ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Habakkuk 1.2
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Passage

Habakkuk 1.2

Book: Habakkuk · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV
  1. The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

2. O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save.

  1. Why dost thou show me iniquity, and look upon perverseness? for destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up. 4. Therefore the law is slacked, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted. (Habakkuk 1:1-4, ASV)
WEB
  1. The revelation which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

2. Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you not save?

  1. Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up. 4. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted. (Habakkuk 1:1-4, WEB)
KJV
  1. The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

2. O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!

  1. Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. 4. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. wrong: or, wrested (Habakkuk 1:1-4, KJV)
YLT
  1. The burden that Habakkuk the prophet hath seen:

2. Till when, O Jehovah, have I cried, And Thou dost not hear? I cry unto Thee, 'Violence,' and Thou dost not save.

  1. Why dost Thou shew me iniquity, And perversity dost cause to behold? And spoiling and violence [are] before me, And there is strife, and contention doth lift [itself] up, 4. Therefore doth law cease, And judgment doth not go forth for ever, For the wicked is compassing the righteous, Therefore wrong judgment goeth forth. (Habakkuk 1:1-4, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Habakkuk the prophet (1:1), opening his first complaint (1:2-4)
  • Audience: YHWH, addressed directly. The book records the exchange for Judah, but the prophet speaks to God, not to the people.
  • Location: Judah, presumably Jerusalem. The book names no town and gives no family line for the prophet.
  • Time period: Late seventh century BC, as the Chaldeans (the Neo-Babylonian empire) were rising (1:6). The book carries no regnal date; most place it within a few years either side of Babylon's victory at Carchemish in 605 BC.

Theological reading

"O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save." Most prophetic books open with a word from God to the people. Habakkuk opens with a word from the prophet to God, and it is a complaint.

Lament, not unbelief. "How long" (Hebrew ʿad-ʾānāh) is the standard question of biblical lament. Psalm 13:1 asks it of the same God: "How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou forget me for ever?" The question assumes that God hears, is able to save, and is responsible to act. A prophet who believed no one was listening would not frame the complaint as a prayer.

Two cries and one word. The KJV tags two different verbs: "cry" (Strong's H7768, a cry for help) and "cry out" (H2199, an outcry against wrong). The content of the second cry is a single word, "violence" (H2555, chamas), which the WEB and YLT print as the outcry itself: I cry unto Thee, "Violence." The verbs at the ends of the two lines, "hear" (H8085) and "save" (H3467), name exactly what the prophet thinks God is withholding.

The answer comes, and it is harder. God does reply (1:5-11), but the reply is that He is raising up the Chaldeans to judge Judah. That answer sharpens the problem and draws a second complaint (1:12-17). The book does not resolve the tension by silencing the question. It ends with the same prophet saying, "Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah" (3:18), with the circumstances still unchanged. See Why Doesn't God Intervene Objection Defeater for how the codex uses this verse.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.