Discovery BoxHabakkuk 1:5--2:8
Context1:5 “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
1:6 Look, I am about to empower 5 the Babylonians,
that ruthless 6 and greedy 7 nation.
They sweep across the surface 8 of the earth,
seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.
1:7 They are frightening and terrifying;
they decide for themselves what is right. 9
1:8 Their horses are faster than leopards
and more alert 10 than wolves in the desert. 11
their horses come a great distance;
like a vulture 14 they swoop down quickly to devour their prey. 15
1:9 All of them intend 16 to do violence;
every face is determined. 17
They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand. 18
1:10 They mock kings
and laugh at rulers.
They laugh at every fortified city;
they build siege ramps 19 and capture them.
1:11 They sweep by like the wind and pass on. 20
But the one who considers himself a god will be held guilty.” 21
1:12 Lord, you have been active from ancient times; 22
my sovereign God, 23 you are immortal. 24
Lord, you have made them 25 your instrument of judgment. 26
Protector, 27 you have appointed them as your instrument of punishment. 28
1:13 You are too just 29 to tolerate 30 evil;
you are unable to condone 31 wrongdoing.
So why do you put up with such treacherous people? 32
Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour 33 those more righteous than they are? 34
1:14 You made people like fish in the sea,
like animals in the sea 35 that have no ruler.
1:15 The Babylonian tyrant 36 pulls them all up with a fishhook;
he hauls them in with his throw net. 37
When he catches 38 them in his dragnet,
he is very happy. 39
1:16 Because of his success 40 he offers sacrifices to his throw net
and burns incense to his dragnet; 41
for because of them he has plenty of food, 42
and more than enough to eat. 43
1:17 Will he then 44 continue to fill and empty his throw net? 45
Will he always 46 destroy 47 nations and spare none? 48
2:1 I will stand at my watch post;
I will remain stationed on the city wall. 49
I will keep watching, so I can see what he says to me
and can know 50 how I should answer
when he counters my argument. 51
“Write down this message! 53 Record it legibly on tablets,
so the one who announces 54 it may read it easily. 55
2:3 For the message is a witness to what is decreed; 56
it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out. 57
Even if the message 58 is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently; 59
for it will certainly come to pass – it will not arrive late.
2:4 Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, 60
but the person of integrity 61 will live 62 because of his faithfulness. 63
2:5 Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man! 64
His appetite 65 is as big as Sheol’s; 66
like death, he is never satisfied.
He gathers 67 all the nations;
he seizes 68 all peoples.
2:6 “But all these nations will someday taunt him 69
and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: 70
‘The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead 71
(How long will this go on?) 72 –
he who gets rich by extortion!’ 73
2:7 Your creditors will suddenly attack; 74
those who terrify you will spring into action, 75
and they will rob you. 76
2:8 Because you robbed many countries, 77
all who are left among the nations 78 will rob you.
You have shed human blood
and committed violent acts against lands, cities, 79 and those who live in them.
[1:5] 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.
[1:5] 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.
[1:5] 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.
[1:5] 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.”
[1:6] 5 tn Heb “raise up” (so KJV, ASV).
[1:6] 6 tn Heb “bitter.” Other translation options for this word in this context include “fierce” (NASB, NRSV); “savage” (NEB); or “grim.”
[1:6] 7 tn Heb “hasty, quick.” Some translate here “impetuous” (so NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “rash,” but in this context greed may very well be the idea. The Babylonians move quickly and recklessly ahead in their greedy quest to expand their empire.
[1:6] 8 tn Heb “the open spaces.”
[1:7] 9 tn Heb “from him his justice, even his lifting up, goes out.” In this context שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et) probably has the nuance “authority.” See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 150.
[1:8] 13 tn Heb “sharper,” in the sense of “keener” or “more alert.” Some translate “quicker” on the basis of the parallelism with the first line (see HALOT 291 s.v. חדד).
[1:8] 14 tn Heb “wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The present translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). On this phrase see also Zeph 3:3.
[1:8] 15 tn Or “horsemen,” “cavalry.”
[1:8] 16 tn The precise nuance of the rare verb פָּוַשׁ (parash) is unclear here. Elsewhere it is used of animals jumping or leaping (see Jer 50:11; Mal 4:2).
