Habakkuk 1:12

1:12-17 However matters may be, yet God is the Lord our God, our Holy One. We are an offending people, he is an offended God, yet we will not entertain hard thoughts of him, or of his service. It is great comfort that, whatever mischief men design, the Lord designs good, and we are sure that his counsel shall stand. Though wickedness may prosper a while, yet God is holy, and does not approve the wickedness. As he cannot do iniquity himself, so he is of purer eyes than to behold it with any approval. By this principle we must abide, though the dispensations of his providence may for a time, in some cases, seem to us not to agree with it. The prophet complains that God's patience was abused; and because sentence against these evil works and workers was not executed speedily, their hearts were the more fully set in them to do evil. Some they take up as with the angle, one by one; others they catch in shoals, as in their net, and gather them in their drag, their enclosing net. They admire their own cleverness and contrivance: there is great proneness in us to take the glory of outward prosperity to ourselves. This is idolizing ourselves, sacrificing to the drag-net because it is our own. God will soon end successful and splendid robberies. Death and judgment shall make men cease to prey on others, and they shall be preyed on themselves. Let us remember, whatever advantages we possess, we must give all the glory to God.

Habakkuk 1:12 . Art thou not, &c. — Here the prophet, upon being made sensible that the king of Babylon should attribute all his victories to some false or fictitious deity, or to his own abilities, breaks out into a passionate exclamation to Jehovah, Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God? — Art not thou he, who only hath been from everlasting; while all others that are called gods have had a beginning, and there was a time when neither they nor the men that set them up had any being? Thou, therefore, art infinitely superior, both to the most powerful men, and to all that are called gods. We shall not die — We shall not utterly perish by the Chaldeans, though we shall suffer severely from them. Or, as Secker renders it, Let us not die. Thou hast ordained them for judgment — Thou hast appointed the Chaldeans to execute thy judgments on sinners. And, O mighty God — Whose sovereignty is unquestionable, and power irresistible; thou hast established them for correction — The Hebrew is, thou hast founded them as a rock for correction, namely, of the Jewish people.

(12-17) Though sore perplexed, Habakkuk feels sure that the God whom this swaggering conqueror has insulted will at last vindicate Himself. (12) We shall not die—i.e., God’s people may suffer, but shall not be obliterated, shall not be “given over unto death.” The rest of the verse runs literally, Jehovah, for judgment hast Thou appointed him, and O Rock, for chastisement hast Thou founded him. “Him,” means, of course, the Chaldæan invader, whom Habakkuk regards as raised up only to be God’s instrument of correction. The term “Rock” has been paraphrased in the Authorised Version. Used absolutely, it occurs as a Divine title in Deuteronomy 32:4. Generally it is qualified in some way, as “my rock,” “our rock,” “rock of salvation” &c.

Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? we shall not {k} die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. (k) He assures the godly of God's protection, showing that the enemy can do no more than God has appointed, and also that their sins require such a sharp rod.

12. In opposition to the impious deifying of the Chaldeans power as their god (Maurer, or, as the English Version, their attributing of their successes to their idols), the prophet, in an impassioned address to Jehovah, vindicates His being "from everlasting," as contrasted with the Chaldean so-called "god." my God, mine Holy One—Habakkuk speaks in the name of his people. God was "the Holy One of Israel," against whom the Chaldean was setting up himself (Isa 37:23). we shall not die—Thou, as being our God, wilt not permit the Chaldeans utterly to destroy us. This reading is one of the eighteen called by the Hebrews "the appointment of the scribes"; the Rabbis think that Ezra and his colleagues corrected the old reading, "Thou shalt not die." thou hast ordained them for judgment—that is, to execute Thy judgments. for correction—to chastise transgressors (Isa 10:5-7). But not that they may deify their own power (Hab 1:11, for their power is from Thee, and but for a time); nor that they may destroy utterly Thy people. The Hebrew for "mighty God" is Rock (De 32:4). However the world is shaken, or man's faith wavers, God remains unshaken as the Rock of Ages (Isa 26:4, Margin).

12–17 . Remonstrance of the Prophet with God, the righteous Ruler of the world, over the cruelties and inhumanity of the Chaldeans 12 . The words down to “die” must form two lines and cannot be divided at “Holy One.” Most naturally thus: Art not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah! My God, mine Holy One, we shall not die! Others make the division at “my God.” The word “everlasting” again Deuteronomy 33:27 . The eternity of their God is often a ground of confidence to Israel; Isaiah 40:28 , “an everlasting God is Jehovah, he fainteth not neither is weary.” Cf. Psalm 90:2 , “from everlasting to everlasting thou art God.” we shall not die ] This is said half in supplication, half in assurance; Psalm 118:17 ; cf. 1 Samuel 20:14 . Comp. the assurance “shall live” ch. Habakkuk 2:4 . The accumulation of divine names shews the earnestness and importunity of the prophet. According to Jewish tradition “we shall not die” is a tiḳḳun (emendation) of the “scribes” for thou shall not die (diest not). Opinions differ as to who the “scribes” are. Some consider that the original authors are meant, in which case the tiḳḳun would be a second thought of the writer. What occurred to him to say first was “thou diest not,” but reverence restrained him from bringing the ideas of death and God together, and he said “we shall not die.” We are not informed how this interesting process in the prophet’s mind became known to after-times.

