King James Version
Habakkuk 1
17 verses with commentary
Habakkuk's Complaint
The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
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KJV Study Commentary
Habakkuk's superscription is brief yet profound: 'The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see' (hammassa asher chazah Chabaquq hannavi). The term massa (burden) indicates a heavy prophetic oracle, often concerning judgment. Unlike most prophets who primarily addressed Israel or Judah, Habakkuk engages in dialogue with God about theodicy—divine justice in a world of suffering and evil. The prophe...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1-4) Habakkuk complains of the apparent triumph of wickedness among his countrymen.
(1) **The prophet.**—This title (*han-nâbî*) is applied only to Habakkuk, Haggai, and Zechariah. In the later historical books it is used to designate the members of those prophetical colleges which were founded by Samuel, and kept up, at all events, till the time of Elisha. It is uncertain whether in these three ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. beasts ... shadow under it--**implying that God's purpose in establishing empires in the world is that they may be as trees affording men "fruits" for "meat," and a "shadow" for "rest" (compare La 4:20). But the world powers abuse their trust for self; therefore Messiah comes to plant the tree of His gospel kingdom, which alone shall realize God's purpose (Eze 17:23; Mt 13:32). Herodotus [7....
Read full commentary →O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
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<strong>O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!</strong> Habakkuk opens his prophecy with a raw, honest lament that resonates with believers throughout history who have wrestled with God's apparent silence in the face of injustice. This is no flippant complaint but a profound theological struggle—how can a righteous God allo...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Even cry out.**—The latter half of the verse is best rendered “*Even cry unto thee *‘*Violence!*’* and thou wilt not save.*” The single word “violence!” (*châmâs*) occurs elsewhere, as an appeal for assistance, used as we use the cry “murder!” “fire!” &c., among ourselves. (See Jeremiah 20:8, Job 19:7.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. watcher and an holy one--**rather, "even an holy one." Only one angel is intended, and he not one of the bad, but of the holy angels. Called a "watcher," because ever on the watch to execute God's will [Jerome], (Psa 103:20, 21). Compare as to their watchfulness, Re 4:8, "full of eyes within ... they rest not day and night." Also they watch good men committed to their charge (Psa 34:7; He 1:...
Read full commentary →Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.
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Habakkuk's complaint intensifies: 'Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention' (lammah tar'eni aven ve'amal tabbit veshod vechamas lenegdi vayehi riv ummadon yissa). The prophet sees injustice (aven, iniquity), trouble (amal, toil/grievance), destruction (shod, spoiling), violence (cha...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Why dost thou shew me iniquity? . . .**—Better, *Why dost thou show me distress and look upon grievance; oppression and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention exalts itself.*” The question, “Why dost thou . . . *look upon* grievance?” is illustrated by Habakkuk 1:13, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil.” *Grievance,* or “trouble wilfully caused.” Heb. *âmâl,* ass...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. Hew down--**(Mt 3:10; Lu 13:7). The holy (Jude 14) one incites his fellow angels to God's appointed work (compare Re 14:15, 18).
**beasts get away from under it--**It shall no longer afford them shelter (Eze 31:12).
Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. wrong: or, wrested
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Habakkuk's complaint continues: 'Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth' (al-ken taphug torah velo-yetze lanetzach mishpat ki rasha makkif eth-hatzaddiq al-ken yetze mishpat me'uqqal). When moral order collapses, 'the law is slacked' (taphug torah)—God's Torah becomes numb, paralyzed, inef...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **The law**—the Mosaic *tôrâh*—which ought to be a bond of security and social welfare is “slacked” or “*paralyzed;*” and is, therefore, unable to do its work. “Judgment” (*mishpât, i.e.*, “redress of evils “) “doth never go forth,” for the wicked have hemmed the righteous in; and, therefore, there are no judicial sentences, save such as favour the wicked.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. stump--**The kingdom is still reserved secure for him at last, as a tree stump secured by a hoop of brass and iron from being split by the sun's heat, in the hope of its growing again (Is 11:1; compare Job 14:7-9). Barnes refers it to the chaining of the royal maniac.
The Lord's Answer
Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
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<strong>Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.</strong> God's response to Habakkuk's complaint is stunning and unexpected. Rather than immediately addressing injustice in Judah, God declares He is orchestrating something so shocking that Habakkuk won't believe it even when explicitly t...
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(5-11) Jehovah’s answer to Habakkuk’s complaint. These disorders are to be punished by an invasion of Chaldæaus. The appearance, character, and operations of these invaders are described.
(5) **Among the heathen.**—These words are emphatic. They imply—Jehovah will no longer manifest Himself among His chosen people, but among the Gentiles. Let them look abroad, and they shall see Him using the Chal...
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**16. heart--**understanding (Is 6:10).
**times--**that is, "years" (Da 12:7). "Seven" is the perfect number: a week of years: a complete revolution of time accompanying a complete revolution in his state of mind.
