Habakkuk 1:11

1:11 They sweep by like the wind and pass on. ¹ 

But the one who considers himself a god will be held guilty.” ² 

Habakkuk 2:19

2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead ³  –

he who says ⁴  to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’

Can it give reliable guidance? ⁵ 

It is overlaid with gold and silver;

it has no life’s breath inside it.

[1:11]  ¹ tn The precise meaning of v. 11a is uncertain. The present translation assumes the first line further describes the Babylonian hordes, comparing them to a destructive wind. Another option is to understand רוּחַ (ruakh) as “spirit,” rather than “wind,” and take the form וְאָשֵׁם (vÿ’ashem) with what precedes (as suggested by the scribal punctuation). Repointing this form as a geminate verb from שָׁמַם (shamam, “be astonished”), one could then translate the line, “The spirit passed on and departed, and I was astonished.” In this case the line would describe the cessation of the divine revelation which began in v. 5. For a detailed defense of this view, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 97-100.

[1:11]  ² tn Heb “and guilty is the one whose strength is his god.” This assumes that אָשֵׁם (’ashem) is a predicate adjective meaning “guilty” and that it relates to what follows.

[2:19]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.

[2:19]  ⁵ 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).