Habakkuk 1:4

4 For this thing law is broken, and doom cometh not till to the end; for the unpious man hath might against the just, therefore wayward doom shall go out. (And so because of this, the law is broken, and judgement, or justice, cometh not unto its proper end; for the wicked have might, or power, against the just, or the righteous, and so perverted justice, or warped judgement, shall go forth.)

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 How long, Lord, shall I cry, and thou shalt not hear? I suffering violence shall cry on high to thee, and thou shalt not save? (How long, Lord, shall I cry, and thou shalt not hear me? I suffering violence shall cry aloud to thee, and shalt thou not save me?)

3 Why showedest thou to me wickedness and travail, for to see prey and unrightwiseness against me? Why beholdest thou despisers, and art still, the while the unpious man defouleth a right-fuller than himself? And thou shalt make men as fishes of the sea, and as creeping things not having a leader; and doom is made, and against-saying is more mighty. (Why hast thou shown me wickedness and struggle, in order to see robbery and unrighteousness done against me? Why beholdest thou despisers, and art silent, while the wicked defile someone more upright than themselves? Shalt thou make people like the fish of the sea, and like the creeping things that do not have a leader? yea, judgement is made, or justice is given, but saying against, or contention, is more mighty, or more powerful.)

4 For this thing law is broken, and doom cometh not till to the end; for the unpious man hath might against the just, therefore wayward doom shall go out. (And so because of this, the law is broken, and judgement, or justice, cometh not unto its proper end; for the wicked have might, or power, against the just, or the righteous, and so perverted justice, or warped judgement, shall go forth.)

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.)