“Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you. For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the width of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. They are feared and dreaded. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour. All of them come for violence. Their hordes face the desert. He gathers prisoners like sand.
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Habakkuk 1:5-9 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you. For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the width of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. They are feared and dreaded. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour. All of them come for violence. Their hordes face the desert. He gathers prisoners like sand. Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him. He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen ramp, and takes it. Then he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on. He is indeed guilty, whose strength is his god.”
Parallel Translations
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“Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you.
For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the width of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
They are feared and dreaded. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour.
All of them come for violence. Their hordes face the desert. He gathers prisoners like sand.
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Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.
They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.
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Look ye among the nations, and behold, and wonder marvellously; for, behold, a work shall be wrought in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.
For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.
They are terrible and dreadful; their law and their majesty proceed from themselves.
Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the wolves of the desert; and their horsemen spread themselves; yea, their horsemen come from far, they fly as a vulture that hasteth to devour.
They come all of them for violence; their faces are set eagerly as the east wind; and they gather captives as the sand.
Cross-references (63)
- Acts 13:40-41 (v5) Beware therefore, lest that come on you which is spoken in the prophets: ‘Behold, you scoffers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work…
- Isaiah 29:14 (v5) therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their…
- Lamentations 4:12 (v5) The kings of the earth didn’t believe, neither did all the inhabitants of the world, that the adversary and the enemy would enter into the…
- 2 Kings 24:2 (v6) Yahweh sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon,…
- Jeremiah 4:13 (v8) Behold, he will come up as clouds, and his chariots will be as the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! For we are…
Show all 62 cross-references
- Jeremiah 5:12-13 (v5) They have denied Yahweh, and said, “It is not he. Evil will won’t come on us. We won’t see sword or famine. The prophets will become wind,…
- 2 Chronicles 36:6 (v6) Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon.
- 2 Chronicles 36:17 (v6) Therefore he brought on them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had…
- Isaiah 29:9 (v5) Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
- Jeremiah 5:15 (v6) Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far away, house of Israel,” says Yahweh. “It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a…
- Jeremiah 9:25-26 (v5) “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will punish all those who are circumcised only in their flesh: Egypt, Judah, Edom, the…
- Jeremiah 18:18 (v5) Then they said, “Come! Let’s devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law won’t perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the…
- Jeremiah 25:14-29 (v5) For many nations and great kings will make bondservants of them, even of them. I will recompense them according to their deeds, and…
- Jeremiah 25:9 (vv6, 9) behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,” says Yahweh, “and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my…
- Deuteronomy 28:49-52 (v6) Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not…
- Isaiah 23:13 (v6) Behold, the land of the Chaldeans. This people didn’t exist. The Assyrians founded it for those who dwell in the wilderness. They set up…
- Jeremiah 4:6 (v6) Set up a standard toward Zion. Flee for safety! Don’t wait; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.”
- Jeremiah 39:5-9 (v7) But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. When they had taken him, they brought him up to…
- Ezekiel 12:22-28 (v5) “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?’ Tell them…
- Daniel 9:12 (v5) He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the…
- Zephaniah 1:2 (v5) I will utterly sweep away everything from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh.
- Zephaniah 3:3 (v8) Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day.
- Acts 6:13-14 (v5) and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. For we have…
- Deuteronomy 4:27 (v5) Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where Yahweh will lead you away.
- Deuteronomy 28:49 (v8) Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not…
- Isaiah 28:21-22 (v5) For Yahweh will rise up as on Mount Perazim. He will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his unusual work, and…
- Isaiah 39:6-7 (v6) ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up until today, will be carried to…
- Jeremiah 1:15-16 (v6) For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” says Yahweh. “They will come, and they will each set his throne at…
- Jeremiah 4:8 (v6) For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of Yahweh hasn’t turned back from us.
- Jeremiah 5:6 (v8) Therefore a lion out of the forest will kill them. A wolf of the evenings will destroy them. A leopard will watch against their cities.…
- Jeremiah 6:22-23 (v6) Yahweh says, “Behold, a people comes from the north country. A great nation will be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. They…
- Jeremiah 21:4 (v6) ‘Yahweh, the God of Israel says, “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king…
- Ezekiel 17:3 (v8) and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to…
- Hosea 8:1 (v8) “Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh’s house, because they have broken my covenant, and rebelled against…
- Genesis 41:49 (v9) Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number.
- Deuteronomy 5:19 (v7) “You shall not steal.
- Deuteronomy 5:27 (v7) Go near, and hear all that Yahweh our God shall say, and tell us all that Yahweh our God tells you; and we will hear it, and do it.”
- Deuteronomy 28:51-52 (v9) They will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine,…
- Judges 7:12 (v9) The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels…
- Job 29:18 (v9) Then I said, ‘I will die in my own house, I will count my days as the sand.
- Psalms 139:18 (v9) If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.
- Isaiah 5:26-28 (v8) He will lift up a banner to the nations from far away, and he will whistle for them from the end of the earth. Behold, they will come…
- Isaiah 18:7 (v7) In that time, a present will be brought to Yahweh of Armies from a people tall and smooth, even from a people awesome from their beginning…
- Isaiah 27:8 (v9) In measure, when you send them away, you contend with them. He has removed them with his rough blast in the day of the east wind.
- Jeremiah 4:7 (v9) A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations. He is on his way. He has gone out from his place, to make your land…
- Jeremiah 4:11 (v9) At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my…
- Jeremiah 5:15-17 (v9) Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far away, house of Israel,” says Yahweh. “It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a…
- Jeremiah 15:8 (v9) Their widows are increased more than the sand of the seas. I have brought on them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at…
- Jeremiah 34:22 (v9) Behold, I will command,” says Yahweh, “and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it, take it, and burn it with fire. I…
- Jeremiah 52:9-11 (v7) Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he pronounced judgment on him. The…
- Jeremiah 52:25-27 (v7) and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and seven men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in…
- Lamentations 4:19 (v8) Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky. They chased us on the mountains. They set an ambush for us in the wilderness.
- Ezekiel 17:10 (v9) Yes, behold, being planted, will it prosper? Won’t it utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It will wither in the beds where it…
- Ezekiel 17:12 (v8) “Say now to the rebellious house, ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and…
- Ezekiel 19:12 (v9) But it was plucked up in fury. It was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were broken off…
- Hosea 1:10 (v9) Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can’t be measured or counted; and it will come to pass that,…
- Hosea 13:15 (v9) Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come, the breath of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness; and his spring will…
- Habakkuk 1:6 (v9) For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the width of the earth, to possess dwelling places…
- Habakkuk 2:5-13 (v9) Yes, moreover, wine is treacherous. An arrogant man who doesn’t stay at home, who enlarges his desire as Sheol, and he is like death, and…
- Matthew 24:28 (v8) For wherever the carcass is, that is where the vultures gather together.
- Luke 17:37 (v8) They, answering, asked him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there the vultures will also be gathered together.”
- Romans 9:27 (v9) Isaiah cries concerning Israel, “If the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant who will be saved;
62 distinct cross-references across this passage (63 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv5–9 The Prophet turns his discourse to the Jews, after…
The Prophet turns his discourse to the Jews, after having related the private colloquy, in which he expostulated with God for having so patiently borne with the obstinate wickedness of the nation. Being now as it were furnished with God’s command, (as the case really was,) he performs the office of a herald, and proclaims an approaching destruction. He indeed adopts a preface, which ought to have awakened drowsy and careless minds. He says—look, see, be astonished, be astonished; these repetitions do not a little increase the alarm; he twice bids them to see, and he twice exhorts them to be astonished, or to wonder. He then briefly proclaims the judgement of God, which he afterwards more fully describes. We now, then, perceive the object of the Prophet, and the manner in which he proceeds with his subject.
And he bids those among the nations to behold, as though he had said, that they were unworthy to be taught in the school of God; he therefore appointed other masters for them, even the Chaldeans, as we shall presently see. He might have said—look to God; but as the Prophet had so long spent his labor in vail and without profit while teaching them, he sets over them the Chaldeans as teachers. Behold, he says, ye teachers among the Gentiles. There is here indeed an implied contrast, as thought he said—“God has hitherto often recalled you to himself, and has offered himself to you, but ye have refused to look to him; now then, as he is wearied with exercising patience so long, he appoints for you other teachers; learn now from the Gentiles what ye leave hitherto refused to learn from the holy mouth of God himself”.
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The Greek translators no doubt read בגורים, for their version is—“Behold, ye despisers.” But in Hebrew there is no ambiguity as to the word.
He afterwards adds—And wonder ye, wonder By these words the prophets express how dreadful God’s judgement would be, which would astonish the Jews themselves. Had they not been extremely refractory they might have quietly received instruction, for God would have addressed them by his prophets, as though they had been his own children. They might thus, with composed minds, have listened to God speaking to them; but the time was now come when they were to be filled with astonishment. We hence see that the Prophet meant this in a few words—that there would be a new mode of teaching, which would overwhelm the unwilling with astonishment, because they would not endure to be ruled in a gentle manner, when the Lord required nothing from them but to render themselves teachable.
