1:5 “Look at the nations and pay attention! 1
You will be shocked and amazed! 2
For I will do something in your lifetime 3
that you will not believe even though you are forewarned. 4
2:1 I will stand at my watch post;
I will remain stationed on the city wall. 5
I will keep watching, so I can see what he says to me
and can know 6 how I should answer
when he counters my argument. 7
3:8 Is the Lord mad at the rivers?
Are you angry with the rivers?
Are you enraged at the sea? 8
Is this why 9 you climb into your horse-drawn chariots, 10
your victorious chariots? 11
1 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.
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.”
5 sn Habakkuk compares himself to a watchman stationed on the city wall who keeps his eyes open for approaching messengers or danger.
6 tn The word “know” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
7 tn Heb “concerning my correction [or, “reproof”].”
9 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).
10 tn Heb “so that.” Here כִּי (ki) is resultative. See the note on the phrase “make it” in 2:18.
11 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.”
12 tn Or “chariots of deliverance.”