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Habakkuk
Chapter One
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO HABAKKUK 1
In
this chapter, after the inscription, in which are the title of the book, the
name and character of the writer, Habakkuk 1:1, there
is a complaint made by the prophet of his cry not being heard, and of salvation
being deferred, which was long expected, Habakkuk 1:2 and of
the wickedness of the times he lived in; of iniquity and trouble, rapine and
oppression, in general; and particularly of corruption in courts of judicature,
in which there were nothing but strife and contention, a dilatoriness in
proceedings at law, and justice was stopped and suppressed, Habakkuk 1:3 then
follows an answer to this, showing that some sore judgment, amazing and
incredible, would soon be executed for such sins, Habakkuk 1:5 that
the Chaldeans would be raised up and sent against the Jews, and spoil them, and
carry them captive; who are described by the cruelty of their temper and
disposition; by the swiftness and fierceness of their cavalry; and by their
derision of kings, princes, and strong holds; and by their victories and
success, which they should impute to their idols, Habakkuk 1:6 and
then the prophet, in the name of the church, expresses his faith that the
people of God, and his interest, would be preserved, and not perish in this
calamity; which is urged from the eternity, holiness, faithfulness, and power
of God, and from his design in this affliction, which was correction, and not
destruction, Habakkuk 1:12 and
the chapter is closed with an expostulation of the prophet with God, in
consideration of his purity and holiness; how he could bear with such a wicked
nation as the Chaldeans, and suffer them to devour men as fishes, in an
arbitrary way, that have no ruler; catch them in their net, and insult them,
and ascribe all to their own power and prudence, and think to go on continually
in this way, Habakkuk 1:13.
Habakkuk 1:1 The burden[a] which the
prophet Habakkuk saw.
YLT
1The burden that Habakkuk
the prophet hath seen:
The burden which Habakkuk
the prophet did see. This prophecy is called a "burden", or something took
up and carried, being what the prophet received from the Lord, and went with to
the people of the Jews, and was a heavy burdensome prophecy to them; declaring
the calamities that should come upon them by the Chaldeans, who would invade
their land, and carry them captive; and Habakkuk, that brought this account, is
called a "prophet", to give the greater sanction to it; and it was
what he had in vision from the Lord represented unto him, and therefore should
be credited. Abarbinel inquires why Habakkuk should be called a prophet, when
none of the lesser prophets are, excepting Haggai and Zechariah; and thinks the
reason of it is, to give weight to his prophecy, since it might be suspected by
some whether he was one; there being none of those phrases to be met with in
this prophecy as in others, as "the word of the Lord came", &c.
or "thus saith the Lord".
Habakkuk 1:2 2 O Lord, how long shall I cry, And You
will not hear? Even cry out to You, “Violence!” And You will not save.
YLT
2Till when, O Jehovah, have
I cried, And Thou dost not hear? I cry unto Thee -- `Violence,' and Thou dost
not save.
O Lord, how long shall I
cry, and thou wilt not hear!.... The prophet having long observed the
sins and iniquities of the people among whom he lived, and being greatly
distressed in his mind on account of them, had frequently and importunately
cried unto the Lord to put a stop to the abounding of them, that the people
might be brought to a sense of their sins, and reform from them; but nothing of
this kind appearing, he concludes his prayers were not heard, and therefore
expostulates with the Lord upon this head:
even cry unto thee of
violence, and thou wilt not save! either of violence done
to himself in the discharge of his office, or of one man to another, of the
rich to the poor; and yet, though he cried again and again to the Lord, to
check this growing evil, and deliver the oppressed out of the hands of their
oppressors, it was not done; which was matter of grief and trouble to him.
Habakkuk 1:3 3 Why do You show me iniquity, And cause me to see
trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; There is strife, and
contention arises.
YLT
3Why dost Thou shew me
iniquity, And perversity dost cause to behold? And spoiling and violence [are]
before me, And there is strife, and contention doth lift [itself] up,
Why dost thou show me
iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance?.... That is,
wicked men, and such as give a great deal of trouble vexation, and grief to
others, by their rapine and oppression; suggesting that he could not turn his
eyes any where, but such persons presented themselves to his view; and that
their wicked actions were performed by them openly and publicly, in the sight
of all, without any shame or fear. So the Targum,
"why
do I see oppressors, and behold those that do the labour of falsehood?'
For spoiling and violence are before me; in my sight
and presence, though a prophet, and notwithstanding all my remonstrances,
exhortations, and reproofs; such were the hardness, obstinacy, and impudence of
this people; to such a height and pitch of iniquity were they arrived, as to
regard not the prophets of the Lord. The Targum is,
"spoilers
and robbers are before me:'
or,
"against me"F17לנגדי
"contra me", Pagninus, Montanus; "e regione mei", Junius
& Tremellius, Piscator, Tarnovius. , as in the text; these sins were
committed against him, he was injuriously used himself; or they were done to
others, contrary to his advice and persuasion:
and there are that raise up strife and contention; in the
kingdom, in cities, in families; in one man, brother, friend, and neighbour,
against another; which occasion lawsuits, and in them justice is not done, as
follows. It may be rendered, and "there shall be and is a man
of strife"; so Japhet: "and he shall raise up contention"; one
man given to strife will and does use great contention in communities, civil
and religious.
