for by them his portion is lavish,
and his food is rich.
17Is he then to keep on emptying his net,
and destroying nations without mercy?
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a Meaning of Heb uncertain
b Ancient Heb tradition: MT We
c Heb He
1.1 The title, or superscription, identifies Habakkuk as an oracle (lit. “burden” cf. Isa 13.1; Nah 1.1; Zech 9.1; Mal 1.1) from a prophet. Prophet is only used in the titles of two other books, Haggai and Zechariah. This title is for chs. 1–2, since ch. 3 begins with another superscription (see 3.1).
1.2–2.20 A series of exchanges between the prophet and God.
1.2–4 At the beginning of the exchange with God, Habakkuk uses language typical of the complaint (see Job 19.1–7; Ps 13) to question how long and why injustice within Judah, perpetrated by the wicked, will persist.
1.2 “Violence!” shouts Habakkuk. The term appears six times in Habakkuk (cf. 1.3, 9; 2.8, 17), always signifying confusion and the disruption of order (cf. Gen 6.11, 13).
1.4 Law (Hebrew torah) refers to all that would maintain order, including prophetic oracle and priestly instruction.
1.5–11 The speaker is not explicitly identified and does not directly answer the question asked in vv. 2–4. The speaker seems to be God. The response somewhat unexpectedly comes in an oracle of judgment, which will be brought by the Chaldeans (i.e., Babylonians), an enemy of extraordinary might. This motif of God’s judgment being carried out by an enemy of God’s people, emphasizing the unexpectedness of divine action, is not uncommon (e.g., Isa 5.26–30; Jer 32.4–5, 24–25, 28–29).
1.12–17 Habakkuk’s second complaint implies that he has heard God’s answer. Nevertheless Habakkuk registers shock that God could use the enemy (v. 15) to bring judgment on the people, since God’s eyes are too pure to behold evil (v. 13).
1.12 Holy One, used widely in Isaiah (e.g., Isa 1.4; 5.19, 24) and later in Hab 3.3.
1.14–17 The Babylonians are figuratively described. This leads to the question posed in v. 17.
1.14 You have made…of the sea begins a comparison of people to fish and crawling things that have no ruler. This is in stark opposition to the views expressed in Ps 8, where humans are slightly less than God and provide order for the entire natural world.
1.15 Moreover, the enemy who is bringing the judgment treats the people merely as fish.
1.16 Sacrifices to his net emphasizes the value the Babylonians placed on those implements with which they attained their power.
HABAKKUK 2
God’s Reply to the Prophet’s Complaint
1I will stand at my watchpost,
and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what hea will answer concerning my complaint.
2Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.
3For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.
4Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faith.b
5Moreover, wealthc is treacherous;
the arrogant do not endure.
They open their throats wide as Sheol;
like Death they never have enough.
They gather all nations for themselves,
and collect all peoples as their own.
The Woes of the Wicked
6Shall not everyone taunt such people and, with mocking riddles, say about them,
“Alas for you who heap up what is not your own!”
How long will you load yourselves with goods taken in pledge?
7Will not your own creditors suddenly rise,
and those who make you tremble wake up?
Then you will be booty for them.
8Because you have plundered many nations,
all that survive of the peoples shall plunder you—
because of human bloodshed, and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.
9“Alas for you who get evil gain for your house,
setting your nest on high
to be safe from the reach of harm!”
10You have devised shame for your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11The very stones will cry out from the wall,
and the plasterd will respond from the woodwork.
12“Alas for you who build a town by bloodshed,
and found a city on iniquity!”
13Is it not from the LORD of hosts
that peoples labor only to feed the flames,
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14But the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
as the waters cover the sea.
15“Alas for you who make your neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrathe until they are drunk,
in order to gaze on their nakedness!”
16You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.
Drink, you yourself, and stagger!f
The cup in the LORD’s right hand
will come around to you,
and shame will come upon your glory!
17For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
the destruction of the animals will terrify you—g
because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.
18What use is an idol
once its maker has shaped it—
a cast image, a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in what has been made,
though the product is only an idol that cannot speak!
19Alas for you who say to the wood, “Wake up!”
to silent stone, “Rouse yourself!”
Can it teach?
See, it is gold and silver plated,
and there is no breath in it at all.
20But the LORD is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him!
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a Syr: Heb I
b Or faithfulness
c Other Heb Mss read wine
d Or beam
e Or poison
f Q Ms Gk: MT be uncircumcised
g Gk Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain
2.1–4 The prophet takes his watchpost (see Isa 21.8; Ezek 33.1–9) to await God’s response to his second complaint, which comes in v. 4.
