Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 4 May 2025
Omitting greyed-out text should bring verbal delivery down to about 42 minutes.
In chapter one, Habakkuk the prophet has cried out to God to bring justice against the violence in his home country of Judea, and God has answered by saying that He is raising up the Chaldean army to put an end to the injustice in Judea. Habakkuk responds with faith in God by saying, “The LORD has established them to correct” and “We will not die,” but then Habakkuk makes the case at the end of chapter 1 that God must not allow the wicked to wipe out the righteous remnant of God’s people and that God must bring the Chaldeans to justice. God continues the conversation in chapter 2, reassuring us that the “righteous” will indeed “not die,” but “live,” and that “by faith,” and then, later on in chapter 2, God, in a series of “woes,” warns the wicked that He will not leave their violence unchecked or unpunished.
The woes are what we come to now.
On the one hand, woes are judgmental, coming from an authority who is about to punish certain crimes.
On the other hand, woes are merciful, providing a last-ditch warning to criminals to stop or else they will get prosecuted.
Apart from a few woes against Canaanite nations around the end of the Penteteuch, the Biblical genre of woes doesn’t really come into its own until late in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, when the prophets, Isaiah being chief among them, warned that God would bring judgment upon sinners, which came largely in the destruction and exile of Israel and Judah.
Then in the New Testament, Jesus also pronounced a series of woes before the next major judgment event in 70 AD.
Later on, in the book of Revelation, we see another series of woes before the final judgment.1
As we survey the first three woes of Habakkuk 2, consider what sins you need to repent from while at the same time thanking God that He will punish unrepentant evildoers.
Read
Habakkuk 2:4-13 in my translation:
Look, his soul has been
haughty; it is not right within him, but as for the righteous one,
it is by his faith that he will live. Now furthermore, alcohol is
indeed treacherous. A mighty man is arrogant and is not at home. He
makes room for his appetite like Hell; he is as insatiable as death.
He also gathers to himself all the nations and collects to himself
all the peoples. All of these will take up a proverb against him and
derisive riddles against him, won’t they? So /they\ will say, “Woe
to the one who increases what does not belong to him for how long,
and to the one who loads debt upon himself. Those who will bite you
will rise up suddenly, won’t they? And those who are to displace
you will awake, and you will become spoils [of war] for them! Since
you yourself have plundered many nations, all that is left of the
peoples will plunder you because of the manslaughters and the
violence against the land, the walled-city, and all the residents in
it. Woe to him who rips off illegitimate goods for his house in
order to put his nest in the high place so as to escape from
illegitimate grabbing. You have planned shame for your house. By
exiling many peoples, therefore you are sinning against your soul.
Surely a stone will cry out from the masonry, and a beam will answer
out of the woodwork, “Woe to the one who builds a town with
bloodshed and to one who establishes a walled-city with injustice.”
Are not these things from Yahweh, Commander of armies, that peoples
labor for nothing but fire and peoples weary themselves for nothing
but vanity?
Although many of the other Woe passages in the Bible use the word “woe” as an introductory word, Habakkuk seems to use the word “woe” at the end of each cluster of warnings against sin2.
The specific greed-related sins outlined by Habakkuk are:
Alcoholism3:
which “transgresses” against God because it is consumption based on our own desires rather than based on responsibility to God to use our bodies (and everything else He created) only for what He desires.
Can alcohol be used in ways that are pleasing to God? Of course, but when we become consumers of God’s creation to fulfill our desires instead of fulfilling His desires, those things we greedily consume become idols and we “betray” and become “traitors” against God.4
Is there anything in your life – it may be wine or it may be something else – that you consume just to fulfill your desire for it? Do you see how that can threaten your relationship with God?
Another greed-related sin is Workaholism:
Habakkuk pictures it in terms of military conquest, where a soldier is so busy capturing other people that he is never home to rest.
This seems to describe the way that the Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar was, as he marched throughout Asia and the Middle-east conquering nations then taking captives back to his capitol city of Babylon, and then going out somewhere else to do it all over again. He compares Babylon to Sheol/Death/the Grave that somehow finds room to accommodate more and more dead bodies year after year after year – there’s always room for one more! (Cf. Prov. 30:15-16)
But this sort of greed happens in the modern business world too, where folks focus so intently on the thrill of accomplishing work projects and on “making the sale” that they neglect their families and lose out on the sabbath rest.
Once again, can work (and even war) be done to the glory of God? Of course, but when it is done, as Habakkuk says, out of an attitude of “pride/arrogance/haughtiness,” that is when work and dominion become a greedy assertion of the self over against God and therefore grounds for God to punish.
Existentialism is another way that greed expresses itself:
That is, the accumulation of experiences pursued merely out of a desire to experience them.
It is one thing to travel the world out of a desire to support the spread of the gospel among all peoples, but quite another to travel just to enjoy exotic experiences.
Habakkuk points out that it is not possible to satisfy greed. Your flesh has the ability to always want more, just like death and hell. If it is your desires/lusts/cravings which drive you, you will be forever restless because no one can ever have enough.
Financialism is also mentioned at the end of this cluster of greed-related sins.
The oldest translations focused on the last three Hebrew letters of this word at the end of v.6, which spell the Hebrew word for “clay,” but translations made since the 19th Century focus instead on the first three letters of this Hebrew word, which mean “taking or giving a pledge for a debt.”
In combination with the previous words in this verse about him “making heavy upon himself,” I think Habakkuk is describing wealthy bankers extending more and more credit to more and more people (thus carrying the weight of a vast amount of other people’s debt) in order to have more and more debtors making payments back to them with interest, and therefore making vast amounts of money on the interest payments and keeping all those people under financial control.
Long-range thinkers and financiers can make fabulous amounts of money on wars, so perhaps Chaldea had its own version of the Military-Industrial-Financial Complex, and maybe that it how it became such a world power, but consider our modern practice of fractional reserve banking, which legalizes the practice of banks pretending to loan money which the banker never had in the first place, and then making clients pay back in real money all the pretend money the banker pretended to loan them while also charging interest on it, as though the banker had loaned real money that he actually had. You may not agree with me, but I believe that is one of the kinds of financial greed and corruption which Habakkuk is warning about.
Once again, does God allow us to use money and even to go into debt and to offer loans? Of course, but it must be done according to His rules and for His glory, otherwise, when done with pride and greed, profiteering off of money ends up oppressing other people and offending God5.
And so God is warning us with this first woe that He will punish greed:
The word “woe” in the Bible implies that God Himself will punish it as sin,
but Habakkuk highlights one particular means of punishment against greed, and that is shame. At some point, “all” those oppressed by that financial greed will “mock/taunt/ scoff at” their former creditors and tell “proverbs/parables” about the downfall of the greedy.
