a swift, fierce, and foreign nation coming to destroy Israel.
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Verbal echo comparing voracious, unchecked oppressors to 'evening wolves' devouring prey.
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Verbal link describing judgment executing enemies under the metaphor of 'evening wolves'.
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Illuminates the idiom of a horse eagerly 'swallowing the ground' in swiftness and rage.
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Parallels God ordaining a wicked pagan empire as an instrument for correcting His people.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Internal chapter link echoing the central dilemma of a holy God tolerating treacherous workers.
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Historical fulfillment of God sending the Chaldeans against Judah according to His word.
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Verbal parallel to the devastating, dry, and violent east wind of judgment.
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Illustrates the Babylonian king's pride in attributing his power to his own divinity before falling.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The subsequent chapter's woes directly address the Chaldeans' violent gathering of nations like sand.
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