Discovery BoxHabakkuk 3:3
Contextthe sovereign 3 one from Mount Paran. 4 Selah. 5
His splendor covers the skies, 6
his glory 7 fills the earth.
Habakkuk 1:12
Context1:12 Lord, you have been active from ancient times; 8
my sovereign God, 9 you are immortal. 10
Lord, you have made them 11 your instrument of judgment. 12
Protector, 13 you have appointed them as your instrument of punishment. 14
Habakkuk 2:4
Context2:4 Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, 15
but the person of integrity 16 will live 17 because of his faithfulness. 18
Habakkuk 3:13
Context3:13 You march out to deliver your people,
to deliver your special servant. 19
You strike the leader of the wicked nation, 20
laying him open from the lower body to the neck. 21 Selah.
Habakkuk 1:7
Context1:7 They are frightening and terrifying;
they decide for themselves what is right. 22
Habakkuk 2:2
Context“Write down this message! 24 Record it legibly on tablets,
so the one who announces 25 it may read it easily. 26
Habakkuk 1:13
Context1:13 You are too just 27 to tolerate 28 evil;
you are unable to condone 29 wrongdoing.
So why do you put up with such treacherous people? 30
Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour 31 those more righteous than they are? 32
Habakkuk 1:9
Context1:9 All of them intend 33 to do violence;
every face is determined. 34
They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand. 35
Habakkuk 1:11
Context1:11 They sweep by like the wind and pass on. 36
But the one who considers himself a god will be held guilty.” 37
Habakkuk 2:12
Context2:12 The one who builds a city by bloodshed is as good as dead 38 –
he who starts 39 a town by unjust deeds.
Habakkuk 1:3
Context1:3 Why do you force me to witness injustice? 40
Why do you put up with wrongdoing? 41
Destruction and violence confront 42 me;
conflict is present and one must endure strife. 43
Habakkuk 2:9
Context2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. 44
He does this so he can build his nest way up high
and escape the clutches of disaster. 45
Habakkuk 2:5-6
Context2:5 Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man! 46
His appetite 47 is as big as Sheol’s; 48
like death, he is never satisfied.
He gathers 49 all the nations;
he seizes 50 all peoples.
2:6 “But all these nations will someday taunt him 51
and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: 52
‘The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead 53
(How long will this go on?) 54 –
he who gets rich by extortion!’ 55
Habakkuk 2:19
Context2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead 56 –
he who says 57 to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’
Can it give reliable guidance? 58
It is overlaid with gold and silver;
it has no life’s breath inside it.
[3:3] 1 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] 2 sn Teman was a city or region in southern Edom.
[3:3] 3 tn Or traditionally, “holy one.” The term קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy [one]”) here refers to God’s sovereignty. See v. 3b.
[3:3] 4 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] 5 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] 7 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).
[1:12] 8 tn Heb “Are you not from antiquity, O
[1:12] 9 tn Heb “My God, my holy one.” God’s “holiness” in this context is his sovereign transcendence as the righteous judge of the world (see vv. 12b-13a), thus the translation “My sovereign God.”
[1:12] 10 tc The MT reads, “we will not die,” but an ancient scribal tradition has “you [i.e., God] will not die.” This is preferred as a more difficult reading that can explain the rise of the other variant. Later scribes who copied the manuscripts did not want to associate the idea of death with God in any way, so they softened the statement to refer to humanity.
[1:12] 11 tn Heb “him,” a collective singular referring to the Babylonians. The plural pronoun “them” has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.
[1:12] 12 tn Heb “for judgment.”
[1:12] 13 tn Heb “Rock” or “Cliff.” This divine epithet views God as a place where one can go to be safe from danger. The translation “Protector” conveys the force of the metaphor (cf. KJV, NEB “O mighty God”).
[1:12] 14 tn Heb “to correct, reprove.”
[2:4] 15 tn The meaning of this line is unclear, primarily because of the uncertainty surrounding the second word, עֲפְּלָה (’apÿlah). Some read this as an otherwise unattested verb עָפַל (’afal, “swell”) from which are derived nouns meaning “mound” and “hemorrhoid.” This “swelling” is then understood in an abstract sense, “swell with pride.” This would yield a translation, “As for the proud, his desires are not right within him” (cf. NASB “as for the proud one”; NIV “he is puffed up”; NRSV “Look at the proud!”). A multitude of other interpretations of this line, many of which involve emendations of the problematic form, may be found in the commentaries and periodical literature. The present translation assumes an emendation to a Pual form of the verb עָלַף (’alaf, “be faint, exhausted”). (See its use in the Pual in Isa 51:20, and in the Hitpael in Amos 8:13 and Jonah 4:8.) In the antithetical parallelism of the verse, it corresponds to חָיָה (khayah, “live”). The phrase לֹא יָשְׁרָה נַפְשׁוֹ בּוֹ (lo’ yoshrah nafsho bo), literally, “not upright his desire within him,” is taken as a substantival clause that contrasts with צַדִּיק (tsadiq, “the righteous one”) and serves as the subject of the preceding verb. Here נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is understood in the sense of “desire” (see BDB 660-61 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ for a list of passages where the word carries this sense).
