“What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?
Parallel Translations
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“What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?
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What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
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What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it, even the molten image, and the teacher of lies; that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Habakkuk 2:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 10:8 But they are together brutish and foolish, instructed by idols! It is just wood.
- Isaiah 44:9-10 Everyone who makes a carved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that they may be disappointed. Who has fashioned a god, or molds an image that is profitable for nothing?
- Zechariah 10:2 For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore they go their way like sheep. They are oppressed, because there is no shepherd.
- 1 Corinthians 12:2 You know that when you were heathen, you were led away to those mute idols, however you might be led.
- Jeremiah 2:27-28 who tell wood, ‘You are my father,’ and a stone, ‘You have given birth to me,’ for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us!’ “But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble; for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.
- Isaiah 42:17 “Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed.
- Psalms 115:4-8 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they don’t speak. They have eyes, but they don’t see. They have ears, but they don’t hear. They have noses, but they don’t smell. They have hands, but they don’t feel. They have feet, but they don’t walk, neither do they speak through their throat. Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.
- Psalms 135:15-18 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they can’t speak. They have eyes, but they can’t see. They have ears, but they can’t hear, neither is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, yes, everyone who trusts in them.
- Isaiah 45:16 They will be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them. Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together.
- Isaiah 45:20 “Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save.
- Jeremiah 10:14-15 Every man has become brutish and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation they will perish.
- Jonah 2:8 Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie;
- Isaiah 1:31 The strong will be like tinder, and his work like a spark. They will both burn together, and no one will quench them.”
- Isaiah 37:38 As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.
- Isaiah 44:14-20 He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest. He plants a cypress tree, and the rain nourishes it. Then it will be for a man to burn; and he takes some of it, and warms himself. Yes, he burns it, and bakes bread. Yes, he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. He burns part of it in the fire. With part of it, he eats meat. He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. Yes, he warms himself, and says, “Aha! I am warm. I have seen the fire.” The rest of it he makes into a god, even his engraved image. He bows down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, “Deliver me; for you are my god!” They don’t know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can’t see; and their hearts, that they can’t understand. No one thinks, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, “I have burned part of it in the fire. Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals. I have roasted meat and eaten it. Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination? Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?” He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can’t deliver his soul, nor say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?”
- Isaiah 46:1-2 Bel bows down. Nebo stoops. Their idols are carried by animals, and on the livestock. The things that you carried around are heavy loads, a burden for the weary. They stoop and they bow down together. They could not deliver the burden, but they have gone into captivity.
- Isaiah 46:6-8 Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down— yes, they worship. They bear it on their shoulder. They carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands there. It cannot move from its place. Yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer. It cannot save him out of his trouble. “Remember this, and show yourselves men. Bring it to mind again, you transgressors.
- Jeremiah 10:3-5 For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax. They deck it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers, so that it can’t move. They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and don’t speak. They must be carried, because they can’t move. Don’t be afraid of them; for they can’t do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”
- Jeremiah 50:2 “Declare among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don’t conceal: say, ‘Babylon has been taken, Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed! Her images are disappointed. Her idols are dismayed.’
- Romans 1:23-25 and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, four-footed animals, and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves; who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
- Romans 6:21 What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
- 1 Timothy 4:1-2 But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron,
- Revelation 13:11-15 I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He performs great signs, even making fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the sight of people. He deceives my own people who dwell on the earth because of the signs he was granted to do in front of the beast, saying to those who dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast who had the sword wound and lived. It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as wouldn’t worship the image of the beast to be killed.
- Revelation 19:20 The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (19 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet now advances farther, and shows that whatever…
The Prophet now advances farther, and shows that whatever he had predicted of the future ruin of Babylon and of its monarchy, proceeded from the true God, from the God of Israel: for it would not have been sufficient to hold, that some deity existed in heaven, who ruled human affairs, so that it could not be, but that tyrants would have to suffer punishment for their cruelty. We indeed know that such sayings as these were everywhere common among heathen nations—that justice sits with Jupiter—that there is a Nemesis—that there is Divine vengeance. Since then such a conviction had ever been imprinted on the hearts of men, it would have been a frigid and almost an empty doctrine, had not the Prophet introduced the God of Israel. This is the reason why he now derides all idols, and claims for God the government of the whole world, and clearly shows that he speaks of the Jews, because they worshipped no imaginary gods, as the heathen nations, but plainly understood him to be the creator of heaven and earth, who revealed himself to Abraham, who gave his law by the hand of Moses. We now perceive the Prophet’s design.
As then the king of Babylon did himself worship his own gods, the Prophet dissipates that vain confidence, by which he might be deceived and deceive others. Hence he says, What avails the graven image? He speaks here contemptuously of images formed by men’s hands. And he adds a reason, because the maker has graven it, he says. Interpreters give a sense that is very jejune, as though the Prophet had said, “What avails a graven image, when it is graven or melted by its artificer?” But the Prophet shows here the reason why the worship of idols is useless, and that is, because these gods are made of dead materials. And then he says, “What deity can the artificer produce?” We hence see that a reason is given in these words, and therefore we may more clearly render them thus—“What avails the graven image, when the framer has graven it?” that is, since the graven image has its origin from the hand and skill of man, what can it avail? He then adds, he has formed a molten image; that is, though the artificer has given form to the metal, or to the wood, or to the stone, yet he could not have changed its nature. He has indeed given it a certain external appearance; but were any one to ask what it is, the answer would surely be, “It is a graven image.” Since then its nature is not changed by the work of man, it evidently appears, how stupid and mad must all those be who put their trust in graven images.
