The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. Ver. 1. _The burden_] The prophetic burden, saith the Chaldea paraphrast; the burdenous prophecy, saith Tremellius. _See Trapp on "_ Mal 1:1 _"_ Which Habakkuk the prophet did see] _Amplexator ille,_ That embracer (so some interpret his name), yea, _O... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! [even] cry out unto thee [of] violence, and thou wilt not save! Ver. 2. _O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear?_] Lo, this is the confidence of a good conscience towards God, 1 Peter 3:21, when it is parleying with him by prayers... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 3. _Why dost thou show me iniquity? &c._] These were Hazaels to Habakkuk's eyes, he could not see them with dry eyes, he could n... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. Ver. 4. _Therefore the law is slacked_] _Defluit lex._ An elegant metaphor from the pulse, which, in a dying man, beateth faintly. The law is the pul... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for [I] will work a work in your days, [which] ye will not believe, though it be told [you]. Ver. 5. _Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously_] Heb. Wonder, wonder. This is God's answer to the former expostul... [ Continue Reading ]
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 theirs. Ver. 6. _For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation_] The Chaldeans were anciently the philosophers of the B... [ Continue Reading ]
They [are] terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. Ver. 7. _They are terrible and dreadful_] Or horrible, such as were those giants called Emims, Deu 2:10-11 Genesis 14:5, and far more formidable than that disputant at Paris, who would needs be styled _h... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 8. _Their horses also are swifter than the leopards_] Or panthers... [ Continue Reading ]
They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up [as] the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. Ver. 9. _They shall come all for violence_] That by force and violence they may carry all before them. _Fit via vi, Cedit viribus aequum._ They are set upon it, and will h... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 10. _And they shall scoff at the kings_] Heb. He shall scoff, _i.e._ Nebuchadnezzar shall, and that not once only, but often; shall make a... [ Continue Reading ]
Then shall [his] mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, [imputing] this his power unto his god. Ver. 11. _Then shall his mind change_] For the worse, _in peius proficiet;_ his good and his blood shall rise together, as the proverb hath it; he shall be puffed up with his victories. “ _Lux... [ Continue Reading ]
Habakkuk 1:12 [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. Ver. 12. _Art not thou from everlasting, O Lord my God_] Art thou not Jehovah the unchangeable,... [ Continue Reading ]
Habakkuk 1:13 [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? Ver. 13. _Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil_] _... [ Continue Reading ]
And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, [that have] no ruler over them? Ver. 14. _And makest men as the fishes of the sea_] That are easily drawn out with hook or net. So doth Nebuchadnezzar, with little ado, bring whole nations under his power and pleasure. Here, therefore... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 15. _They take up all of them with the angle_] No less than all will serve their turns or satisfy their ambition; as we read of Alexander, who wept that... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion [is] fat, and their meat plenteous. Ver. 16. _Therefore they sacrifice to their net_] Thus wicked men grow worse and worse; their sin is infinite; what marvel, then, if their punishment be also... [ Continue Reading ]
Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations? Ver. 17. _Shall they therefore empty their net_] That they may fill it again anew, and so draw to themselves, as to a pond or pool, the wealth and power of the whole east? _Interrogatio precationis speciem habet,_... [ Continue Reading ]