After having said that God’s judgement would be dreadful, he adds that it was nigh at hand—a work, he says, will he work in your days, etc. They had already been often warned of that vengeance, but as they had for a long time disregarded it, they did ever remain sunk in their own self-delusions, like men who are wont to protract time and hunt on every side for some excuse for indulging themselves. So then when the people became hardened against all threatening, they thought that God would ever bear with them; hence the Prophet expressly declares, that the execution of that which they regarded as a fable was near at hand—He will work, he says, this work in your days
He then subjoins—ye will not believe when it shall be told you; that is, God will execute such a punishment as will be incredible and exceed all belief. The Prophet no doubt alludes to the want of faith in the people, and indirectly reproves them, as though he said—“Ye have hitherto denied faith to God’s word, but ye shall at length find that he has told the truth; and this ye shall find to your astonishment; for as his word has been counted by you incredible, so also incredible shall be his judgement.” In short, the Prophet intimates this—that though the Prophets had been derided by the Jews, and despised as inventors of fables, yet nothing had been said by them which would not be fully accomplished. This reward then was to be paid to all the unbelieving; for God would in the most dreadful manner avenge their impiety, so that they should themselves be astonished and become an astonishment to others. We now perceive what the Prophet meant by saying that the Jews would not believe the work of God when told them, that is, the vengeance which he will presently describe.
This passage is quoted by Paul, and is applied to the punishment then awaiting the Jews; for Paul, after having offered Christ to them, and seeing that many of them regarded the preaching of Gospel with scorn, added these words—“see,” he said, “and be astonished, for God will work a work in your days which ye shall not believe.” Paul at the same time made a suitable application of the Prophet’s words; for as God had once threatened his people by his Prophet Habakkuk, so he was still like himself; and since had so severely vindicated the contempt of his law as to his ancient people, he could not surely bear with the impiety of that people whom he found to have acted so malignantly and so ungratefully, yea so wantonly and perversely, as to reject his grace; for this was the last remedy for the Jews. No wonder then that Paul set before them this vengeance, when the Jews of his time persisted through their unbelief to reject Christ. Now follows the explanation -
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv5, 7, 9 As in times past you would not believe God’s…
As in times past you would not believe God’s word, so shall ye not now believe the strange plagues which are at hand.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv5–9 Hab 1:5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard,…
Hab 1:5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for [I] will work a work in your days, [which] ye will not believe, though it be told [you].
Ver. 5. Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously] Heb. Wonder, wonder. This is God’s answer to the former expostulation, which he disliketh not, but encourageth the rest of his people to the like holy boldness. It containeth a promise to the prophet and the rest that were like affected, that he would shortly vindicate his glory and be avenged of the wicked, though he bore long with them. This that he may the better assure, he proceedeth by an elegant climax, wherein his speech getteth ground and ariseth higher and higher, that the despisers might be the more affected. "Behold, ye despisers," so St Paul after the Septuagint (whose translation he here followeth as most received, and most making for his purpose), Act 13:41, the sense being one and the same.
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For I will work a work in your days] This phrase noteth the strong intention of God upon it; as Jer 18:18, to devise devices, noteth strong plotting to mischief the prophet. So Christ is said to work a work, Joh 5:36. Many do rather play their works than work them. This is not God-like. He is serious and thorough in his works.
Which ye will not believe, though it be told you] But put off all, as those in the Gospel did, with a God forbid; and so go on in sin, till wrath come upon you to the utmost. To this day we cannot get men to believe the truth of God’s judgments, while they hang in the threatenings; but one put-off or another they get, through self-delusion, or obstinace of heart, Lam 3:65, next unto which followeth, Thy curse upon them.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv5–9 Behold ye: here God begins to answer the prophet,…
Behold ye: here God begins to answer the prophet, and calls for a very particular and exact consideration of the thing; see and ponder.
Among the heathen; what judgments, what punishments have been executed upon the heathen, for like sins.
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Regard; weigh it well in all its tendency and consequence, for it is a warning to you, it assures you judgment will overtake you also. Wonder marvellously; as astonished at judgments, too great to be expressed in words, and so strange that it will seem too much to be believed.
For I, the great and glorious God, the just and supreme Judge,
will work a work; begin, continue, and finish a work; a work I am working, a work of equal severity and justice.
In your days; it shall no more be deferred, Eze 7:5, &c.
Ye will not believe; you wicked violent oppressors will not believe, though the Lord by his prophets foretell it.
Told you; described how, and by whom, and when.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v5 We have here an answer to the prophet's complaint,…
We have here an answer to the prophet's complaint, giving him assurance that, though God bore long, he would not bear always with this provoking people; for the day of vengeance was in his heart, and he must tell them so, that they might by repentance and reformation turn away the judgment they were threatened with.
I. The preamble to the sentence is very awful (Hab 1:5): Behold, you among the heathen, and regard. Since they will not be brought to repentance by the long-suffering of God, he will take another course with them. No resentments are so keen, so deep, as those of abused patience. The Lord will inflict upon them, 1. A public punishment, which shall be beheld and regarded among the heathen, which the neighbouring nations shall take notice of and stand amazed at; see Deu 29:24, Deu 29:25. This will aggravate the desolations of Israel, that they will thereby be made a spectacle to the world. 2. An amazing punishment, so strange and surprising, and so much out of the common road of Providence, that it shall not be paralleled among the heathen, shall be sorer and heavier than what God has usually inflicted upon the nations that know him not; nay, it shall not be credited even by those that had the prediction of it from God before it comes, or the report of it from those that were eye-witnesses of it when it comes: You will not believe it, though it be told you; it will be thought incredible that so many judgments should combine in one, and every circumstance so strangely concur to enforce and aggravate it, that so great and potent a nation should be so reduced and broken, and that God should deal so severely with a people that had been taken into the bond of the covenant and that he had done so much for. The punishment of God's professing people cannot but be the astonishment of all about them. 3. A speedy punishment: "I will work a work in your days, now quickly; this generation shall not pass till the judgment threatened be accomplished. The sins of former days shall be reckoned for in your days; for now the measure of the iniquity is full," Mat 23:36. 4. It shall be a punishment in which much of the hand of God shall appear; it shall be a work of his own working, so that all who see it shall say, This is the Lord's doing; and it will be found a fearful thing to fall into his hands; woe to those whom he takes to task! 5. It shall be such a punishment as will typify the destruction to be brought upon the despisers of Christ and his gospel, for to that these words are applied Act 13:41, Behold, you despisers, and wonder, and perish. The ruin of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans for their idolatry was a figure of their ruin by the Romans for rejecting Christ and his gospel, and it is a very marvellous thing, and almost incredible. Is there not a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
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II. The sentence itself is very dreadful and particular (Hab 1:6): Lo, I raise up the Chaldeans. There were those that raised up a great deal of strife and contention among them, which was their sin; and now God will raise up the Chaldeans against them, who shall strive and contend with them, which shall be their punishment. Note, When God's professing people quarrel among themselves, snarl at, and devour one another, it is just with God to bring the common enemy upon them, that shall make peace by making a universal devastation. The contending parties in Jerusalem were inveterate one against another, when the Romans came and took away their place and nation. The Chaldeans shall be the instruments of the destruction threatened, and, though themselves acting unrighteously, they shall execute the righteousness of the Lord and punish the unrighteousness of Israel. Now, here we have,
1. A description of the people that shall be raised up against Israel, to be a scourge to them. (1.) They are a bitter and hasty nation, cruel and fierce, and what they do is done with violence and fury; they are precipitate in their counsels, vehement in their passions, and push on with resolution in their enterprises; they show no mercy and they spare no pains. Miserable is the case of those that are given up into the hand of these cruel ones. (2.) They are strong, and therefore formidable, and such as there is no standing before, and yet no fleeing from (Hab 1:7): They are terrible and dreadful, famed for the gallant troops they bring into the field (Hab 1:8); their horses are swifter than leopards to charge and pursue, and more fierce than the evening wolves; and wolves are observed to be the most ravenous towards the evening, after they have been kept hungry all day, waiting for that darkness under the protection of which all the beasts of the forest creep forth, Psa 104:20. Their squadrons of horse shall be very numerous: "Their horse-men shall spread themselves a great way, for they shall come from far, from all parts of their own country, and shall be dispersed into all parts of the country they invade, to plunder it, and enrich themselves with the spoil of it. And, in making speed to spoil, they shall hasten to the prey (as those, Isa 8:1, margin), for they shall fly as the eagle towards the earth when she hastens to eat and strikes at the prey she has an eye upon." (3.) Their own will is a law to them, and, in the fierceness of their pursuits, they will not be governed by any laws of humanity, equity, or honour: Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves, Hab 1:7. Appetite and passion rule them, and not reason nor conscience. Their principle is, Quicquid libet, licet - My will is my law. And, Sic volo, sic jubeo; stat pro ratione voluntas - This is my wish, this is my command; it shall be done because I choose it. What favour can be hoped for from such an enemy? Note, Those who have been unjust and unmerciful, among whom the law is slacked, and judgment doth not go forth, will justly be paid in their own coin and fall into the hands of those who will deal unjustly and unmercifully with them.