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He then adds, and a teacher of falsehood. He added this clause, because men previously entertain false notions, and dare not to form a judgement on the matter itself. For, how comes it that a piece of wood or a stone is called a god? Had any one asked the sages at Rome or at Athens, or in other cities, who thought all other nations barbarous, What is that? on seeing a Jupiter made of silver; or of wood, or of stone, the answer would have been, “It is Jupiter, it is God.” But how could this be? It is a stone, a piece of wood, or of silver. They would yet have asserted that it was God. Whence came this madness? Even from this, because men were bewitched, so that seeing they saw not; they wilfully closed their eyes, and resolved to be blind, being unwilling to understand. This is the reason why the Prophet, by way of anticipation, says, the artificer has formed —what has he formed? a graven image and a teacher of falsehood. The material remains the same, but a false notion prevails, for men think idols to be gods. How come they to think so? It is no doubt the teaching of falsehood, a mere illusion. He then confirms the same thing; the fashioner, or the artificer, he says, trusts in his own work, or in what he has formed. How is this? Must they not be void of sense and reason who trust in lifeless things? “The workman,” as Isaiah says, “will take his instruments, will form an idol, and then he will bow the knee, and call it his god; yet it is the work of his own hands.” What! art not thou thyself a god? thou knowest thine own frailty, and yet thou createst new gods! Even in this manner does the Prophet confirm what he had previously said, that men are extremely stupid, nay, that they are seized with monstrous sottishness, when they ascribe a kind of deity to wood, or to a stone, or to metal. How so? because they are, he says, false imaginations.
And he adds, that he may make dumb idols. He again repeats what he had said,—that the nature of the material is not changed by men’s workmanship, when they form to themselves gods either from wood or from stone. How so? because they cannot speak. To the same purpose is what immediately follows; the next verse must therefore be added. We shall afterwards say something more on the general subject.
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 He showeth that the Babylonians’ gods could nothing avail…
He showeth that the Babylonians’ gods could nothing avail them, for they were but blocks or stones, read Jer. 10:8.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Hab 2:18 What profiteth the graven image that the…
Hab 2:18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
Ver. 18. What profiteth the graven image] The Chaldees promised themselves much help against their enemies from their idols; and were ready to say, as that Roman emperor, Antoninus, the philosopher, did, when he was to meet his enemy, Non sic deos coluimus, ut ille nos vinceret: We have not so served the gods as that he should overcome us. The prophet here rejecteth their confidence, and layeth open their folly. See the like Jer 10:8; Jer 10:14-15 Zec 10:2 Isa 44:16-17, &c. Confer Jer 51:47; Jer 51:52 Eze 20:30; Eze 20:32.
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That the maker thereof hath graven it] And can he hope for help from the work of his own hands? can the image give that to others which it hath not for itself? In Henry VIII’s time one Mr Cotismore was accused of heresy, for saying that images were but carpenter’s chips; and that when men go to offer to them, they did it to show their new gear. The men of Cockram, not pleased with their new rood, quarrelled with the joiner, and refused to pay him; he complained to the mayor of Doncaster, who gave them this counsel: Pay the poor man his money, and go your ways home, and look on it, and if it will not serve for a god, make no more ado, but clap a pair of horns on his head, and so he will make an excellent devil. This the parishioners took well in worth; the poor man had his money, and various laughed well at itt; but so did not the Babylonish priests, saith Mr Fox. Horace brings in Priapus, that ridiculous garden god, saying thus,
“ Olim truncus cram ficulnus, &c. ”
He thought no otherwise of the images of Jupiter, and the rest; but durst not say so, for fear of the people. So that of him it might be said, as Augustine doth of Seneca, who wrote a book against superstitions, but colebat quod reprehendebat, agebat quod arguebat, quod culpabat, adorabat, he reproved them, but yet used them (De Civ. Dei, lib. 6. c. 10).
The molten image, and a teacher of lies] Pictura falsa veritas est, saith one. It is but a shadow of the person that it representeth. God cannot be pictured or expressed by any image. Images of Christ are not only defects, but also lies, saith the homily against peril of idolatry, set forth in Queen Elizabeth’s days. Irenseus reproveth the Gnostics for carrying about the images of Christ, made in Pilate’s time, after his own proportion. Lactantius saith that there is no religion where there is an image. Varro had said the same long before him, as Austin reciteth him. Plutarch saith it is sacrilege to worship by images, and telleth us that Numa forbad the Romans the use of images in temples; neither had they any for the first 170 years together; no more had the Persians, saith Strabo, nor the old Germans, saith Tacitus. The old Britons indeed had their idols, Portenta diabolica (so Gildas calleth them), pene numero Aegyptiaca vincentia, ugly for shape, and almost as many as the Egyptians for number. These all fell down together, when Christ was first known here (as they say the Egyptian idols did, when Christ with his parents fled thither, for fear of Herod), but antichrist soon set up others in their stead, and taught the people that they were laymen’s books. But if they be lying teachers (as here they are called) they must be lying books too; and therefore not to be read by any that would receive the love of the truth, that they may be saved. Bern, in Switzerland, was the first town that, after the Reformation, was purged of images; making a bonfire of them on an Ash Wednesday. The like was done here in England, in King Edward VI’s reign, on that very day wherein the victory was gotten at Mussleborough, in Scotland; and now I hope we are rid of them for ever. The Turks will not endure them, no, not upon their coins; because of the second commandment; for they also do so honour piece of paper wherein anything of his is written, and do exceedingly hate Papists for their abominable idolatry; as do likewise the Jews.
That the maker of his work trusteth therein] Which he would never do, if not bewitched and bereft of his right mind. To trust in a god of a man’s own making is a prodigious error, a stupendous stupidity.
To make dumb idols] In the Hebrew there is an elegant alliteration, Elilim illemim, speechless, No-gods, that give no answer to their suitors, and
“ quorum sunt numina nomina tantum. ”
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 Here the prophet removes the confidences of Babylon; she…
Here the prophet removes the confidences of Babylon; she would boast of her gods, and depend on them, but this will be vain and unprofitable, it is not imaginable that these idols should help these persons.
The graven image; carved in wood, or stone, for of such materials did these idolmakers sometimes make their gods.
