9 A curse on him who gets evil profits for his family, so that he may put his resting-place on high and be safe from the hand of the wrongdoer!
... the pride of your heart has been a false hope, O you who are living in the cracks of the rock, keeping your place on the top of the hill: even if you made your living-place as high as the eagle, I would make you come down, says the Lord.
See, this is the man who did not make God his strength, but had faith in his goods and his property, and made himself strong in his wealth.
For he was numbered among us, and had his part in our work. (Now this man, with the reward of his evil-doing, got for himself a field, and falling head first, came to a sudden and violent end there. And this came to the knowledge of all those who were living in Jerusalem, so that the field was named in their language, Akel-dama, or, The field of blood.) For in the book of Psalms it says, Let his house be waste, and let no man be living in it: and, Let his position be taken by another. For this reason, of the men who have been with us all the time, while the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Starting from the baptism of John till he went up from us, one will have to be a witness with us of his coming back from death. And they made selection of two, Joseph, named Barsabbas, whose other name was Justus, and Matthias. And they made prayers and said, Lord, having knowledge of the hearts of all men, make clear which of these two has been marked out by you, To take that position as a servant and Apostle, from which Judas by his sin was shut out, so that he might go to his place.
Then again lifting up my eyes I saw a roll in flight through the air. And he said to me, What do you see? And I said, A roll going through the air; it is twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide. Then he said to me, This is the curse which goes out over the face of all the land: for long enough has every thief gone without punishment, and long enough has every taker of false oaths gone without punishment. And I will send it out, says the Lord of armies, and it will go into the house of the thief and into the house of him who takes a false oath by my name: and it will be in his house, causing its complete destruction, with its woodwork and its stones.
A curse is on him who is building his house by wrongdoing, and his rooms by doing what is not right; who makes use of his neighbour without payment, and gives him nothing for his work; Who says, I will make a wide house for myself, and rooms of great size, and has windows cut out, and has it roofed with cedar and painted with bright red. Are you to be a king because you make more use of cedar than your father? did not your father take food and drink and do right, judging in righteousness, and then it was well for him? He was judge in the cause of the poor and those in need; then it was well. Was not this to have knowledge of me? says the Lord. But your eyes and your heart are fixed only on profit for yourself, on causing the death of him who has done no wrong, and on violent and cruel acts. So this is what the Lord has said about Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah: They will make no weeping for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they will make no weeping for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! They will do to him what they do to the dead body of an ass; his body will be pulled out and placed on the earth outside the doors of Jerusalem.
And you said, I will be a queen for ever: you did not give attention to these things, and did not keep in mind what would come after. So now take note of this, you who are given up to pleasure, living without fear of evil, saying in your heart, I am, and there is no one like me; I will never be a widow, or have my children taken from me. But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day, the loss of children and of husband: in full measure they will come on you, for all your secret arts, and all your wonders.
The property of a man of wealth is his strong town, and it is as a high wall in the thoughts of his heart. Before destruction the heart of man is full of pride, and before honour goes a gentle spirit.
And Lot, lifting up his eyes and looking an the valley of Jordan, saw that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord had sent destruction on Sodom and Gomorrah; it was like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, on the way to Zoar. So Lot took for himself all the valley of Jordan, and went to the east, and they were parted from one another. Abram went on living in the land of Canaan, and Lot went to the lowland towns, moving his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were evil, and great sinners before the Lord.
For the evil-doer is lifted up because of the purpose of his heart, and he whose mind is fixed on wealth is turned away from the Lord, saying evil against him. The evil-doer in his pride says, God will not make a search. All his thoughts are, There is no God. His ways are ever fixed; your decisions are higher than he may see: as for his haters, they are as nothing to him. He has said in his heart, I will not be moved: through all generations I will never be in trouble.
Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up; There is no peace for him in his wealth, and no salvation for him in those things in which he took delight. He had never enough for his desire; for this cause his well-being will quickly come to an end. Even when his wealth is great, he is full of care, for the hand of everyone who is in trouble is turned against him. God gives him his desire, and sends the heat of his wrath on him, making it come down on him like rain. He may go in flight from the iron spear, but the arrow from the bow of brass will go through him; He is pulling it out, and it comes out of his back; and its shining point comes out of his side; he is overcome by fears. All his wealth is stored up for the dark: a fire not made by man sends destruction on him, and on everything in his tent. The heavens make clear his sin, and the earth gives witness against him. The produce of his house is taken away into another country, like things given into the hands of others in the day of wrath.
But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said, Now my master has taken nothing from Naaman, this Aramaean, of what he would have given him: by the living Lord, I will go after him and get something from him. So Gehazi went after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from his carriage and went back to him and said, Is all well? And he said, All is well: but my master has sent me, saying, Even now, two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill-country of Ephraim; will you give me a talent of silver and two changes of clothing for them? And Naaman said, Be good enough to take two talents. And forcing him to take them, he put two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and gave them to his two servants to take before him. When he came to the hill, he took them from their hands, and put them away in the house; and he sent the men away, and they went. Then he came in and took his place before his master. And Elisha said to him, Where have you come from, Gehazi? And he said, Your servant went nowhere. And he said to him, Did not my heart go with you, when the man got down from his carriage and went back to you? Is this a time for getting money, and clothing, and olive-gardens and vine-gardens, and sheep and oxen, and men-servants and women-servants? Because of what you have done, the disease of Naaman the leper will take you in its grip, and your seed after you, for ever. And he went out from before him a leper as white as snow.
Say to him, The Lord says, Have you put a man to death and taken his heritage? Then say to him, The Lord says, In the place where dogs have been drinking the blood of Naboth, there will your blood become the drink of dogs. And Ahab said to Elijah, Have you come face to face with me, O my hater? And he said, I have come to you because you have given yourself up to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. See, I will send evil on you and put an end to you completely, cutting off from Ahab every male child, him who is shut up and him who goes free in Israel; And I will make your family like the family of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the family of Baasha, the son of Ahijah, because you have made me angry, and have made Israel do evil. And of Jezebel the Lord said, Jezebel will become food for dogs in the heritage of Jezreel. Any man of the family of Ahab who comes to his death in the town will become food for the dogs; and he who comes to his death in the open country will be food for the birds of the air.
And Ahab said to Naboth, Give me your vine-garden so that I may have it for a garden of sweet plants, for it is near my house; and let me give you a better vine-garden in exchange, or, if it seems good to you, let me give you its value in money. But Naboth said to Ahab, By the Lord, far be it from me to give you the heritage of my fathers. So Ahab came into his house bitter and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, I will not give you the heritage of my fathers. And stretching himself on the bed with his face turned away, he would take no food.
When I saw among their goods a fair robe of Babylon and two hundred shekels of silver, and a mass of gold, fifty shekels in weight, I was overcome by desire and took them; and they are put away in the earth in my tent, and the silver is under it. So Joshua sent men quickly, and looking in his tent, they saw where the robe had been put away secretly with the silver under it. And they took them from the tent and came back with them to Joshua and the children of Israel, and put them before the Lord. Then Joshua and all Israel took Achan, the son of Zerah, and the silver and the robe and the mass of gold, and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and his asses and his sheep and his tent and everything he had; and they took them up into the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why have you been a cause of trouble to us? Today the Lord will send trouble on you. And all Israel took part in stoning him; they had him stoned to death and then burned with fire. And over him they put a great mass of stones, which is there to this day; then the heat of the Lord's wrath was turned away. So that place was named, The Valley of Achor, to this day.
The images of their gods are to be burned with fire: have no desire for the gold and silver on them, and do not take it for yourselves, for it will be a danger to you: it is a thing disgusting to the Lord your God: And you may not take a disgusting thing into your house, and so become cursed with its curse: but keep yourselves from it, turning from it with fear and hate, for it is a cursed thing.
