Habakkuk 1:4

4 Therefore * the ¹law is ^[a]ignored And justice ^[b]is never * upheld. For the wicked ²surround the righteous; Therefore * justice comes out ³perverted.

Habakkuk 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

Habakkuk 1:4

Therefore the law is slacked
Is not put into execution against offenders: the civil magistrates, whose office it is to do justice according to law, are dilatory, and do not proceed with vigour and spirit against the transgressors of it, and in favour of honest and good men oppressed: or "it intermits" ^F18, or is "intermitted"; it is like a man whose pulse beats low, and is scarce perceived, which is a sign that he is not in good health as the body politic is not, when the law, which is the soul of it, is not suffered to take place, and do its office. So the Targum,

``the law languishes;''

loses its force and vigour, and is ready to expire; which is a sad symptom of the bad estate of a commonwealth. And judgment doth never go forth;
at least not right, to the justifying of the righteous, acquitting the innocent, and giving the cause on the right side; condemning the wicked, and punishing offenders as their crime deserves: it never appears as it should do; it is either not done at all, or done badly and perversely: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous;
to hurt him or ensnare him, and by frauds and wicked artifices, and false witnesses, to carry a cause against him: therefore wrong judgment proceedeth;
the cause is given on the wrong side, against a good man, and for a wicked man; all these things the prophet saw with grief, and complained of to the Lord, from whom he has an answer in the following words:

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 (gwpt) "intermittitur", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Burkius; (gwp) "est, animi deliquium pati", Tarnovius.

Habakkuk 1:4 In-Context

2 How long, O LORD , will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, "Violence!" Yet You do not save.

3 Why do You make me see iniquity, And cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises.

4 Therefore the law is ignored And justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted.

5 "Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days - You would not believe if you were told.

6 "For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth To seize dwelling places which are not theirs.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 58:1, 2; Psalms 119:126; Isaiah 59:12-14
• 2. Psalms 22:12; Isaiah 1:21-23
• 3. Isaiah 5:20; Ezekiel 9:9

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "ineffective;" lit "numbed"
• [b]. Lit "never goes forth"