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The maker: it is brutish folly in any one to value, or desire to be helped, by such lifeless idols, but it is greatest folly for him that makes the image, that remember how it was hewed, plead, tumbled about, and all this without the least degree of sense or feeling of what it suffered; and can that be sensible of my sorrows which feels not any thing itself?
The molten image; idols made of gold or silver, or any other rustle metal, were framed out of the metal first melted, and are therefore called molten images.
A teacher of lies; but whether graven or molten, yet all such images are but teachers of lies, Jer 10:8,14. They withdraw the mind from God, our true and only helper, and bewitch men to trust to idols, in which is no help, which ever proved lies to all that trusted on them.
That the maker; who knows, for he saw that there was no life, strength, or wisdom in one or other; it is shameless in any, but most in him that made the idol, to worship his own work, and rely upon that which he knows hath no eyes, or hands, or ears, but what his tool framed for it.
His work; his own work, and yet his god! the product of his art, and yet the hope of his soul! O brutish folly, self-contradiction!
Trusteth therein; resteth confident of defence, and rescue from evil, by it.
Dumb idols; which neither can answer a question, nor give a direction in a strait; can neither promise good to a friend, nor denounce a threat against an enemy.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Woe to him that saith to the wood, Awake,....…
Woe to him that saith to the wood, Awake,.... That saith to a wooden image, let him go by what name he will; saint such an one, or such an one; awake, arise, exert thyself on our behalf; deliver us from present danger; save us from our enemies; or pray and intercede for us, that we may be delivered and saved, as the Papists do; addressing a block of wood as they would God himself, or as his people do, Psa 44:23. This must be very displeasing and detestable to God, and therefore a woe is threatened to such idol worshippers: who also say
to the dumb stone, Arise; to the idol of stone, as the Targum; the stone statue, an image made of stone, such as the Papists have even of wood, and of stone, as well as of gold, and silver, and brass, Rev 9:20 and so stupid as to say to such stocks and stones, arise, stand up, and help us:
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it shall teach; the stone itself would teach them better, would they but consider what it is, look upon it, and handle it, when they would find it to be a mere stone, and no deity: or, "shall it teach?" so Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; no, it cannot teach any true doctrine, or direct to right worship; it cannot teach men their duty, or where they may have help; it is a dumb idol; it cannot teach men the nature of God, and the knowledge of him; or instruct in his mind and will; or inform of things secret or future:
it is laid over with gold and silver; it is made of stone, and covered with gold and silver; how should it teach?
and there is no breath at all in the midst of it; or, "no spirit" (o); so far from having the spirit of divinity in it, or the Spirit of God, that it has not the spirit of a man in it, nor even the spirit of a brute creature; it has not so much as animal breath, and so no life, motion, or activity in it; and therefore must be quite unprofitable to the worshipper of it; incapable of teaching those who apply to it; and they must be stupid that do it, and most righteously bring themselves under the displeasure and wrath of God, and expose themselves to the woe here denounced against such persons.
(o) "spiritus", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Burkius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 18. What profiteth the graven image] This is…
Verse 18. What profiteth the graven image] This is against idolatry in general, and every species of it, as well as against those princes, priests, and people who practice it, and encourage others to do the same. See on the parallel passages in the margin. (Isa 44:9-10; Isa 46:2)
Dumb idols?] אלילים אלמים elilim illemim, "dumb nothings." This is exactly agreeable to St. Paul, 1Co 8:4, who says, "An idol is nothing in the world." What signify the idols worshipped by the Chaldeans, Tyrians, and Egyptians? They have not been able to save their worshippers.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Hab 2:18-19. What profiteth the graven image — The…
Hab 2:18-19. What profiteth the graven image — The last sin that the prophet takes notice of, for which God would execute his judgments upon Babylon, is idolatry. Compare Jer 50:2; and Jer 51:44; Jer 51:47. But what he says was not intended to be confined to Nebuchadnezzar and the idols of Babylon: it is equally applicable to idols in general. What will they avail their worshippers in the day of danger, and when the Lord ariseth to take vengeance on them? The molten image, and a teacher of lies — Rather, a molten image, teaching lies. This was a very proper epithet for the image of an idol; because the worshippers of them thought that a deity, or a divine power, resided in them, when there was no such thing; and that God was like the work of men’s hands. That the maker of his work trusteth therein — Or, that the maker trusteth in his work; that any one should be so unreasonable and foolish as to trust in that as a god which he has made and fashioned with his own hands! To make him dumb idols — Which have mouths and speak not; which can neither hear nor answer his prayers, nor do him good or harm. Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver — They are beautified with a great deal of cost, on purpose to delude their ignorant worshippers, and make them fancy some divinity lodges within them. And there is no breath at all, &c. — They are altogether without life, sense, and motion.
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 What profiteth - (Hath profited) הועיל מה. Samuel warned…
What profiteth - (Hath profited) הועיל מה. Samuel warned them, “Serve the Lord with all your heart, and turn ye not aside; for (it would be) after vanities which will not profit nor deliver for they are vain:” and Jeremiah tells their past; “their prophets prophesied by Baal; and after things יועילי לא which profit not, have they gone.” Elsewhere the idol is spoken of as a thing “which will not profit” (future) “My people hath changed its glory יועיל בלא for that which profiteth not,” Jer 2:8, Jer 2:11. So Isaiah, “Who hath formed a god, הועיל לבלתי not to profit.” Isa 44:9.10. “The makers of a graven image are all of them vanity, and their desirable things יועילו בל will not profit.”
The graven image, that the maker therefore hath graven it? - What did Baal and Ashtaroth profit you? What availed it ever but to draw down the wrath of God? Even so neither shall it profit the Chaldaean. As their idols availed them not, so neither need they fear them. Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar were propagandists of their own belief and would destroy, if they could, all other worship, false or true : Nebuchadnezzar is thought to have set up his own image Dan. 3. Antichrist will set himself up as God 2Th 2:4; Rev 13:15-17. We may take warning at least by our own sins. If we had no profit at all from them, neither will the like profit others. the Jews did, in the main, learn this in their captivity.