And in v.16, we read that this man who who is trying to “fill/satisfy” his own desires will instead be “filled/saturated” with “shame.” (Cf. Eccl. 5:10)
The phrase “these [referring to the debtors] over you” is emphatic in the Hebrew sentence, prophesying an overturning of the oppressive power structure where those who have been extorted come out on top, as God’s means of punishment against those who are wickedly pursuing their own desires by stealing from others6.
Isaiah 2:11 “The haughty eyes of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day [of judgment].” (NAW)
This segues into the next cluster of sins in...
The former oppressor now being punished, who was referred-to in third person (“him”) in the previous verses, is now referred-to in second person (“you”) in vs. 7, 8, and 10, and in verses 15-17. This change of person may signal the end of the “taunt-song” in v. 6 (perhaps even signaling transitions between a taunt, a proverb, and a mocking scoff laid out in verses 7-17). Another possibility is that it is simply a way for Habakkuk to intensify his message, beginning each section with the principle in third person, then making it personal to the listeners with parallel statements in second person.
Savings and loans banks are so common in our culture, however, that we easily miss what God is so upset about. In Deuteronomy 23:19-20, God commanded His people, “You shall not charge interest to your brother -- interest on money or food or anything that [might be] lent out at interest8. To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, that the LORD your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess.” (NKJV)
The Hebrew word God used to denote “charging interest on a loan” was the word for a “venomous snake biting” because it is so dangerous to a civilization.
The KJV chose to go with the literal meaning, but most other English versions used the figurative meaning of “creditors/debtors/those who have been oppressed by an obligation to pay interest on a loan.”
Habakkuk’s words seem to imply that the Jews had been disobeying God’s law and charging interest to fellow Jews.
This word for “biting/charging interest” in v.7 is in parallel with a word later on in the verse for “vexing/causing to tremble/shaking out of their place.” Both words seem to be describing the coming of dangerous people to execute God’s judgment upon a wickedness.
In v.9 the target sin is described as “coveting an evil covetousness/getting evil gain/building by unjust gain” I translated it “ripping off illegitimate goods” because the verb’s central literal meaning is to “rip off,” although the other ways of translating it are also within the range of its meaning. This is describing getting wealth/status/security through illegitimate means, unjust oppression and even violent robbery.
God told His people in Proverbs 15:27 “He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, But he who hates bribes will live.” (NKJV, cf. 1:19)
But the Israelites didn’t heed the warning, as a prophet who lived at the same time as Habakkuk observed: Jeremiah 6:13 “[F]rom the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest, Everyone deals falsely.” (NKJV, cf. 8:10)
Ezekiel 22:12-15 “‘In you [that is, in Jerusalem] they take bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘Behold, therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and will do it. I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you.” (NKJV, cf. v.27)
In light of God’s hatred for this sin, we should consider whether there is any of it in our lives that we need to repent of? Are there any ways that you take unfair financial advantage of others, demanding interest where you shouldn’t, accepting more in benefits than is honest, or letting greed motivate you to try to get more than is good out of a deal?
The particular punishment against collecting evil, unjust gain, mentioned in verses 7-9, is that the robbers/fraudsters would themselves be robbed and plundered/spoiled/looted. This, of course is one of the great themes of prophecy:
2 Kings 21:10-15 “And the LORD spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, ‘Because Manasseh king of Judah has... made Judah sin with his idols), therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle... I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish... I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me…”’” (NKJV, Zeph. 1:13)
Isaiah 42:24 “Who gave up Jacob to the looter, and Israel to plunderers? Was it not Yahweh, against whom we sinned, and were not willing to walk in His ways and did not give heed to His law?” (NAW, cf. 10:5-6)
Jeremiah 30:16 “[And yet] ... Those who plunder you shall become plunder, And all who prey upon you I will make a prey... 50:10 And Chaldea shall become plunder; All who plunder her shall be satisfied," says the LORD.” (NKJV, cf. 1:10, Zech. 2:6-9)
Obadiah also made a similar prophecy about how God would bring down those who made their nest (or home) in high places: “‘Though you ascend as high [תַּגְבִּיהַּ] as the eagle, And though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down,’ says the LORD.”9
Perhaps the “high place” was up on a hill in the center of Jerusalem where the rich folks lived in gated communites away from the middle class folks, or perhaps it describes the fabulous buildings that Nebuchadnezzar built in Babylon10.
In Habakkuk 2:9, the very same word “harm/ruin/calamity/lit. evil” that these thieves use to describe the “power/hand/clutches/reach” that they are trying to “avoid” is the very word which Habakkuk uses to describe the “unjust/lit. evil” gain that these greedy thieves are stealing in order to protect their houses from other people stealing from them! The irony is not lost on Habakkuk. God says it’s not going to work to commit theft in order to prevent theft; the greedy will be plundered.
Let me note in v.8 that the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Aramaic manuscripts all read “city” singular, so I do not support the versions which changed it to plural “cities.”
The ancient Targums commentary explains that this singular “city” was Jerusalem, and I am inclined to agree.
The “land,” then, would be the farms and ranches outside the walls of the fortified city11, the “town” would be the area inside the walled city, and the “inhabitants” would be those who resided either inside or outside the city walls – and who would have gathered inside the walled city when it was threatened by Nebuchadnezzar’s army.
There is legitimate debate, however on what preposition to use between the words “bloodshed and violence” and the words for “land, city, and... inhabitants.” Is this describing “the violence done BY the country, the city, and its residents,” as the old versions indicate, or is this “violence done TO the country, the city, and its residents,” as the contemporary English versions indicate?
Although some contemporary versions add a subject and even a verb here, there is actually no subject or verb or preposition in the original Hebrew between “violence/destruction” and “land/earth.”
The word for “violence/destruction” is, however, in the Hebrew construct state, which requires some sort of preposition in English, but the choice of that preposition, whether it be OF or TO is up to the interpreter; the Hebrew grammar doesn’t answer the question for us.
Therefore we have to judge from the context. It seems to me that “bloodshed” and “violence” are crimes that only a person could commit, so since the inanimate “countryside” and “urban buildings” are included here, I side with the contemporary versions that interpret it as violence done BY the Chaldeans to destroy Israel’s farmland and capitol city and to murder the residents in both the town and country.
It is because of these evils that God says in that the looters will themselves be looted.
I believe that this taunt-song is addressed to the Babylonian empire, saying that because they would commit murder and violence and theft against Israel (and against many other nations), the survivors in each of those nations would, in turn, plunder Babylon after its humiliating downfall.
