Habakkuk 2:19
Context2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead 1 –
he who says 2 to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’
Can it give reliable guidance? 3
It is overlaid with gold and silver;
it has no life’s breath inside it.
Habakkuk 1:7
Context1:7 They are frightening and terrifying;
they decide for themselves what is right. 4
Habakkuk 1:10
Context1:10 They mock kings
and laugh at rulers.
They laugh at every fortified city;
they build siege ramps 5 and capture them.


[2:19] 1 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] 2 tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.
[2:19] 3 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).
[1:7] 4 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.
[1:10] 7 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.