For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. breadth: Heb. breadths
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God's response shocks Habakkuk: 'For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs' (ki-hineni meqim eth-haKasdim haggoy hammar vehanmhar haholekh lemmerchave-eretz laresheth mishkenoth lo-lo). God is actively raising up (meqim) the Chaldeans (Babylonians)—not merely permitting but o...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **I raise up the Chaldeans**—*i.e.*, I am bringing up the Chaldæan or Babylonian armies into Judæa. The phrase implies that the Chaldæans were not yet in Judæa, but there is no occasion to find an allusion to the recent rise of the Chaldæan nation. We notice this point because an ethnological theory (now generally abandoned) has regarded the Chaldæans of the prophetic period as raised to natio...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. demand--**that is, determination; namely, as to the change to which Nebuchadnezzar is to be doomed. A solemn council of the heavenly ones is supposed (compare Job 1:6; 2:1), over which God presides supreme. His "decree" and "word" are therefore said to be theirs (compare Da 4:24, "decree of the Most High"); "the decree of the watchers," "the word of the holy ones." For He has placed particul...
Read full commentary →They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. their judgment: or, from them shall proceed the judgment of these, and the captivity of these
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<strong>They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.</strong> God's description of the Chaldeans continues with emphasis on their fearsome autonomy. <strong>Terrible and dreadful</strong> (אָיֹם וְנוֹרָא/<em>ayom venora</em>) uses terms typically reserved for God Himself—inspiring awe and fear. Babylon's reputation was so formidable that mere mentio...
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(7) **Their judgment** . . .—Their “judgment” means their claim to adjudge the affairs of mankind. It proceeds from “themselves,” as irresponsible, recognising no Supreme Being as the source of justice.
Their dignity, in like manner, proceeds from “themselves,” because self-sustained, unsanctioned by the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. fierce: Heb. sharp
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<strong>Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.</strong> This verse employs vivid animal imagery to depict Babylon's military superiority. <strong>Horses swifter than leopards</strong> (קַלּוּ מִנְּמֵרִים סוּסָיו/...
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(8) **Are more fierce.**—Better, *are sharper.* This is the literal meaning of the verb. The ideas intended are those of activity and ferocity, both prompted by hunger. The evening wolf coming out of his lair to find prey is elsewhere an illustration of ravenous greediness. (See Zephaniah 3:3 and Psalm 59:7). In Jeremiah 5:6 God’s punishment is likened to “a wolf of the evening,” “a lion out of th...
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**19. Daniel ... Belteshazzar--**The use of the Hebrew as well as the Chaldee name, so far from being an objection, as some have made it, is an undesigned mark of genuineness. In a proclamation to "all people," and one designed to honor the God of the Hebrews, Nebuchadnezzar would naturally use the Hebrew name (derived from El, "God," the name by which the prophet was best known among his countrym...
Read full commentary →They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. their: or, the supping up of their faces, etc: or, their faces shall look (Heb. the opposition of their faces) toward the east
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<strong>They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.</strong> The Chaldean invasion has a singular purpose: <strong>violence</strong> (חָמָס/<em>chamas</em>)—not merely military conquest but brutal devastation. This is the same word Habakkuk used in his initial complaint (1:2-3) about violence in Judah. Now God respon...
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(9) **Their faces shall sup up as the east wind.**—Literally, if we could accept this interpretation, *the eagerness of their faces is eastward.* The passage, however, is beset with philological difficulties. If the word *kâdîmâh* could be translated “east wind,” the invading Chaldæan host would be compared to a blast from the east, passing over the land, and leaving it scorched and blighted. The ...
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20. The tree is the king. The branches, the princes. The leaves, the soldiers. The fruits, the revenues. The shadow, the protection afforded to dependent states.
And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.
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<strong>And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.</strong> Babylon's contempt for human authority is absolute. <strong>Scoff at the kings</strong> (הוּא בַּמְּלָכִים יִתְקַלָּס/<em>hu bammelakhim yitqallas</em>)—they mock royalty. Earthly monarchs, whom subjects revere, are laughingstoc...
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(10) Kings and princes are deposed or enthroned at the invader’s pleasure. Thus Nebuchadnezzar set Jehoiakim as a tributary sovereign on the throne of Jerusalem and three years later deposed his son and successor Jehciaohin and made Zedekiah king.
**For they shall heap dust, and take it.**—This means that they shall besiege and carry all strongholds by means of the mounds of earth commonly used in...
Read full commentary →Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.
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<strong>Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.</strong> This crucial verse marks the transition from describing Babylon's God-ordained role to identifying its fatal flaw. <strong>His mind change</strong> (אָז חָלַף רוּחַ/<em>az chalaf ruach</em>)—literally "then the spirit/wind passes over." This could mean Babylon's spirit changes, be...
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(11) **Then shall his mind change**. . . .—Better, *Then he sweeps by like a wind and passes. But he is guilty, making this his strength his god.* By an abrupt transition the latter half of the verse diverts our attention from the human view of the world-conqueror to his appearance in God’s sight. Men only see an irresistible force sweeping over the face of the earth like a whirlwind; here to-day,...