The book of Ezra tells us that indeed, after Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians, all the valuables that the Babylonians had stolen from the temple in Jerusalem were removed from the treasury in Babylon by the Persians and returned to the Jews.
This was part of God’s sovereign execution of impartial justice worldwide. Even though God used the violence of the Chaldeans to accomplish the punishment of His covenant-breaking people (and the chastening of His covenant-keeping remnant), that did not exempt the Chaldeans from themselves being punished by other agents of God’s justice afterwards for their own crimes.
The “suddenness” with which God’s judgment will come is noted by Habakkuk in v.7. We also see it in the Proverbs12:
Proverbs 6:14-15 “Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord. Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.”
Proverbs 29:1 “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” (NKJV)
That’s why it is so important to respond quickly to God’s messages of woe.
Verse 10 revisits the “shame” which comes from violence against “many nations.”
The “you” here seems to be Babylon (or its king Nebuchadnezzar in particular).
And once again, Habakkuk remarks with irony that all the Babylonians’ “thinking/planning” that went into figuring out how to “cut off/conquer” the surrounding nations and bring them all captive to the ghettos of Babylon to make the “house” of Babylon great, will catastrophically backfire, leaving a legacy of “shame” and “loss of soul[s].”
They thought they were serving their country, but in reality they were sinning and bringing down God’s wrath upon themselves.
The slogan of our nation’s current administration is “make America great again,” and it is good and honorable to build up your country and work for it to be blessed, but, if pursued merely through human might, without the guidance of God’s word and without the goal of glorifying Christ, it will backfire.
David observed earlier in Psalm 10:2 “...The… arrogant... wicked... will be caught in the schemes that they thought up14” (NAW)
And God’s wisdom said in Proverbs 8:36 “...he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate me love death.” (NKJV)
And Jesus said in Matthew 16:26-27 “...what is a man profited if he happened to gain the whole universe, but is penalized15 his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is about to come in His Father's glory with His angels and then pay back to each man according to his deeds.” (NAW)
Verse 11 seems to picture a situation where there is no human voice left to say what needs to be said; all there is is rocks and wood, but it is not the rocks and wood of virgin wilderness, it is the rocks and wood of masonry walls and wooden beams of a deserted building.
So why, in the middle of a civilized community, would there be no human voice to utter the truth? What comes to my mind is that this would be all that was left after the Chaldeans had murdered or taken captive everyone in the city. All that was left in the aftermath of their warfare was the eerie quiet of empty, burned-out, broken-down buildings16.
But even then, just as the blood of Abel cried out from the very ground against the murderer Cain, so the very rubble of bricks and building-timber left by soldiers in their greedy, world-conquering campaign will scream for justice, both at the guilty consciences of the Jewish vandals who built those houses out of stolen goods in the first place, and at the guilty consciences of the Chaldean vandals who killed and kidnapped the inhabitants of Jerusalem in order to raid the treasury of God’s temple.
In a nation that has been fighting wars almost nonstop for a century or more, it may be easy to take war for granted – to consider it normal that the soldiers in our congregation go out to some battlefront (or support base) every couple of years, but, according to the Bible, that should not be normal if a country is blessed by God.
Probably none of us has the authority or power to change our nation’s military agenda, so I don’t know that there is much more that we can do than to pray for spiritual awakening and for peace, but at the very least, we should see war as a kind of hell that we don’t want any more of than we have to.
The “bloodshed” mentioned in v.12 is the same “human bloodshed” mentioned back in v.8, but this time, it is the bloodshed committed by the people who “built” the city rather than the bloodshed of the people who are conquering the city (cf. Dan. 4:30).
It doesn’t matter whether you are Jew or Gentile, Christian or atheist, church-goer or pagan, wherever people commit murder, God’s justice will be devastating.
The parallel word to “bloodshed” in v.12 is “injustice/iniquity/violence/crime.”
Habakkuk wasn’t the only prophet to point out that Judah had a problem with this too. Micah17 had already warned a couple of generations previous: “Listen now to this, you heads of the house of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel: You who despise justice indeed distort all that is right - building Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with injustice! For a bribe, her heads will render judgment, and for a price her priests will teach, and for money her prophets will deliver oracles, while they presume upon Yahweh, saying, ‘Isn't Yahweh close to us? Nothing terrible is going to come upon us!’ Therefore, on account of y'all, Zion will be plowed into a field, and Jerusalem will become a debris-pile, and the temple mount a highland forest.” (Micah 3:9-12, NAW)
Proverbs 22:8 “He who sows iniquity[injustice] will reap sorrow…” (NKJV)
But David reminds us in Psalm 37:1-6 “...don't be jealous about those who commit injustice, because, quick as grass, they will wither, and like sprouts of greenery they will wilt. Believe Yahweh and do what is good. Settle down on the land and associate with faithfulness, and delight yourself over Yahweh. Then He will give to you the things your heart asks for. Commit your way to Yahweh and believe on him, so it is He who will operate, and He will bring forth your righteousness like the daylight and your justice like the noonday.” (NAW)
One thing we can be sure of is that God will punish sin.
The Babylonian conquest and exile of Jerusalem came from God, according to v.13.
And the overthrow of Babylon by the Persians also came from God.
A practical application is to ask if any of the sins listed by Habakkuk cause your conscience to light up with guilt? Greed, Illicit gain, even violence and bloodshed?
Are you going to be punished by Him when He judges the earth, or have you repented of rebellion against Him and found mercy through Jesus?
And if you are in Christ, will you live a life that pushes back on each of Habakkuk’s woes?
In place of greed, cultivate contentment and thank God for what He has provided.
In place of Dishonest gain, cultivate honest labor and work with a heart to bring God’s dominion over all of life.
And in place of bloodshed, cultivate peace and justice, sharing the goodness of God’s law and gospel which lead to life.