2. A prophecy of the terrible execution that shall be made by this terrible nation: They shall march through the breadth of the earth (so it may be read); for in a little time the Chaldean forces subdued all the nations in those parts, so that they seemed to have conquered the world; they overran Asia and part of Africa. Or, through the breadth of the land of Israel, which was wholly laid waste by them. It is here foretold, (1.) That they shall seize all as their own that they can lay their hands on. They shall come to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs, which they have no right to, but that which their sword gives them. (2.) That they shall push on the war with all possible vigour: They shall all come for violence (Hab 1:9), not to determine any disputed right by the sword, but, right or wrong, to enrich themselves with the spoil. Their faces shall sup up as the east wind; their very countenances shall be so fierce and frightful that a look will serve to make them masters of all they have a mind to; so that they shall swallow up all, as the east wind nips and blasts the buds and flowers. Their faces shall look towards the east (so some read it); they shall still have an eye to their own country, which lay eastward from Judea, and all the spoil they seize they shall remit thither. (3.) That they shall take a vast number of prisoners, and send them into Babylon: They shall gather the captivity as the sand for multitude, and shall never know when they have enough, as long as there are any more to be had. (4.) That they shall make nothing of the opposition that is given to them, Hab 1:10. Do the distressed Jews depend upon their great men to make a stand, and with their wisdom and courage to give check to the victorious arms of the Chaldeans? Alas! they will make nothing of them. They shall scoff (he shall, so it is in the original, meaning Nebuchadnezzar, who being puffed up with his successes, shall scoff) at the kings and commanders of the forces that think to make head against him; and the princes shall be a scorn to them, so unequal a match shall they appear to be. Do they depend upon their garrisons and fortified towns? He shall deride every stronghold, for to him it shall be weak, and he shall heap dust, and take it; a little soil, thrown up for ramparts, shall serve to give him all the advantage against them that he can desire; he shall make but a jest of them, and a sport of taking them. (5.) By all this he shall be puffed up with an intolerable pride, which shall be his destruction (Hab 1:11): Then shall his mind change for the worse. The spirit both of the people and of the king shall grow more haughty and insolent. Those that will not be content with their own rights will not be content when they have made themselves masters of other people's rights too; but as the condition rises the mind rises too. This victorious king shall pass over all the bounds of reason, equity, and modesty, and break through all their bonds, and thereby he shall offend, shall make God his enemy, and so prepare ruin for himself by imputing this his power to his god, whereas he had it from the God of Israel. Bel and Nebo were the gods of the Chaldeans, and to them they gave the glory of their successes; they were hardened in their idolatry, and blasphemously argued that because they had conquered Israel their gods were too strong for the God of Israel. Note, It is a great offence (and the common offence of proud people) to take that glory to ourselves, or to give it to gods of our own making, which is due to the living and true God only. These closing words of the sentence give a glimpse of comfort to the afflicted people of God; it is to be hoped that they will change their minds, and grow better, and ripen for deliverance; and they did so. However, their enemies will change their minds, and grow worse, and ripen for destruction, which will inevitably come in God's due time; for a haughty spirit, lifted up against God, goes before a fall.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv5–9 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard,.... This is…
Behold ye among the heathen, and regard,.... This is the Lord's answer to the prophet's complaint, or what he directs him to say to the Jews, guilty of the crimes complained of, which should not go long unpunished; and who are called upon to look around them, and see what was doing among the nations; how the king of Babylon had overturned the Assyrian empire, and was going from place to place, subduing one nation after another, and their turn would be quickly: for these words are not addressed to the heathen, to stir them up to observe what was doing, or about to be done, to the Jews; but to the Jews themselves, to consider and regard the operations of the Lord, and the works of his providence among the nations of the earth. These words are differently rendered in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, and which better agree with the quotation of them by the apostle; see Gill on Act 13:41,
and wonder marvellously; or "wonder, wonder" (s); the word is repeated, to express the great admiration there would be found just reason for, on consideration of what was now doing in the world, and would be done, especially in Judea:
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for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you; which was the destruction of the Jewish nation, city, and temple, by the Chaldeans, as is evident from the following words; and, though they were the instruments of it, it was the work of divine Providence; it was done according to the will of God, and by his direction, he giving success; and, being thus declared, was a certain thing, and might be depended on, nothing should hinder it; and it should be done speedily, in that generation, some then living should see it; though the thing was so amazing and incredible, that they would not believe it ever would be; partly because the Chaldeans were their good friends and allies, as they thought, as appears by Josiah's going out against the king of Egypt, when he was marching his army against the king of Babylon; and partly because they were the covenant people of God, and would never be abandoned and given up by him into the hands of another people; and therefore, when they were told of it by the prophets of the Lord, especially by Jeremiah, time after time; who expressly said the king of Babylon would come against them, and they would be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans; yet they would give no credit to it, till their ruin came upon them, as may be observed in various parts of his prophecy. The apostle quotes this passage in the place above mentioned, and applies it to the destruction of the Jews by the Romans, for their contemptuous rejection of the Messiah and his Gospel; which yet they would not believe to the last, though it was foretold by Christ and his apostles.
(s) "et admiramini, admiramini", Vatablus, Drusius, Burkius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv5, 6, 7, 9 Behold ye - Here God begins to answer the…
Behold ye - Here God begins to answer the prophet. Among the heathen - See what judgments have been executed upon the heathen for like sins.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv5–9 Verse 5. Behold ye among the heathen] Instead of…
Verse 5. Behold ye among the heathen] Instead of בגוים baggoyim, among the nations or heathen, some critics think we should read בגדים bogedim, transgressors; and to the same purpose the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic have read; and thus it is quoted by St. Paul, Ac 13:41. But neither this, nor any tantamount reading, is found in any of the MSS. yet collated. Newcome translates, "See, ye transgressors, and behold a wonder, and perish."
I will work a work in your days] As he is speaking of the desolation that should be produced by the Chaldeans, it follows, as Bp. Newcome has justly observed, that the Chaldeans invaded Judah whilst those were living whom the prophet addressed.
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Which ye will not believe] Nor did they, after all the declarations of various prophets. They still supposed that God would not give them up into the hands of their enemies, though they continued in their abominations!
It is evident that St. Paul, in the above place, accommodates this prediction to his own purpose. And possibly this sense might have been the intention of the Divine Spirit when he first spoke the words to the prophet; for, as God works in reference to eternity, so he speaks in reference to the same; and therefore there is an infinity of meaning in his WORD. These appear to be the words of God in answer to the prophet, in which he declares he will entirely ruin this wicked people by means of the Chaldeans.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Hab 1:5. Behold, &c. — For a punishment of…
Hab 1:5. Behold, &c. — For a punishment of such exorbitant practices, behold, God is about to make the heathen the instruments of his vengeance. Ye among the heathen, and regard — Consider and weigh it well, in its nature and consequences; for it is intended as a warning to you, and assures you that judgment will overtake you also. And wonder marvellously — As astonished at judgments too great to be described, and so strange that they will appear to many, even of God’s professing people, to be incredible. For I will work a work, &c., which ye will not believe — The judgment shall be such, as you despisers of God’s word will not believe to be coming upon you. These words are referred to, and indeed quoted, by St. Paul, Act 13:41; not, however, according to the Hebrew text, but the translation of the LXX., who, instead of בגוים, begoim, among the heathen, seem to have read בגדום, begadim, despisers, or perfidious persons. This reading of the LXX. is preferred by Grotius, because, he observes, “God addresses the Jews who were despisers of his deity.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv5–9 Behold ye among the heathen - The whole tone…
Behold ye among the heathen - The whole tone of the words suddenly changes. The Jews flattered themselves that, being the people of God, He would not fulfill His threats upon them. They had become like the pagan in wickedness; God bids them look out among them for the instrument of His displeasure. It was an aggravation of their punishment, that God, who had once chosen them, would now choose these whom He had not chosen, to chasten them. So Moses had foretold; Deu 32:21, “They have moved Me to jealousy by that which is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their vanities; and I will move them to jealousy with not-a-people, I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” There were no tokens of the storm which should sweep them away, yet on the horizon. No forerunners yet. And so He bids them gaze on among the nations, to see whence it should come. They might have expected it from Egypt. It should come whence they did not expect, with a fierceness and terribleness which they imagined not.
