Habakkuk 1:1

Habakkuk Complains to the Lord

1:1 The following is the message ¹  which God revealed to Habakkuk the prophet: ² 

Habakkuk 3:16

Habakkuk Declares His Confidence

3:16 I listened and my stomach churned; ³ 

the sound made my lips quiver.

My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying, ⁴ 

and I shook as I tried to walk. ⁵ 

I long ⁶  for the day of distress

to come upon ⁷  the people who attack us.

Habakkuk 2:5

2:5 Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man! ⁸ 

His appetite ⁹  is as big as Sheol’s; ¹⁰ 

like death, he is never satisfied.

He gathers ¹¹  all the nations;

he seizes ¹²  all peoples.

[1:1]  ¹ 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 Lord (see Zech 9:1; 12:1; Mal 1:1). Since it derives from a verb meaning “to carry,” its original nuance was that of a burdensome message, that is, one with ominous content.

[1:1]  ² tn Heb “The message [traditionally, “burden”] which Habakkuk the prophet saw.”

[3:16]  ³ tn Heb “my insides trembled.”

[3:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “decay entered my bones.”

[3:16]  ⁵ tc Heb “beneath me I shook, which….” The Hebrew term אֲשֶׁר (’asher) appears to be a relative pronoun, but a relative pronoun does not fit here. The translation assumes a reading אֲשֻׁרָי (’ashuray, “my steps”) as well as an emendation of the preceding verb to a third plural form.

[3:16]  ⁶ tn The translation assumes that אָנוּחַ (’anuakh) is from the otherwise unattested verb נָוָח (navakh, “sigh”; see HALOT 680 s.v. II נוח; so also NEB). Most take this verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”) and translate, “I wait patiently” (cf. NIV).

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “to come up toward.”

[2:5]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[2:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “he gathers for himself.”

[2:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “he collects for himself.”