DouayB (Vulgate) |
LXXC |
BrentonD (Vaticanus) |
KJVE |
NAW |
Masoretic HebrewF |
4 Behold, he that is unbelieving, his soul shall not be right in himself: but the just shall live in his faith. |
4
|
4
|
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. |
4 Look, his soul has been haughty; it is not right within him, but as for the righteous one, it is by his faith that he will live. |
(ד) הִנֵּהL עֻפְּלָהM לֹא יָשְׁרָהN נַפְשׁוֹO בּוֹ וְצַדִּיק בֶּאֱמוּנָתוֹ יִחְיֶה. |
5
And X as wine
deceiveth
|
5
ὁ δὲ
X X
κατοινωμένος
[καὶ]
καταφρονητὴς
ἀνὴρ ἀλάζων οὐδὲν
μὴ περάνῃP,
ὃς ἐπλάτυνεν
καθὼς ὁ ᾅδης τὴν
ψυχὴν
αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὗτος ὡς θάνατος
X
οὐκ ἐμπιπλάμενος
καὶ ἐπισυνάξει
ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν πάντα τὰ
ἔθνη καὶ |
5
But X X the |
5 Yea also, because he transgresseth [by] wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and X is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peopleX: |
5 Now furthermore, alcohol is indeed treacherous. A mighty man is arrogant and is not at home. He makes room for his appetite like Hell; /\ he is as insatiable as death. He also gathers to himself all the nations and collects to himself all the peoples. |
(ה) וְאַףR כִּי הַיַּיִןS בּוֹגֵדT גֶּבֶר יָהִירU וְלֹא יִנְוֶהV אֲשֶׁר הִרְחִיב כִּשְׁאוֹל נַפְשׁוֹ וְהוּא כַמָּוֶת Wוְלֹא יִשְׂבָּעX וַיֶּאֱסֹףY אֵלָיו כָּל הַגּוֹיִם וַיִּקְבֹּץ אֵלָיו כָּל הָעַמִּים. |
6
Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a dark
speechX
concerning
him: and it shall |
6
οὐχὶ
ταῦτα
πάντα παραβολὴν
κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ
λήμψονται καὶ
πρόβλημα
[εἰς]
διήγησινZ
αὐτοῦ; καὶ ἐροῦ |
6
Shall not all these take up a parable against him? and a proverb
|
6
Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a
tauntingX
proverb
against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that
which is not his! how long? and to
him that ladeth himself |
6 All of these will take up a proverb against him and derisive riddles against him, won’t they? So /they\ will say, “Woe to the one who increases what does not belong to him for how long, and to the one who loads debt upon himself. |
(ו) הֲלוֹא אֵלֶּהAD כֻלָּם עָלָיו מָשָׁלAE יִשָּׂאוּ וּמְלִיצָהAF חִידוֹת לוֹ וְיֹאמַרAG הוֹי הַמַּרְבֶּה AHלֹּא לוֹ AIעַד מָתַי AJוּמַכְבִּיד עָלָיו עַבְטִיטAK. |
7
Shall they not rise up suddenly that
shall bite thee: and they be
stirred up that
shall
tear thee, and thou shalt be |
7
ὅ |
7
|
7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? |
7 Those who will bite you will rise up suddenly, won’t they? And those who are to displace you will awake, and you will become spoils [of war] for them! |
(ז) הֲלוֹאAP פֶתַע AQיָקוּמוּ נֹשְׁכֶיךָAR וְיִקְצוּAS מְזַעְזְעֶיךָAT וְהָיִיתָ לִמְשִׁסּוֹת לָמוֹ. |
8 Because thou X hast spoiled many nations, all that shall be left of the peopleX shall spoil thee: because of men's blood, and for the iniquity of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. |
8 διότι σὺAU ἐσκύλευσας ἔθνη πολλά, σκυλεύσουσίν σε πάντες οἱ ὑπολελειμμένοι λαοὶ δι᾿ αἵματα ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἀσεβείας γῆς καὶ πόλεως καὶ πάντων τῶν κατοικούντων αὐτήν.-- |
8 Because thou X hast spoiled many nations, all the nations that are left shall spoil thee, because of the blood of men, and the sins of the land and city, and of all that dwell in it. |
8 Because thou X hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the peopleX shall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. |
8 Since you yourself have plundered many nations, all that is left of the peoples will plunder you because of the manslaughters and the violence against the land, the walled-city, and all the residents in it. |
(ח) כִּי אַתָּה שַׁלּוֹתָ גּוֹיִם רַבִּיםAV יְשָׁלּוּךָ כָּל יֶתֶר עַמִּיםAW מִדְּמֵי אָדָם וַחֲמַס אֶרֶץ קִרְיָה וְכָל AXיֹשְׁבֵי בָהּ. |
9 Woe to him that gathereth together an evil covetousness to his house, that his nest may be on high, and thinketh he may be delivered out of the hand of evil. |
9
ὦ ὁ πλεονεκτῶν
πλεονεξίαν
κακὴν τῷ οἴκῳ
αὐτοῦ τοῦ τάξαι εἰς ὕψος νοσσιὰν
αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐκσπασθῆναι ἐκ χειρὸς
κακ |
9 Woe to him that covets an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil[s]. |
9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! |
9 Woe to him who rips off illegitimate goods for his house in order to put his nest in the high place so as to escape from illegitimate grabbing. |
(ט) הוֹי AYבֹּצֵעַ בֶּצַע רָע לְבֵיתוֹ לָשׂוּם בַּמָּרוֹם קִנּוֹAZ לְהִנָּצֵלBA מִכַּף רָע. |
10 Thou hast devised confusion to thy house, thou hast cut off many people, and thy soul hath sinned. |
10 ἐβουλεύσω αἰσχύνην τῷ οἴκῳ σου, συνεπέρανας λαοὺς πολλούς, καὶ ἐξήμαρτεν ἡ ψυχή σου· |
10 Thou hast devised shame to thy house, thou hast [utterly] destroyed many nations, and thy soul has sinned. |
10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul. |
10 You have planned shame for your house. By exiling many peoples, therefore you are sinning against your soul. |
(י) יָעַצְתָּ בֹּשֶׁת לְבֵיתֶךָ קְצוֹת עַמִּים רַבִּים וְחוֹטֵאBB נַפְשֶׁךָ. |
11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall: and the timber that is between the joints of the building, shall answer. |
11
διότι λίθος ἐκ τοίχου βοήσεται,
καὶ |
11
For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the |
11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer [it]. |
11 Surely a stone will cry out from the masonry, and a beam will answer out of the woodwork, |
(יא) כִּי אֶבֶן מִקִּיר תִּזְעָקBE וְכָפִיסBF מֵעֵץ יַעֲנֶנָּה. |
12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and prepareth a city by iniquity. |
12 οὐαὶ ὁ οἰκοδομῶν πόλιν ἐν αἵμασιν καὶ ἑτοιμάζων πόλιν ἐν ἀδικίαις. |
12 Woe to him that builds a city with blood, and establishes a city by unrighteousness. |
12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity! |
12 “Woe to the one who builds a town with bloodshed and to one who establishes a walled-city with injustice.” |
(יב) הוֹי בֹּנֶה עִיר בְּדָמִים BGוְכוֹנֵן קִרְיָה בְּעַוְלָה. |
13 Are not these things from the Lord of hosts? for the people shall labour in a great fire: and the nations in vain, and they shall faint. |
13
οὐ ταῦτά ἐστιν
παρὰ κυρίου παντοκράτοροςBH;
καὶ ἐξέλιπον λαοὶ ἱκανοὶBI
ἐν πυρί, καὶ ἔθνη |
13
Are not these
things of the Lord Almighty?