Regard - look narrowly, weigh well what it portends.
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And wonder marvelously - literally, “be amazed, amazed.” The word is doubled to express how amazement should follow upon amazement; when the first was passing away, new source of amazement should come; for .
I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. - So incredible it will be, and so against their wills! He does not say, “ye would not believe if it were told you;” much less “if it were told you of others;” in which case the chief thought would be left unexpressed. No condition is expressed. It is simply foretold, what was verified by the whole history of their resistance to the Chaldees until the capture of the city; “Ye will not believe, when it shall be told you.” So it ever is. Man never believes that God is in earnest until His judgments come. So it was before the flood, and with Sodom, and with Lot’s sons-in-law; so it was with Ahab and Jezebel; so with this destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans, and what is shadowed forth, by the Romans. So Jeremiah complained Jer 5:12, “They have belied the Lord, and said, it is not He; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine,” and Jer 20:7-8, “I am in derision daily; everyone mocketh me. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision daily;” and Isaiah Isa 53:1, “Who hath believed our report?” and John the Immerser speaks as though it were desperate Mat 3:7; “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” and our Lord tells them Mat 23:38; Luk 13:35, “Your house is left unto you desolate.”
And yet they believed not, but delivered Him up to be put to death, lest that should be, which did come, because they put Him to death Joh 11:48. “If we let Him thus alone, all people will believe on Him; and the Romans shall come, and take away both our place and nation.” Therefore, Paul applies these words to the Jews in his day, because the destruction of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar was an image of the destruction of the second temple (which by divine appointment, contrary to man’s intention, took place on the same day ), and the Chaldaeans were images of the Romans, that second Babylon, pagan Rome; and both foreshowed the worse destruction by a fiercer enemy - the enemy of souls - the spiritual wasting and desolation which came upon the Jew first, and which shall come on all who disobey the gospel. So it shall be to the end. Even now, the Jews believe not, whose work their own dispersion is; His, who by them was crucified, but who has “all power in heaven and in earth” Mat 28:18. The Day of Judgment will come like a thief in the night to those who believe not or obey not our Lord’s words.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv5–9 Among. Septuagint ye despisers. St. Paul nearly agrees with…
Among. Septuagint ye despisers. St. Paul nearly agrees with this version, Acts xiii. 41. The copies vary, as the Hebrew has done. (Calmet) --- The apostle gives the mystical sense; the literal is very obscure. (Worthington) --- God answers the prophet’s complaints, and shews that the Chaldeans shall punish the guilty, and afterwards be themselves chastised.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv5–9 Behold . . . marvellously . . . a…
Behold . . . marvellously . . . a work--(Compare Isa 29:14). Quoted by Paul (Act 13:41).
among the heathen--In Act 13:41, "ye despisers," from the Septuagint. So the Syriac and Arabic versions; perhaps from a different Hebrew reading. In the English Version reading of Habakkuk, God, in reply to the prophet's expostulation, addresses the Jews as about to be punished, "Behold ye among the heathen (with whom ye deserve to be classed, and by whom ye shall be punished, as despisers; the sense implied, which Paul expresses): learn from them what ye refused to learn from Me!" For "wonder marvellously," Paul, in Act 13:41, has, "wonder and perish," which gives the sense, not the literal wording, of the Hebrew, "Wonder, wonder," that is, be overwhelmed in wonder. The despisers are to be given up to their own stupefaction, and so perish. The Israelite unbelievers would not credit the prophecy as to the fearfulness of the destruction to be wrought by the Chaldeans, nor afterwards the deliverance promised from that nation. So analogously, in Paul's day, the Jews would not credit the judgment coming on them by the Romans, nor the salvation proclaimed through Jesus. Thus the same Scripture applied to both.
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ye will not believe, though it be told you--that is, ye will not believe now that I foretell it.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv5, 9 JEHOVAH’S REPLY TO THE PROPHET’S PERPLEXED CRY, Hab_1:5-11.
JEHOVAH’S REPLY TO THE PROPHET’S PERPLEXED CRY, Hab_1:5-11.
Jehovah meets the perplexity of his servant by declaring that he is not indifferent, and that punishment is about to be meted out by his agents, the Chaldeans, a terrible and dreadful nation, before which nothing can stand.
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Behold ye among the heathen — R.V., “nations.” If this is the correct reading the prophet and the people are addressed; they are to look about among the nations to see the wonderful things Jehovah is about to accomplish. LXX. and Peshitto read “ye despisers” for “among the nations.” If this is original, as is not impossible, the “wicked” of Hab_1:4 are addressed.
Wonder marvelously — LXX. adds “and perish.” Why are they to look and wonder?
I will work — R.V., “I am working”; margin, which produces the Hebrew more accurately, “one worketh.” However, the ordinary translation is not impossible, and the context (Hab_1:6) makes the translation “I” almost certain. The rendering “I am about to work” would express more clearly the idea of imminence.
Which ye will not believe, though it be told you — Better, which ye would not believe though (if) it were told you; that is, as having occurred in another place and at some other time. The event will be so extraordinary that only eyewitnesses can believe it (compare Act_13:41).
The awful thing Jehovah is about to do is stated in Hab_1:6 ff.
I raise up the Chaldeans — Better, I am about to raise up (G.-K., 116p). On Chaldeans see Introduction, pp. 468ff, and Nahum, p. 431. The reference is not to the first appearance of the Chaldeans in history or as a world power, for the following verses indicate that they were already well known as cruel, bloodthirsty conquerors, but to their first advance against Judah; they will be summoned by Jehovah to execute judgment upon the wicked (Hab_1:4). Some manuscripts of LXX. add “against you.”
Bitter — Rough, or fierce (Jdg_18:25; 2Sa_17:8).
Hasty — Violent; “driven headlong by violent impulse” (Isa_32:4). As world conquerors they march through the whole extent of the earth and take possession of territories not their own (Hab_2:6; Deu_6:10-11).
Hab_1:7 depicts further the fierce disposition of the Chaldeans. The nation is personified as a hero, hence the Hebrew has the singular pronoun (see margin).
Terrible — Exciting terror (Son_6:4; Son_6:10).
Dreadful — Creating alarm. This is the word ordinarily translated “terrible” in the Old Testament.
Their judgment — The decisions determining their conduct (Psa_17:2).
Dignity — Or, eminence; the sovereignty which they assume over the nations of the world (Gen_49:3; Hos_13:1).
Proceed of themselves — They acknowledge no superior, not even Jehovah, to determine their course for them. According to their own pleasure they map out their plans and through the power of their own arms they overthrow the nations.
Hab_1:8 describes the irresistible advance of their armies (compare Jer_4:13; Jer_5:6).
Their horses also are swifter than the leopards — Tristram describes the leopard as “agile, swift, and when irritated the most terrible and cruel of beasts.” In Jer_4:13, the expression is “swifter than eagles”; Habakkuk mentions the eagle later in the verse.
More fierce — Literally, more sharp. The war horses share their masters’ ferocity. Wildly they dash against the foe.
Evening wolves — The wolves that, after fasting all day, go out in the evening to seek prey; prompted by intense hunger they are especially fierce. LXX., with a slight change of vowels, reads “wolves of Arabia,” which is less suitable (compare Zep_3:3).
Spread themselves — R.V., “press proudly on.” The verb is connected with an Arabic root meaning “to strut proudly”; when used of horsemen it means “to spring along,” “to gallop.” Nothing can stop the onslaught of their horsemen.
Their horsemen shall come from far — The horsemen of the Chaldeans came from the far east. Several commentators are inclined to omit this clause as a marginal gloss to the preceding, because (1) LXX. omits “horsemen”; (2) the repetition of “horsemen” in two successive clauses seems peculiar; (3) the presence of this clause gives an unequal number of clauses, and thus injures the parallelism. Others consider this the original clause and the preceding the gloss. Nowack and others make more thoroughgoing changes and read Hab_1:8, “And swifter than leopards are their (literally, his) horses, and swifter on foot than the evening wolves their horsemen; (and their horsemen come from afar;) they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour.” As an eagle or vulture (see on Mic_1:16) swoops upon a carcass, so the Chaldean horsemen swoop upon their human prey.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–9 5. behold ye among the heathen] among the nations.…
5. behold ye among the heathen] among the nations. For “among the nations” Sept. read “ye despisers” (bgdm for bgym), and part of the phrase “wonder marvellously” they translated “and perish.” With this translation the “despisers” addressed are the wrongdoers of Hab_1:1-4.
