Habakkuk 1:7

7 Dread and terrible are they; their justice and dignity proceed from themselves.

Habakkuk 1:7 Meaning and Commentary

Habakkuk 1:7

They [are] terrible and dreadful
For the fierceness of their countenances; the number and valour of their troops; the splendour of their armour; the victories they had obtained, and the cruelty they had exercised; the fame of all which spread terror wherever they came:

their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves;
they will not be directed and governed by any laws of God and man, but by their own; they will do according to their will and pleasure, and none will be able to gainsay and resist them; they will hear no reason or argument; their decrees and determinations they make of themselves shall be put into execution, and there will be no opposing their tyrannical measures; they will usurp a power, and take upon them an authority over others of themselves, which all must submit unto; no mercy and pity: no goodness and humanity, are to be expected from such lawless and imperious enemies.

Habakkuk 1:7 In-Context

5 Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.
6 For lo, I am rousing the Chalde'ans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize habitations not their own.
7 Dread and terrible are they; their justice and dignity proceed from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Yea, their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come for violence; terror of them goes before them. They gather captives like sand.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.