The Word of the Lord to Habakkuk

Chapter 1

To Habakkuk, complaining of the iniquity of the land, 1-4, is shown the fearful vengeance by the Chaldeans, 5-11. He complains that vengeance should be executed by those who are far worse, 12-17.

1 [The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw.]

2 O LORD, how long shall I cry and you will not hear? I even cry out to you of violence, and you will not save!

3 Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance? For devastation and violence are before me. And there is strife, and contention rises up.

4 Therefore, the law is slackened, and judgment never goes forth. For the wicked encompasses the righteous; therefore, perverted justice proceeds.

5 "Behold among the heathen and regard. Wonder and be astonished. For I will work a work in your days which you will not believe though it is told to you.

6 For behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs.

7 They are terrible and dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed from themselves.

8 Their horses are also 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 hastens to devour.

9 They shall all come for violence. Their faces shall swallow up the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.

10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn to them. They shall deride every stronghold, for they shall heap dust and take it.

11 Then his mind shall change and he shall pass over and offend, imputing his power to his god."

12 Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, you have ordained them for judgment. And O mighty God, you have established them for correction.

13 You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look at iniquity. Why do you look upon those who deal treacherously, and keep silence when the wicked devours the man who is more righteous than he is?

14 You make men as the fish of the sea, as the creeping animals that have no ruler over them.

15 They take up all of them with the hook, they catch them in their net and gather them in their dragnet; therefore, they rejoice and are glad.

16 Therefore, they sacrifice to their net and burn incense to their dragnet, because by them their portion is fat and their food plenteous.

17 Shall they therefore empty their net and not spare to slay the nations continually?

Commentary

Matthew Henry Commentary - Habakkuk, Chapter 1[➚]

Notes

John Gill's Chapter Summary:

In this chapter, after the inscription, in which are the title of the book, the name and character of the writer (verse 1); there is a complaint made by the prophet of his cry not being heard, and of salvation being deferred, which was long expected (verse 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 procrastination in proceedings at law, and justice was stopped and suppressed (verses 3-4); then follows an answer to this, showing that some sore judgment, amazing and incredible, would soon be executed for such sins (verse 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 (verses 6-11); 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 (verse 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 (verses 13-17).

[v.1] - "Habakkuk" - From the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary: "From a Hebrew root meaning to 'embrace,' denoting a 'favorite' (namely, of God) and a 'struggler' (for his country's good)."

[v.4] - "perverted" - Or, "wrested."

[v.5a] - "Behold among the heathen" - The Greek Septuagint renders this phrase, "Behold, you despisers." The Apostle Paul follows the Greek rendering.

[v.5b] - Quoted in Acts 13:41.

[v.9] - "Their faces shall swallow up the east wind" - This can also be read as, "Their faces shall look toward the east."

[v.11] - An alternate rendering of this verse could be, "Then he shall sweep by as a wind (or, shall renew courage), and shall pass over (or, pass through), and be guilty, even he whose might is his god."

[v.12a] - "mighty God" - Literally, "Rock," as in Deuteronomy 32:4, 18, 30-31.

[v.12b] - "We shall not die" - In other words, "We shall not be destroyed," that is, the people as a nation would not be destroyed because they were under the protection of God.

[v.16] - "they sacrifice to their net, and burn incense to their dragnet" - That is, they are ascribing their success to their own skill and efforts.

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