I will work a work] R.V. marg. one worketh a work, a construction equivalent to the pass., a work is wrought; Isa_21:11 “one calleth unto me out of Seir.” This is not very natural. Though the omission of pron. “I” is perhaps without parallel, A.V. is more probable. So Sept. The rendering he worketh would be more according to usage, but the connexion with Hab_1:6 is then broken.
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ye will not believe] Perhaps: ye would not believe though it were told you, i.e. in other circumstances—unless you saw it.
5–11. The answer of God to the Prophet’s complaint
The wrongs complained of will bring their punishment. The Lord raiseth up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation. They are irresistible; they laugh at kings, and fortresses they heap up dust and take.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–9 (5) Among the heathen.—These words are emphatic. They imply—Jehovah…
(5) Among the heathen.—These words are emphatic. They imply—Jehovah will no longer manifest Himself among His chosen people, but among the Gentiles. Let them look abroad, and they shall see Him using the Chaldæans as His instrument for their own chastisement. They are to “wonder,” not at God’s choice of an agent, but at the consequences of the visitation, which resulted in the sack of the Temple, and the deportation of 10,000 captives; a work which the Jews might well not have credited, though it were told them. The words “among the heathen” (bag-gôyim) were, probably, misread by the LXX. translators bôg’dîm. Hence the translation, Καταϕρονηταί, “ye despisers.” In Act_13:41 St. Paul is represented as citing the verse in its LXX. form, as a warning to his Jewish hearers at Antioch. This citation, of course, gives no authority whatever to the variant. Nor is it certain that St. Paul did not actually quote the Hebrew form of the verse, which would seem more appropriate to the circumstances than the other. (Comp. Act_13:42; Act_13:46 seq.). That St. Luke should substitute the Greek variant is intelligible enough.
(5-11) Jehovah’s answer to Habakkuk’s complaint. These disorders are to be punished by an invasion of Chaldæaus. The appearance, character, and operations of these invaders are described.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv5–9 Vers. 5-113. To this appeal answers that he will…
Vers. 5-113. To this appeal answers that he will send the Chaldeans to punish the evil doers with a terrible vengeance; but rinse, his instruments, shall themselves offend by pride and impiety.
Behold ye among the heathen; the nations. God, in answer, bids the prophet and his people look among the nations for those who shall punish the iniquities of which he complains. I will use a heathen nation, he says, as my instrument to chastise the sinners in Judaea; and you shall see that I have not disregarded the evil that is rife among you. Some commentators suppose that the impious are addressed; but Habakkuk spoke in the name and person of the righteous, and to them the answer must be directed. The LXX, gives, Idete, oiJ katafronhtai, "Behold, ye despisers," which is justifiable. St. Paul quotes the Greek Version, Act_13:41, in his sermon at Antioch in the Jewish synagogue, warning those who despised the gospel This was sufficiently close to the Hebrew for his purpose. And regard, and wonder marvellously. They are to wonder because the work is as terrible as it is unexpected. The LXX (quoted by St. Paul, loc. cit. ) adds, kaisqhte, "and perish," or rather, "be stupefied by astonishment," die of amazement. I will work; I work. The pronoun is not expressed, but must be supplied from ver. 6. It is God who sends the avengers. In your days. The prophet had asked (ver. 2), "How long?" The answer is that those now living should see the chastisement (see Introduction, Which ye will not believe. If ye heard of it as happening elsewhere, ye would not give credit to it; the punishment itself and its executors are both unexpected. (comp. Lam_4:12)
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Vers. 5-11Judgment on the wing.
I ITS CHARACTER DESCRIBED. (Ver. 5.)
1. Its subjects. The land and people of Judah (ver. 6). These, though Jehovah"s covenanted people, had declined from his worship, departed from his ways, dishonoured his Name. It was in the covenant that, under such circumstances, they should be chastised (2Sa_7:14; Psa_89:30) and Jehovah is never unmindful of his covenant engagements, (Psa_111:5) if men are of theirs. (2Ti_2:12, 2Ti_2:13)
2. Its Author. Jehovah. "The Judge of all the earth", (Gen_18:20) "his eyes behold and his eyelids try the children of men", (Psa_11:4) communities and nations no less than individuals. (Psa_67:4) As "justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne", (Psa_89:14) so "all his ways are judgment", (Deu_32:4) and "the works of his hands are verity and judgment". (Psa_111:7) As the least significant occurrence, (Mat_10:29) so the most momentous, cannot happen without the Divine permission. The Supreme is behind all second causes. He regulates the rise and fall of nations and kings, (Psa_75:7) the ebb and flow of ocean, (Job_38:11) themovements of the heavenly bodies, (Job_38:31-33) the growth anddecay of flowers. (Isa_40:7) When Nineveh is overthrown and Babylon raised up, Jehovah, unseen but all-powerful, is the prime Mover. When Judah or Israel is chastised, it is Jehovah s hand that holds the rod.
1. Its certainty. Being matter of clear and definite promise on the part of Jehovah: "I will work a work;" "Behold, I raise up the Chaldeans." So certain is Jehovah"s future judgment of his enemies. (Mal_3:5; Act_17:31) This, like that, has no basis but Jehovah"s announcement. That this will not fail may be inferred from the accomplishment of that.
2. Its vicinity. Close at hand. "Behold, I work a work in your days" obviously meant that within a generation at furthest the Divine stroke should descend on Judah, and that every person in the nation should regard it as near. In the same way are Christians directed to think of the judgment of the great day as at hand (Jam_5:9; 1Pe_4:7; Rev_22:12) though of that day and of that hour knoweth no man (Mar_14:32) more than this, that it is certain. (Job_21:30; Psa_1:4; Dan_7:10; Mat_25:32; Heb_9:27)
3 Its strangeness. It should be both startling and incredible.
(1) Startling. As to its Author, Jehovah; as to the quarter whence it should proceed, from among the heathen; as to the power by which it should be inflicted, the Chaldeans, when they might rather have expected the Assyrians (if Habakkuk prophesied under Manasseh) or the Egyptians (if he flourished in the first years of Jehoiakim); as to the suddenness with which it should spring forth, there being at the time when Habakkuk wrote no tokens of its coming discernible on the horizon. So will the judgment of the great day surprise the ungodly world and a sleeping Church. (Mat_24:27, 41 25:6; 1Th_5:2, 1Th_5:3; Rev_16:15)
(2) Incredible. So unlikely did a Chaldean invasion of Judaea seem, that Jehovah felt nothing but an actual experience of the same would ever convince his people of it. A simple fore-announcement of it would not suffice to carry conviction of its reality to their mind, although, of course, it should. That this was true, the reception accorded to Jeremiah"s prediction of Nebuchadnezzar"s appearance before Jerusalem showed. (Jer_5:12 Jer_20:7, 8 26:8-11) Up to the moment when the Chaldean armies arrived neither Jehoiakim nor his people would allow that a Chaldean conquest was so much as possible. Events, however, proved them to be in error. So the antediluvians knew not till the Flood came and took them all away. (Mat_24:39) So shall the coming of the Son of man be. (2Pe_3:1-10)
II ITS INSTRUMENT INDICATED. (Vers. 6-11.) This was the Chaldean or Babylonian power, at the time subject to Assyria, and not risen to the ascendency it afterwards enjoyed under Nebuchadnezzar and his successors. The prophet depicts it when raised up, not only into a nation, but against Judah by a sevenfold characteristic.
1. Its natural disposition. He calls it "a bitter and hasty nation," i.e. fierce and rough, heedless and rash, and represents it as marching through the breadth of the earth, impelled by covetousness, and making a way for itself by sheer brute force and violence taking possession of dwelling places not its own.
2. Its formidable appear ance. "They are," or he, i.e. the nation, is, "terrible and dreadful," by its very name and much more by its aspect and actions inspiring terror in the breasts of beholders.
3. Its presumptuous self-sufficiency. "Their judgment and dignity proceed from themselves;" i.e. conscious of its own strength, it determines for itself its own rule of right, and ascribes to itself its elevation above the other nations of the earth. This putting of self instead of God in the place of honour and scat of authority is the essence of all sin. Wicked men walk after the counsels and in the imaginations of their own evil hearts, (Jer_7:24) and are prone to arrogate to themselves what should be rendered to God, viz. the glory of their successful achievements (Deu_8:17; Jud_1:7:2)
4. Its military strength.
(1) Its horses swifter than leopards, lighter of foot than panthers, which spring with the greatest rapidity on their prey, and fiercer than evening wolves, or wolves going forth at eventide after having fasted all day an emblem of ferocity applied to the judges of Judah. (Zep_3:3)
(2) Its horsemen or warriors coming from afar and spreading themselves abroad distance of march shall weary nor diffusion weaken them" (Pusey) darting upon its foes like an eagle hasting to devour, a bird to which Nebuchadnezzar is compared. (Jer_48:40; Lam_4:19; Eze_17:3; Dan_7:4)
(3) Both bent upon violence and having their faces set eagerly as the east wind, i.e. either set towards the front with determination, or like the east wind for devastation. Thus the characteristics of Babylonian warfare were swiftness of movement, simultaneousness of action in the different parts of the army, unanimity of purpose, determination and ferocity, qualities the existence of which in them the monuments sufficiently attest.
