Habakkuk 2

Yahweh Answers Again

¹I will stand at my guard post

and station myself on the ramparts.

I will watch to see what He will say to me,

and how I should answer when corrected.

• HAB 2:1[NOTE]THE WATCHTOWER. Habakkuk takes his post like a guard on the wall and waits for God's answer.

²Then Yahweh answered me:

“Write down this vision

and clearly inscribe it on tablets,

so that a herald may run with it.

• HAB 2:2[ARCHAEOLOGY]Hinged ivory writing boards from Nimrud in Assyria, about a century before Habakkuk, held wax for writing, see the Writing Tablets Field Notes box
• HAB 2:2[NOTE]WRITE IT DOWN. Big and clear, so a messenger can run with it, or so anyone can read it at a glance. See Writing Tablets.

³For the vision awaits an appointed time;

it testifies of the end and does not lie.

Though it lingers, wait for it,

since it will surely come and will not delay.

• HAB 2:3[PROPHECY]The vision will surely come at the appointed time and will not delay → STILL TO COMEMEDIUM
• HAB 2:3[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → HEB 10:37-38

⁴Look at the proud one; his soul is not upright—

but the righteous will live by faith—

• HAB 2:4[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → ROM 1:17
• HAB 2:4[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → GAL 3:11
• HAB 2:4[NOTABLE]Paul built the gospel on this line, Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11, and it changed Martin Luther's life. The proud lean on themselves; the righteous lean on God.
• HAB 2:4[NOTE]FAITH. See The Righteous Will Live by Faith.

⁵and wealth indeed betrays him.

He is an arrogant man never at rest.

He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,

and like Death, he is never satisfied.

He gathers all the nations to himself

and collects all the peoples as his own.

• HAB 2:5[TEXT]WEALTH. Most Hebrew copies say wine here. The Habakkuk Commentary from Qumran says wealth, and this Bible follows it.

Woe to the Chaldeans

⁶Will not all of these take up a taunt against him,

speaking with mockery and derision:

‘Woe to him who amasses what is not his

and makes himself rich with many loans!

How long will this go on?’

• HAB 2:6[NOTE]FIVE WOES. God's answer goes on in a taunt song that the nations will sing over Babylon, 2:6 to 19, so it prints red.

⁷Will not your creditors suddenly arise

and those who disturb you awaken?

Then you will become their prey.

• HAB 2:7[PROPHECY]Babylon plundered many nations, so the rest of the peoples would plunder Babylon → DAN 5:28-31

⁸Because you have plundered many nations,

the remnant of the people will plunder you—

because of your bloodshed against man

and your violence against the land, the city,

and all their dwellers.

• HAB 2:8[NOTE]PLUNDERED. Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians in 539 BC. See The Night Babylon Fell, Daniel.

⁹Woe to him who builds his house

by unjust gain,

to place his nest on high

and escape the hand of disaster!

¹⁰You have plotted shame for your house

by cutting off many peoples

and forfeiting your life.

¹¹For the stones will cry out from the wall,

and the rafters will echo it from the woodwork.

• HAB 2:11[NOTE]THE STONES WILL CRY OUT. Jesus said if His followers kept quiet, the stones would cry out, Luke 19:40.

¹²Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed

and establishes a town by iniquity!

¹³Is it not indeed from Yahweh of Hosts

that the labor of the people only feeds the fire,

and the nations weary themselves in vain?

¹⁴For the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh

as the waters cover the sea.

• HAB 2:14[PROPHECY]The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea → STILL TO COME
• HAB 2:14[NOTE]AS THE WATERS COVER THE SEA. Isaiah 11:9 says almost the same thing.

¹⁵Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors,

pouring it from the wineskin until they are drunk,

in order to gaze at their nakedness!

• HAB 2:15[ARCHAEOLOGY]1QpHab, a Dead Sea Scroll that explains Habakkuk 1 and 2, says on this verse that the Wicked Priest chased the Teacher of Righteousness on the Day of Atonement, see The Habakkuk Commentary Field Notes page

¹⁶You will be filled with shame instead of glory.

You too must drink

and expose your uncircumcision!

The cup in Yahweh’s right hand

will come around to you,

and utter disgrace will cover your glory.

• HAB 2:16[TEXT]EXPOSE YOUR UNCIRCUMCISION. The Habakkuk Commentary and the old Greek read stagger instead. The two words look alike in Hebrew.

¹⁷For your violence against Lebanon will overwhelm you,

and the destruction of animals will terrify you,

because of your bloodshed against men

and your violence against the land, the city,

and all their dwellers.

¹⁸What use is an idol,

that a craftsman should carve it—

or an image,

a teacher of lies?

For its maker trusts in his own creation;

he makes idols that cannot speak.

• HAB 2:18[DEMONIC]Woe to anyone who tells a wooden idol to wake up

¹⁹Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’

or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’

Can it give guidance?

Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,

yet there is no breath in it at all.”

²⁰But Yahweh is in His holy temple;

let all the earth be silent before Him.

• HAB 2:20[NOTABLE]After all the noise of the woes and the idols that cannot speak, the living God is on His throne. The right answer is quiet awe.
• HAB 2:20[NOTE]BLACK AGAIN. Habakkuk's own words about God, outside God's quote.