[2:4] 16 tn Or “righteous.” The oppressed individuals mentioned in 1:4 are probably in view here.
[2:4] 17 tn Or “will be preserved.” In the immediate context this probably refers to physical preservation through both the present oppression and the coming judgment (see Hab 3:16-19).
[2:4] 18 tn Or “loyalty”; or “integrity.” The Hebrew word אֱמוּנָה (’emunah) has traditionally been translated “faith,” but the term nowhere else refers to “belief” as such. When used of human character and conduct it carries the notion of “honesty, integrity, reliability, faithfulness.” The antecedent of the suffix has been understood in different ways. It could refer to God’s faithfulness, but in this case one would expect a first person suffix (the original form of the LXX has “my faithfulness” here). Others understand the “vision” to be the antecedent. In this case the reliability of the prophecy is in view. For a statement of this view, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 111-12. The present translation assumes that the preceding word “[the person of] integrity” is the antecedent. In this case the
[3:13] 22 tn Heb “anointed one.” In light of the parallelism with “your people” in the preceding line this could refer to Israel, but elsewhere the Lord’s anointed one is always an individual. The Davidic king is the more likely referent here.
[3:13] 23 tn Heb “you strike the head from the house of wickedness.”
[3:13] 24 tn Heb “laying bare [from] foundation to neck.”
[1:7] 29 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.
[2:2] 36 tn Heb “the
[2:2] 37 tn Heb “[the] vision.”
[2:2] 39 tn Heb “might run,” which here probably means “run [through it quickly with one’s eyes],” that is, read it easily.
[1:13] 43 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] 44 tn Heb “to see.” Here “see” is figurative for “tolerate,” “put up with.”
[1:13] 45 tn Heb “to look at.” Cf. NEB “who canst not countenance wrongdoing”; NASB “You can not look on wickedness with favor.”
[1:13] 46 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] 48 tn Heb “more innocent than themselves.”
[1:9] 51 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] 52 tn Heb “and he gathers like sand, prisoners.”
[1:11] 57 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] 58 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] 64 tn On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:12] 65 tn Or “establishes”; or “founds.”
[1:3] 71 tn Heb “Why do you make me see injustice?”
[1:3] 72 tn Heb “Why do you look at wrongdoing?”
[1:3] 74 tn Heb “and there is conflict and strife he lifts up.” The present translation takes the verb יִשָּׂא (yisa’) in the sense of “carry, bear,” and understands the subject to be indefinite (“one”).
[2:9] 78 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:9] 79 tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”
[2:5] 85 tn Heb “Indeed wine betrays a proud man and he does not dwell.” The meaning of the last verb, “dwell,” is uncertain. Many take it as a denominative of the noun נָוָה (navah, “dwelling place”). In this case it would carry the idea, “he does not settle down,” and would picture the drunkard as restless (cf. NIV “never at rest”; NASB “does not stay at home”). Some relate the verb to an Arabic cognate and translate the phrase as “he will not succeed, reach his goal.”
[2:5] 86 tn Heb “who opens wide like Sheol his throat.” Here נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is understood in a physical sense, meaning “throat,” which in turn is figurative for the appetite. See H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 11-12.
[2:5] 87 sn Sheol is the proper name of the subterranean world which was regarded as the land of the dead. In ancient Canaanite thought Death was a powerful god whose appetite was never satisfied. In the OT Sheol/Death, though not deified, is personified as greedy and as having a voracious appetite. See Prov 30:15-16; Isa 5:14; also see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 168.
[2:5] 88 tn Heb “he gathers for himself.”
[2:5] 89 tn Heb “he collects for himself.”
[2:6] 92 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] 93 tn Heb “and a mocking song, riddles, against him? And one will say.”
[2:6] 94 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] 95 tn This question is interjected parenthetically, perhaps to express rhetorically the pain and despair felt by the Babylonians’ victims.
[2:6] 96 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.
[2:19] 99 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] 100 tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.
[2:19] 101 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).
