Habakkuk 1:2

2 LORD, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you "Violence!" and will you not save?

Habakkuk 1:2 Meaning and Commentary

Habakkuk 1:2

O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!
&c.] The prophet having long observed the sins and iniquities of the people among whom he lived, and being greatly distressed in his mind on account of them, had frequently and importunately cried unto the Lord to put a stop to the abounding of them, that the people might be brought to a sense of their sins, and reform from them; but nothing of this kind appearing, he concludes his prayers were not heard, and therefore expostulates with the Lord upon this head: [even] cry unto thee [of] violence, and thou wilt not save!
either of violence done to himself in the discharge of his office, or of one man to another, of the rich to the poor; and yet, though he cried again and again to the Lord, to check this growing evil, and deliver the oppressed out of the hands of their oppressors, it was not done; which was matter of grief and trouble to him.

Habakkuk 1:2 In-Context

1 The oracle which Havakkuk the prophet saw.

2 LORD, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you "Violence!" and will you not save?

3 Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.

4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice goes forth perverted.

5 "Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you.