ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Habakkuk 1

Hab. 1:1 Superscription. “Oracle” translates a common word for “burden.” Prophets do not typically use the term “prophet” for themselves, but Habakkuk is called a prophet twice (v. 1; 3:1). This may be because his book differs significantly from most other prophets.

Hab. 1:2–11 First Cycle. Habakkuk is disappointed that God does not seem to be answering his prayers. God’s response shows that, although Habakkuk doesn’t realize it, his prayers are already being answered.

1:2–4 Habakkuk’s Lament. Habakkuk believes that God is letting sin go unpunished and that therefore there is no justice.

Hab. 1:2 O Lord. Habakkuk uses the covenant name for God, which emphasizes the relationship between God and the prophet. how long? This is the common beginning of a formal complaint (compare Ps. 13:1, 2). Violence! During much of the latter seventh century b.c., Judah was morally corrupt, violent, and spiritually disobedient. The description of Josiah’s reforms in 2 Kings 23 highlights the depths of the people’s wickedness.

Hab. 1:3 idly look at wrong. It seems to Habakkuk that God is tolerating sin instead of punishing it (see v. 13).

Hab. 1:4 the law is paralyzed. The Mosaic law had little impact on the hearts and self-centered desires of these people. justice never goes forth. The rich were trampling on the rights of the poor. righteous. There was still a righteous remnant who refused to break God’s laws to get ahead. But life was hard for them because the wicked took advantage of them.

1:5–11 God’s Response. God has already begun to answer Habakkuk’s request: the Babylonians are coming to punish the Israelites.

Hab. 1:6 I am raising up. God uses nations for his own purposes (compare Isa. 44:28; Dan. 2:21). Chaldeans. Another name for the Babylonians, who defeated Assyria in 605 b.c. bitter and hasty nation. God knows the Babylonians well and uses their character traits to punish Judah.

Hab. 1:7 their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. As they built their empire, the Babylonians were not bound by God’s law or even by any rules of common decency.

Hab. 1:9 The Babylonians were known for their violence. They gather captives like sand. They continued the Assyrian policy of deporting captives to other lands.

Hab. 1:10 scoff . . . laugh. The powerful Babylonians had little regard for weaker rulers. Pile up earth describes siege warfare (see Isa. 29:3; Jer. 32:24).

Hab. 1:12–2:20 Second Cycle. This passage asks an age-old question: Why does evil seem to go unpunished? God’s answer is that all who are wicked will eventually be punished; meanwhile, the righteous must live by faith.

1:12–2:1 Habakkuk’s Lament. Habakkuk wonders how God can use a wicked nation to punish a less wicked one.

Hab. 1:12 Are you not from everlasting? Habakkuk knows that God lives forever (see Ps. 90:2). We shall not die. Habakkuk bases his confidence in his people’s future on God’s eternal nature. you . . . have established them. Habakkuk understands that God has chosen Babylon to punish Judah for its sin.

Hab. 1:13 purer eyes than to see evil. Habakkuk wonders why God’s holiness did not stop him from using the corrupt Babylonians to punish a less wicked nation such as Judah.

Hab. 1:14 Habakkuk’s charge against God is that he allows mankind to act like lower creatures (fish and crawling things), with no rulers or judges. Thus, wickedness goes unchecked.

Hab. 1:15 He. That is, the “wicked” one in v. 13, which represents Babylon. hook. See Amos 4:2. Captives were sometimes taken away with hooks in their noses—an intentionally painful and humiliating treatment. drags them out with his net. The image is that of a fish helplessly caught in a net. Mesopotamian art portrays prisoners in nets being hauled off to captivity.

Hab. 1:16 he sacrifices to his net. The Babylonians had become so powerful that they relied on their military strength for protection, the way others would have relied on their gods.

Hab. 1:17 mercilessly killing nations forever? If a righteous God does not step in to end the Babylonians’ wicked plan, who will? Where is God’s justice, and how can he tolerate this?