Commentari biblici

Habakkuk 1:1. The burden, &c.— The sentence, or prophesy. The prophet in the first four verses inveighs against the irregularities of Judah; and in the 6th verse he speaks of the coming of the Chaldeans into the country as of a thing entirely new; and as if those people had been called into existence for the very purpose of punishing the Jewish nation. See Calmet.

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Habakkuk 1:3. And there are that raise up strife, &c.— And there is strife; and contention carries it.

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Habakkuk 1:4. And judgment doth never go forth, &c.— And judgment goeth not forth to victory or perfection, for the wicked overbeareth the righteous. Houbigant. See Isaiah 42:3.

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Habakkuk 1:5. Behold ye, &c.—though it be told you— See and behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish; for, &c.—when it is told. Houbigant. So also the LXX, and Acts 13:41.

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Habakkuk 1:6. That bitter and hasty nation— That swift nation, which shall hasten its pace, and shall march, &c. Houbigant.

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Habakkuk 1:7. Their judgment, &c.— They give to themselves their own judgments, and their own auguries. The meaning is, that the Chaldeans plunder whatever they deem in their own judgments proper to be theirs, and esteem their own will in the place of auguries and omens. Houbigant.

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Habakkuk 1:9. Their faces shall sup, &c.— A burning wind goes before them, and gathers captives as the sand. Houbigant. They shall carry desolation, destruction, and fire every where before them. The winds which blew from Arabia the Desert were extremely hot, and very dangerous, not only on account of their own heat, but on account of the dust and sand which they brought with them. See Jeremiah 4:11; Jeremiah 18:17. Ezekiel 17:10; Ezekiel 19:12.

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Habakkuk 1:10. And they shall scoff, &c.— And he shall scoff at kings, and princes will be a jest with him; he will but laugh at every strong hold; for he will heap up the dust, (or raise a mound) and take it.

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