Habakkuk 1:4 4 Therefore the law is powerless, And justice never goes
forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore perverse judgment
proceeds.
YLT
4Therefore doth law cease,
And judgment doth not go forth for ever, For the wicked is compassing the
righteous, Therefore wrong judgment goeth forth.
Therefore the law is slacked,.... Is not
put into execution against offenders: the civil magistrates, whose office it is
to do justice according to law, are dilatory, and do not proceed with vigour
and spirit against the transgressors of it, and in favour of honest and good
men oppressed: or "it intermits"F18תפוג
"intermittitur", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Burkius;
פוג "est, animi deliquium pati", Tarnovius.
, or is "intermitted"; it is like a man whose pulse beats low, and is
scarce perceived, which is a sign that he is not in good health as the body
politic is not, when the law, which is the soul of it, is not suffered to take
place, and do its office. So the Targum,
"the
law languishes;'
loses
its force and vigour, and is ready to expire; which is a sad symptom of the bad
estate of a commonwealth.
And judgment doth never go forth; at least not right, to
the justifying of the righteous, acquitting the innocent, and giving the cause
on the right side; condemning the wicked, and punishing offenders as their
crime deserves: it never appears as it should do; it is either not done at all,
or done badly and perversely:
for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; to hurt him
or ensnare him, and by frauds and wicked artifices, and false witnesses, to
carry a cause against him:
therefore wrong judgment proceedeth; the cause is given on
the wrong side, against a good man, and for a wicked man; all these things the
prophet saw with grief, and complained of to the Lord, from whom he has an
answer in the following words:
Habakkuk 1:5 5 “Look among the nations and watch— Be utterly
astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would
not believe, though it were told you.
YLT
5Look ye on nations, and
behold and marvel greatly. For a work He is working in your days, Ye do not
believe though it is declared.
Behold ye among the
heathen, and regard,.... This is the Lord's answer to the prophet's complaint, or
what he directs him to say to the Jews, guilty of the crimes complained of,
which should not go long unpunished; and who are called upon to look around
them, and see what was doing among the nations; how the king of Babylon had
overturned the Assyrian empire, and was going from place to place, subduing one
nation after another, and their turn would be quickly: for these words are not
addressed to the heathen, to stir them up to observe what was doing, or about
to be done, to the Jews; but to the Jews themselves, to consider and regard the
operations of the Lord, and the works of his providence among the nations of
the earth. These words are differently rendered in the Septuagint, Syriac, and
Arabic versions, and which better agree with the quotation of them by the
apostle; see Gill on Acts 13:41,
and wonder marvellously; or "wonder,
wonder"F19והתמהו תמהו
"et admiramini, admiramini", Vatablus, Drusius, Burkius. ; the word
is repeated, to express the great admiration there would be found just reason
for, on consideration of what was now doing in the world, and would be done,
especially in Judea:
for I will work a work in your days, which ye will
not believe, though it be told you; which was the
destruction of the Jewish nation, city, and temple, by the Chaldeans, as is
evident from the following words; and, though they were the instruments of it,
it was the work of divine Providence; it was done according to the will of God,
and by his direction, he giving success; and, being thus declared, was a
certain thing, and might be depended on, nothing should hinder it; and it
should be done speedily, in that generation, some then living should see it;
though the thing was so amazing and incredible, that they would not believe it
ever would be; partly because the Chaldeans were their good friends and allies,
as they thought, as appears by Josiah's going out against the king of Egypt,
when he was marching his army against the king of Babylon; and partly because
they were the covenant people of God, and would never be abandoned and given up
by him into the hands of another people; and therefore, when they were told of
it by the prophets of the Lord, especially by Jeremiah, time after time; who
expressly said the king of Babylon would come against them, and they would be
delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans; yet they would give no credit to it,
till their ruin came upon them, as may be observed in various parts of his
prophecy. The apostle quotes this passage in the place above mentioned, and
applies it to the destruction of the Jews by the Romans, for their contemptuous
rejection of the Messiah and his Gospel; which yet they would not believe to
the last, though it was foretold by Christ and his apostles.
Habakkuk 1:6 6 For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, A bitter and
hasty nation Which marches through the breadth of the earth, To possess
dwelling places that are not theirs.
YLT
6For, lo, I am raising up
the Chaldeans, The bitter and hasty nation, That is going to the broad places
of earth, To occupy tabernacles not its own.