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**22. It is thou--**He speaks pointedly, and without circumlocution (2Sa 12:7). While pitying the king, he uncompromisingly pronounces his sentence of punishment. Let ministers steer the mean between, on the one hand, fulminations against sinners under the pretext of zeal, without any symptom of compassion; and, on the other, flattery of sinners under the pretext of moderation.
**to the end of t...
Read full commentary →Habakkuk's Second Complaint
Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. mighty: Heb. rock. established: Heb. founded
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Habakkuk's second complaint begins: 'Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction' (halo attah miqqedem Yahweh Elohai Qedoshi lo namut Yahweh lemishpat samtam veTzur lehokhiach yesadto). The prophet anchors himself in God's eternal nature (miqqedem, from ever...
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(12-17) Though sore perplexed, Habakkuk feels sure that the God whom this swaggering conqueror has insulted will at last vindicate Himself.
(12) **We shall not die**—*i.e.*, God’s people may suffer, but shall not be obliterated, shall not be “given over unto death.” The rest of the verse runs literally, *Jehovah, for judgment hast Thou appointed him, and O Rock, for chastisement hast Thou founded ...
Read full commentary →Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he? iniquity: or, grievance
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Habakkuk's theodicy question addresses God's character: 'You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?' The Hebrew 'tahor enayim' (pure of eyes) emphasizes God's absolute holiness—He cannot approve or tolerate evil. Yet apparent divine passivity while Babylon destro...
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(13) The prophet’s confidence is tempered, however, with anxious fear. Why does not God show plainly that He authorises this visitation? The triumph of this godless invader appears to impugn God’s majesty.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. decree of the Most High--**What was termed in Da 4:17 by Nebuchadnezzar, "the decree of the watchers," is here more accurately termed by Daniel, "the decree of the Most High." They are but His ministers.
And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? creeping: or, moving
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Habakkuk uses fishing imagery to describe Babylonian conquest: 'And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?' (vatha'aseh adam kidhgei hayyam keremes lo-moshel bo). Babylon treats people like fish—creatures to be caught, with no defender ('no ruler'). This dehumanization depicts conquest's horror: people reduced to prey, hunted and harvested withou...
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**25. they shall drive thee--**a Chaldee idiom for "thou shalt be driven." Hypochondriacal madness was his malady, which "drove" him under the fancy that he was a beast, to "dwell with the beasts"; Da 4:34 proves this, "mine understanding returned." The regency would leave him to roam in the large beast-abounding parks attached to the palace.
**eat grass--**that is, vegetables, or herbs in gener...
Read full commentary →They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad. drag: or, flue net
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The fishing metaphor continues: 'They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad' (kullo bechakkah he'elah yasgharehu bechermo ve'easphehu bemikhmarto al-ken yismach veyagil). Babylon uses various fishing methods—angle (chakkah), net (cherem), dragnet (mikhmar)—depicting systematic, comprehensive conquest. No...
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**26. thou shalt have known, &c.--**a promise of spiritual grace to him, causing the judgment to humble, not harden, his heart.
**heavens do rule--**The plural is used, as addressed to Nebuchadnezzar, the head of an organized earthly kingdom, with various principalities under the supreme ruler. So "the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 4:17; Greek, "kingdom of the heavens") is a manifold organization, ...
Read full commentary →Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. plenteous: or, dainty: Heb. fat
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Habakkuk describes Babylon's idolatry: 'Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous' (al-ken yezabbeach lechormo vayeqatter lemikhmarto ki-vahem shamein chelqo umaakalo beri'ah). They worship their weapons—literally sacrificing to nets and dragnets. Why? 'Because by them their portion is fat' (ki-vahem sh...
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(16) The prophet has already stated that the Chaldæan deifies his own military prowess. Of this statement the present verse is an expansion. Weapons of war may have been literally worshipped by the Babylonians. Similarly, the Sarmatians offered yearly sacrifices to a sword, as the emblem of their god of war (Clem. Alex. *Protrept.* 64). The Romans also sacrificed to their eagles. But probably the ...
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**27. break off--**as a galling yoke (Ge 27:40); sin is a heavy load (Mt 11:28). The Septuagint and Vulgate translate not so well, "redeem," which is made an argument for Rome's doctrine of the expiation of sins by meritorious works. Even translate it so, it can only mean; Repent and show the reality of thy repentance by works of justice and charity (compare Lu 11:41); so God will remit thy punish...
Read full commentary →Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?
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Habakkuk's second complaint concludes: 'Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?' (ha'al-ken yariq chormo vetamid laharog goyim lo yachmol). Will Babylon endlessly conquer ('empty their net')? Will they 'not spare continually to slay the nations' (lo yachmol laharog goyim tamid)—showing no mercy, killing perpetually? The question demands answer: does con...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Shall they therefore empty their net**. . . .—Literally, *Shall he therefore empty his net? i.e.,* Shall this voracious Chaldæan plunderer be allowed to consume his prey, and cast in his emptied net again and again?
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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