surely many people
have been exhausted
in the fire, and |
13 Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? |
13 Are not these things from Yahweh, Commander of armies, that peoples labor for nothing but fire and peoples weary themselves for nothing but vanity? |
(יג) הֲלוֹא הִנֵּהBK מֵאֵת יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת BLוְיִיגְעוּ עַמִּים בְּדֵי אֵשׁ וּלְאֻמִּים בְּדֵי רִיק יִעָפוּ. |
1The references for instances of “Woe” in the KJV are: Num. 21:29; 1Sa. 4:7-8; Job 10:15; Psa. 120:5; Pro. 23:29; Ecc. 4:10; 10:16; Isa. 3:9,11; 5:8,11,18,20,21,22; 6:5; 10:1; 17:12; 18:1; 24:16; 28:1; 29:1,15; 30:1; 31:1; 33:1; 45:9,10; Jer. 4:13,31; 6:4; 10:19; 13:27; 15:10; 22:13; 23:1; 45:3; 48:1,46; 50:27; Lam. 5:16; Eze. 2:10; 13:3,18; 16:23; 24:6,9; 30:2; 34:2; Hos. 7:13; 9:12; Amos 5:18; 6:1; Mic. 2:1; 7:1; Nah. 3:1; Hab. 2:6,9,12,15,19; Zep. 2:5; 3:1; Zec. 11:17. Mat. 11:21; 18:7; 23:13,14,15,16,23,25,27,29; 24:19; 26:24; Mark 13:17; 14:21; Luke 6:24,25,26; 10:13; 11:42,43,44,46,47,52; 17:1; 21:23; 22:22; 1Co. 9:16; Jude 1:11; Rev. 8:13; 9:12; 11:14; 12:12.
2“Although most Bible versions head this section as indicating that the woes are directed only against the Chaldeans, this is probably too limited. Habakkuk’s concerns have been with both those working injustice in Judah and the injustice of Yahweh drawing-on the Chaldeans to achieve his purposes. Accordingly, it is better to understand these woes as addressing both these groups…” ~David Firth, 2023 AD
3Belshazzar and his court are described in Daniel 5 as given to drunkenness, and Pusey quotes ancient Roman historians in further support, including Xenophon and Quintus Curtius Rufus from the first century who wrote, “The Babylonians gave themselves wholly to wine and the things which follow upon drunkenness.”
4“We find the crown of pride upon the head of the drunkards of Ephraim, and a woe to both [in] Isa. 28:1.” ~M. Henry
5Pusey noted that the scriptures imply that oppressiveness was one of Nebuchadnezzar’s chief sins, since Daniel exhorted him to “redeem thy sins by righteousness and thine iniquities by shewing mercy on the poor” (Dan. 4:27).
6“[S]ince pride has been his sin, disgrace and dishonour shall be his punishment, and... since he has been abusive to his neighbours, those very persons whom he has abused shall be the instruments of his disgrace… What he has got by violence from others, others shall take by violence from him.” ~M. Henry
7“Where the first woe was more concerned with the violence of war, this second one is more concerned with the effect of those who used cultural and governmental systems to generate unjust gain to protect themselves. This would cover those in Judah who manipulated the system to their benefit as well as the Chaldean practice of demanding tribute from defeated states.” ~D. Firth
8Whereas the other three instances of this Hebrew verb underlined in this passage are in the Hiphil (causative) stem and are translated “charge interest,” this one instance is spelled in the Qal stem in Hebrew, like Habakkuk’s word is.
9Obadiah 1:4, NKJV. Cf. similar prophecies by Balaam against the Kenites in Numbers 24:21-22 and by Jeremiah against the Ammonites in 49:16.
10Pusey quotes sources at some length describing these buildings.
11Pusey and Keil disagreed, the former commenting that while Jerusalem was “specially suggested… the violence was dealt out to the whole ‘land’ or ‘earth’…” and the latter commenting that “Erets without an article is not the holy land, but the earth generally; and so the city... is not Jerusalem, nor any one particular city...”
12And in Isaiah 29:1-6 & 30:13.
13“The third oracle is an extension of the first two, addressing those who build a city on the basis of iniquity, particularly the taking of life. This would cover the elite in Jerusalem who prospered through their actions as well as the Chaldeans who used resources plundered from captive peoples to build Babylon…” ~D. Firth
14David’s words “schemes-מזמות” and “thought-חשׁבו” could be considered synonyms for Habakkuk’s “counsels-יעצת.”
15This word in Matthew is ζημιωθῇ; the LXX word in Hab. 2:10 was ἐξήμαρτεν.
16This is also a significant theme in the book of Isaiah, albeit with more wilderness vocabulary. Matthew Henry proposed a slightly different take, based on Rashi. Lehrman summarized as: “The materials they had plundered and used for the construction of their houses will testify to the violent method by which they had been acquired.”
17See also Isa. 59:3 and Hos. 10:13.
AMy
original chart includes the following copyrighted English versions:
NASB, NIV, ESV, Bauscher’s version of the Peshitta, and Cathcart’s
version of the Targums, but I remove these columns from my public,
non-copyrighted edition of this chart so as not to infringe on their
copyrights. NAW is my translation. When a translation adds words not
in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use
of italics or greyed-out text, I put the added words in [square
brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different
from all the other translations, I underline it. When a
version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs
too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far
from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout.
And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I
insert an X. I also place an X at the end of a word if the original
word is plural but the English translation is singular. I
occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between
the various editions and versions when there are more than two
different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea
Scrolls containing Habakkuk 2 are 4Q82 (containing part of verse 4
and dated between 30-1 BC), the Nahal Hever Greek scroll
(containing parts of vs. 1-7 & 13-20 and dated around 25BC), the
1QpHab scroll with commentary (dated between 50-100 BC), and the
Wadi Muraba’at Scroll (containing parts of verses 2-11 & 18-20
and dated around 135 AD). Where the DSS is legible and in agreement
with the MT, the MT is colored purple.
Where the DSS supports the LXX/Vulgate/Peshitta with omissions or
text not in the MT, I have highlighted
with yellow the LXX
and its translation into English, and where I have accepted that
into my NAW translation, I have marked it with {pointed brackets}.