But Lot's wife, looking back, became a pillar of salt. And Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had been talking with the Lord: And looking in the direction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the lowland, he saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of an oven. So it came about that when God sent destruction on the towns of the lowland, he kept his word to Abraham, and sent Lot safely away when he put an end to the towns where he was living. Then Lot went up out of Zoar to the mountain, and was living there with his two daughters, for fear kept him from living in Zoar: and he and his daughters made their living-place in a hole in the rock. And the older daughter said to her sister, Our father is old, and there is no man to be a husband to us in the natural way: Come, let us give our father much wine, and we will go into his bed, so that we may have offspring by our father, And that night they made their father take much wine; and the older daughter went into his bed; and he had no knowledge of when she went in or when she went away. And on the day after, the older daughter said to the younger, Last night I was with my father; let us make him take much wine this night again, and do you go to him, so that we may have offspring by our father. And that night again they made their father take much wine; and the younger daughter went into his bed; and he had no knowledge of when she went in or when she went away. And so the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father. And the older daughter had a son, and she gave him the name Moab: he is the father of the Moabites to this day. And the younger had a son and gave him the name Ben-ammi: from him come the children of Ammon to this day.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Habakkuk 2
Commentary on Habakkuk 2 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 2
Hab 2:1-20. The Prophet, Waiting Earnestly for an Answer to His Complaints (First Chapter), Receives a Revelation, Which Is to Be Fulfilled, Not Immediately, Yet in Due Time, and Is Therefore to Be Waited for in Faith: The Chaldeans Shall Be Punished for Their Cruel Rapacity, nor Can Their False GodS Avert the Judgment of Jehovah, the Only True God.
1. stand upon … watch—that is, watch-post. The prophets often compare themselves, awaiting the revelations of Jehovah with earnest patience, to watchmen on an eminence watching with intent eye all that comes within their view (Isa 21:8, 11; Jer 6:17; Eze 3:17; 33:2, 3; compare Ps 5:3; 85:8). The "watch-post" is the withdrawal of the whole soul from earthly, and fixing it on heavenly, things. The accumulation of synonyms, "stand upon … watch … set me upon … tower … watch to see" implies persevering fixity of attention.
what he will say unto me—in answer to my complaints (Hab 1:13). Literally, "in me," God speaking, not to the prophet's outward ear, but inwardly. When we have prayed to God, we must observe what answers God gives by His word, His Spirit, and His providences.
what I shall answer when I am reproved—what answer I am to make to the reproof which I anticipate from God on account of the liberty of my expostulation with Him. Maurer translates, "What I am to answer in respect to my complaint against Jehovah" (Hab 1:12-17).
2. Write the vision—which I am about to reveal to thee.
make it plain—(De 27:8). In large legible characters.
upon tables—boxwood tables covered with wax, on which national affairs were engraved with an iron pen, and then hung up in public, at the prophets' own houses, or at the temple, that those who passed might read them. Compare Lu 1:63, "writing table," that is, tablet.
that he may run that readeth it—commonly explained, "so intelligible as to be easily read by any one running past"; but then it would be, "that he that runneth may read it." The true sense is, "so legible that whoever readeth it, may run to tell all whom he can the good news of the foe's coming doom, and Judah's deliverance." Compare Da 12:4, "many shall run to and fro," namely, with the explanation of the prophecy, then unsealed; also, Re 22:17, "let him that heareth (the good news) say (to every one within his reach), Come." "Run" is equivalent to announce the divine revelation (Jer 23:21); as everyone who becomes informed of a divine message is bound to run, that is, use all despatch to make it known to others [Henderson]. Grotius, Ludovicus De Dieu, and Maurer interpret it: "Run" is not literal running, but "that he who reads it may run through it," that is, read it at once without difficulty.