5. Its warlike achievements.
(1) The deportation of subjected populations. "They gather captives as the sand," i.e. "countless as the particles which the east wind raises, sweeping over the sand wastes, where it buries whole caravans in one death" (Pusey).
(2) The defiance of all opposition. "Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him." So Nebuchadnezzar did with Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. (2Ki_24:15 2Ki_25:6, 2Ki_25:7; 2Ch_36:5-21)
(3) The capture of every stronghold. No fortress could withstand the Babylonian conqueror. Not even Tyre, "whose very name (Rock) betokened its strength" (Pusey). The most impregnable garrison seemed only to require that he should heap up a little dust against it, and it was taken,
6. Its daring impiety. Rushing on like a swollen torrent, like his own Euphrates when it overflows its banks, sweeping across the land like a tempestuous wind over the sandy desert, it overleaps all barriers and restraints both Divine and human, and stands convicted before God as a guilty transgressor.
7. Its shameless blasphemy. The culmination at once of its offence and of its guilt is that it deifies its own might, saying, "Lo, this my strength is my god!" Such was the spirit of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan_4:30) and of Belshazzar; (Isa_14:14) such will be that of the future antichrist. (2Th_2:4)
Learn:
1. That if God"s people sin they must look for chastisement (Deu_11:28; Psa_89:32)
2. That if God"s people are chastised for their offences, God"s enemiescannot hope to escape punishment for theirs. (1Pe_4:17, 1Pe_4:18)
3. That God can always lay his hand upon an instrument wherewith toinflict punishment upon his people. (Isa_10:5)
4. That wicked men and nations whom God employs in the execution of hisjudgments do not thereby escape responsibility for their own actions. (Isa_10:12)
5. That the deification of self is the last delusion of a foolish heart. (Gen_3:5)
Vers. 5-11The Divine working against evil and its doers.
We have expressed here God"s response to the impassioned appeal addressed to him by his servant. There is much that is suggestive in these words as bearing upon the Divine working against those who practise sin and who persist in its commission. Note
I THAT GOD IS NOT INDIFFERENT WITH RESPECT TO PREVAILING UNGODLINESS. The seer had asked, "How long?" (ver. 2). He was impatient of delay. But whilst there is this lingering on the part of God, so that "judgment against an evil work is not executed speedily" (Ecc_8:11) this is owing to the Divine long suffering and patience, and does not arise from indifference and unconcern being cherished by the Most High in reference to iniquity. Wrong doing is ever before him, is closely observed by him. It is the source of displeasure to him who is perfect in purity, and the requital of it will assuredly be experienced by transgressors. Though it may tarry, it will surely come. "I will work a work," etc. (ver. 5).
II THAT GOD, IN THE ORDER OF HIS PROVIDENCE, IN EXECUTING HIS JUDGMENTS, OVERRULES THE ACTIONS OF EVIL MEN, AND CAUSES THESE TO FULFIL HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. The verses contain a wonderfully graphic account of the Chaldeans who were to be the instruments of the Divine chastisement of Judah (compare with them, Isa_14:6, Isa_14:16, Isa_14:17) and whilst in reading them, so vivid is the portrayal, that we seem to see the Chaldean horsemen sweeping through the land like the simoom, causing death and desolation to follow in their track, we also have presented to us certain traits most clearly indicative of their gross wickedness.
(1) Their proud ambition to possess the dwelling places that were not theirs (ver. 6);
(2) their fierceness and cruelty (ver. 7);
(3) their self-sufficiency (ver. 7);
(4) their scorn and contemnt. (ver. 10) and their blasphemy (ver. 11); all pass in review before us. And these were chosen to be the executorsof the Divine judgments! "For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans" (ver. 6). The meaning is that God, in his providence, would permit "that bitter and hasty nation" to be a scourge to his chosen people on account of their transgression. The Chaldeans, in seeking their own ends, should be made to fulfil the Divine behests. Man is wondrously free to act; and he often does act without any regard to truth and righteousness. The world, indeed, is full of evil doers acting according to their own devices; but "he that sitteth in the heavens" is guiding and directing all to the accomplishment of his own high purposes and to the fulfilment of his holy and gracious will.
III THAT GOD, IN OPERATING AGAINST EVIL AND ITS DOERS, SOMETIMES EMPLOYS UNEXPECTED AGENTS. "The Hebrew state was at this time in close alliance with the Chaldean state, an alliance so close and friendly that the Hebrew politicians had no fear of its rupture.
Yet it was in this wholly unexpected form that the Divine judgment was to come upon them. The Chaldeans in whom they trusted, on whom they leaned, were to give the death blow to the dynasty of David." All the material and moral forces of the universe are under the Divine control, and in ways and by means little anticipated his retributions often overtake his adversaries.
IV THAT THIS DIVINE WORKING AGAINST EVIL AND ITS DOERS RECEIVES BUT TARDY RECOGNITION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT FROM MAN. (Ver. 5.) The retributions have to light upon them ere they will believe. "They cry, Peace and safety: till sudden destruction comes upon them". (1Th_5:3) So has it been in the past, and so, upon the authority of Christ, will it be in the future. (Mat_24:27-29) Still, amidst this unconcern and unbelief, the duty of the messenger of God is clear. He must "cry aloud." He must bid men "behold," "regard," and "wonder," and then, "whether they hear or forbear;" "he has delivered his soul. S.D.H.
Vers. 5-10The doom of a nation of conventional religionists.
ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation; which shall march through the breadth of the land," etc. In these verses we have the doom of a nation of conventional religionists. The Jews were such a nation; they prided themselves in the orthodoxy of their faith, in the ceremonials of their worship, in the polity of their Church. "To them pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service of God, and the promises". (Rom_9:4) But they had now become abhorrent to their Maker. He was weary of them, and he threatens them with a terrible doom; the doom was so terrible that "ye will not believe, though it be told you." The doom threatened was terrible in many respects.
I IT WAS TO BE WROUGHT BY THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF A WICKED NATION. "I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to posen the dwelling places that are not theirs." "Nabopolassar had already destroyed the mighty empire of Assyria, and founded the Chaldeo-Babylonian rule. He had made himself so formidable that Necho found it necessary to march an army against him, in order to check his progress; and, though defeated at Megiddo, he had, in conjunction with his son Nebuchadnezzar, gained a complete victory over the Egyptians at Carehemish. These events were calculated to alarm the Jews, whose country lay between the dominions of the two contending powers; but, accustomed as they were to confide in Egypt and in the sacred localities of their own capital (Isa_31:1; Jer_7:4) and being in alliance with the Chaldeans, they were indisposed to listen to, and treated with the utmost incredulity, any predictions which described their overthrow by that people" (Henderson). Observe that God employs wicked nations as his instruments. "Lo, I raise up the Chaldeans." "I will work a work," he says; but how? By the Chaldeans. How does he raise up wicked nations to do his work?
1. Not instigatingly. He does not inspire them with wicked passions necessary to qualify them for the infernal work of violence, war, rapine, bloodshed. God could not do this. The diabolic passions are in them.
2. Not coercively. He does not force them to it; in no way does he interfere with them. They are the responsible party. They go forth on the bloody message with a consciousness of freedom. How, then, does he "raise" them up? He permits them. He could prevent them; but he allows them. He gives them life, capacity, and opportunities; but he does not inspire or coerce them. Now, would not the fact that the destruction of the Israelites would come upon them from a heathen nation, a nation which they despised, make it all the more terrible?
II IT WAS TO BE WROUGHT WITH RESISTLESS VIOLENCE.
1. The violence would be uncontrolled. "Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves." They recognize no authority, and proudly spurn the dictates of others. "They recognize no judge save themselves, and they get for themselves their own dignity, without needing others" help. It will be vain for the Jews to complain of their tyrannical judgments, for whatever the Chaldeans decree they will do according to their own will: they will not brook any one attempting to interfere" (Fausset).
2. The violence would be rapid and fierce. "Their horses are swifter than the leopards." A naturalist says of the leopard that it runs most swiftly, straight on, and you would imagine it was flying through the air. "More fierce than the evening wolves." These ravenous beasts, having skulked all the day away from the light of heaven, get terribly hungry by the night, and come forth with a fierce voracity. Like the swift leopards and the ravenous wolves, we are here told, these Chaldeans would come forth. Yes, and swifter and more ravenous than the wolves, like the hungry eagle on its pinions that "hasteth to eat." What a terrible description of their doom! Alas! into what a monster sin has transformed man! he becomes leopard, wolf, eagle, etc.
