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Habakkuk 1.2-3
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Passage

Habakkuk 1.2-3

Book: Habakkuk · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

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. 3. 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.

  1. Therefore the law is slacked, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted. 5. Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvellously; for I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you. (Habakkuk 1:1-5, 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? 3. Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.

  1. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted. 5. “Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you. (Habakkuk 1:1-5, 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! 3. 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.

  1. 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 5. Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. (Habakkuk 1:1-5, 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. 3. 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,

  1. Therefore doth law cease, And judgment doth not go forth for ever, For the wicked is compassing the righteous, Therefore wrong judgment goeth forth. 5. Look ye on nations, and behold and marvel greatly. For a work He is working in your days, Ye do not believe though it is declared. (Habakkuk 1:1-5, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Habakkuk the prophet (1:1), in his first complaint (1:2-4)
  • Audience: YHWH, addressed directly
  • 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? ... Why dost thou show me iniquity, and look upon perverseness?" The prophet's first complaint has two questions, "how long" and "why," and both are put to God.

How long. "How long" (Hebrew ʿad-ʾānāh) is the language of lament, as in Psalm 13:1. The prophet cries for help (Strong's H7768) and cries out "violence" (H2555), and he says God neither hears (H8085) nor saves (H3467). He does not doubt that God could. The complaint is that He has not.

Why. The second question is sharper. God Himself makes the prophet see "iniquity" (H205), and God Himself "looks upon" (H5027) "perverseness" (H5999, KJV "grievance"). The scene is "destruction and violence," "strife," and "contention" inside Judah. The prophet's problem is not only that evil exists. It is that God seems to watch it.

The same words come back. When the prophet complains a second time, he uses the same pair of words of God: "Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously" (1:13). The KJV tags "look" and "lookest" there as H5027 and "iniquity" as H5999, the words of 1:3. The book holds the tension open between God's holiness and His apparent patience with evil. It answers with a vision for an appointed time (2:2-3), not by withdrawing the question. See Why Doesn't God Intervene Objection Defeater.

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; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

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.