For, lo, I raise up the
Chaldeans,.... A people still of late mean and low, famous only for their
soothsaying, divination, and judicial astrology; but now become a powerful and
warlike people, rising up under the permission of Providence to universal
monarchy, and who would quickly add Judea to the rest of their dominions:
that bitter and
hasty nation; a cruel and merciless people in their temper and disposition:
"bitter" against the people of God and true religion, and causing
bitterness, calamities, and distress, wherever they came: "hasty" and
precipitate in their determinations; swift and nimble in their motions; active
and vigorous in the prosecution of their designs:
which shall march through the breadth of the land; or
"breadths of the land"F20למרחבי ארץ "latitudines terrae", Montanus, Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator. ; through the whole world, as they were attempting to do,
having subdued Syria, all Asia, and great part of Africa, through which they
boldly marched, bearing down all opposition that was in their way; or through
the breadth of the land of Judea, taking all the fenced cities as they went
along, and Jerusalem the metropolis of it; see Isaiah 8:7,
to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs; the cities of
Judea, and houses in them, as well as the palaces and dwellingplaces in
Jerusalem, which they had no right unto, but what they got by the sword; what
were the legal possessions and inheritances of others from father to son for
ages past, these the Chaldeans would dispossess them of; and not only take
them, and the spoil and plunder of them, for the present, but retain them in
their possession, as an inheritance to be transmitted to their posterity. This
may have some respect to the length of the captivity of the Jews, and their
land being in the hands of their enemies for the space of seventy years.
Habakkuk 1:7 7 They are terrible and dreadful; Their judgment and
their dignity proceed from themselves.
YLT
7Terrible and fearful it
[is], From itself its judgment and its excellency go forth.
They are terrible
and dreadful,.... For the fierceness of their countenances; the number and
valour of their troops; the splendour of their armour; the victories they had
obtained, and the cruelty they had exercised; the fame of all which spread
terror wherever they came:
their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves; they will not
be directed and governed by any laws of God and man, but by their own; they
will do according to their will and pleasure, and none will be able to gainsay
and resist them; they will hear no reason or argument; their decrees and
determinations they make of themselves shall be put into execution, and there
will be no opposing their tyrannical measures; they will usurp a power, and
take upon them an authority over others of themselves, which all must submit
unto; no mercy and pity: no goodness and humanity, are to be expected from such
lawless and imperious enemies.
Habakkuk 1:8 8 Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And more
fierce than evening wolves. Their chargers charge ahead; Their cavalry comes
from afar; They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat.
YLT
8Swifter than leopards have
been its horses, And sharper than evening wolves, And increased have its
horsemen, Even its horsemen from afar come in, They fly as an eagle, hasting to
consume.
Their horses also are
swifter than the leopards,.... Creatures remarkable for their
swiftness: these are creatures born of the mating of a he panther and a
lioness, and not of a lion and a she panther, as some have affirmed; and which
adultery is highly resented by the lion; nor will he suffer it to go
unrevenged, as PlinyF21Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 16. and PhilostratusF23De
Vita Apollonii, l. 2. c. 7. observe: those thus begotten differ from common
lions in this, that they have no manes: the panthers are the creatures here
meant, which are very swift, as BochartF24Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3.
c. 7. col. 788. from various authors has observed. LucanF25Pharsalia,
l. 6. calls this creature "celerem pardum", t"he swift
panther"; and Jerom saysF26Comment. in Hos. v. 14. fol. 10. L.
nothing is swifter than the panther; and AelianusF1Hist. Animal. l.
8. c. 6. observes that the panther, by the swiftness of its running, will
overtake most creatures, and particularly apes; and EustathiusF2In
Hexaemeron. confirms the same, saying that it exceeds other creatures in
swiftness, and as it were flies before the eyes of hunters; and OsoriusF3De
Rebus Portugall. l. 9. apud Frantz. Hist. Animal. Sacr. par. 1. 8. p. 90. relates,
that the king of Portugal once sent to the pope of Rome a panther tamed, which
being had into the woods a hunting by a Persian hunter, with wonderful
swiftness leaped upon the boars and deer, and killed them at once; and the
Septuagint version here is, "their horses will leap above the
panthers": or exceed them in leaping, for which these panthers are very
famous too: an Arabic writerF4Damir apud Bochart, ut supra.
(Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 7. col. 788.) , whom Bochart mentions, says it
will leap above forty cubits at a leap. PlinyF5Nat. Hist. l. 10. c.