3. for—assigning the cause why it ought to be committed to writing: because its fulfilment belongs to the future.
the vision is yet for an appointed time—(Da 10:14; 11:27, 35). Though the time appointed by God for the fulfilment be yet future, it should be enough for your faith that God hath spoken it (La 3:26).
at the end it shall speak—Maurer translates, "it pants for the end." But the antithesis between, "it shall speak," and "not be silent," makes English Version the better rendering. So the Hebrew is translated in Pr 12:17. Literally, "breathe out words," "break forth as a blast."
though it tarry, wait for it—(Ge 49:18).
4. his soul which is lifted up—the Chaldean's [Maurer]. The unbelieving Jew's [Henderson].
is not upright in him—that is, is not accounted upright in God's sight; in antithesis to "shall live." So Heb 10:38, which with inspired authority applies the general sense to the particular case which Paul had in view, "If any man draw back (one result of being 'lifted up' with overweening arrogancy), my soul shall have no pleasure in him."
the just shall live by his faith—the Jewish nation, as opposed to the unbelieving Chaldean (compare Hab 2:5, &c.; Hab 1:6, &c.; Hab 1:13) [Maurer]. Henderson's view is that the believing Jew is meant, as opposed to the unbelieving Jew (compare Ro 1:17; Ga 3:11). The believing Jew, though God's promise tarry, will wait for it; the unbelieving "draws back," as Heb 10:38 expresses it. The sense, in Maurer's view, which accords better with the context (Hab 2:5, &c.). is: the Chaldean, though for a time seeming to prosper, yet being lifted up with haughty unbelief (Hab 1:11, 16), is not upright; that is, has no right stability of soul resting on God, to ensure permanence of prosperity; hence, though for a time executing God's judgments, he at last becomes "lifted up" so as to attribute to his own power what is the work of God, and in this sense "draws back" (Heb 10:38), becoming thereby a type of all backsliders who thereby incur God's displeasure; as the believing Jew is of all who wait for God's promises with patient faith, and so "live" (stand accepted) before God. The Hebrew accents induce Bengel to translate, "he who is just by his faith shall live." Other manuscripts read the accents as English Version, which agrees better with Hebrew syntax.
5. Yea also, because—additional reason why the Jews may look for God punishing their Chaldean foe, namely, because … he is
a proud man—rather, this clause continues the reason for the Jews expecting the punishment of the Chaldeans, "because he transgresseth by wine (a besetting sin of Babylon, compare Da 5:1-31, and Curtius [5.1]), being a proud man." Love of wine often begets a proud contempt of divine things, as in Belshazzar's case, which was the immediate cause of the fall of Babylon (Da 5:2-4, 30; compare Pr 20:1; 30:9; 31:5).
enlargeth his desire as hell—the grave, or the unseen world, which is "never full" (Pr 27:20; 30:16; Isa 5:14). The Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar were filled with an insatiable desire of conquest. Another reason for their punishment.
6. Shall not all these—the "nations" and "peoples" (Hab 2:5) "heaped unto him" by the Chaldean.
take up a parable—a derisive song. Habakkuk follows Isaiah (Isa 14:4) and Micah (Mic 2:4) in the phraseology.
against him—when dislodged from his former eminence.
Woe—The "derisive song" here begins, and continues to the end of the chapter. It is a symmetrical whole, and consists of five stanzas, the first three consisting of three verses each, the fourth of four verses, and the last of two. Each stanza has its own subject, and all except the last begin with "Woe"; and all have a closing verse introduced with "for," "because," or "but."
how long?—how long destined to retain his ill-gotten gains? But for a short time, as his fall now proves [Maurer]. "Covetousness is the greatest bane to men. For they who invade others' goods, often lose even their own" [Menander]. Calvin makes "how long?" to be the cry of those groaning under the Chaldean oppression while it still lasted: How long shall such oppression be permitted to continue? But it is plainly part of the derisive song, after the Chaldean tyranny had passed away.
ladeth himself with thick clay—namely, gold and silver dug out of the "clay," of which they are a part. The covetous man in heaping them together is only lading himself with a clay burden, as he dares not enjoy them, and is always anxious about them. Lee and Fuller translate the Hebrew as a reduplicated single noun, and not two words, "an accumulation of pledges" (De 24:10-13). The Chaldean is compared to a harsh usurer, and his ill-gotten treasures to heaps of pledges in the hands of a usurer.
