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 3:18

3:18 I will rejoice because of ³  the Lord;

I will be happy because of the God who delivers me!

Habakkuk 3:3

3:3 God comes ⁴  from Teman, ⁵ 

the sovereign ⁶  one from Mount Paran. ⁷  Selah. ⁸ 

His splendor covers the skies, ⁹ 

his glory ¹⁰  fills the earth.

Habakkuk 1:12

Habakkuk Voices Some Concerns

1:12 Lord, you have been active from ancient times; ¹¹ 

my sovereign God, ¹²  you are immortal. ¹³ 

Lord, you have made them ¹⁴  your instrument of judgment. ¹⁵ 

Protector, ¹⁶  you have appointed them as your instrument of punishment. ¹⁷ 

Habakkuk 3:19

3:19 The sovereign Lord is my source of strength. ¹⁸ 

He gives me the agility of a deer; ¹⁹ 

he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. ²⁰ 

(This prayer is for the song leader. It is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.) ²¹ 

Habakkuk 1:1

Habakkuk Complains to the Lord

1:1 The following is the message ²²  which God revealed to Habakkuk the prophet: ²³ 

Habakkuk 2:1

2:1 I will stand at my watch post;

I will remain stationed on the city wall. ²⁴ 

I will keep watching, so I can see what he says to me

and can know ²⁵  how I should answer

when he counters my argument. ²⁶ 

Habakkuk 2:19

2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead ²⁷  –

he who says ²⁸  to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’

Can it give reliable guidance? ²⁹ 

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.

[3:18]  ³ tn Or “in.”

[3:3]  ⁵ tn In vv. 3-15 there is a mixture of eleven prefixed verbal forms (without vav [ו] consecutive or with vav conjunctive), sixteen suffixed forms, and three prefixed forms with vav consecutive. All of the forms are best taken as indicating completed action from the speaker’s standpoint (all of the prefixed forms being regarded as preterites). The forms could be translated with the past tense, but this would be misleading, for this is not a mere recital of God’s deeds in Israel’s past history. Habakkuk here describes, in terms reminiscent of past theophanies, his prophetic vision of a future theophany (see v. 7, “I saw”). From the prophet’s visionary standpoint the theophany is “as good as done.” This translation uses the English present tense throughout these verses to avoid misunderstanding. A similar strategy is followed by the NEB; in contrast note the NIV and NRSV, which consistently use past tenses throughout the section, and the NASB, which employs present tenses in vv. 3-5 and mostly past tenses in vv. 6-15.

[3:3]  ⁶ sn Teman was a city or region in southern Edom.

[3:3]  ⁷ tn Or traditionally, “holy one.” The term קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy [one]”) here refers to God’s sovereignty. See v. 3b.

[3:3]  ⁸ sn The precise location of Mount Paran is unknown, but like Teman it was located to the southeast of Israel. Habakkuk saw God marching from the direction of Sinai.

[3:3]  ⁹ tn Selah. The meaning of this musical term (which also appears in vv. 9, 13, and in the Psalms as well) is unknown.

[3:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “heavens.”

[3:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “praise.” This could mean that the earth responds in praise as God’s splendor is observed in the skies. However, the Hebrew term תְּהִלָּה (tÿhillah, “praise”) can stand by metonymy for what prompts it (i.e., fame, glory, deeds).

[1:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “Are you not from antiquity, O Lord?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, of course.” The present translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question, rendering it as an affirmation. When used in a temporal sense the phrase מִקֶדֶם (miqedem) means “from antiquity, ancient times,” often referring to earlier periods in Israel’s history. See its use in Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10; Mic 5:2.

[1:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “My God, my holy one.” God’s “holiness” in this context is his sovereign transcendence as the righteous judge of the world (see vv. 12b-13a), thus the translation “My sovereign God.”

[1:12]  ⁹ tc The MT reads, “we will not die,” but an ancient scribal tradition has “you [i.e., God] will not die.” This is preferred as a more difficult reading that can explain the rise of the other variant. Later scribes who copied the manuscripts did not want to associate the idea of death with God in any way, so they softened the statement to refer to humanity.

[1:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “him,” a collective singular referring to the Babylonians. The plural pronoun “them” has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.

[1:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for judgment.”

[1:12]  ¹² tn Heb “Rock” or “Cliff.” This divine epithet views God as a place where one can go to be safe from danger. The translation “Protector” conveys the force of the metaphor (cf. KJV, NEB “O mighty God”).

[1:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “to correct, reprove.”

[3:19]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps, “is my wall,” that is, “my protector.”

[3:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he makes my feet like those of deer.”

[3:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he makes me walk on my high places.”

[3:19]  ¹² tn Heb “For the leader, on my stringed instruments.”

[1:1]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “The message [traditionally, “burden”] which Habakkuk the prophet saw.”

[2:1]  ¹³ sn Habakkuk compares himself to a watchman stationed on the city wall who keeps his eyes open for approaching messengers or danger.

[2:1]  ¹⁴ tn The word “know” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “concerning my correction [or, “reproof”].”

[2:19]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.

[2:19]  ¹⁷ 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).