BDouay Old Testament first published by the English College at Douay, A.D. 1609, Revised and Diligently Compared with the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner, Published in 1582, 1609, 1752. As published on E-Sword.
C“Septuagint” Greek Old Testament, edited by Alfred Rahlfs. Published in 1935. As published on E-Sword.
DEnglish translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, 1851, “based upon the text of the Vaticanus” but not identical to the Vaticanus. As published electronically by E-Sword.
E1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible; public domain. As published electronically by E-Sword.
FFrom
the Wiki Hebrew Bible
https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%94_%D7%90/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA.
DSS text comes from https://downloads.thewaytoyahuweh.com
except 1QpHab, which comes from Matt Christian
https://www.academia.edu/37256916/1QpHab_Transcription_and_Translation
(accessed Aug 2024).
GN.H. appears to read “Behold” (ιδ--) like the MT and other ancient versions.
HN.H. translated poorly σκοτια (“darkness”), as did Aquila νωχελευομενου (“being made black”?).
IN.H. uses the synonym ευθεια (“straight/straightforward”).
JAq. and Sym. followed N.H., which is correct with αυτου (“his”), matched by MT and all the other versions (except Peshitta which omits the pronoun altogether).
KN.H. αυτου (“his”) is correct, with the MT and all the other ancient versions (except the LXX and Aquila) matching it.
LLXX & Peshitta saw this word as a conjunction rather than as “behold.” But the Dead Sea Scrolls, Aquila (for the Greek) and Targums (for the Aramaic) line up with the MT (and English).
MThe only other occurrence of this verb in the HOT is in Numbers 14:44, describing the Israelites who charged into the Promised Land in an untimely manner (and got beat back by the Canaanites), but lexicographers (Holladay, TWOT) question whether this is even the same root. Because it shares spelling with the noun for “swelling,” the lexicons define it “puffed up” (followed by NIV, ESV, AJV, Firth, cf. Pusey & Keil “swollen”) with “pride” (NASB, cf. Calvin: “elation of mind,” Henry “hearts lifted up,” and Henderson). The LXX, which is quoted in Hebrews, translated it “shrink back” (and this seems to be supported by one Hebrew manuscript which switches the middle two letters of this word to read עלפה “fail” instead of עפלה, and which Owen, Grotius, and Newcome favored). The 2nd Century Greek versions render it with “being dark/black.” Meanwhile the ancient Aramaic versions translated it “wicked/worthless,” and the Vulgate renders it “unbeliever.”
N1QpHab adds a vav after the first letter (יושרה), an addition not found in DSS 4Q82. It may not change the meaning, or it might make it passive (“justified” instead of “right”), but even if the latter, the meaning is not changed because those who are “right” are those who are “justified” by God. The only other time this phrase “not right” appears in the HOT is 1 Kings 9:12 “Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, but they were not right/pleasing in his eyes,” which explains why the LXX paraphrased with εὐδοκεῖ (“pleasing”).
OLXX, Aquila, and Hebrews 10 read “my soul,” and BHS recommends that reading, but Vulgate, Peshitta, and DSS (N.H. and 4Q82; it is not legible in any other DSS) support the MT with “his soul.” (Aquila and BHS abandoned the LXX a few words later where it again reads “my” when all the other manuscripts read “his.”)
PSym. renders ουκ ευπραγησει (“he will not do good works”) and elsewhere ουκ ευπορησει (“he will not be well-off”).
QN.H. renders with the synonym αθροι- (“muster/rally”) which is closer to the MT word’s meaning than “receive.”
RLXX & Peshitta omit, but it’s in the DSS, Vulgate, and Targums.
SLXX (κατοινωμένος) reads “winebibber,” matching the Vulgate and MT, but Vaticanus (κατοιομενος) matches the Peshitta and Targums which read “proud.” In the late 1988 my college O.T. professor, Dr. Paul Gilchrist, advocated that the word should be translated “wealth” (perhaps changing היין to הון) and the NLT picked up on this a decade later. Two of the Dead Sea Scrolls (N.H. and W.M.) are illegible at this point, but 1Q confirms the MT reading in Hebrew, even though its spelling is slightly different.
T1QpHab reads יבגוד, changing the MT’s participle into an imperfect indicative, which doesn’t change the meaning much. As for the other DSS, there is a lacuna here in W.M., but the partially-legible ending in N.H. -ος would weigh in favor of the MT’s participle over an indicative. MT cantillation inserts a minor punctuation here, which NASB ignored, but most other English versions heeded.
UThis word is only found in the HOT here and in Proverbs 21:24 (“A proud [and] haughty man-- ‘Scoffer’ is his name; He acts with arrogant pride.” ~NKJV – The translated word is underlined; note the synonyms.) Strong related it etymologically to the Hebrew word for “mountain.”
VFrom נוה (“stay at home” - KJV & NAS + Pusey). Strong lists only one other instance of this verb in the HOT (Exodus 15:2, where it is in a different stem – Hiphal – and means “beautify”). ESV and NIV translate as though from the root נוח (“rest”); Peshitta translated as though two similar-looking letters had been misread (רוה – “satisfied”), and BHS suggested translating as though two other similar-looking letters had been misread (בנה – “build”). Pusey cited Abarbanel and others as saying it meant homelessness, and Kimchi saying it meant “either the shortness of Nebuchadnezzar’s empire or his own being driven forth with the wild animals, Dan 4.”
WAlthough this vav conjunction is omitted from the LXX, DSS (1Q & N.H.) and from most English versions, it is in the ancient Latin and Aramaic versions like it is in the MT.
XCf. same verb in v.16, where this man who cannot get his “fill/satisfaction,” is “filled/saturated” with shame.
Y1QpHab adds a vav to the end of this verb and the next, making them plural instead of the MT’s singular forms. The N.H. supports the MT’s singulars since the plural nouns “nations” and “peoples” are in the accusative case, not the nominative case, therefore they are the object, not the subject of the verbs “gathers” and “collects,” and with this all the other ancient versions agree. Even so, the reading of 1Q is not that different, since “he gathers nations to himself” reaches the same result as “nations gather to him.”
ZCf. Symmachus’ synonym αινιγμα (“enigma”).
AAN.H. spells this verb singular, like the MT, instead of plural like the LXX.
ABN.H. instead reads ουκ αυτω (“not to him”) and omits the next phrase (“how long”).
ACN.H. renders with παχος πηλου (“thickness of clay”)
AD1QpHab omits this emphatic pronoun “these,” which is in the MT, all the ancient versions, and in both the other DSS. But even without the pronoun, the meaning remains the same.
