Habakkuk 2:2-20

2 Then the LORD answered me and said, "¹Record the vision And inscribe it on tablets, That ^[a]the one who ^[b]reads it may run.

3 "For the vision is yet for the ²appointed time; It ^[c]hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, ³wait for it; For it will certainly come, it ⁴will not delay.

4 "Behold, as for the ⁵proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the ⁶righteous will live by his faith.

5 "Furthermore, ⁷wine betrays the ⁸haughty man, So that he does not ⁹stay at home. He ¹⁰enlarges his appetite like Sheol, And he is like death, never satisfied. He also gathers to himself all nations And collects to himself all peoples.

6 "Will not all of these ¹¹take up a taunt-song against him, Even mockery and insinuations against him And say, '¹²Woe to him who increases what is not his- For how long * - And makes himself rich with loans?'

7 "Will not your creditors ¹³rise up suddenly, And those who collect from you awaken? Indeed, you will become plunder for them.

8 "Because you have ¹⁴looted many nations, All the remainder of the peoples will loot you- Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land, To the town and all its inhabitants.

9 "Woe to him who gets ¹⁵evil gain for his house To ¹⁶put his nest on high, To be delivered from the hand of calamity!

10 "You have devised a ¹⁷shameful thing for your house By cutting off many peoples; So you are ¹⁸sinning against yourself.

11 "Surely the ¹⁹stone will cry out from the wall, And the rafter will answer it from the framework.

12 "Woe to him who ²⁰builds a city with bloodshed And founds a town with violence!

13 "Is it not indeed from the LORD of hosts That peoples ²¹toil for fire, And nations grow weary for nothing?

14 "For the earth will be ²²filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.

15 "Woe to you who make your neighbors drink, Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk So as to look on their nakedness!

16 "You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor. Now you yourself ²³drink and expose your own nakedness. The ²⁴cup in the LORD'S right hand will come around to you, And ²⁵utter disgrace will come upon your glory.

17 "For the ²⁶violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, And the devastation of its beasts by which you terrified them, ²⁷Because of human bloodshed and ²⁸violence done to the land, To the town and all its inhabitants.

18 "What ²⁹profit is the idol when its maker has carved it, Or an image, a ³⁰teacher of falsehood? For its maker ³¹trusts in his own handiwork When he fashions speechless idols.

19 "Woe to him who ³²says to a piece of wood, '³³Awake!' To a mute stone, 'Arise!' And that is your teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with ³⁴gold and silver, And there is ³⁵no breath at all inside it.

20 "But the ³⁶LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth ³⁷be silent before * Him."

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Habakkuk 2:2-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HABAKKUK 2

This chapter contains an answer from the Lord to the expostulations, pleadings, and reasonings of the prophet, in the name of the people. The preparation of the prophet to receive this answer is described, Hab 2:1 then follows the answer itself, in which he is bid to write and make plain the vision he had, that it might be easily read, Hab 2:2 and a promise is made, that vision should still be continued to the appointed time, at which time the Messiah would come; and this the righteous man, in opposition to the vain and proud man, is encouraged to live in the faith of, Hab 2:3,4 and then the destruction of the enemies of the people of God is threatened for their pride, ambition, covetousness, oppression, and murder, Hab 2:5-12 which would be unavoidable, Hab 2:13 and issue in the spread of the knowledge of the glory of God in the world, Hab 2:14 and also the ruin of other enemies is threatened, for drawing men into apostasy, and for their violence and idolatry, Hab 2:15-19 upon which would follow an universal silence in the earth, Hab 2:20.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 37

1. Deuteronomy 27:8; Romans 15:4; Revelation 1:19
2. Daniel 8:17, 19; Daniel 10:14
3. Psalms 27:14
4. Ezekiel 12:25; Hebrews 10:37
5. Psalms 49:18; Isaiah 13:11
6. Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38
7. Proverbs 20:1
8. Proverbs 21:24
9. 2 Kings 14:10
10. Proverbs 27:20; Proverbs 30:16; Isaiah 5:11-15
11. Isaiah 14:4-10; Jeremiah 50:13
12. Job 20:15-29; Habakkuk 2:12
13. Proverbs 29:1
14. Isaiah 33:1; Jeremiah 27:7; Zechariah 2:8
15. Jeremiah 22:13; Ezekiel 22:27
16. Jeremiah 49:16
17. 2 Kings 9:26; Nahum 1:14; Habakkuk 2:16
18. Jeremiah 26:19
19. Joshua 24:27; Luke 19:40
20. Micah 3:10; Nahum 3:1
21. Isaiah 50:11; Jeremiah 51:58
22. Psalms 22:27; Isaiah 11:9; Zechariah 14:9
23. Lamentations 4:21
24. Jeremiah 25:15, 17
25. Nahum 3:6
26. Joel 3:19; Zechariah 11:1
27. Psalms 55:23; Habakkuk 2:8
28. Jeremiah 51:35; Habakkuk 2:8
29. Isaiah 42:17; Isaiah 44:9; Jeremiah 2:27, 28
30. Jeremiah 10:8, 14; Zechariah 10:2
31. Psalms 115:4, 8
32. Jeremiah 2:27, 28; Jeremiah 10:3
33. 1 Kings 18:26-29
34. Psalms 135:15-18; Jer 10:4, 9, 14
35. Psalms 135:17
36. Micah 1:2
37. Zephaniah 1:7; Zechariah 2:13

Footnotes 20

[a]. Or "one may read it fluently"
[b]. Or "is to proclaim it"
[c]. Lit "pants"
[d]. Or "lie"
[e]. Or "faithfulness"
[f]. Lit "heavy"
[g]. Lit "those who bite you"
[h]. Lit "violently shake you"
[i]. Lit "of the land"
[j]. Lit "wood"
[k]. Or "injustice"
[l]. Lit "his neighbor"
[m]. Lit "show yourself uncircumcised;" or "stagger;" so DSS and ancient versions
[n]. Lit "of Lebanon"
[o]. Lit "cover"
[p]. Lit which "terrified them"
[q]. Lit "of the land"
[r]. Or "a graven image"
[s]. Lit a "cast" metal "image"
[t]. Lit "Hush before Him, all the earth"