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The molten image and teacher of lies - It is all one whether by “teacher of lies” we understand the idol , or its priest . For its priest gave it its voice, as its maker created its form. It could only seem to teach through the idol-priest. Isaiah used the title “teacher of lies,” of the false prophet Isa 9:14. It is all one. Zechariah combines them Zec 10:2; “The teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have had false dreams.”
That the maker of his work trusteth therein - This was the special folly of idolatry. The thing made must needs he inferior to its maker. It was one of the corruptions of idolatry that the maker of his own work should trust in what was wholly his own creation, what, not God, but himself created, what had nothing but what it had from himself . He uses the very words which express the relation of man to God, “the Framer” and “the thing framed.” Isa 29:16, “O your perverseness! Shall the framer be accounted as clay, theft the thing made should say of its Maker, He made me not, and the thing framed say of its Framer, He hath no hands?” The idol-maker is “the creator of his creature,” of his god whom he worships. Again the idol-maker makes “dumb idols” (literally, “dumb nothings”) in themselves nothings, and having no power out of themselves; and what is uttered in their name, are but lies. And what else are man’s idols of wealth, honor, fame, which he makes to himself, the creatures of his own hands or mind, their greatness existing chiefly in his own imagination before which he bows down himself, who is the image of God?
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 Thing, Protestants falsely, "image." (Haydock) --- This is addressed…
Thing, Protestants falsely, "image." (Haydock) --- This is addressed to all idolaters.
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 The powerlessness of the idols to save Babylon from…
The powerlessness of the idols to save Babylon from its doom is a fitting introduction to the last stanza (Hab 2:19), which, as the former four, begins with "Woe."
teacher of lies--its priests and prophets uttering lying oracles, as if from it.
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make dumb idols--Though men can "make" idols, they cannot make them speak.
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 Woe upon idolatry, 18-20.
Woe upon idolatry, 18-20.
The last strophe is unlike the preceding in that the “woe” does not stand at the beginning, but at the opening of Hab_2:19. In order to restore similarity many commentators place 19a, “Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise!” before Hab_2:18. This arrangement, 19a, 18, 19b, 20, would bring this strophe into accord with the four preceding, and would give a more satisfactory logical arrangement; but that it was the original order cannot be proved; if it was, the present order cannot be accounted for very easily, unless, with Nowack, we assume that Hab_2:18 is a later marginal note, which was inserted in the text in the wrong place.
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For this assumption there is insufficient evidence, and the omission of Hab_2:18 would make the strophe too brief.
18. What profiteth — A rhetorical question, equivalent to “It profiteth nothing”; the idols can render no help in the hour of calamity (Amo_2:4; 1Sa_12:21; Isa_44:10).
Graven image — See on Mic_5:13.
Molten image — See on Nah_1:14.
The maker thereof hath graven it — An expression of contempt; they are only the work of man; how can they be of any use?
Teacher of lies — Not the priest or prophet of the idol (Isa_9:15; compare Mic_3:11), but the idol itself (Amo_2:4; Zec_10:2), so called in contrast with Jehovah whose word is faithful and true.
To make dumb idols — Literally, dumb nothings (Isa_46:5-7; compare 1Co_12:2). It is foolish to trust in idols; it is foolish even to make them, for the maker cannot put life into them.
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 18–20. Fifth woe: the irrational idolatries of the Chaldean.…
18–20. Fifth woe: the irrational idolatries of the Chaldean. Isa_19:1; Isa_21:9
18. What profiteth the graven image?] The idea that the idols do not profit, i.e. save or deliver, is often expressed; 1Sa_12:21; Isa_44:10; Jer_2:8; Jer_2:11; Jer_16:19. Comp. Isaiah 46; Jeremiah 10.
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and a teacher of lies] Here the “teacher” is the idol itself, not its priest or prophet as in Isa_9:15, because the priest or prophet only expressed the indications or intimations given by the god. These intimations are called “lies,” Zec_10:2. The term teacher occurs in the name Oak Moreh (Gen_12:6), which was probably a “talking oak,” in which a deity resided and from which (whether through its rustling or otherwise, cf. 2Sa_5:24) oracles were drawn. Deu_11:30; cf. Jdg_9:37, the oak of the Meonenim (augurs).
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 (18) A teacher of lies.—Not the false prophet, but…
(18) A teacher of lies.—Not the false prophet, but the idol itself, as pointing out false ways in opposition to God, the teacher of truth.
That the maker . . .—Better, that he who frames his image trusts in it, so as to make dumb idols. Dumb nothings is, perhaps, the literal translation of e’lîlîm ill’mîm, and the words are chosen for their similarity of sound.
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(18-20) Woe on him who neglects Jehovah to worship dumb idols of his own making.
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 Vers. 18-2012. The fifth woe: for their idolatry.
Vers. 18-2012. The fifth woe: for their idolatry.
The final woe is introduced by an ironical question. The Chaldeans trusted in their gods, and attributed all their success to the divine protection; the prophet asks What good is this trust? What profiteth the graven image? . (comp. Isa_44:9, Isa_44:10; Jer_2:11) What is the good of all the skill and care that the artist has lavished on the idol? (For "graven" or "molten," see note on Nah_1:14) And a (even the) teacher of lies. The idol is so termed because it calls itself God and encourages its worshippers in lying delusions, in entire contrast to Jehovah who is Truth. From some variation in reading the LXX gives, fantasian yeudh, and Jerome, "imaginem falsam". (comp. Jer_10:14) Trusteth therein. The prophet derides the folly which supposes that the idol has powers denied to the man who made it. (Isa_29:16) Dumb idols; literally, dumb nothings. Sodwla (1Co_12:2, ei ta afwna. (comp. 1Co_10:19; Psa_115:5, etc.) There is a paronomasia in the Hebrew, elilim illemim.