73. reports, that the panthers in Africa will get up into thick trees, and hide
themselves in the branches, and leap from thence on those that pass by; and
because of the swiftness of this creature, with other qualities of it, the
third beast or Grecian monarchy, especially in its first head Alexander the
great, is represented by it, Daniel 7:6 he
making such a swift and rapid progress in his conquests; and yet the Chaldean
horses would exceed them in swiftness, and be very speedy in their march into
the land of Judea; and therefore it was in vain for the Jews to please
themselves with the thoughts that these people were a great way off, and so
they secure from them, when they could and would be upon them presently, ere
they were aware:
and are more fierce than ravening wolves; which
creatures are naturally fierce, and especially when they are hungry, and particularly
at evening; when, having had no food all the day, their appetites are very
keen, and they go in quest of their prey; and, when they meet with it, fall
upon it with greater eagerness and fierceness. The Septuagint and Arabic
versions render it, than the wolves of Arabia; that there are wolves very
frequent in Arabia, is observed by Diodorus SiculusF6Bibliothec. l.
3. p. 177. , and StraboF7Geograph. l. 16. p. 534. ; but that these
are remarkable for their fierceness does not appear; rather those in colder
climates are more fierce; so PlinyF8Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 22. says,
they are little and sluggish in Africa and Egypt, but rough and fierce in cold
climates. It is, in the original text, "more sharp"F9וחדו "et acuti erunt", Montanus, Cocceius;
"et acutiores", Pagninus, Calvin, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator,
Drusius, Grotius; so Ben Melech; "et acuti sunt", Burkius. ; which
some interpret of the sharpness of their sight. Aelianus saysF11De
Animal. l. 10. c. 26. , it is a most quick and sharp sighted creature; and can
see in the night season, even though the moon shines not: the reason of which
PlinyF12Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 37. gives is, because the eyes of
wolves are shining, and dart light; hence AelianusF13Ut supra. (De
Animal. l. 10. c. 26.) observes, that that time of the night in which the wolf
only by nature enjoys the light is called wolf light; and that HomerF14Iliad.
7. prope finem. calls a night which has some glimmering of light, or a sort of
twilight, such as the wolves can see themselves walk by, αμφιλυχη νυξ, which is that light that precedes the
rising sun; and he also observes that the wolf is sacred to the sun, and to
Apollo, which are the same; and there was an image of one at Delphos; and so
MacrobiasF15Saturnal. l. 1. c. 17. says, that the inhabitants of
Lycopolis, a city of Thebais in Egypt, alike worship Apollo and a wolf, and in
both the sun, because this animal takes and consumes all things like the sun;
and, because perceiving much by the quick sight of its eyes, overcomes the
darkness of the night; and observes, that some think they have their name from
light, though they would have it be from the morning light; because those
creatures especially observe that time for seizing on cattle, after a nights
hunger, when before day light they are turned out of the stables into pasture;
but it is for the most part at evening, and in the night, that wolves prowl
about for their preyF16"Vesper ubi e pastu vitulos ad tecta
reducit, Auditisque lupos acuunt balatibus agni." Virgil. Georgic. l. 4.
"Ac veluti pleno lupus insidiatus ovili Nocte super media-----",
Ibid. Aeneid. l. 8. ; and from whence they have the name of evening wolves, to
which the Chaldean horses are here compared: and yet there seems to be an
antipathy between these, if what some naturalistsF17Aelian. de
Animal. l. 1. c. 36. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 28. c. 20. say is true; as that if a
horse by chance treads in the footsteps of a wolf, a numbness will immediately
seize it, yea, even its belly will burst; (This sounds like a fable. Ed.) and
that, if the hip bone of a wolf is thrown under horses drawing a chariot full
speed, and they tread upon it, they will stop and stand stone still, immovable:
whether respect is here had to the quick sight or sharp hunger of these
creatures is not easy to say; though rather, since the comparison of them is
with horses, it seems to respect the fierceness of them, for which the war
horse is famous, Job 39:24 and may
be better understood of the sharpness of the appetite of evening wolves, when
hunger bitten:
and their horsemen shall spread themselves; or be
multiplied, as the Targum; they shall be many, and spread themselves all over
the country, so that there will be no escaping; all will fall into their hands:
and their horsemen shall come from far; as Chaldea
was reckoned from Judea, and especially in comparison of neighbouring nations,
who used to be troublesome, as Moab, Edom, &c. see Jeremiah 5:15,
they shall flee as the eagle that hasteth to eat; those
horsemen shall be so speedy in their march, that they shall seem rather to fly
than ride, and even to fly as swift as the eagle, the swiftest of birds, and
which itself flies swiftest when hungry, and in sight of its prey; and the
rather this bird is mentioned, because used by many nations, as the Persians,
and others, for a military signF18Vid. Lydium de Re Militari, l. 3.
c. 7. p. 87. .
Habakkuk 1:9 9 “They all come for violence; Their faces are set like
the east wind. They gather captives like sand.
YLT
9Wholly for violence it doth
come in, Their faces swallowing up the east wind, And it doth gather as the
sand a captivity.