2.2 Write the vision is indicative of the connection in Habakkuk and other prophetic traditions between hearing and seeing (see Am 1.1; Mic 1.1). The vision is put in writing to preserve it for the appropriate time of fulfillment (see Isa 30.8).
2.4 Contrasted with the proud are the righteous who live by their faith and trust in the reliability of God’s fulfilling the vision.
2.5–20 A series of five woe oracles expands on the meaning of vv. 1–4.
2.5 The arrogant are the same as the proud (v. 4). Gather, a bringing together in a negative sense like the gathering in 1.15.
2.6 The taunt of the Babylonians by everyone who has suffered at their hands. Alas (also vv. 9, 12, 15, 17) sets off each of the following five woe oracles directed toward the various crimes of the Babylonians.
2.6b–8 The first woe oracle is directed toward plundering.
2.8 Repeated in v. 17b.
2.9–11 The second woe oracle indicates that even the buildings constructed for safety by the Babylonians will cry out (cf. 1.2) against the injustices.
2.12–14 The third woe oracle suggests that those who build a town by bloodshed
will be punished, and this will become visible when the glory of the LORD fills the earth (cf. Isa 11.9).
2.15–17 The metaphor of drinking is used in this fourth woe oracle to speak of how the oppressor degraded the oppressed (see Jer 51.7) by forcing them to drink and how the cup in the LORD’s right hand will be turned on the oppressor in like manner (see Jer 25.15–27). Violence. See note on 1.2.
2.18–20 The final woe oracle decries idolatry, namely, the inability to recognize the true God. The woe oracles conclude with the simple request, among all the clatter of these words, to keep silence before the Lord (cf. Ps 46.10).
HABAKKUK 3
1A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk according to Shigionoth.
The Prophet’s Prayer
2O LORD, I have heard of your renown,
and I stand in awe, O LORD, of your work.
In our own time revive it;
in our own time make it known;
in wrath may you remember mercy.
3God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.
4The brightness was like the sun;
rays came forth from his hand,
where his power lay hidden.
5Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed close behind.
6He stopped and shook the earth;
he looked and made the nations tremble.
The eternal mountains were shattered;
along his ancient pathways
the everlasting hills sank low.
7I saw the tents of Cushan under affliction;
the tent-curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8Was your wrath against the rivers,a O LORD?
Or your anger against the rivers,b
or your rage against the sea,c
when you drove your horses,
your chariots to victory?
9You brandished your naked bow,
satedd were the arrows at your command.e
Selah
You split the earth with rivers.
10The mountains saw you, and writhed;
a torrent of water swept by;
the deep gave forth its voice.
The sunf raised high its hands;
11the moong stood still in its exalted place,
at the light of your arrows speeding by,
at the gleam of your flashing spear.
12In fury you trod the earth,
in anger you trampled nations.
13You came forth to save your people,
to save your anointed.
You crushed the head of the wicked house,
laying it bare from foundation to roof.h
Selah
14You pierced with theiri own arrows the headj of his warriors,k
who came like a whirlwind to scatter us,l
gloating as if ready to devour the poor who were in hiding.
15You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the mighty waters.
16I hear, and I tremble within;
my lips quiver at the sound.
Rottenness enters into my bones,
and my steps tremblem beneath me.
I wait quietly for the day of calamity
to come upon the people who attack us.
Trust and Joy in the Midst of Trouble
17Though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails,
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold,
and there is no herd in the stalls,
18yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
19GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
and makes me tread upon the heights.n
To the leader: with stringedo instruments.
* * *
a Or against River
b Or against River
c Or against Sea
d Cn: Heb oaths
e Meaning of Heb uncertain
f Heb It
g Heb sun, moon
h Meaning of Heb uncertain
i Heb his
j Or leader
k Vg Compare Gk Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain
l Heb me
m Cn Compare Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
n Heb my heights
o Heb my stringed
3.1–19 The so-called prayer of Habakkuk consists of a request (v. 2), a theophanic vision report (vv. 3–15), the prophet’s prayerful declaration of trust in God (vv. 16–19a), and an editorial superscription and postscript (vv. 1, 19b). Some psalms have a similar title (Pss 86; 90;102).
3.1, 3 Shigionoth (see Ps 7.1), Selah (also vv. 9, 13; see Ps 3), musical terms possibly indicating that the prayer may have been used in the temple.