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Vers. 18-20Worship, false and true.
The prophet, in recounting the sins of the Chaldeans, finally recalled to mind the idolatry prevailing amongst them. He thought of the temple of Bel, "casting its shadow far and wide over city and plain," and of the idolatrous worship of which it was the centre, and he broke forth in words expressive of the utmost scorn and contempt, and then closed his song by pointing to him who alone is worthy to receive the devout adoration and adoring praise of all the inhabitants of the earth. Notice
I HIS EXPOSURE OF THE WEAKNESS AND FOLLY OF IDOLATRY. (Vers. 18, 19.)
1. He appealed to experience. His own people unhappily had been betrayed into idolatry, and he asked them whether they had ever profited thereby (ver. 18).
2. He appealed to reason. The maker of anything must of necessity begreater than that which he fashions with his own hands and as the result of his own skill; hence what greater absurdity could there be than for the maker of a dumb idol to be reposing his trust in the thing he has formed (ver. 18)?
3. He denounced the idol priests, who, by using dumb idols as their instrument, made these "teachers of lies" (ver. 18).
4. He declared the hopelessness resulting from reposing trust in These."woe unto him!" etc. (ver. 19).
5. He indulged in scornful satire (ver. 19). This verse may be fittinglycompared with Elijah"s irony of speech addressed in Carmel to the prophets of Baal. (1Ki_18:27) The verse is more effectively rendered in the Revised Version
Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake! To the dumb stone, Arise! Shall this teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver: And there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
The weakness and folly of idolatry as practised in heathen lands is readily admitted by us; yet we are prone to forget that the idolatrous spirit may prevail even amongst those who are encompassed by influences eminently spiritual. Love of the aesthetical may lead us to become sensuous rather than spiritual in worship. Attachment to science may cause us to slight the supernatural and to deify nature. Desire for worldly success may result in our bowing down in the temple of Mammon; so that the counsel is still needed, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols". (1Jn_5:21)
II HIS PRESENTATION OF JEHOVAH AS BEING SUPREME AND AS ALONE ENTITLED TO THE REVERENT HOMAGE OF HUMAN HEARTS. "But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
1. The contrast presented here is truly sublime. From impotent idols theseer raises his thoughts and directs attention to the living God.
2. The temple in Jerusalem was the recognized dwelling place of God. Theprophet saw looming in the distance the invasion of his country by the idolatrous Chaldeans, followed by the destruction of the temple and the desecration of all he held so sacred in association with it. Still he was assured that through all the coming changes Jehovah would remain the Supreme Ruler and Controller. Unconfined to temples made with hands, their overthrow could not affect his role. "His throne is in the heavens;" he reigns there; and fills heaven and earth, dominating the universe, and guiding and overruling all to the accomplishment of his all-wise and loving purposes. "The Lord is in his holy temple.
3. Our true position as his servants is that of reverentially waiting beforehim, acquiescing in his will, trusting in his Word, assured that, despite the prevailing mysteries, the end shall reveal his wisdom and his love. He says to us, "Be still, and know that I am God." Then let no murmuring word be spoken, even when clouds and darkness seem to be round about him; the processes of his working are hidden from our weak view, but the issue is sure to vindicate the unerring wisdom and infinite graciousness of his rule. Happy the man who is led from doubt to faith, who, like this seer, beginning with the complaint, "O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!" etc., (Hab_1:2) is led through calm reflection and hallowed communion to cherish the conviction that "the Lord is in his holy temple, and that all the earth should keep silence before him. S.D.H.
Vers. 18, 19National wrongs ending in national woes. No. 5.
"What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it." We have said that the prophet denounces upon the Chaldeans, in vers. 6-19 of this chapter, five different woes of a most terrible nature. We have noticed four of them. This is the fifth and the last; and it is denounced on account of their idolatry. We have seen no translation of the text more faithful to the original than this, the Authorized Version. The note of Henderson on the text deserves quotation. "These verses expose the folly of idolatry, to which the Babylonians were wholly addicted. It might be supposed, from all the other stanzas having been introduced by a denunciatory ywh, "woe!" that a transposition has here taken place, and that the nineteenth verse ought to be read before the eighteenth; and Green has thus placed them in his translation. But there is a. manifest propriety in anticipating the inutility of idols, in close connection with what the prophet had just announced respecting the downfall of Babylon, before delivering his denunciation against their worshippers themselves." Now, idolatry, as it prevails in heathen lands, idolatry proper as we may say, is universally denounced by the professors of Christianity everywhere. We need not employ one word to expose its absurdity and moral abominations. But its spirit is rampant in all Christendom, is rife in all "Christian Churches," as they are called; and it is the spirit, not the form, that is the guilty and damnable part of idolatry. We raise, therefore, three observations from these verses.
I THAT MEN OFTEN GIVE TO THE WORKS OF THEIR OWN HANDS THE DEVOTIONS THAT BELONG TO GOD. These old Chaldean idolaters gave their devotions to the "graven image" and to the "molten image" that men had carved in wood and stone or moulded from molten metals. It was the works of their own hands they worshipped. They made gods of their own productions. This was all they did; and are not the men of England, as a rule, doing the same thing? They yield their devotions to the works of their own hands. It may be wealth, fame, fashion, pleasure, or power. It is all the same. Are men"s sympathies in their strong current directed towards God or towards something else? Do they expend the larger portion of their time and the greater amount of their energies in the service of the Eternal, or in the service of themselves? This is the question; and the answer is too palpable to the eye of every spiritual thinker. Exeter Hall may "weep and howl" over the idolatry prevailing in India, China, and other heathen parts; but thoughtful Christ-like souls are showering in silence and solitude their tears on the terrible idolatry that reigns everywhere in their own country.
II THAT MEN OFTEN LOOK TO THE WORKS OF THEIR OWN HANDS FOR A BLESSING WHICH GOD ALONE CAN BESTOW.
