Habakkuk 2:19

2:19 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

1:7 They are frightening and terrifying;

they decide for themselves what is right. ⁴ 

Habakkuk 1:10

1:10 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.