THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET HABAKKUK _Chronological Notes relative to this Book, upon the supposition_ _that it was written a little before the destruction of_ _Jerusalem, about six hundred years before the commencement_ _of the Christian era._ -Year from the Creation, according to Archbishop Usher, 3... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Habakkuk 1:2. _O LORD, HOW LONG SHALL I CRY_] The prophet feels himself strongly excited against the vices which he beheld; and which, it appears from this verse, he had often declaimed against, but in vain; the people continued in their vices, and God in his longsuffering. Habakkuk begins hi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Habakkuk 1:3. _AND CAUSE_ ME _TO BEHOLD GRIEVANCE_] עמל _amal_, labour, toil, distress, misery, c., the common fruits of sin.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 4. _THE LAW IS SLACKED_] They pay no attention to it; it has lost all its vigour, its restraining and correcting power, it is not executed; right _judgment_ is never _pronounced_; and the _poor_ _righteous man_ complains in vain that he is grievously oppressed by the _wicked_, and by those in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 5. _BEHOLD YE AMONG THE HEATHEN_] Instead of בגוים _baggoyim_, among the _nations_ or _heathen_, some critics think we should read בגדים _bogedim, transgressors_; and to the same purpose the _Septuagint, Syriac_, and _Arabic_ have read; and thus it is quoted by St. _Paul_, Acts 13:41. But neit... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 6. _THAT BITTER AND HASTY NATION_] Cruel and oppressive in their disposition; and prompt and speedy in their assaults and conquests.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 7. _THEIR JUDGMENT - SHALL PROCEED OF THEMSELVES._] By revolting from the Assyrians, they have become a great nation. Thus, their judgment and excellence were the result of their own valour. Other meanings are given to this passage.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 8. _THEIR HORSES ALSO ARE SWIFTER THAN THE LEOPARDS_] The Chaldean cavalry are proverbial for swiftness, courage, c. In Jeremiah, Jeremiah 4:13, it is said, speaking of Nebuchadnezzar, "His chariots are as a whirlwind his horses are swifter than eagles." _Oppian_, speaking of the horses bred... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 9. _THEIR FACES SHALL SUP UP_ AS _THE EAST WIND_] This may be an allusion to those _electrical winds_ which prevail in that country. Mr. _Jackson_, in his overland journey from India, mentions his having bathed in the _Tigris_. On his coming out of the river one of those winds passed over him,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Habakkuk 1:10. _THEY SHALL SCOFF AT THE KINGS_] No power shall be able to stand before them. It will be only as _pastime_ to them to take the strongest places. They will have no need to build formidable ramparts: by sweeping the _dust_ together they shall make mounts sufficient to pass over th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Habakkuk 1:11. _THEN SHALL_ HIS _MIND CHANGE_] This is thought to relate to the change which took place in Nebuchadnezzar, when "a beast's heart was given to him," and he was "driven from the dwellings of men." And this was because of his _offending_-his pride and arrogance; and his attributin... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Habakkuk 1:12. _ART THOU NOT FROWN EVERLASTING_] The idols change, and their worshippers change and fail: but thou, Jehovah, art _eternal_; thou canst not change, and they who trust in thee are safe. Thou art infinite in thy mercy; therefore, "we shall not die," shall not be totally exterminat... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Habakkuk 1:13. THOU ART _OF PURER EYES_] Seeing thou art so pure, and canst not look on iniquity-it is so abominable-how canst thou bear with them who "deal treacherously, and hold thy tongue when the wicked devour the righteous?" All such questions are easily solved by a consideration of God'... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Habakkuk 1:14. _MAKEST MEN AS THE FISHES OF THE SEA_] Easily are we taken and destroyed. We have no _leader_ to guide us, and no _power_ to defend ourselves. Nebuchadnezzar is here represented as a fisherman, who is constantly casting his nets into the sea, and enclosing multitudes of fishes;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Habakkuk 1:16. _THEY SACRIFICE UNTO THEIR NET_] He had no God; he cared for none; and worshipped only his _armour_ and _himself_. King _Mezentius_, one of the worst characters in the _AEneid of Virgil_, is represented as invoking his own _right hand_ and his _spear_ in battle. AEn. x. 773. De... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Habakkuk 1:17. _AND NOT SPARE CONTINUALLY TO SLAY THE NATIONS?_] They are running from conquest to conquest; burning, slaying, sacking, and slaughtering. Like the fishermen, who throw cast after cast while any fish are to be caught, so Nebuchadnezzar is destroying one nation after another. Thi... [ Continue Reading ]