These old idolaters said to the "wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise!" They invoked the dead forms they themselves had made, to help them, to give them relief, to render them happy. Now, it is true that men do not say formal prayers to wealth, or fashion, or fame, or power; yet to these they look with all their souls for happiness. A man"s prayer is the deep aspiration of his soul, and this deep aspiration is being everywhere addressed to these dead deities; men are crying for happiness to objects which are as incapable of yielding it as the breathless gods of heathendom. "There is no breath at all in the midst of it." Men who are looking for happiness to any of these objects are like the devotees of Baal, who cried from morning to evening for help, and no help came.
III THAT IN ALL THIS MEN ENTAIL ON THEMSELVES THE WOES OF OUTRAGED SEASON AND JUSTICE. "Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise!
1. It is the woe of outraged reason. What help could they expect of the "molten image, and a teacher of lies"? What answer could they expect from the "dumb idols" that they themselves had made? What relief from any of the idols, though overlaid with gold and silver? "There is no breath at all in the midst of it." How irrational all this! Equally unreasonable is it for men to search for happiness in any of the works of their bands, and in any being or in any object independent of God.
2. It is the woe of insulted justice. What has God said? "Thou shalt have no other gods before me;" "Thou shalt worship no graven image;" "Thou shalt love me with all thy heart," etc. All this devotion, therefore, to the works of our own hands, or to any other creature, is an infraction of man"s cardinal obligation. "Will a man rob God?" Go, then, to the men on "Change, who are seeking happiness from wealth to the men in scenes of fashionable and worldly amusements, who are seeking happiness from sensual indulgences and worldly applause and thunder, "Woo unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise!
And still from him we turn away, And fill our hearts with worthless things The fires of avarice melt the clay, And forth the idol springs!
Ambition"s flame and passion"s heat By wondrous alchemy transmute Earth"s dross, to raise some gilded brute To fill Jehovah"s seat. (Clinch.) 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 What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof…
Hab_2:18-19
What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it.
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National wrongs ending in national woes
I. That men often give to the works of their own hands the devotions that belong to God. These old Chaldean idolaters gave their devotions to the graven image and to the molten image that men had carved in wood and stone or moulded from molten metals. It was the works of their own hands they worshipped. Are mens sympathies in their strong current for God, or for something else? Do they expend the larger portion of their time and the greater amount of their energies in the service of the Eternal, or in the service of themselves?
II. That men often look to the works of their own hands for a blessing which God alone can bestow. These old idolaters said to the wood, Awake, to the dumb stone, Arise. Now, it is true that men do not say formal prayers to wealth, or fashion, or fame, or power, albeit to these they look with all their souls for happiness. Men who are looking for happiness to any of these objects are like the devotees of Baal, who cried from morning to evening for help, and no help came.
III. That in all this men entail on themselves the woes of outraged reason and justice. Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake, to the dumb stone, Arise.
1. It is the woe of outraged reason. What help could they expect of the molten image, and a teacher of lies? What answer could they expect from the dumb idols that they themselves had made? How irrational all this! Equally unreasonable it is for men to search for happiness in any of the works of their hands, and in any being or object independent of God.
2. It is the woe of insulted justice. What has God said? Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. All this devotion, therefore, to the works of our own hands, or to any other creature, is an infraction of mans cardinal obligation. (Homilist.)
The misapplication of the teaching of art in the service of religion
There is some difference of opinion as to the exact time at which the prophet Habakkuk delivered his message. But there is no question that it coincided with the period in which Israel came in contact with the great empires of the East, and was allowed to be humbled and punished by them. One of the consequences of intercourse with these empires, ending in the Captivity, was to familiarise their minds with buildings and workings of art which, while they marked the absence of a knowledge and worship of the true God, presented marvellous instances of the power and skill of man! The mind of man, in his fallen state, is ever prone to forget God and to reject Him; it is ever prone to corrupt the simple idea of His majesty and power. The idolatry of power was expressed in the architecture and image worship of this period. The words of the text refer to it, The dumb stone (of the monuments) speaks still; it speaks of abject submission to irresistible power. It speaks of rule and might and iron will; but there is no love, no tenderness, no hope in its utterances. History re-echoes the prophets denunciation, and extends it to after generations, embracing the later and more engaging forms of art thus employed. The message of works of art addresses itself to the carnal and the sensuous that is in us. It does not bring us into contact with the unseen and the infinite. There is a woe in it. May we not, descending the stream of time, go on to point out that the prophets woe also lights upon what is called Christian Art--on them who, in the Church of Christ, have said unto the wood, Awake, and have called upon the dumb stone to teach? The woe has taken effect in bringing down a thick pall of dark superstition and loss of spiritual life wherever the practice has prevailed. It is not to the wood or to the stone that we are directed for our instruction in Divine things, but to the Word and to the testimony. And therefore it is that in the arranging of our churches and the adjusting of their ornaments, at the time of the Reformation, it appeared right to those who were charged with this work that the wood and the stone which had been setup to speak and to teach should be excluded from this office; that no attempt should be made, by an exhibition of the passion and death of our blessed Lord, to the outward eye, to move the feelings and to strengthen the faith; but rather that such things were to be removed as a danger and a hindrance to acceptable worship. In place of ornaments and images the Reformers put the Creed, the Lords Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. It cannot be denied that in our day there is some danger lest too much importance be attached to external appearance, to architecture and decoration. While we do not look to the wood to Speak, or to the dumb stone to teach, we will not hesitate to make both minister to the comeliness of the sanctuary. In so doing we shall not impede but assist devotion. Holding fast the essential truths, and taught by the Word of the living God, we may rejoice with thanksgiving for the comeliness of the sanctuaries which now cover our land in every direction, and cheerfully do our part, that the wood and the stone may be made worthily to set forth the honour of Gods service, and furnish us fitting accompaniment for the prayer and the praise we offer in His name. (Archdeacon Cooper, M. A.)
