Habakkuk 1:9

1:9 All of them intend ¹  to do violence;

every face is determined. ² 

They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand. ³ 

Habakkuk 1:11

1:11 They sweep by like the wind and pass on. ⁴ 

But the one who considers himself a god will be held guilty.” ⁵ 

Habakkuk 2:12

2:12 The one who builds a city by bloodshed is as good as dead ⁶  –

he who starts ⁷  a town by unjust deeds.

[1:9]  ¹ tn Heb “come.”

[1:9]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “and he gathers like sand, prisoners.”

[1:11]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.

[2:12]  ⁷ tn On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.

[2:12]  ⁸ tn Or “establishes”; or “founds.”