They shall come all for
violence,.... Or, "the whole of it"F19כלה "illa teta", Junius & Tremellius;
"sub. gens", Pagninus, Piscator; "totus exercitus",
Vatablus; "populus", Calvin. ; the whole army of the Chaldeans,
everyone of them; this would be their sole view, not to do themselves justice,
as might be pretended, or avenge any injuries or affronts done to them by the
Jews; but purely for the sake of spoil and plunder:
their faces shall sup up as the east wind: their
countenances will appear so stern and fierce, that their very looks will so
frighten, as to cause men to sink and die through terror; just as herbs and
plants shrivel up and wither away, when blasted by a nipping east wind. So the
Targum,
"the
reception or look of their faces is like to a vehement east wind.'
Some
render it,
"the
look or design of their faces is to the eastF20קדימה
"ad orientem", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; "orientem
versus", Junius & Tremellius, De Dieu, Burkius; so Abarbinel. ;'
when
the Chaldeans were on their march to Judea, their faces were to the west or
south west; but then their desire and views were, that when they had got the
spoil they came for, as in the preceding clause, to carry it to Babylon, which
lay eastward or north east of Judea, and thither their faces looked:
and they shall gather the captivity as the sand; or gather up
persons, both in Judea, and in other countries conquered by them, as
innumerable as the sand of the sea, and carry them captive into their own land.
Captivity is put for captives.
Habakkuk 1:10 10 They scoff at kings, And princes are scorned by them. They
deride every stronghold, For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.
YLT
10And at kings it doth scoff,
And princes [are] a laughter to it, At every fenced place it doth laugh, And it
heapeth up dust, and captureth it.
And they shall scoff at
the kings,.... Or, "he shall"F21והוא
"et ipse", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Tarnovius,
Grotius, Cocceius. , Nebuchadnezzar king of the Chaldeans, and the army with
him; who would make a jest of kings and their armies that should oppose them,
as being not at all a match for them; as the kings of Judah, Jehoiakim and
Zedekiah, they carried captive, and all others confederate with them, in whom
they trusted, as the king of Egypt particularly; and which is observed to show
the vanity of trusting in princes for safety; though it may also include all
other kings the Chaldeans fought against, and the kingdoms they invaded and
subdued:
and the princes shall be a scorn unto them; the nobles,
counsellors, and ministers of state; or leaders and commanders of armies, and
general officers, in whom great confidence is often put; but these the king of
Babylon and his forces would mock and laugh at, as being nothing in their
hands, and who would fall an easy prey to them:
they shall deride every strong hold; in Jerusalem, in the
whole land of Judea, and in every other country they invade, or pass through,
none being able to stand out against them:
for they shall heap dust, and take it; easily, as it
were in sport, only by raising a dust heap, or a heap of dirt; by which is
meant a mount raised up to give them a little rise, to throw in their darts or
stones, or use their engines and battering rams to more advantage, and to scale
the walls, and get possession. There are two other senses mentioned by Kimchi;
as that they shall gather a great number of people as dust, and take it; or
they shall gather dust to till up the trenches and ditches about the wall, that
so they may come at it, and take it.
Habakkuk 1:11 11 Then his mind[b] changes,
and he transgresses; He commits offense, Ascribing this power to his
god.”
YLT
11Then passed on hath the
spirit, Yea, he doth transgress, And doth ascribe this his power to his god.
Then shall his mind
change,.... The mind of the king of Babylon; not that, when he had taken
Jerusalem, he altered his purpose, and laid aside his designs of attacking
other nations, and returned to his own country; where he became guilty of gross
idolatry, in setting up the golden image in the plain of Dura, which he
required all his subjects to worship, and to which he ascribed all his
victories; for, five years after this, JosephusF23Antiqu. l. 10. c.
9. sect. 7. says, he led his army into Coelesyria, and conquered the Moabites
and Ammonites, and entered Egypt, and slew the reigning king of it: but rather
the disposition of his mind changed for the worse upon his success in subduing
kings and princes, and their kingdoms; for though his mind was never good, but
always proud, haughty, and ambitious, insolent, cruel, and tyrannical; yet,
being flushed with his conquests, he grew more and more so:
and he shall pass overF24יעבר "transgredietur", Pagninus, Vatablus, Calvin, Drusius,
Tarnovius. , or "transgress", all bounds of modesty and sobriety, of
humanity and goodness:
and offend, imputing this his power unto his godF25זו כוחו לאלוהו
"iste est, ejus robur fuit pro deo ejus", Gussetius. ; this
particularly will be the sin he will be guilty of, he will ascribe all his
achievements to his idol Bel; or rather to himself, to his own prowess and
valour, his wisdom and skill in military affairs; for so it will bear to be
rendered, making "this his own power to be his god"; and perhaps the
golden image Nebuchadnezzar set up to be worshipped was for himself; see Daniel 4:30. The
Targum is,
"therefore,
because of the lifting up of his spirit, his kingdom was removed from him; and
he committed an offence, in that he multiplied glory to his idol;'
and
some interpret the whole of this of the miserable condition Nebuchadnezzar was
brought into, being a prophecy of it: "then shall his mind change";
his heart from man's to a beast's, Daniel 4:16,
"and he shall pass over"; from all society and conversation with men,
and have his dwelling with beasts, Daniel 4:31,
"and offend", or rather "be punished", and become desolate
and miserable, for his pride, and idolatry, and other sins: "this his
power" is "his god"F26"Tune immutatus est
spiritu, et transiit et desolatus est, hoc robur ejus est dei ejus", De
Dieu. ; spoken ironically; see what his power is now, being changed into a
beast, which he reckoned his god, or gloried in as what he had from his god:
but I rather think the whole is a continuation of his success, particularly in
the land of Judea; and to be rendered, "then shall he pass through, as the
wind, and shall pass over; and he shall bear the punishment of his sin, whose
power is his god"; that is, the king of Babylon and his army, the
Chaldeans, should pass through all nations and kingdoms that were between them
and Judea, like a strong wind or whirlwind, to which they are compared, Jeremiah 4:13 and carry
all before them, none being able to resist and oppose them; and should pass
over rivers that lay in their way, and the boundaries of Judea, and spread
themselves over the whole country; and then that country, and the inhabitants
of it, should be punished for their sins, particularly for their confidence in
themselves; in their wealth and riches; in their fortresses and strong towers;
in their own works of righteousness; all which they made idols of, and trusted
not in their God, as they ought to have done.