III IT WAS TO BE WROUGHT WITH IMMENSE HAVOC. "Their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every stronghold; for they shall heap dust, and take it." As the east wind, they would sweep through the country, like the simoom, spreading devastation wherever it passed; and like that wind would bear away the Jews into captivity, thick as the sand. "They shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them." They would regard all the great magnates of Judaea with a haughty contempt, and treat them with derision. And so would they be in their bloody expedition. They would regard their very conquering power as their god, and worship their success.
CONCLUSION. All this was to come upon a nation of conventional reglionists. All peoples whose religion is that of profession, letter, form, ceremony, are exposed to a doom as terrible as this. D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v5 I will work a work in your days, which…
Hab_1:5-10
I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
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The doom of a nation of conventional religionists
The Jews were such a nation. They prided themselves in the orthodoxy of their faith, in the ceremonials of their worship, in the polity of their Church. The doom threatened was terrible in many respects.
I. It was to be wrought by the instrumentality of a wicked nation. I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs. Nabopolassar had already destroyed the mighty empire of Assyria, and founded the Chaldeo-Babylonian rule. He had made himself so formidable that Necho found it necessary to march an army against him, in order to check his progress; and though defeated at Megiddo, he had, in conjunction with his son Nebuchadnezzar, gained a complete victory over the Egyptians at Carchemish. These events were calculated to alarm the Jews, whose country lay between the dominions of the two contending powers; but, accustomed as they were to confide in Egypt and in the sacred localities of their own capital (Isa_31:1; Jer_7:4), and being in alliance with the Chaldeans, they were indisposed to listen to, and treated with the utmost incredulity, any predictions which described their overthrow by that people (Henderson). God employs wicked nations as His instruments. I will work a work. He says, but how? By the Chaldeans. How does He raise up wicked nations to do His work?
1. Not instigatingly. He does not inspire them with wicked passions necessary to qualify them for the infernal work of violence, war, rapine, bloodshed. God could not do this.
2. Not coercively. He does not force them to it, in no way does He interfere with them. They are the responsible party. How then does He raise them up? He permits them. He could prevent them; but He allows them. He gives them life, capacity, and opportunities. Now, would not the fact that their destruction would come upon them from a heathen nation, a nation which they despised, make it all the more terrible?
II. IT WAS TO BE WROUGHT WITH RESISTLESS VIOLENCE.
1. The violence would be uncontrolled. Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. They recognise no authority, and proudly spurn the dictates of others. They recognise no judge save themselves, and they get for themselves in their own dignity, without needing others help.
2. The violence would be rapid and fierce. Swifter than the leopard. Evening wolves.
III. It was to be wrought with immense havoc. In the east wind, or simoom; spreading destruction everywhere. (Homilist.)
The Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation.
The Chaldeans
Very graphic is the description of this new and formidable enemy. Gather four lessons for ourselves.
I. The evil of sin. It separates the soul from God. Wherever sin is it makes the prophets roll to be written within and without. Lamentation, and weeping, and woe. All unrighteousness is sin.
II. National sins lead to national judgments. They are said to defile a land, and to be a reproach to any people. Direct judgments come on a nation for its sin; as on Sodom and Gomorrah, Egypt, Israel, etc. Then let our nation take heed.
III. The power of little things. He heapeth up dust, and taketh it. That is, the king of Babylon, by means of mounds of dust, would put himself on a level with the besieged, and rapidly overcome them. It needs no great means when God is using the instrument.
IV. The danger of false security. They shall deride every stronghold. When the Lord God is not there, the defence is vain. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth in, and is safe. Every false hiding-place will be swept away in the coining storm. Last year I saw in Pompeii a cellar where eighteen persons had fled for safety in the time of the great overthrow, but it was a false refuge. They were all lost. There is something like that in spiritual things. Many souls are hiding in a refuge of lies. They are trusting to their own merits, or to Gods uncovenanted goodness apart from Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Without Christ, the God man, you are defenceless and exposed to storm and tempest. (A. C. Thiselton.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v5 Hab_1:5-11]. God’s answer to the complaint. Behold] prophet and…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Hab_1:5-11]. God’s answer to the complaint. Behold] prophet and people. God is about to act, and they will be terrified at its results (cf. Act_13:41).
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Hab_1:6. Raise] To make incursions and at length conquer Judea (cf. 2 Kings 24, 25). Bitter] i.e. cruel (Jer_50:42; cf. marg. Jdg_18:25; 2Sa_17:8). Hasty] Rash and impetuous.
Hab_1:7. Their] As they had raised themselves to this dignity so they would permit none to share in their counsels and determinations, but would act in the most arbitrary manner [Henderson].
Hab_1:8. Leopards] which leap seventeen or eighteen feet at a spring. Evening wolves] fasting all day, are keen in hunger and commit ravages on the flocks at night (Gen_49:27; Jer_5:6). The eagerness of cavalry to plunder would be so great that fatigue in the march would be nothing. Like the flight of an eagle] would they rush along (cf. Jer_4:13; Jer_48:40, and Lam_4:19).
Hab_1:9. Violence] Not to administer justice. Faces] Presence. Sup] Swallow all before them. They pass along like a tempestuous wind. Sand] Prisoners gathered like dust by the simoom in the desert.
Hab_1:10. Scoff] Resistance impossible and laughed at. Heap] Heap mounds of earth, according to the usual method of taking a fortress.
HOMILETICS
THE WONDERFUL WORK.—Hab_1:5
We have in these words an answer to the prophet’s question. God is not an unconcerned spectator. He will vindicate his glory, and unexpected vengeance will fall upon the transgressors.
I. The Work is Divine. “I will work a work.” God hears the complaints of his servants and remembers the taunt of the wicked, who cry, “Where is now their God?” God is the agent, though the heathen execute his judgments. He intends and he carries out; “work a work” in solemnity and power. “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.”
II. The Work is nigh at hand. “In your days.” That generation would not pass before its accomplishment. Already the clouds blacken: the judgments may be suspended, but will break forth in startling thunder. This evil day cannot be put off. “It is nigh at hand, and not afar off.”
III. The Work is wonderful. “Wonder marvellously.” In its nature it was not common, and in its effects it would be alarming. It would be strange and unparalleled among other nations and in their own history; spectators “among the heathen” would be surprised. “Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?” (Deu_29:24; Deu_28:37).
IV. The Work is incredible. “You will not believe, though it be told you.” The Jews did not credit the prediction of such alarming events; accustomed to confide in their cities (Isa_31:1; Jer_7:4), and in Egyptian strength, they believed they were too powerful to be overcome. Men now will not believe in the judgments of God, though they loom in the threatenings. They are stupefied by sin, despise the Word of God, and go on until the curse falls upon them. Fearful is the punishment of those who presume upon security in evil. “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.”
V. The Work demands attention. “Behold ye.” The call is solemn and Divine. Behold, since language, the ministry of the prophet, and the complaints of the oppressed, will not do. God will try something else which shall be heard. “I will work,” be patient and silent no longer. Behold, the heathen spectators of their sins will be instruments of their sorrows. This beholding must be attentive; regard, not mere gazing. The matter demands serious and earnest consideration. The overthrow of the Jews is a warning to all, a proof that sin will be fearfully punished if persisted in and the way of escape rejected. “Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to workers of iniquity?”
THE WONDERFUL WORK ACCOMPLISHED.—Hab_1:5-10
We have now a particular description of the calamities to be inflicted. The Chaldeans, in their preparations and dispositions, in their victories and devastations, are exactly set forth, to confirm the truth and display the justice of God. The Jews are repaid in their own coin, and the dreadful judgments are inflicted.
I. In raising up a mighty nation. “For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans,” &c. God never lacks instruments to prosecute his design. He can fetch them from afar and dispose them to his will, though already elated with victory and power.
1. A nation naturally fierce. “That bitter and hasty nation.” They are cruel and impetuous, unmerciful, and resolute in their course. They spare no pains and show no pity. Hopeless is the condition of those who fall into their hands. “They hold the bow and the lance” to brandish before the foe; “they are cruel and will not show mercy.”
2. A nation terribly strong. “They are terrible and dreadful.” They are great in numbers, armed with Divine vengeance, and emboldened by former conquests. By the force of terror and the dread of death they gain submission.
3. A nation blindly covetous. They will not only overcome, but rob the land and “possess the dwellings that are not theirs.” It is not merely to overturn others, they also take their possessions. But the dwellings “are not theirs” by right, only held while God pleases, and then lost again. The rights of society and the interests of others are nothing to the covetous. They fatten on the miseries of men, and consider not that poverty will come upon themselves (Pro_18:20-22).
