Table of Contents
Habakkuk 1
Habakkuk 1
1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.
4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
6 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 their's.
7 They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
8 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.
9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.
10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.
11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.
12 Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.
13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.
16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?
Notes
Cross Reference
Commentary
Rashi
Verse 1
<html><b>The prophecy</b> Heb. הַמַשָּׂא. The burden of prophecy - what he bore and received by the Holy Spirit. [after <i>Jonathan</i>]</html>
Verse 2
<html><b>O Lord! How long</b> -He foresaw with the Holy Spirit that Nebuchadnezzar was destined to be the ruler of the world and to cause trouble for Israel, as the matter is stated in his prophecy (1:6): “For behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, etc.” He was complaining for this. <b>I cry out to You of violence</b> I mention before You the violence committed against me, and You do not save me.</html>
Verse 3
<html><b>iniquity</b> plunder and violence. <b>and look upon mischief</b> You look upon this mischief, but You do not help. <b>and the one who bears quarrel and strife endures</b> And this wicked man who bears quarrel and strife, will live, remain in existence, and prosper. <b>endures</b> He who bears quarrel and strife will endure. So did <i>Jonathan</i> render.</html>
Verse 4
<html><b>Therefore Torah is slackened</b> Because of this, that Israel sees his [the wicked man’s] success, the Torah will slacken and leave them; and they [Israel] will obey him [the wicked man] and prostrate themselves before the idol in the valley of Dura. <b>and justice does not go out forever</b> I.e., the true decision of the Law. <b>surrounds</b> surrounds, as in (Ps. 22:13): “Strong bulls of Bashan have surrounded me (כִּתְּרוּנִי).”</html>
Verse 5
<html><b>You shall not believe when it is told</b> When this is told to you, that I am setting up the Chaldeans, the people that did not deserve to be created, as it is written (Isa. 23:13): “This people has never been.” They are one of three things whose creation God regrets, and now [they] will rise, and [they] will be bitter, and [they will be] impetuous to run and to march to the breadth of the lands of all the nations.</html>
Verse 7
<html><b>from themselves their judgment and their burden shall emanate</b> From them are judges; from them are kings, who cast a burden and a fear upon all. <b>their judgment</b> <i>joustice</i> in O.F:</html>
Verse 8
<html><b>and their riders shall increase</b> Heb. וּפָשוּ.</html>
Verse 9
<html><b>come to commit violence</b> to plunder and to spoil. <b>the eagerness of their faces</b> an expression like (Gen. 24: 17) “Give me to swallow, (הַגְמִיאִינִי) I pray you” and (Job 39:24) “He swallows (יְ גַמֶּה) the earth.” He runs swiftly - in a short time a distance of a day’s plowing - as though he had swallowed and drunk the earth that is before him. Here, too, the swallowing of their faces; the swallowing, the longing of their faces resembles the east wind, the fiercest of the winds. So did <i>Jonathan</i> render this.</html>
Verse 10
<html><b>And they shall mock the kings</b> shall mock them. Every expression of קַלָּסָה is an expression for the speech of those speaking about another; some [of these speeches] are for good, and some for bad - <i>parledic</i> in O.F. <b>a laughingstock</b> like שְּׂחוֹק, laughter, like מִשְׁמָר, a watch, and מִסְתָּר, a hiding place. <b>He shall scoff at every fortress</b> If his enemy is in a strong fortress, he scoffs at him. <b>he piles up earth</b> upon it with his many armies, each one carrying a load of earth. It [the pile] is before the wall as a high mound, and they [the Chaldeans] battle from upon it. This is called שְׁפִיכַת סוֹלְלָה, pouring a siege mound (cf. Isa. 37:33), for all of them are translated into Aramaic: וְיִצְבּוֹר עֲלָה מְלֵיתָא, and he piled upon it a filling. This is an expression of Milo, for in the city of David there was a high mound, and they would battle upon it. Atop the mound was built a tower whose slant was inclined to the sides, and around its base was a low wall to prevent the earth from falling.</html>
Verse 11
<html><b>Then a spirit goes further</b> Then, when they see their way prospering, a spirit of guilt goes further and passes over them. Now what is the spirit? <b>this strength they attribute to their god</b> This strength they attribute to their god, and they say, “My god acquired all this wealth for me.” Says the prophet, “Now, You, why should You remain silent to all this?”</html>
Verse 12
<html><b>Are You not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my Holy One?</b> Who shall not die. Now, the reason it is written לֹא נָמוּת we shall not die, is that it is one of the emendations of the scribes in Scripture, by which Scripture euphemizes. Likewise, (Mal. 1:13) “And you sadden it.” And so are many of them [these euphemisms] explained in <i>Sifre</i> (Num. 10:35). According to the emendation of the scribes, this is its explanation: Are you not my God from everlasting, my Holy One? Do not deliver us into their hands to die. <b>O Lord, You have ordained them for judgment</b> I know that You have set this one [Nebuchadnezzar] up only to judge those who rebel against You. In any case, why should all this come about? Is it not so that…</html>
Verse 13
<html><b>[You are] of eyes too pure</b> to behold evil? <b>gaze</b> like וּלְהַבִּיט, and to gaze upon iniquity. <b>one more righteous than he</b> that he will blind the eyes of Zedekiah (II Kings 25:7).</html>
Verse 14
<html><b>And You have made man</b> before this wicked man - free as the fish of the sea, which anyone who wishes may catch.</html>
Verse 15
<html><b>He takes all of them up with the fishhook</b> This wicked man takes up all people with his fishhook. <b>catches them</b> an expression of (Prov. 6:8) “Gathers (אָגְרָה) her food in the harvest,” and (Joel 1: 17) “Granaries (מַמְּגֻרוֹת) are demolished.”</html>
Verse 16
<html><b>he sacrifices to his net</b> To his god, for he says that it conquers everyone before him. <b>through them</b> This is similar to בהם, because of them. <b>a fatling</b> fat.</html>
Verse 17
<html><b>Because of this does he arm himself with his net</b> There are many interrogative forms that are affirmative, e.g., (I Sam. 2:27) “Did I appear?” concerning Eli, and (II Sam. 15:27) “Do you see?” Here, too: Does it appear in Your eyes that because of this he prospers every time, in that he arms himself with his net over everyone and to hunt game? <b>arms himself</b> As in (Gen. 14:14) “And he armed (וַיָּרֶק) his trained men” and (Ps. 35:3): “Arm yourself (הָרֵק) with a spear.” He arms himself with his net.</html>