Habakkuk 1:12 12 Are You not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment; O Rock, You have marked them
for correction.
YLT
12Art not Thou of old, O
Jehovah, my God, my Holy One? We do not die, O Jehovah, For judgment Thou hast
appointed it, And, O Rock, for reproof Thou hast founded it.
Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine holy One?.... The
prophet, foreseeing these calamities coming upon his nation and people,
observes some things for their comfort in this verse; and expostulates with God
in the following verses Habakkuk 1:13 about
his providential dealings, in order to obtain an answer from him, which might
remove the objections of his own mind, and those of other good men he
personates, raised against them; being stumbled at this, that wicked men should
be suffered to succeed and prosper, and the righteous should be afflicted and
distressed by them: but for his own present consolation, and that of others, in
a view of the worst that should befall them, he strongly asserts,
we shall not die; meaning not a corporeal death, for that all
men die, good and bad; and this the Jews did die, and no doubt good men among
them too, at the siege and taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldean army, either by
famine, or pestilence, or sword: nor a death of affliction, which the people of
God are subject to, as well as others; is often their case, and is for their
good, and in love, and not wrath: but a spiritual death, which none that are
quickened by the Spirit and grace of God ever die; though grace may be low, it
is never lost; though saints may be in dead and lifeless frames, and need
quickening afresh, yet they are not without the principle of spiritual life;
grace in them is a well of living water, springing up to everlasting life;
their spiritual life can never fail them, since it is secured in Christ: and
much less shall they die the second, or an eternal death; they are ordained to
eternal life; Christ is come, and given his flesh for it, that they might have
it; it is in his hands for them; they are united to him, and have both the
promise and pledge of it: and this may be argued, as by the prophet here, from
the eternity of God, art "thou not from everlasting?" he is from
everlasting to everlasting, the Ancient of days, that inhabits eternity, is,
was, and is to come: therefore "we shall not die"; none of his people
shall perish, because he loves them with an everlasting love; has made an
everlasting choice of them; has set up Christ from everlasting as their surety
and Saviour; entered into an everlasting covenant with them in Christ; is their
everlasting Father, and will be their everlasting portion; is the unchangeable
Jehovah, and therefore they shall not be consumed: this may be concluded from
their covenant interest in God, "O Lord my God"; they are his
peculiar people, given to Christ to be preserved by him, and covenant interest
always continues; he that is their God is their God and guide unto death: and
also from the holiness of God, "mine holy One"; who has sworn by his
holiness to them, and is faithful to his covenant and promise; and is the
sanctifier of them, that has sanctified or set them apart for himself; made
Christ sanctification to them, and makes them holy by his Spirit and grace, and
enables them to persevere in grace and holiness: moreover, this may be
understood of the people of the Jews, as a church and nation; who, though they
would be carried captive into Babylon, yet would still continue as such, and be
returned again as such, and not die, sink, and perish; since the Messiah was to
spring from them; and they might be assured of their preservation for that
purpose, from the perfections of God, his covenant with them, and their
relation to him: nor shall the church of Christ in any age die and perish,
though in ever so low a state; a particular church may, but the interest and
church of Christ in general, or his spiritual seed, never shall. This is one of
the eighteen passages, as Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech observe, called
"Tikkun-Sopherim", the correction of the scribes, of Ezra, and his
company; it having been written, in some copies, "thou shall not die"F1לא תמות "non morieris",
Vatablus, Drusius, Grotius. ; asserting the immortality of God, or his eternity
to come; and that, as he was from everlasting, so he should continue to
everlasting; and to this sense the Targum paraphrases the words,
"thy
Word remaineth for ever;'
and
so the Syriac version follows the same reading:
O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment: that is, the
Chaldeans; either to be judged and punished themselves for their sins, as all
wicked Christless sinners are, even righteously foreordained to condemnation
for their sins; or rather to be the instruments of punishing the wicked among
the Jews; for this purpose were these people ordained in the counsels of God,
and raised up in his providence, and constituted a kingdom, and made a powerful
nation:
O mighty God; or "rock"F2צור "O rupes", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator,
Cocceius, Van Till; "O petra", Drusius. ; the rock and refuge of his
people:
thou hast established them for correction; or
"founded"F3יסדתו "fundasti
eum", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Cocceius, Van Till; "constituisti",
Vatablus. them, and settled them as a monarchy, strong and mighty for this end,
that they might be a rod in the hand of the Lord, not for destruction, but for
correction and chastisement; and from hence it might be also comfortably concluded
that they should not die and utterly perish.
