Habakkuk 1:7

7 It is horrible, and dreadful; the doom and the burden thereof shall go out of itself. (They be terrible, and fearful, that is, they instill terror, and fear; and law, and justice, or judgement, shall go out from them alone.)

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 Behold ye in heathen men, and see ye, and wonder ye, and greatly dread ye; for a work is done in your days, which no man shall believe, when it shall be told. (Behold ye the heathen, and see ye, and wonder ye, and greatly fear ye; for a work is done in your days, which no one shall believe, when it shall be told to them.)

6 For lo! I shall raise Chaldees, a bitter folk and swift, going on the breadth of earth, that he wield tabernacles not his. (For lo! I shall raise up the Chaldeans, a swift and bitter nation, going upon the breadth of the earth, in order to take tents, or homes, not their own.)

7 It is horrible, and dreadful; the doom and the burden thereof shall go out of itself. (They be terrible, and fearful, that is, they instill terror, and fear; and law, and justice, or judgement, shall go out from them alone.)

8 His horses be lighter than leopards, and swifter than eventide wolves, and his horsemen shall be scattered abroad; for why his horsemen shall come from far, they shall fly as an eagle hasting to eat. (Their horses be lighter than leopards, and swifter than wolves in the night, and their horsemen shall be spread abroad everywhere; yea, their horsemen shall come from afar, and they shall fly like eagles hastening to eat.)

9 All (these) men shall come to prey, the faces of them is as a burning wind; and he shall gather as gravel (the) captivity, (All these men shall come for prey, their faces be like the burning wind; and they shall gather up captives like the sand,)