Habakkuk 2:6

The Proud Babylonians are as Good as Dead

2:6 “But all these nations will someday taunt him ¹ 

and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: ² 

‘The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead ³ 

(How long will this go on?) ⁴  –

he who gets rich by extortion!’ ⁵ 

Habakkuk 2:1

2:1 I will stand at my watch post;

I will remain stationed on the city wall. ⁶ 

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

and can know ⁷  how I should answer

when he counters my argument. ⁸ 

Habakkuk 2:19

2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead ⁹  –

he who says ¹⁰  to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’

Can it give reliable guidance? ¹¹ 

It is overlaid with gold and silver;

it has no life’s breath inside it.

Habakkuk 1:13

1:13 You are too just ¹²  to tolerate ¹³  evil;

you are unable to condone ¹⁴  wrongdoing.

So why do you put up with such treacherous people? ¹⁵ 

Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour ¹⁶  those more righteous than they are? ¹⁷ 

[2:6]  ¹ tn Heb “Will not these, all of them, take up a taunt against him…?” The rhetorical question assumes the response, “Yes, they will.” The present translation brings out the rhetorical force of the question by rendering it as an affirmation.

[2:6]  ² tn Heb “and a mocking song, riddles, against him? And one will say.”

[2:6]  ³ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who increases [what is] not his.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe,” “ah”) was used in funeral laments and carries the connotation of death.

[2:6]  ⁴ tn This question is interjected parenthetically, perhaps to express rhetorically the pain and despair felt by the Babylonians’ victims.

[2:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the one who makes himself heavy [i.e., wealthy] [by] debts.” Though only appearing in the first line, the term הוֹי (hoy) is to be understood as elliptical in the second line.

[2:1]  ⁶ sn Habakkuk compares himself to a watchman stationed on the city wall who keeps his eyes open for approaching messengers or danger.

[2:1]  ⁷ tn The word “know” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “concerning my correction [or, “reproof”].”

[2:19]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.

[2:19]  ¹³ 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).

[1:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[you] are too pure of eyes.” God’s “eyes” here signify what he looks at with approval. His “eyes” are “pure” in that he refuses to tolerate any wrongdoing in his presence.

[1:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to see.” Here “see” is figurative for “tolerate,” “put up with.”

[1:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to look at.” Cf. NEB “who canst not countenance wrongdoing”; NASB “You can not look on wickedness with favor.”

[1:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Why do you look at treacherous ones?” The verb בָּגַד (bagad, “be treacherous”) is often used of those who are disloyal or who violate agreements. See S. Erlandsson, TDOT 1:470-73.

[1:13]  ²⁰ tn Or “swallow up.”

[1:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “more innocent than themselves.”