Habakkuk 1:13 13 You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And
cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, And
hold Your tongue when the wicked devours A person more righteous than
he?
YLT
13Purer of eyes than to
behold evil, To look on perverseness Thou art not able, Why dost Thou behold
the treacherous? Thou keepest silent when the wicked Doth swallow the more
righteous than he,
Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon
iniquity,.... The Lord with his eyes of omniscience beholds all things
good and evil, and all men good and bad, with all their actions; but then he
does not look upon the sins of men with pleasure and approbation; since they
are contrary to his nature, repugnant to his will, and breaches of his
righteous law: and though sin in general may be included here, yet there seems
to be a particular respect had to the "evil" or injury done by the
Chaldeans to the Jews, in invading their land, spoiling their substance, and
slaying their persons; and to the "iniquity", labour, or grievance,
by which may be meant the oppression and violence the same people exercised
upon the inhabitants of Judea; which, though permitted by the Lord, could not
be well pleasing in his sight. The Targum interprets it of persons, workers of
evil, and workers of the labour of falsehood; see Psalm 5:4,
wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously; the
Chaldeans, who dealt treacherously with God, by worshipping idols; and with the
Jews, pretending to be their good friends and allies, when they meditated their
ruin and destruction; and yet the Lord in his providence seemed to look
favourably on these perfidious persons, since they succeeded in all their
enterprises: this was stumbling to the prophet, and all good men; and they knew
not how, or at least found great difficulty, to reconcile this to the purity
and holiness of God, and to his justice and faithfulness; see Jeremiah 12:1,
and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that
is more righteous than he? the comparison does not lie so much
personally between Nebuchadnezzar and Zedekiah the last king of the Jews, whose
eyes the king of Babylon put out, and whom he used in a cruel manner; who was,
no doubt, comparatively speaking, a more righteous person than the Chaldean
monarch was; being not the worst of the kings of Judea, and whose name has the
signification of righteousness in it: but rather between the Chaldeans and the
Jews; who, though there were many wicked persons among them, yet there were
some truly righteous, who fell in the common calamity; and, as to the bulk of
them, were a more righteous people, at the worst, than their enemies were, who
devoured them, destroyed many with the sword, plundered them of their
substance, and carried them captive; and the Lord was silent all this while,
said nothing in his providence against them, put no stop to their proceedings;
and by his silence seemed to approve of, at least to connive at, what they did;
and this the prophet in the name of good men reasons with the Lord about.
Habakkuk 1:14 14 Why do You make men like fish of the sea, Like
creeping things that have no ruler over them?
YLT
14And Thou makest man as
fishes of the sea, As a creeping thing -- none ruling over him.
And makest men as the
fishes of the sea,.... That is, sufferest them to be used as the fishes of the sea,
which are easily taken in the net, and are common to everyone; whosoever will
may take them up, and kill them, and use them for their food; and which also
among themselves are often hardly used, the lesser being devoured by the
greater; and in like manner the prophet suggests, that the people of the Jews,
who were men made after the image of God, and made for society and usefulness,
and moreover were God's covenant people; and it might have been expected, that
a more special providence would have attended them, more than other men, and
especially than what attended the fishes of the sea; yet it looked as if there
were no more care taken of them than of these:
as the creeping things that have no ruler over them; not the
creeping things of the earth, but of the water, the lesser sort of fishes that
move in the water; or those that more properly creep, as crabs, prawns, and
shrimps; see Psalm 104:25 who
have none to protect and defend them, and restrain others from taking and
hurting them: this may seem contrary to what AristotleF4Hist.