4. A nation proudly ambitious. They roam through the land, violently subdue everything before them, and deport themselves in pride and insolence. They “pass over” in quest of glory to fresh booty and new wars. The mightiest empires have been crushed by the weight of their own greatness. In their own ambitious ends they have gone beyond bounds, and brought their own ruin. When our energies are directed to personal aggrandisement and despotic rule we may expect a fall. “Pride,” says Gurnall, “takes for its motto great I and little you.” “Think not thy own shadow longer than that of others,” says Sir Thomas Browne, “nor delight to take the altitude of thyself.” Ambition and pride are often the precursors of ruin. “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
II. In giving them an easy victory. In the figures mentioned, we notice—
1. That the conquest is irresistible. “Their horses are swifter than the leopards,” the lightest, swiftest, and most bloodthirsty of beasts of prey. “They shall fly as the eagle,” hastening to devour what it has secured. “Our persecutors are swifter than eagles of the heavens” (Lam_4:19; Eze_17:3).
2. That the conquest is violent. “They shall come all for violence.” The enemy would sweep over them like the east wind, blasting and bearing down everything before it. Gathering the people “as the sand,” and burying them like caravans in heaps of destruction.
3. That the conquest is easy. No opposition will hinder them from performing their work. (a) The power of kings was laughed at. Princes and confederates would be exposed to greatest contempt and most ignominious treatment. Kings will be put down and set up in pleasure and in sport. “They shall scoff at the kings.” (b) The strength of fortifications was derided. Forts and strongholds in which men trust will prove matters of derision to the agents of God’s vengeance. “They shall deride every stronghold.” The mightiest fort will be captured and levelled in the dust. “For they shall heap dust and take it.”
4. That the conquest is complete. “Which shall march through the breadth of the land.” Far and wide they spread terror and death. Unhindered and irresistible they swept over the earth. Kings fled in fear, palaces were plundered with violence, and lands were taken by force. They did as they liked. Their own lust was their law. No power of God or man seemed to limit them in the infliction of judgment upon the Jews, or in getting honour for themselves. God sometimes puts the stubborn and rebellious into the hands of those who measure justice by their own judgment and honour by their own dignity. “Their judgment and their dignity shall come of themselves”—
“The good old rule
Sufficeth them, the simple plan,
That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can” [Wordsworth].
EVENING WOLVES.—Hab_1:8
Wolves are very fierce when urged to rabidness by a whole day’s hunger. They prowl forth in that darkness in which all the beasts of the forests creep forth (Psa_104:20). Such is the disposition of some men towards their fellow-creatures. These evening wolves typify—
I. False teachers. False prophets are compared to “ravening wolves,” rapacious, mischievous, and injurious to the flock of God (Mat_7:15). We are warned against heretics, and false guides, such as Hymenæus, Alexander, and Philetus. “After my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock” (Act_20:29).
II. Cruel persecutors. With relentless spite some men pursue others. Christians are wilfully misrepresented in character and conduct; reviled, insulted, and spitefully used (Mat_5:11). Evil men, as “lions seeking whom they may devour,” pursue them in envy. With keen scent and eager feet they are swift to shed innocent blood. “The assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul.”
III. Anxious cares. The cares of this world devour the good in the heart. Domestic life and business impair the growth of Christian character. Excessive care destroys peace, induces loss of temper, hinders prayer, and hurries into dangerous conduct. “Be careful for nothing.”
IV. Distracting doubts. Doubts and fears distress the mind, hide the light of God’s countenance, and pursue us like evening wolves.
“To doubt
Is worse than to have lost: and to despair,
Is but to antedate those miseries
That must fall on us” [Massinger].
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Hab_1:6. He is said to raise up those whom he allows to be stirred up against his people, since the events which his providence permits favours their designs, and it rests with him to withhold them. They lift themselves up for some end of covetousness or pride. But there is a higher order of things in which God orders their actions to fulfil by their iniquities his righteousness [Pusey].
Hab_1:8.
1. God’s hand is seen in furnishing the enemies of his people with all necessary qualifications for carrying on their enterprise. Boldness, swiftness, number, &c.
2. The fierceness of the Divine anger may be read in the celerity and activity with which they execute their designs.
3. It is vain for impenitent sinners to lean upon any apparent ground of security or confidence when God arises to plead with them. Distance of places, extent of country, and strength of buildings will not avail [cf. Hutcheson].
Hab_1:9. Violence. Learn,
1. That God often repays violence with violence.
2. Yet those employed by God to punish others may sin themselves by lust and self-aggrandizement.
East Wind. “The East Wind, it seemeth, was the most unwholesome breath of heaven upon that land; within short time withered and destroyed the fruits of the earth, and the hopes of the spring. The Lord saith that the faces of the Chaldeans, the very sight of them, shall be as baneful and as irresistible as the East Wind.” The cruelties of men, the calamities which attend wars and conquests, ought to invite sinners not to provoke God to give them up to such punishment—to terrify such as fear not the threatenings of the Word, and to point out to those suffering such a lot, the bitterness of departing from God [Hutcheson].
Hab_1:2-11. How utterly incomprehensible are the Judgments of God!
1. Incomprehensible in their delay, to the view of those who have no patience, and think that God ought to act as speedily as their anger prompts them (vers.2, 3).
2. Incomprehensible in their threatening, to those upon whom they will fall, and who nevertheless continue to sin in security (Hab_1:4).
3. Incomprehensible to every human mind in their realization. For—(a) They are greater than any human thought would anticipate (Hab_1:5-6). (b) They take place in ways and by means of which no man would dream (Hab_1:6). (c) They are often brought about by men and events that, at first sight, have nothing in common with God.
4. Incomprehensible in their grandeur and universality, to those by whom they are accomplished (Hab_1:11) [Lange].
God’s deeds are always Niphlaoth, and have on them something to excite wonder and astonishment. Incredible as they seem, we know that they will be performed, from past history, present signs, and the light of God’s Word. How they are to happen is a mystery. It is ours to fear, believe, and obey. Regard the threatening, and escape the danger.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Hab_1:5. Wonder. Others only look and wonder, the Christian only looks and loves [Hurrion].
Hab_1:6-11. Bitter. An envious man waxeth lean with the fatness of his neighbours. Envy is the daughter of pride, the beginner of secret sedition, and the perpetual torment of virtue [Socrates].
Hab_1:7. Dignity. Self-assumed superiority of the Chaldeans. “Every man has just as much vanity as he wants understanding” [Pope].
“They whose wit
Values itself so highly, that to that
All matters else seem weak, can hardly love,
Or take a shape or feeling of affection,
Being so self-endeared” [Shakespeare].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v5 for I will work
for I will work
Hab 1:5 anticipates the dispersion "among the nations" (cf) Deu 28:64-67. While Israel as a nation is thus dispersed, Jehovah will "work a work" which Israel "will not believe." Act 13:37-41, interprets this prediction of the redemptive work of Christ. It is significant that Paul quotes this to Jews of the dispersion in the synagogue at Antioch.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv5, 8 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh responds to Habakkuk.
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be amazed and astonished
The words "amazed" and "astonished" share similar meanings. Together they emphasize the strength of the emotion. AT: "be very amazed" (See: Doublet)
in your days
This idiom refers to Habakkuk's lifetime. AT: "during your lifetime" (See: Idiom)
when it is reported to you
This can be stated in active form. AT: "when someone reports it to you" or "when you hear about it" (See: Active or Passive)
look!
The word "look!" here alerts us to pay attention to the surprising information that follows.
I am about to raise up the Chaldeans
Yahweh speaks of making the Chaldeans powerful as if he were raising them up. AT: "I am about to make the Chaldeans very powerful" (See: Metaphor)
impetuous
Possible meanings are 1) "violent" or 2) "hasty."
the breadth of the land
This can mean 1) everywhere in Judah or 2) everywhere in the world. This would be an exaggeration to emphasize how powerful the Chaldean army is. (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
They are terrifying and fearsome
The words "terrifying" and "fearsome" share similar meanings. Together they emphasize the fear that the Chaldeans instilled in other people. AT: "They cause others to be greatly terrified" (See: Doublet)
their judgment and splendor proceed from themselves
The word "splendor" represents their pride in how they view themselves. Yahweh speaks of their opinion of themselves as if the qualities of judgment and splendor came from them. AT: "because they are prideful, they decide for themselves what judgment looks like" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
translationWords
nation
believe
Chaldea
judge
splendor
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv5, 7, 8, 9 1:5-11 God’s answer to Habakkuk’s question is startling. God…
1:5-11 God’s answer to Habakkuk’s question is startling. God would send a violent people—the Babylonians—to deal with the violence in Judah. The Babylonian army, well-trained and battle-hardened, was an unstoppable force.
1:5 Look . . . look: Two different Hebrew verbs, both of which are here translated look, are translated as see and watch in 1:3. This forms a literary link between Habakkuk’s questions in 1:3 and God’s reply in 1:5-11.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.