[1:8] 17 tn Or “eagle” (so NASB, NRSV). The term can refer to either eagles or vultures, but in this context of gruesome destruction and death “vulture” is preferred.
[1:8] 18 tn Heb “they fly like a vulture/an eagle quickly to devour.” The direct object “their prey” is not included in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[1:9] 18 tn Heb “The totality of their faces is to the east” (or “is forward”). The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מְגַמַּת (megammat) is unclear. For a discussion of options see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 93. NEB has “a sea of faces rolls on”; NIV “their hordes advance like a desert wind”; NRSV “with faces pressing forward.”
[1:9] 19 tn Heb “and he gathers like sand, prisoners.”
[1:10] 21 tn Heb “they heap up dirt.” This is a reference to the piling up of earthen ramps in the process of laying siege to a fortified city.
[1:11] 25 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] 26 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.
[1:12] 29 tn Heb “Are you not from antiquity, O
[1:12] 30 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] 31 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] 32 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] 33 tn Heb “for judgment.”
[1:12] 34 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] 35 tn Heb “to correct, reprove.”
[1:13] 33 tn Heb “[you] are too pure of eyes.” God’s “eyes” here signify what he looks at with approval. His “eyes” are “pure” in that he refuses to tolerate any wrongdoing in his presence.
[1:13] 34 tn Heb “to see.” Here “see” is figurative for “tolerate,” “put up with.”
[1:13] 35 tn Heb “to look at.” Cf. NEB “who canst not countenance wrongdoing”; NASB “You can not look on wickedness with favor.”
[1:13] 36 tn Heb “Why do you look at treacherous ones?” The verb בָּגַד (bagad, “be treacherous”) is often used of those who are disloyal or who violate agreements. See S. Erlandsson, TDOT 1:470-73.
[1:13] 38 tn Heb “more innocent than themselves.”
[1:14] 37 tn The Hebrew word רֶמֶשׂ (remesh) usually refers to animals that creep, but here the referent seems to be marine animals that glide through the water (note the parallelism in the previous line). See also Ps 104:25.
[1:15] 41 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Babylonian tyrant) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NASB “The Chaldeans”; NIV “The wicked foe”; NRSV “The enemy”). Babylonian imperialism is here compared to a professional fisherman who repeatedly brings in his catch and has plenty to eat.
[1:15] 42 tn Apparently two different types of fishing nets are referred to here. The חֵרֶם (kherem, “throw net”) was used by fishermen standing on the shore (see Ezek 47:10), while the מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret, “dragnet”) was used by men in a boat. See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 165.
[1:15] 43 tn Heb “and he gathers.”
[1:15] 44 tn Heb “Therefore he is happy and rejoices.” Here two synonyms are joined for emphasis.
[1:16] 46 sn The fishing implements (throw net and dragnet) represent Babylonian military might. The prophet depicts the Babylonians as arrogantly worshiping their own power (sacrifices…burns incense, see also v. 11b).
[1:16] 47 tn Heb “for by them his portion is full [or, “fat”].”
[1:16] 48 tn Heb “and his food is plentiful [or, “fat”].”
[1:17] 50 tn Heb “Will he then empty his throw net?” The words “continue to fill and” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[1:17] 51 tn Or “continually.”
[1:17] 53 tn Or “without showing compassion.”
[2:1] 53 sn Habakkuk compares himself to a watchman stationed on the city wall who keeps his eyes open for approaching messengers or danger.
[2:1] 54 tn The word “know” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[2:1] 55 tn Heb “concerning my correction [or, “reproof”].”
[2:2] 57 tn Heb “the
[2:2] 58 tn Heb “[the] vision.”
[2:2] 60 tn Heb “might run,” which here probably means “run [through it quickly with one’s eyes],” that is, read it easily.
[2:3] 61 tn Heb “For the vision is still for the appointed time.” The Hebrew word עוֹד (’od, “still”) is better emended to עֵד (’ed, “witness”) in light of the parallelism (see the note on the word “turn out” in the following line). The “appointed time” refers to the time when the divine judgment anticipated in vv. 6-20 will be realized.
[2:3] 62 tn Heb “and a witness to the end and it does not lie.” The Hebrew term יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) has been traditionally understood as a verb form from the root פּוּחַ (puakh, “puff, blow”; cf. NEB “it will come in breathless haste”; NASB “it hastens toward the goal”) but recent scholarship has demonstrated that it is actually a noun meaning “witness” (cf. NIV “it speaks of the end / and will not prove false”; NRSV “it speaks of the end, and does not lie”). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 106. “The end” corresponds to “the appointed time” of the preceding line and refers to the time when the prophecy to follow will be fulfilled.