Animal. l. 8. c. 13. and PlinyF5Nat. Hist. l. 9. c. 15. say of some
fishes, that they go in company, and have a leader or governor; but, as BochartF6Hierozoic.
par. 1. l. 1. c. 6. col. 39. observes, it is one thing to be a leader of the
way, a guide and director, which way to steer their course in swimming; and
another thing to be as the general of an army, to protect and defend, or under
whose directions they might defend themselves; such an one the prophet denies
they had: and so, the prophet complains, this was the case of the Jews; they
were exposed to the cruelty of their enemies, as if there was no God that
governed in the world, and no providence to direct and order things for the
preservation of men, and to keep good men from being hurt by evil men; or those
that were weak and feeble from being oppressed by the powerful and mighty; this
he reasons with the Lord about, and was desirous of an answer to it.
Habakkuk 1:15 15 They take up all of them with a hook, They catch them
in their net, And gather them in their dragnet. Therefore they rejoice and are
glad.
YLT 15Each of them with a hook he
hath brought up, He doth catch it in his net, and gathereth it in his drag,
Therefore he doth joy and rejoice.
They take up all of them
with the angle,.... The prophet continues the metaphor of fishing, and observes
the different ways of taking fish; which is to be applied to the case he is
speaking of: as fishermen take all they can with their angles, so
"they" or "he", for it is in the singular number,
Nebuchadnezzar and his army, take up all out of the sea of the world; are
ambitious of getting all kingdoms and nations of the world under their power
and dominion; particularly all Judea, and all the inhabitants of it, good and
bad, without any distinction; for all were fish which came to their net: this
may design the artful and alluring methods they first made use of to get the
people into their hands, by making covenants with them, and drawing them into
making of presents, and paying of tribute:
they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag; with the
angle the fisherman catches fish one by one, but with the net great numbers;
and what he misses by throwing the net, he gets by using the drag; all which
may be expressive of the ways and methods used by the king of Babylon and his
army, both in the times of Jeconiah, and of Zedekiah; under the former he used
the net, and carried off large numbers, and with them the royal family and
great substance, but left many behind; under the latter he came and swept away
all, drained the land of its riches and its inhabitants:
therefore they rejoice and are glad; as fishermen do when
they have good sport; so these people rejoiced in their own success, and in the
calamities of their neighbours.
Habakkuk 1:16 16 Therefore they sacrifice to their net, And burn
incense to their dragnet; Because by them their share is sumptuous And
their food plentiful.
YLT
16Therefore he doth sacrifice
to his net, And doth make perfume to his drag, For by them [is] his portion
fertile, and his food fat.
Therefore they sacrifice
unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag,.... Either to their
idols, to fortune and the stars, as Aben Ezra; imagining they gave them
success, and prospered them in the arts and methods they used: or to their
arms, as the Targum; nor was it unusual with the Heathens to worship their
spears, sacrifice to them, and swear by themF7Vid. Doughtaei
Analect. Sacra, p. 494,495. . So Justin saysF8E Trogo, l. 43. c.
3,4. , originally the ancients worshipped spears for gods, in memory of whose
religion spears are still added to the images of the gods. LucianF9In
Jupiter Tragoedus. asserts that the Scythians sacrificed to a scimitar; and
ArnobiusF11Adv. Gentes, l. 6. p. 232. says the same; and Ammianus
MarcellinusF12Hist. l. 17. reports, that the Quadi worship their
swords or daggers instead of gods; and that it was usual to swear by the spear
is evident from othersF13 ομνυσι
δ'ουιχμην, Aeschylus. . Or else the sense is, they sacrificed to their own
valour and courage, skill and conduct.
Because by them their portion is fat, and their meat
plenteous: that is, by their angle, net, and drag; or by those things
signified by them, the arts and methods they used to subdue nations, conquer
kingdoms, and bring them into subjection to them; they enlarged their
dominions, increased their riches and revenues, and had plenty of everything
that was desirable for food and raiment, for pleasure and profit; or to gratify
the most unbounded ambition, having everything that heart could wish for and
desire: the allusion is to making sumptuous feasts, and rich banquets, on
occasion of victories obtained.
Habakkuk 1:17 17 Shall they therefore empty their net, And continue to
slay nations without pity?
YLT
17Doth he therefore empty his
net, And continually to slay nations spare not?
Shall they therefore empty
their net,.... Or "thus", after this manner, so Noldius; as
fishermen do, when they have had a good cast, and a large draught, spread the
net, and take out the fishes, in order to throw it again, and catch more; and
so it is asked, should these Chaldeans, when they have conquered one nation,
and so filled their net or themselves with the spoil, carry it to Babylon, and
there lay it up, and then proceed to fight against another kingdom and nation,
and plunder it in like manner?
and not spare continually to slay the nations? the
inhabitants of them one after another, and subdue them under them, and make
themselves master of all their treasure, until they are arrived to universal
monarchy by such cruel and unmerciful methods. The Targum is,
"shall
he send his armies continually to consume nations, and that without mercy?'
This
the prophet proposes in the name of the whole body of the Lord's people, and
leaves it with him to have an answer to it, which is given in the following
chapter Habakkuk 2:1.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)