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 Hab_2:18.] Exposure of the folly of Babylon’s idolatry. What]…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Hab_2:18.] Exposure of the folly of Babylon’s idolatry. What] use? none whatever. Lies] Lying oracles connected with idol worship. Dumb] Nonentity (1Co_12:1).
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Hab_2:19. Awake] to help. Teach] Ironical, it teach! Breath] Not at all breath, the spirit of life (Jer_10:14).
Hab_2:20. But] Sublime contrast between Jehovah and utter vanity of idols. Temple] Enthroned in heaven ready to protect his people and destroy their enemies (Psa_11:4). He is not encased in gold and silver. All] i.e. the people must submit in reverence before him, and wait for his judgment (cf. Zep_1:7; Zec_2:1-7). It becomes all to adore such a God who will speak to the soul bushed in silence.
HOMILETICS
THE UNPROFITABLENESS OF IDOLATRY.—Hab_2:18-19
This fifth strophe does not utter woe at first, but makes prominent the cause that leads to it. Like the rest of heathen nations, the Chaldæans trusted to their gods, but all hope from this quarter is cut off. Idols profit nothing; it is folly therefore to carve and honour them.
I. Idolatry is a system of lies. “A teacher of lies.”
1. The idol itself is a lie. It represents God as visible, finite, and dependent, whereas he is Infinite and Invisible. It contradicts the word of God and the nature of man; and represents carnal conceptions of truth and worship.
2. The teaching of the idol is a lie. In itself and by its priests it sustains delusions. Its oracle is the doctrine of vanities; it is a falsehood and a work of errors (Jer_10:8), leading men to trust in dumb idols, the work of their own hands (1Co_12:2). “We have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.”
“God’s omnipresence seems not sensuous;
Unless he be in us, we are not in him” [Bailey].
II. Idolatry is a system of impotence. Idols may be adorned and beautified, commended and honoured, but they are only dumb nothings.
1. They are fashioned by man. Carved and encased with gold and silver, and yet neither breath, feeling, nor understanding. They are inferior to their maker, how then can they impart life and help to those who trust them? “They that make a graven image are all of them vanity” (Isa_44:9-10).
2. They respond not to the requests of man. Men cry “to the wood,” Awake, for our relief; “to the dumb stone,” Arise, deliver me, for thou art my God (Isa_44:17): but there is no answer. A god that cannot speak is nothing. The cries of man must be heard, the wants of man must be satisfied. Without a true response to the entreaties of man there is no religion. We cannot animate stocks and stones. Art and science may create and beautify gods; but this is labour in vain—will deceive, and nourish superstition. “They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.”
III. Idolatry is a system of vanity. When men have done all they can, displayed their skill and carved their image, God ridicules the result. Only wood and stone, base and inferior matter. That teach! Yes, though dumb it speaks of impotence, vanity, and folly.
1. What vanity to trust in a god of your own creation! If images are made by man, how can they have the being and authority of God? Why spend your energy in the service of that which will not profit? “’Tis mad idolatry,” says Shakspeare, “to make the service greater than the God.” “What profiteth the graven image?”
2. What folly to rely upon that which brings a curse! “Woe unto him that said to the wood, Awake.” Whatever is accounted a god, which is only a creature or a feigned thing, is a curse to man. It curses human nature by degrading it, and making men like brutes. It curses the world by bringing down the judgments of God. When men are determined not to retain God in their thoughts, but to exalt that which is below themselves to be in the place of God, they become brutish in their knowledge, vain in their imaginations, and alienated in their hearts. “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections.”
THE DIVINE COURT.—Hab_2:20
In sublime contrast to idols, Jehovah is set forth in his dwelling-place and authority. None should dispute with him, but stand in awe before him. In the court-house of God “let all the earth keep silence.”
I. God resides in this court. “The Lord is in his holy temple.” The world is not empty space. A true and personal God exists; not like idols dwelling in temples made with hands, but revealing himself in the visible universe. In heaven by glory and honour, in earth by grace and goodness. “The Being whose centre is everywhere, but whose circumference is nowhere.” In every state and condition God is ever near. “The Lord is in his holy temple.”
II. God governs in this court. He dwells in his temple, and has not left the world to chance, inflexible law, or abstract powers. His throne is on high, and has neither been overturned nor vacated. He judges the world in righteousness, delivers his people in distress. and punishes the insolence of the wicked. He is not enshrined in gold and silver; “but our God is in the heavens,” reigning supreme over all the nations of the earth. He is the world’s great King, discerning and rewarding the works and ways of men. “The Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men.”
III. God demands silence in his court. “Let all the earth keep silence.” If we are silent in courts of law, if all are reverent and solemn before an earthly judge, how should we stand before Almighty God!
1. Let sinners tremble at his judgments. He will strike idolaters dumb, convince the wicked of folly, and cover them with shame.
2. Let saints trust in his word. If perplexed, “hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God; for the day of the Lord is at hand” (Zep_1:7). If afflicted, “be still, and know that I am God” (Psa_46:10). If weakened in faith, and disappointed in prayer, “Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near: let them speak” (Isa_41:1). “In speaking of God our best eloquence is silence,” says Hooker. “Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Hab_2:18-19. The destruction of idols. Created by man—deaf and dumb, impotent and false. Dumb idols: Lit. dumb nothings. “And what else are man’s idols of wealth, honour, fame, which he makes to himself, the creatures of his own hands or mind—their greatness existing chiefly in his own imagination—before which he bows down himself, who is the image of God?” [Pusey]. The folly of idol worshippers. Trusting their own creation—calling upon it as God, and exposing their own souls. “Here is a double woe:
1. Loss of labour;
2. Want of help. In the first they bewray their folly; the god of this world hath made fools of them for turning the glory of the invisible God into the image of creatures; but in the second we find the misery, for we cannot subsist without help, and they trust to idols where there is no help” [Marbury].
