Habakkuk1
New King James Version
1The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.
2O Lord, how long shall I cry, And You will not hear? Even cry out to You, “Violence!” And You will not save.
3Why do You show me iniquity, And cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; There is strife, and contention arises.
4Therefore the law is powerless, And justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.
5“Look among the nations and watch— Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
6For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, A bitter and hasty nation Which marches 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 more fierce than evening wolves. Their chargers charge ahead; Their cavalry comes from afar; They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat.
9“They all come for violence; Their faces are set like the east wind. They gather captives like sand.
10They scoff at kings, And princes are scorned by them. They deride every stronghold, For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.
11Then his mind changes, and he transgresses; He commits offense, Ascribing this power to his god.”
12Are You not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment; O Rock, You have marked them for correction.
13You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours A person more righteous than he?
14Why do You make men like fish of the sea, Like creeping things that have no ruler over them?
15They take up all of them with a hook, They catch them in their net, And gather them in their dragnet. Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
16Therefore they sacrifice to their net, And burn incense to their dragnet; Because by them their share is sumptuous And their food plentiful.
17Shall they therefore empty their net, And continue to slay nations without pity?
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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