AE“Mâshâl is a sententious poem, as in Mic. 2:4 and Isa. 14:4, not a derisive song…” ~Keil
AF1QpHab ends this word with a vav (or a yod) rather than the MT’s he. This could throw it from a feminine singular absolute to a plural masculine construct, but even that wouldn’t really change the meaning. This word is illegible in W.M., but the N.H. renders with a singular noun, as do all the other ancient versions. As for its meaning, it seems to be a class of wisdom literature, listed only here and in Proverbs 1:6, where it is translated “interpretation/enigma/figure/parable/saying” alongside the “mashal/proverb,” the “words of the wise,” and the “khidot/riddles” (also mentioned here in Hab. 1:6). Strong defined it as “aphorism” but related its primitive meaning to “making mouths” and therefore “scoffing.” BDB’s definitions focus on warning-forms of wisdom (“satire, mocking poem, mocking song, taunting”), whereas Holladay focused on it being based on “allusion.” Keil commented: “melı̄tsâh neither signifies a satirical song, nor an obscure enigmatical discourse, but, as Delitzsch has shown, from the first of the two primary meanings combined in the verb לוּץ, lucere and lascivire, a brilliant oration...”
AGThis verb (“he will say”) is singular in N.H., MT, Targums, and Vulgate (which changes it to passive to make better sense), but plural in 1QpHab, LXX, Peshitta, and most English versions. It is bad grammar if it is singular, so BHS recommends reading it as a plural. (It is obliterated in W.M.)
AH1Q and one of the Targums insert a conjunction here, but it is not in the only other legible DSS (N.H.) or in any of the other ancient versions.
AISimilar to the עַד־אָנָה “How long?” of Habakkuk 1:2.
AJ1Q and the Aramaic versions omit the conjunction here, but it is in the N.H., Vulgate, and LXX (and MT). MT cantillation has a minor punctuation here (grouping the expostulation “how long” with “increases what does not belong to him” rather than with “loads up on loans”) which the Vulgate, Peshitta, and Targums seem to have ignored. Pusey noted “‘increase against himself’… whereby not others are debtors to him, but he is a debtor to Almighty God...”
AKHapex Legomenon, but the root verb can be found in Deut. 15:6 (“borrow”), 8 (“lend”), & 24:10 (“collect”), and Joel 2:7 (“deviate/swerve/break”). The early Greek, Latin, and Aramaic versions (followed by early English versions like Geneva & KJV) focused on the last three Hebrew letters of this word, which spell the Hebrew word for “clay,” but by the Revised Version of 1885, Strong’s Lexicon in 1890, and the BDB lexicon of 1907, scholars were focusing instead on the first three Hebrew letters of the word, עבט, “to take or give a pledge for a debt” as the key to its meaning, cf. NASB “makes himself rich with loans” (NIV = “by extortion”). (Pusey proved, over against Keil & Delitzsch’s assertions to the contrary, that it was a “compound” of both meanings.) The idea in combination with the previous Hebrew words “make heavy upon himself” is to extend more and more credit to more and more people (thus carrying the weight of a vast amount of other people’s debt) in order to have more and more debtors making payments back to you with interest, and therefore to make vast amounts of money on the interest payments.
ALN.H. reads ουχι (“will not?”) like the MT and the other versions.
AMCuriously, all the 2nd Century AD Greek versions read with a passive verb (εξυπνισθησονται “be brought out of slumber”), but the MT is active (Qal stem). 1Q appears to spell the verb in the causative Hiphil stem which could give a shade of passiveness.
ANThe reading of the LXX could be obtained by reversing the order of the root consonants and substituting a similar-sounding consonant for the z, i.e. זע →Nעץ. N.H. σαλεθοντες σε (“who shake you”) is more like the MT and other versions.
AON.H. reads “you” (singular) like the MT and all the other ancient versions.
APDespite LXX and Peshitta translating this word as “for” and “behold” respectively, all the other ancient versions, with corroboration from the DSS read “Won’t…?”.
AQ1Q reads “Shall not suddenly -aum also he got up” inserting a word which is unintelligible after “suddenly” and putting the vav at the beginning of the verb instead of at the end of the verb (which changes the verb from a plural imperfect/future to a singular vav consecutive past tense), but no other manuscript or version reads this way, so it appears to be a scribal error. Another erroneous translation seems to be Theodotian’s passive “be raised up.”
ARBHS appears to indicate that 1Q reads without coph in this word, but the lacuna in 1Q makes such a determination impossible. Deut. 23 is the only other place in the HOT where this word refers to “paying interest;” everywhere else it means “snake-bite.” It is tempting to relate this word to the victims of the loan sharks in the previous verse, as the NIV, NASB, and ESV did, but since the parallel verb later on in this verse has nothing to do with victims of financiers, it is probably better to translate it like the KJV did: “those who bite you” – the punishers. The former oppressor now being punished, who was referred-to in third person (“him”) in the previous verses, is now referred-to in second person (“you”) in vs. 7, 8, and 10 (with a lapse back into third person in the intervening v.9), and again in vs. 15-17, and back to third person in vs. 18-19. This change of person either signals the end of the “taunt-song” in v. 6 or perhaps a transition between the “taunt” and the “mockery” and the “aphorism” listed in v.6 and perhaps quoted in sequence in the verses following. Another possibility is that it is prophetic intensification of the message, beginning each section with the principle in third person, then making it personal to the listeners with parallel statements in second person.
AS1Qp adds a yod between the second and third radical, spelling a Hiphil (causative) stem, but the other DSS supports the Qal stem in the MT. The meaning of this word for “wake” does not carry the connotation of “self-arousal” which the other common word for “awake” in Hebrew (עוּר) carries, thus supporting God’s statement that it was He who was “raising them up” as per Heb. 1:6.
ATOnly occurs two other places in the HOT: Esther 5:9 “...Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, and that he did not stand or tremble before him…” and Eccl. 5:3 “In the day when the keepers of the house tremble...” (NKJV) Most English versions render it “tremble/vex,” but the NASB, following Malbim, Hitzig, and Delitzsch in an attempt to carry the theme of financial disenfranchisement from the previous verse into the verbs of this verse, tried an English connotation of “shake down,” that is, “to steal the money out of someone’s pockets,” but it is doubtful that this English connotation of the word “shake” actually existed in Biblical Hebrew.
AUN.H. omits this word, but it is in the MT and 1Q (lacuna in W.M.), Peshitta, Targums, and Vulgate.
AVThe scribe of 1Q skipped this word where he copied out this verse, but in his commentary on this verse, he quotes the phrase with this word. This word in the MT is also in both of the other DSS and in all the ancient versions. He also added a vav conjunction before the next word, but there is no conjunction there in the other DSS or in the ancient versions.