Behold. Though the vanity of worshipping idols be palpably gross, so that seriously to consider it is sufficient to refute it, yet such is man’s stupidity that he needs stirring up to notice the error of his way—to caution him of his danger, and to wean him from his sins [cf. Hutcheson].
Hab_2:4; Hab_2:14; Hab_2:20. Three bright stars. As the prophet stood on his eminence and saw nothing but darkness, God revealed three great principles which infused light and life into the gloom—principles which stand out to this day to all perplexed, fearful, and sceptical souls, as stars in a dark sky.
1. The just shall live by faith. A truth so important that it is quoted thrice in the New Testament (Rom_1:17; Gal_3:11; Heb_10:38).
2. The earth shall be filled,” &c.
3. The Lord is in his holy temple. The first of these three lights reveals the secret of our religion. It is faith. Faith in God’s word, and faith in God’s work. The second opens up to the faith supposed to exist; a glorious promise that all sin, misery, and confusion which now disgrace and oppress the earth, shall disappear, and make room for the glory of the Lord to take their place. The third sets forth—the stay, the confidence, the breathless silence of the children of God, while the promise is fulfilling, and especially when the ways of God are dark and mysterious. Think of the circumstances and prospects of the prophet, and learn that God, in dispensing his blessings, takes seasons of despondency and thick gloom—that in selecting such times for predicting splendid futures he draws from the opposition of men and the infidelity of the Church an illustration of his irresistible majesty and unchangeable truth [Anon.].
Hab_2:5-20. Of shameful and hurtful avarice.
1. Avarice is contrary to the order prescribed by God; therefore God must bring it back to order by chastisement (Hab_2:1; Hab_2:6 b, 7).
2. It is contrary to love, therefore it produces a harvest of hatred (Hab_2:6 a).
3. It confounds the ideas of right, therefore wrong must befall it (Hab_2:8 a).
4. It makes the mind timid; but where fear is there is no stability (Hab_2:9).
5. It accumulates (riches) with sin, therefore for nothing (Hab_2:12; Hab_2:11; Hab_2:13; Hab_2:17).
6. It seeks false honour, therefore it acquires shame (Hab_2:15-16).
7. It sets its heart upon gold and silver and lifeless things, therefore it must perish with its lifeless gods (Hab_2:18-19).
8. On the whole it provokes the judgment of God (Hab_2:8 b, 14, 20) [Lange].
Hab_2:20. Notice—
1. The privilege of the godly. “The Lord is in his holy temple,” to guide them by his wisdom, defend them by his power, and save them by his grace.
2. The duty of the godly. “Let all the earth be silent;” but they should acquiesce in his word and work. “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”
“Wait, O my soul, thy Maker’s will;
Tumultuous passions, all be still!
Nor let a murmuring thought arise;
His ways are just, his counsels wise.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Hab_2:16-18. Shame. There is none of you that ever entered this house of pleasure but he left the skirts of his garment in the hands of shame, and had his name rolled in the chambers of death. What fruit had ye then? This is the question [Bp. Taylor]. The man wakes from his dream, and finds that he possesses not an atom of the rich possessions he had dreamed of [Lorin].
Hab_2:18-19. Idolatry. Any opinion which tends to keep out of sight the living and loving God, whether it be to substitute for him an idol, or any occult agency, or a formal creed, can be nothing better than the portentous shadow projected from the slavish darkness of an ignorant heart [Hallam]. While earthly objects are exhausted by familiarity, the thought of God becomes to the devout man continually brighter, richer, vaster, derives fresh lustre from all that he observes of nature and providence; and attracts to itself all the glories of the universe [Channing].
Hab_2:20. A heathen philosopher once asked a Christian, “Where is God?” The Christian answered, “Let me first ask you, ‘Where is he not’?” [Arrow-smith.]. The Will of God is our pole-star, and, with our eye constantly on it, we shall be carried safely through every storm and tempest of this mortal life [Anon.]. What I do, thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter, is the unvaried language of God in his providence. He will have credit every step. He will not assign reasons, because he will exercise faith [Wilson].
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 trusteth (See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
trusteth (See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
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 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues to answer Habakkuk and to speak of the Chaldeans as if they were one man. (See: Metaphor)
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What does the carved figure profit you?
This rhetorical question emphasizes the negative answer that it anticipates. The question can be translated as a statement. AT: "The carved figure profits you nothing!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
you
The word "you" refers to the Chaldeans.
molten metal
This describes metal when it is in its liquid form.
a teacher of lies
This phrase refers to the one who carved or cast the figure. By making a false god, he is teaching a lie.
Or to the silent stone
The verb may be supplied from the previous phrase. AT: "Woe to the one saying to the silent stone" (See: Ellipsis)
Do these things teach?
This rhetorical question emphasizes the negative answer that it anticipates. The question can be translated as a statement. AT: "These things cannot teach." or "Wood and stone cannot teach." (See: Rhetorical Question)
See, it is overlaid
"Look at it. You can see for yourself that it is overlaid"
it is overlaid with gold and silver
This can be stated in active form. AT: "a person overlays the wood or stone with gold and silver" (See: Active or Passive)
there is no breath at all within it
The idiom "no breath ... within it" means that it is not alive, but dead. AT: "it is not alive" or "it is dead" (See: Idiom)
all the land
Here the word "land" is a metonym for the people who live in the land. AT: "everyone in the land" or "everyone on earth" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
image
profit
teacher
false god
gold
silver
Yahweh
holy
temple
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 2:18-20 In the fifth taunt song, the Babylonians are…
2:18-20 In the fifth taunt song, the Babylonians are condemned for their devotion to idolatry. Whether idols are carved or cast by the hand of man, they can neither save nor teach their worshipers (Isa 42:17). Only the Lord truly deserves our worship (Hab 2:20; Exod 20:2-6; cp. Eccl 5:1-2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.