[2:3] 63 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the message) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:3] 64 tn Heb “If it should delay, wait for it.” The Hebrew word חָזוֹן (khazon, “vision, message”) is the subject of the third person verbs in v. 3 and the antecedent of the pronominal suffix in the phrase “for it.”
[2:4] 65 tn The meaning of this line is unclear, primarily because of the uncertainty surrounding the second word, עֲפְּלָה (’apÿlah). Some read this as an otherwise unattested verb עָפַל (’afal, “swell”) from which are derived nouns meaning “mound” and “hemorrhoid.” This “swelling” is then understood in an abstract sense, “swell with pride.” This would yield a translation, “As for the proud, his desires are not right within him” (cf. NASB “as for the proud one”; NIV “he is puffed up”; NRSV “Look at the proud!”). A multitude of other interpretations of this line, many of which involve emendations of the problematic form, may be found in the commentaries and periodical literature. The present translation assumes an emendation to a Pual form of the verb עָלַף (’alaf, “be faint, exhausted”). (See its use in the Pual in Isa 51:20, and in the Hitpael in Amos 8:13 and Jonah 4:8.) In the antithetical parallelism of the verse, it corresponds to חָיָה (khayah, “live”). The phrase לֹא יָשְׁרָה נַפְשׁוֹ בּוֹ (lo’ yoshrah nafsho bo), literally, “not upright his desire within him,” is taken as a substantival clause that contrasts with צַדִּיק (tsadiq, “the righteous one”) and serves as the subject of the preceding verb. Here נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is understood in the sense of “desire” (see BDB 660-61 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ for a list of passages where the word carries this sense).
[2:4] 66 tn Or “righteous.” The oppressed individuals mentioned in 1:4 are probably in view here.
[2:4] 67 tn Or “will be preserved.” In the immediate context this probably refers to physical preservation through both the present oppression and the coming judgment (see Hab 3:16-19).
[2:4] 68 tn Or “loyalty”; or “integrity.” The Hebrew word אֱמוּנָה (’emunah) has traditionally been translated “faith,” but the term nowhere else refers to “belief” as such. When used of human character and conduct it carries the notion of “honesty, integrity, reliability, faithfulness.” The antecedent of the suffix has been understood in different ways. It could refer to God’s faithfulness, but in this case one would expect a first person suffix (the original form of the LXX has “my faithfulness” here). Others understand the “vision” to be the antecedent. In this case the reliability of the prophecy is in view. For a statement of this view, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 111-12. The present translation assumes that the preceding word “[the person of] integrity” is the antecedent. In this case the
[2:5] 69 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] 70 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] 71 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] 72 tn Heb “he gathers for himself.”
[2:5] 73 tn Heb “he collects for himself.”
[2:6] 73 tn Heb “Will not these, all of them, take up a taunt against him…?” The rhetorical question assumes the response, “Yes, they will.” The present translation brings out the rhetorical force of the question by rendering it as an affirmation.
[2:6] 74 tn Heb “and a mocking song, riddles, against him? And one will say.”
[2:6] 75 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who increases [what is] not his.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe,” “ah”) was used in funeral laments and carries the connotation of death.
[2:6] 76 tn This question is interjected parenthetically, perhaps to express rhetorically the pain and despair felt by the Babylonians’ victims.
[2:6] 77 tn Heb “and the one who makes himself heavy [i.e., wealthy] [by] debts.” Though only appearing in the first line, the term הוֹי (hoy) is to be understood as elliptical in the second line.
[2:7] 77 tn Heb “Will not your creditors suddenly rise up?” The rhetorical question assumes the response, “Yes, they will.” The present translation brings out the rhetorical force of the question by rendering it as an affirmation.
[2:7] 78 tn Heb “[Will not] the ones who make you tremble awake?”
[2:7] 79 tn Heb “and you will become their plunder.”
[2:8] 83 tn Heb “because of the shed blood of humankind and violence against land, city.” The singular forms אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”) and קִרְיָה (qiryah, “city”) are collective, referring to all the lands and cities terrorized by the Babylonians.