AWKeil’s commentary proves at length from history and from Hebrew grammar that “remnant” should be interpreted as “survivors of conquests” rather than “as-yet unconquered peoples.”
AX1Q looks as though the scribe made a mistake when writing the word “residents,” scrubbed it out, and then spelled it correctly in superscript. Matt Christian’s transcription claims that the word before it is וצול (which is not a word in the Hebrew Bible) instead of וכל (“and all” - which is the reading of the MT, Nahal Hever, and all the other ancient versions). I think that the second letter in the word in 1Q is definitely not צ and could well be כ, and that the fragment of the next letter that is visible doesn’t match the way the scribe of 1Q wrote any letter, although it could possibly be ו, in which case 1Q does not contain a variant here.
AY1Q inserts a definite article in front of this participle, and the LXX follows suit. The other DSS are illegible here. Aramaic versions seem to follow the MT without the definite article, but since it can mean the same thing either way and it can be part of the identification of a substantive participle in other languages, it’s hard to judge what is original from the versions. The meaning literally has to do with “cutting off,” but it describes acquiring something by ripping it off of someone else rather than earning it honestly.
AZJob 29:37 mentions the eagle “making high his nest,” and Balaam prophesied concerning the Kenites in Numbers 24:21-22 (“Firm is your dwelling place, And your nest is set in the rock; Nevertheless Kain shall be burned. How long until Asshur carries you away captive?” Jeremiah prophesied against the Ammonites in 49:16, “Though you make your nest as high [תַגְבִּיהַ] as the eagle, I will bring you down from there," says the LORD,” and Obadiah prophesied against Edom: “Though you ascend as high [תַּגְבִּיהַּ] as the eagle, And though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down,’ says the LORD.” (Obadiah 1:4, NKJV) See also Isa. 10:14 on Assyria’s campaigns compared to “nest”-robbing. Pusey thought that “high” meant “heaven,” noting the tower of Babel and corroboration with Obadiah 1:4, and Isa. 14:13. Keil thought it meant “...neither his capital nor his palace or royal castle; but the setting up of his nest on high is a figure denoting the founding of his government, and securing it against attacks.”
BAThe he in this word in the MT makes it a Niphal with a passive meaning (“be delivered”), but 1Q spells it without the he, a spelling found nowhere else in the MT. It should be remembered however that there are a thousand years between 1Q and the MT, so it could be nothing more than a stylistic change in grammar or spelling over time. And even if 1Q intended the verb to be active, it wouldn’t change the idea of the verse.
BBThe
BHS’ confident assertion that 1Q is spelled differently from MT is
questionable. The last letter (or letters) of this word is/are
obliterated, and all that remains is a couple of strokes which match
the upper right part of an aleph (in which case there is no
variant). The only alternative is that it could be a yod or a
vav followed by another letter, which causes problems
for the BHS’ variant interpretation.
As for whether “his
soul” is the subject (Vulgate, LXX, Peshitta, NET) or the object
(Targums, KJV, NASB, AJV, NIV, ESV, NLT) of the participle “sins,”
although “soul” is almost always the subject – not the object
of “sins” (e.g. Lev. 4:2, 27; 5:1, 15, 17, 21, Ezek. 18:4 &
20), nevertheless, in all those cases, the verb is spelled feminine
(matching “soul”) rather than masculine, as it is here. There is
only one other passage where English versions interpret “soul”
as the object of “sin,” and that is Proverbs 20:2
(“...Whoever provokes [the king] to anger sins against his own
life.” ~NKJV), and there, “sin” is spelled masculine
instead of feminine. Out of 239 occurrences of this verb in the HOT,
the NIV and ESV use the word “forfeit” to interpret it only in
Prov. 20:2 and Hab. 2:10, the NASB only in Prov. 20:2, and the
Geneva, KJV, and NET Bibles never. This verb does seem to mean “miss
out on/lose use of” in Gen. 31:39 and Job 5:24, however. Prov.
8:36 seems to express the same sentiment Habakkuk does in
this verse.
BCLiddel-Scott’s lexicon suggests this could mean “knothole,” Aquilla inexplicably = μαζα (“breast”), Symmachus, Theodotian, and E quite sensibly = συνδεσμος (“girder”).
BDSymmachus and Theodotian agreed with the LXX translation which likely implies sound made by an inanimate object. Aquila, however, opted for “will answer” (αποκριθησεται), which is also a meaning of the Hebrew word.
BEcf. Hab. 1:2 “I cry out to You, ‘Violence!’”
BFHapex Legomenon. Strong & BDB list a root meaning “to connect.” Most English versions translate it “beam,” although the NASB went with the more specific “rafter,” perhaps out of an inference that, in a building where the “wall” was made of “stone,” the “wooden beams” might likely be found in the roof structure. Pusey also quoted Cyril to that effect.
BG1Qp inserts a yod as the second letter in this word, effectively changing the verb from a participle (“and he who establishes”) to an imperfect indicative (“when he establishes”). (It’s not legible in the other DSS – the W.M.) BHS recommends inserting a mem instead to make it a noun (“and the establisher”), but the Vulgate and LXX maintain the MT’s participial form. (It is not obvious to me whether the Aramaic versions do or not.) At any rate, the meaning would not be different.
BHN.H. is mostly obliterated, but a μ is visible at this point in the verse. It has been suggested that a synonym for “Almighty” which has that letter might be δυναμενων.
BIN.H. is mostly obliterated, but the letters τητ are visible at this point in the verse. It may be a superlative form of the same word in the LXX.
BJThe legible word in the Greek DSS Nahal Hever, κενον is more like the word in the MT “empty.”
BKAll
the ancient versions (Vulgate, LXX, Peshitta, and Targums) interpret
this as a demonstrative pronoun (“these things”) instead of as
the word “behold” (the latter of which is the interpretation of
the MT, followed by the KJV and ESV), so the BHS recommended
repointing it as a demonstrative. NASB and NIV sidestepped the issue
by inserting an emphatic “indeed” and dropping the Hebrew word
out, respectively. 1Qp spells the word with the same consonants as
the MT does, but, without the vowel pointing, the translator favored
the demonstrative pronoun interpretation.
Regarding the next
word: 1Qp reads מעם (“from
with YHWH” or “from the people of YHWH”) instead of the MT’s
direct object indicator (“from YHWH”).
BL1Qp omits the conjunction, as does Peshitta, but it’s in the Vulgate, LXX, and Targums. Most of the English versions translate it “that.”