Obviously this is not the real account of the matter, which is not easy to give. No doubt, however, these so-called emendations—there are eighteen of them—were either (1) real corrections by the scribes, i.e. copyists or editors of the sacred books; or (2) they are no emendations at all, but the original text; the supposed readings which they are said to have supplanted being mere fancies of Jewish scholars as to what might have been written. Possibly they are partly of the one class and partly of the other. In the present passage Sept. agrees with Heb., but in another, Job 7:20 , it exhibits the supposed original reading: “I am become a burden unto Thee ” (Heb. unto myself). ordained them for judgment ] lit. him , i.e. the Chaldean. The prophet proceeds in the same tone of half prayer, half confidence, struck in “we shall not die,” explaining to himself and venturing to suggest before God what must be the meaning of the Chaldean’s supremacy and oppression—he is not meant to cause Israel to perish, only to execute God’s temporary judgment upon it. Ewald takes the other possible view, viz. that it is the Chaldean himself who is appointed to be judged and receive punishment. This view is less natural in the connexion. O mighty God … correction ] and O Rock thou hast appointed him for correction —to be the instrument of chastising Israel. The term Rock is used of God, Deuteronomy 32:4 ; Deuteronomy 32:18 ; Deuteronomy 32:30-31 ; 1 Samuel 2:2 , 2 Samuel 22:32 ; 2 Samuel 23:3 ; cf

Art thou not from everlasting? in being, thou art that God who art not like the gods of the nations, upstart and novel, but before the mountains were brought forth thou wast God; thou hast permitted, borne with, restrained, overthrown, and punished such proud, bloody, and sacrilegious wretches. In thy works of old, before this proud Chaldean monarch was thought of, thou wert as now, wonderful, just, and good, and thy saints found support in the remembrance thereof, Psalm 74:12 77:5,11 143:5 Isaiah 45:21 . In covenant with thine Israel, which covenant is not of late years, it is an ancient covenant, and as it hath, it still shall be kept for our good. O Lord; the Sovereign Lord and Ruler of the world, who only art Jehovah. My God; Judge and Vindex by office; as Judge, engaged to defend, rescue, and avenge the oppressed; and my God or Judge. Whether the prophet speaks only in his own, or in his people’s name, he hath a respect to that peculiar relation he or they had to God, much like that Isaiah 63:19 . He refers to the ancient covenant relation which God had taken them into, and implies his hope and expectation of help from God, their Judge and Vindex. Mine Holy One; holy in thy nature, law, and government, in thy mercies, and in judgments, who dost intend to make thy holiness appear in due time by saving us; though thou seem to forget, or at least to delay the work, yet thou art the Holy One in the midst of us, Isaiah 12:6 , and we wait for thee.

We, who are thine, and oppressed, threatened, and exposed to the avarice and cruelty of the Chaldean, shall not die; be utterly cut off and destroyed, for the death of a nation is the destruction or desolation of it. Thou who hast made us thine by an everlasting covenant of mercy, wilt show us such mercy that we shall outlive the rage of our enemies. O Lord: with humble veneration he doth look towards God, and discerneth what quieteth his spirit, and confirms his faith and patience. Thou hast ordained, set up, maintained, and designed, them, the Chaldean kingdom, as Habakkuk 1:6 . for judgment; to execute this judgment, which is ever attempered with mercy, which ever betters, never destroys thy people: see Isaiah 10:5 , &c. Babylon, as Assyria, was the rod of God’s indignation, &c. O mighty God: this he repeats for confirmation and illustration, and intimateth God to be his people’s rock and refuge. Thou hast established, strengthened and fortified, them for correction; to chastise and discipline, not to destroy.

Verses 12-17. - § 4. The prophet, in reply, beseeches the Lord not to suffer his people to perish, seeing that he has deigned to be in covenant with them, but to remember mercy even during the affliction at the hand of their rapacious enemies. Verse 12. - Habakkuk calls to mind God's immutability and his covenant with Israel. Art thou not from everlasting, etc.? An affirmative answer is expected. This is one ground of confidence in the corrective nature of the chastisement. God is Jehovah, the covenant God, who has been in personal relation to Israel from time immemorial, and is himself eternal. Mine Holy One . He speaks in the person of the righteous people, and he refers to God's holiness as a second ground of hope, because, although God must punish sin, he will not let the sacred nation, the chosen guardian of the faith, perish utterly. And then he expresses this confidence: We shall not die. We shall be chastened, but not killed. The Masorites assert that the present reading is a correction of the scribes for "thou wilt not die," which the prophet wrote originally, and which was altered for reverence' sake. But this is a mere assumption, incapable of proof. Its adoption would be an omission of the very consolation to which the prophet's confidence leads. Thou hast ordained them ( him ) for judgment. Thou hast appointed the Chaldean to execute thy corrective punishment on Israel (comp. Jeremiah 46:28 ).

Others take the meaning to be - Thou hast predestined the Chaldean to be judged and punished This is not so suitable in this place. O mighty God; Hebrew, O Rock - an appellation applied to God, as the sure and stable Resting place and Support of his people ( Deuteronomy 32:4, 15, 37 ; Psalm 18:2, 31 :3; Isaiah 17:10 ). Thou hast established them ( him ) for correction . Thou appointedst the Chaldean, or madest him strong, in order to correct thy people. He is, like the Assyrian, the rod of God's anger ( Isaiah 10:5 ). Septuagint, Απλασέ με τοῦ ἐλέγχειν παιδείαν αὐτοῦ , "He formed me to prove his instruction." This, says St. Jerome, is spoken in the person of the prophet announcing his call and office. Habakkuk 1:12