Habakkuk 1:6

1:6 Look, I am about to empower ¹  the Babylonians,

that ruthless ²  and greedy ³  nation.

They sweep across the surface ⁴  of the earth,

seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.

Habakkuk 1:5

The Lord Reveals Some Startling News

1:5 “Look at the nations and pay attention! ⁵ 

You will be shocked and amazed! ⁶ 

For I will do something in your lifetime ⁷ 

that you will not believe even though you are forewarned. ⁸ 

Habakkuk 2:1

2:1 I will stand at my watch post;

I will remain stationed on the city wall. ⁹ 

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

and can know ¹⁰  how I should answer

when he counters my argument. ¹¹ 

Habakkuk 3:2

3:2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; ¹² 

I am awed, ¹³  Lord, by what you accomplished. ¹⁴ 

In our time ¹⁵  repeat those deeds; ¹⁶ 

in our time reveal them again. ¹⁷ 

But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy! ¹⁸ 

Habakkuk 1:3

1:3 Why do you force me to witness injustice? ¹⁹ 

Why do you put up with wrongdoing? ²⁰ 

Destruction and violence confront ²¹  me;

conflict is present and one must endure strife. ²² 

[1:6]  ¹ tn Heb “raise up” (so KJV, ASV).

[1:6]  ² tn Heb “bitter.” Other translation options for this word in this context include “fierce” (NASB, NRSV); “savage” (NEB); or “grim.”

[1:6]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “the open spaces.”

[1:5]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.”

[2:1]  ⁹ sn Habakkuk compares himself to a watchman stationed on the city wall who keeps his eyes open for approaching messengers or danger.

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn The word “know” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “concerning my correction [or, “reproof”].”

[3:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “your report,” that is, “the report concerning you.”

[3:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I fear.” Some prefer to read, “I saw, Lord, what you accomplished” (cf. NEB).

[3:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your work.”

[3:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in the midst of years.” The meaning of the phrase, which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain (cf. NIV “in our day”; NEB, NASB “in the midst of the years”).

[3:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “revive it” (i.e., “your work”).

[3:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “make known.” The implied object is “your deeds”; the pronoun “them,” referring to “deeds” in the previous line, was employed in the translation to avoid redundancy. The suffix on the form חַיֵּיהוּ (khayyehu, “revive it”) does double duty in the parallelism.

[3:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in turmoil remember [to show] compassion.”

[1:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Why do you make me see injustice?”

[1:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Why do you look at wrongdoing?”

[1:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “are before.”

[1:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and there is conflict and strife he lifts up.” The present translation takes the verb יִשָּׂא (yisa’) in the sense of “carry, bear,” and understands the subject to be indefinite (“one”).