Habakkuk 2:14

2:14 For recognition of the Lord’s sovereign majesty will fill the earth

just as the waters fill up the sea. ¹ 

Habakkuk 2:16

2:16 But you will become drunk ²  with shame, not majesty. ³ 

Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised foreskin! ⁴ 

The cup of wine in the Lord’s right hand ⁵  is coming to you,

and disgrace will replace your majestic glory!

Habakkuk 3:3

3:3 God comes ⁶  from Teman, ⁷ 

the sovereign ⁸  one from Mount Paran. ⁹  Selah. ¹⁰ 

His splendor covers the skies, ¹¹ 

his glory ¹²  fills the earth.

Habakkuk 1:17

1:17 Will he then ¹³  continue to fill and empty his throw net? ¹⁴ 

Will he always ¹⁵  destroy ¹⁶  nations and spare none? ¹⁷ 

Habakkuk 2:8

2:8 Because you robbed many countries, ¹⁸ 

all who are left among the nations ¹⁹  will rob you.

You have shed human blood

and committed violent acts against lands, cities, ²⁰  and those who live in them.

Habakkuk 3:2

3:2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; ²¹ 

I am awed, ²²  Lord, by what you accomplished. ²³ 

In our time ²⁴  repeat those deeds; ²⁵ 

in our time reveal them again. ²⁶ 

But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy! ²⁷ 

[2:14]  ¹ tn Heb “for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, just as the waters cover over the sea.”

[2:16]  ² tn Heb “are filled.” The translation assumes the verbal form is a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of Babylon’s coming judgment, which will reduce the majestic empire to shame and humiliation.

[2:16]  ³ tn Or “glory.”

[2:16]  ⁴ tc Heb “drink, even you, and show the foreskin.” Instead of הֵעָרֵל (he’arel, “show the foreskin”) one of the Dead Sea scrolls has הֵרָעֵל (hera’el, “stumble”). This reading also has support from several ancient versions and is followed by the NEB (“you too shall drink until you stagger”) and NRSV (“Drink, you yourself, and stagger”). For a defense of the Hebrew text, see P. D. Miller, Jr., Sin and Judgment in the Prophets, 63-64.

[2:16]  ⁵ sn The Lord’s right hand represents his military power. He will force the Babylonians to experience the same humiliating defeat they inflicted on others.

[3:3]  ³ 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]  ⁴ sn Teman was a city or region in southern Edom.

[3:3]  ⁵ tn Or traditionally, “holy one.” The term קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy [one]”) here refers to God’s sovereignty. See v. 3b.

[3:3]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or “heavens.”

[3:3]  ⁹ 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).

[1:17]  ⁴ tn Or “therefore.”

[1:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “Will he then empty his throw net?” The words “continue to fill and” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:17]  ⁶ tn Or “continually.”

[1:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “kill.”

[1:17]  ⁸ tn Or “without showing compassion.”

[2:8]  ⁵ tn Or “nations.”

[2:8]  ⁶ tn Or “peoples.”

[2:8]  ⁷ 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.

[3:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “your report,” that is, “the report concerning you.”

[3:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “I fear.” Some prefer to read, “I saw, Lord, what you accomplished” (cf. NEB).

[3:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “your work.”

[3:2]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “revive it” (i.e., “your work”).

[3:2]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “in turmoil remember [to show] compassion.”