7. suddenly—the answer to the question, "How long?" (Hab 2:6).
bite—often used of usury; so favoring Lee's rendering (Hab 2:6). As the Chaldean, like a usurer, oppressed others, so other nations shall, like usurers, take pledges of, that is, spoil, him.
8. the remnant of the people—Those remaining of the peoples spoiled by thee, though but a remnant, will suffice to inflict vengeance on thee.
the violence of the land … city—that is, on account of thy violent oppression of the lands and cities of the earth [Grotius] (compare Hab 2:5, 6, 12). The same phrase occurs in Hab 2:17, where the "land" and "city" are Judea and Jerusalem.
9. coveteth an evil covetousness—that is, a covetousness so surpassingly evil as to be fatal to himself.
to his house—greedily seizing enormous wealth, not merely for himself, but for his family, to which it is destined to be fatal. The very same "evil covetousness" that was the cause of Jehoiakim's being given up to the Chaldean oppressor (Jer 22:13) shall be the cause of the Chaldean's own destruction.
set his nest on high—(Nu 24:21; Jer 49:16; Ob 4). The image is from an eagle (Job 39:27). The royal citadel is meant. The Chaldean built high towers, like the Babel founders, to "be delivered from the power of evil" (Ge 11:4).
10. Thou hast consulted shame … by cutting off many—Maurer, more literally, "Thou hast consulted shame … to destroy many," that is, in consulting (determining) to cut off many, thou hast consulted shame to thy house.
sinned against thy soul—that is, against thyself; thou art the guilty cause of thine own ruin (Pr 8:36; 20:2). They who wrong their neighbors, do much greater wrong to their own souls.
11. stone … cry out—personification. The very stones of thy palace built by rapine shall testify against thee (Lu 19:40).
the beam out of the timber—the crossbeam or main rafter connecting the timbers in the walls.
shall answer it—namely, the stone. The stone shall begin and the crossbeam continue the cry against thy rapine.
12. buildeth a town with blood—namely, Babylon rebuilt and enlarged by blood-bought spoils (compare Da 4:30).
13. is it not of the Lord of hosts—Jehovah, who has at His command all the hosts of heaven and earth, is the righteous author of Babylon's destruction. "Shall not God have His turn, when cruel rapacious men have triumphed so long, though He seem now to be still?" [Calvin].
people … labour in the … fire … weary themselves for … vanity—The Chaldeans labor at what is to be food for the fire, namely, their city and fortresses which shall be burnt. Jer 51:58 adopts the same phraseology to express the vanity of the Chaldean's labor on Babylon, as doomed to the flames.
14. Adapted from Isa 11:9. Here the sense is, "The Jews shall be restored and the temple rebuilt, so that God's glory in saving His people, and punishing their Chaldean foe, shall be manifested throughout the world," of which the Babylonian empire formed the greatest part; a type of the ultimate full manifestation of His glory in the final salvation of Israel and His Church, and the destruction of all their foes.
waters cover the sea—namely, the bottom of the sea; the sea-bed.
15. giveth … neighbour drink … puttest … bottle to him—literally, "skin," as the Easterns use "bottles" of skin for wine. Maurer, from a different Hebrew root, translates, "that pourest in thy wrath." English Version keeps up the metaphor better. It is not enough for thee to be "drunken" thyself, unless thou canst lead others into the same state. The thing meant is, that the Chaldean king, with his insatiable desires (a kind of intoxication), allured neighboring states into the same mad thirst for war to obtain booty, and then at last exposed them to loss and shame (compare Isa 51:17; Ob 16). An appropriate image of Babylon, which at last fell during a drunken revel (Da 5:1-31).
that thou mayest look on their nakedness!—with light, like Ham of old (Ge 9:22).