3.2 An introduction to the prayer requesting that the Lord’s work (cf. 1.5) be renewed. The request is that this new work bring salvation.
3.3–15 Description of the new work in a theophanic vision that causes both people and the earth to shake (cf. Judg 5.4–5; Nah 1.3–5). God’s appearing here uses the traditional language of nature so frequently found elsewhere in the OT (Ex 19.16–18; Pss 18.7–15; 29.3–10; Mic 1.3–4; Nah 1.3b–5).
3.3–7 Description of God coming from the southern mountains near Sinai (cf. Deut 33.2) and through Cushan (a term not found elsewhere in the OT) and Midian (east side of the Gulf of Aqaba). Teman was a district of Edom, an area to the southeast of Judah. Mount Paran is a desolate mountainous area on the Sinai Peninsula to the west of the Gulf of Aqaba.
3.3 Holy One. Cf. 1.12. Selah. See note on 3.1.
3.5 Pestilence and plague were frequently used by the Lord against enemies (see Ex 5.3; 9.15; Deut 32.24).
3.8 Was your wrath against the rivers? asks the prophet, only to return to the theophanic description. Rivers and sea (also v. 15) are allusions, along with the deep (v. 10), to God’s victory over the cosmic forces of chaos.
3.13 You…save your people is the answer to the question posed in v. 8, namely, that the salvation has come forth. Anointed refers to a Davidic king. Crushed…the wicked house brings to mind the earlier allusions to the wicked (1.4, 13), who are now defeated.
3.16–19a These verses describe the prophet’s response to the vision he just “heard” (v. 16; cf. v. 2). Although deeply shaken by it, he vows that despite agricultural failings and hardships (v. 17), he will rejoice in the Lord, who alone is the source of his confidence (vv. 18–19a).
3.19b To the leader: with stringed instruments, a concluding musical and liturgical notation much like those found in the superscriptions to many psalms (see, e.g., Pss 4; 6; 54; 61; 76).
ZEPHANIAH
1 | 2 | 3 |
Historical Context
THE WORDS IN ZEPHANIAH reflect a time early in the reign of the Judahite king Josiah (640–609 BCE) before his reforms were fully developed. As reported in Kings (2 Kings 22.1–23.25), Josiah came to the throne when he was eight years old, and not until he was eighteen is there mention of the beginning of his reforming activities. Zephaniah, who may have been born during the reign of Manasseh (2 Kings 21), condemns the religious and political leadership, but says little about Josiah, who proved to be one of the few kings since David and Solomon to provide strong moral leadership.
Message
IN VIEW OF THE AWARENESS IN ZEPHANIAH of the corruption and injustice rampant in Judah, which provides a link with earlier prophetic traditions, some have suggested that Zephaniah may have been a disciple of Isaiah. The “day of the LORD” tradition is used to bring a message of judgment against Judah, but not a judgment void of promise and hope. The promise seems to have rested with a just remnant, who were among the humble rather than the corrupt and disobedient leaders with whom Zephaniah must have been intimately famil
iar, since he was undoubtedly from a prominent family. The restoration of salvation among God’s people (3.9–20) may stem in part from later editors of the Zephaniah tradition. Nevertheless, it is abundantly clear that God’s announcement of judgment brought by Zephaniah was inextricably bound to an anticipated return of fortune for God’s people. The words of the book are woven together through repetitions, parallel expressions, and aesthetic devices that lead readers for ward yet remind them of earlier allusions. The message leaves no doubt about the forthcoming judgment, just as it leaves no doubt about the restoration of fortune.
Canonical Context
THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH stands as an evocative call for renewal. It has never, however, attained the stature of the books of Isaiah, Amos, or any of the prophetic traditions on which Zephaniah relied. Nevertheless, the book, which employs traditional announcements of judgment and salvation, is a vital link in prophetic traditions. Zephaniah develops the “day of the LORD” tradition, which gave rise to the medieval hymn Dies Irae. More important, it serves as a reminder of the need for religious renewal—not otherworldly renewal, but one through which this world will come to reflect God’s vision of a world without violence, injustice, and oppression, a world where even God may sing in response to human song (3.14–17). [KENT HAROLD RICHARDS]
ZEPHANIAH 1
1The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah.
The Coming Judgment on Judah
2I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth, says the LORD.
3I will sweep away humans and animals;
I will sweep away the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea.
I will make the wicked stumble.a
I will cut off humanity
from the face of the earth, says the LORD.
HarperCollins Study Bible Page 337
