Habakkuk 1
1:1 Pronouncement (Hb massa’) is a prophetic proclamation, literally a “lifting up [of voice].” “Burden” (KJV) is another meaning of massa’, though it does not fit the present context well (see note at Jr 23:33-38).
1:2-4 Habakkuk lamented to God (how long?) about overt violence . . . injustice, and oppression during Jehoiakim’s reign. King Josiah (640-609 BC) promoted God’s law (2Kg 23:24), but his son and successor Jehoiakim (609-598 BC) based his reign on injustice (Jr 22:13) so that God’s law (Hb torah) ceased to be honored.
1:5-6 God responded that he would punish the sins of Judah through an invasion by the Chaldeans (the Babylonians).
1:7 The so-called justice of these invaders was human (from themselves) rather than divine.
1:8 Comparisons with predatory animals (leopards . . . wolves, and eagles) illustrate the speed, brutality, and efficiency of the Babylonian military machine.
1:9 Violence is the punishment Judah will receive for its own violence (vv. 2-3). The Hb term chamas here and in v. 2 refers to violation of the rights of others, often involving violence (see Ps 72:14; Is 53:9; Jr 22:3; Mc 6:12). It could also be rendered “injustice,” “oppression,” or simply “lawlessness.”
| Hebrew pronunciation | [nab VAT] |
| CSB translation | look |
| Uses in Habakkuk | 5 |
| Uses in the OT | 70 |
| Focus passage | Habakkuk 1:3,5,13 |
The root may basically mean “appear” or “come to light.” Hebrew uses intensive (1x, Is 5:30) and causative verbs to denote looking in a direction. People look at the bronze snake (Nm 21:9). They see (Nm 12:8) and perceive (Is 5:12). Navat occurs twenty-six times with ra’ah (“see”). This may involve just physical vision (Gn 15:5) or include internal processes like approval (1Sm 16:7), trust (Is 22:8), or remembrance (Is 51:1). One looks down at defeated enemies (Ps 92:11) or looks in hope (Ps 34:5). Lot’s wife looks back at Sodom (Gn 19:26). Navat implies consider (Ps 74:20), think about (Ps 119:15), tolerate (Hab 1:3), or have regard (Am 5:22). It suggests prolonged looking. Israelites watched Moses meet God (Ex 33:8). Eagles’ eyes penetrate distances (Jb 39:29). God gazes earthward from heaven (Ps 102:19) and observes nations (Hab 1:5). Mabbat (3x) indicates hope or reliance (Is 20:5-6).
1:10-11 The mighty Babylonian army scoffed at all opposition. The phrase their strength is their god suggests they worshiped their own military power (v. 16), though the verse possibly means that they attributed their strength to their national god Marduk (see note at 2:18-20).
1:12 Habakkuk reasoned that since God is holy, he must be using Babylon as an implement of his judgment on Judah. All manuscripts literally read “we will not die” (see textual footnote) rather than you will not die, but CSB follows a Jewish tradition that says “you” was original and that this verse is one of eighteen places where the Hebrew Bible was deliberately changed by scribes. If so, the change the scribes made here aimed to avoid any hint of the unthinkable notion that God (“you”) could die.
1:13 Habakkuk complained that rewarding the more wicked in order to punish the less wicked seemed inconsistent with God’s pure goodness. As bad as the Jews were (see note at vv. 2-4), they were more righteous than the wicked Babylonian invaders.
1:14-16 Like fishermen who pull in a huge catch of fish from the sea and as a result begin worshiping their net, so Babylon captured hordes of people and thus worshiped its own military strength (cp. v. 11).
1:17 How could a just God allow Babylon’s merciless slaughter of the nations, much less their triumph against his people Judah?