16. art filled—now that thou art fallen. "Thou art filled" indeed (though so insatiable), but it is "with shame."
shame for glory—instead of thy former glory (Ho 4:7).
drink thou also—The cup of sorrow is now in thy turn to pass to thee (Jer 25:15-17; La 4:21).
thy foreskin—expressing in Hebrew feeling the most utter contempt. So of Goliath (1Sa 17:36). It is not merely thy "nakedness," as in Hab 2:15, that shall be "uncovered," but the foreskin, the badge of thy being an uncircumcised alien from God. The same shall be done to thee, as thou didst to others, and worse.
cup … shall be turned unto thee—literally, "shall turn itself," namely, from the nations whom thou hast made to drink it. "Thou shalt drink it all, so that it may be turned as being drained" [Grotius].
shameful spewing—that is, vomiting; namely, that of the king of Babylon, compelled to disgorge the spoil he had swallowed. It expresses also the ignominious state of Babylon in its calamity (Jer 25:27). "Be drunken, spew, and fall." Less appropriately it is explained of the foe spewing in the face of the Babylonian king.
17. the violence of Lebanon—thy "violence" against "Lebanon," that is, Jerusalem (Isa 37:24; Jer 22:23; Eze 17:3, 12; for Lebanon's cedars were used in building the temple and houses of Jerusalem; and its beauty made it a fit type of the metropolis), shall fall on thine own head.
cover—that is, completely overwhelm.
the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid—Maurer explains, "the spoiling inflicted on the beasts of Lebanon (that is, on the people of Jerusalem, of which city 'Lebanon' is the type), which made them afraid (shall cover thee)." But it seems inappropriate to compare the elect people to "beasts." I therefore prefer explaining, "the spoiling of beasts," that is, such as is inflicted on beasts caught in a net, and "which makes them afraid (shall cover thee)." Thus the Babylonians are compared to wild beasts terrified at being caught suddenly in a net. In cruel rapacity they resembled wild beasts. The ancients read, "the spoiling of wild beasts shall make THEE afraid." Or else explain, "the spoiling of beasts (the Medes and Persians) which (inflicted by thee) made them afraid (shall in turn cover thyself—revert on thyself from them)." This accords better with the parallel clause, "the violence of Lebanon," that is, inflicted by thee on Lebanon. As thou didst hunt men as wild beasts, so shalt thou be hunted thyself as a wild beast, which thou resemblest in cruelty.
because of men's blood—shed by thee; repeated from Hab 2:8. But here the "land" and "city" are used of Judea and Jerusalem: not of the earth and cities generally, as in Hab 2:8.
the violence of the land, &c.—that is, inflicted on the land by thee.
18. The powerlessness of the idols to save Babylon from its doom is a fitting introduction to the last stanza (Hab 2:19), which, as the former four, begins with "Woe."
teacher of lies—its priests and prophets uttering lying oracles, as if from it.
make dumb idols—Though men can "make" idols, they cannot make them speak.
19. Awake—Arise to my help.
it shall teach!—rather, An exclamation of the prophet, implying an ironical question to which a negative answer must be given. What! "It teach?" Certainly not [Maurer]. Or, "It (the idol itself) shall (that is, ought to) teach you that it is deaf, and therefore no God" [Calvin]. Compare "they are their own witnesses" (Isa 44:9).
Behold—The Hebrew is nominative, "There it is" [Henderson].
it is laid over with gold … no breath … in the midst—Outside it has some splendor, within none.
20. But the Lord—Jehovah; in striking contrast with the idols.
in his holy temple—"His place" (Isa 26:21); heaven (Ps 11:4; Jon 2:7; Mic 1:2). The temple at Jerusalem is a type of it, and there God is to be worshipped. He does not lie hid under gold and silver, as the idols of Babylon, but reigns in heaven and fills heaven, and thence succors His people.
keep silence—in token of reverent submission and subjection to His judgments (Job 40:4; Ps 76:8; Zep 1:7; Zec 2:13).