Habakkuk 1:4

4 propter hoc lacerata est lex et non pervenit usque ad finem iudicium quia impius praevalet adversus iustum propterea egreditur iudicium perversum

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:
FOOTNOTES:

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

Habakkuk 1:4 In-Context

2 usquequo Domine clamabo et non exaudies vociferabor ad te vim patiens et non salvabis
3 quare ostendisti mihi iniquitatem et laborem videre praeda et iniustitia contra me et factum est iudicium et contradictio potentior
4 propter hoc lacerata est lex et non pervenit usque ad finem iudicium quia impius praevalet adversus iustum propterea egreditur iudicium perversum
5 aspicite in gentibus et videte et admiramini et obstupescite quia opus factum est in diebus vestris quod nemo credet cum narrabitur
6 quia ecce ego suscitabo Chaldeos gentem amaram et velocem ambulantem super latitudinem terrae ut possideat tabernacula non sua
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.