Habakkuk has been shocked to hear that God will use Babylon to punish the injustices of Judah.
Habakkuk 2:1, "At my watch"I will stand at my watch
and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
Habakkuk, after his plea to God, promises to persist and watch for an anwer, as if he were a night watchman on the walls of a city. Armerding sees this verse as the conclusion to chapter 1. Regardless, it is a thematic verse for Habakkuk. As he challenges God, he commits to waiting for an answer.
Habakkuk 2:2-3, Prepare a herald
Then the LORD replied:
"Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it.
For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end and will not prove false.
Though it linger,
wait for it;
it will certainly come
and will not delay.
In the culture of the ANE, few people could read. So a herald might carry a message to the towns and villages, reading the pronouncement out loud at each location. Here God's answer comes as a message to be engraved on a tablet, to be carried away and read to the populace. A revelation about "the end" is coming.
Does "the end" signify the end of Babylonian oppression? Or a future end of all wickedness? The Septuagint (says Armerding, p. 512), replaces "he/it will certainly come", with "the coming one will come", which has a Messianic undertone.
Habakkuk 2:4-5, Evil puffed up ... but the Righteous...
"See, he is puffed up;
his desires are not upright--
but the righteous will live by his faith--
indeed, wine betrays him;
he is arrogant and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
and like death is never satisfied,
he gathers to himself all the nations
and takes captive all the peoples.
The evil person (ruler? nation?) is arrogant and puffed up. But the righteous person -- as Habakkuk attempts to model -- persists by stubborn faith.
The statement, "but the righteous will live by his faith" will be quoted three times in the New Testament. Paul cites it in
Romans 1:17 and
Galatians 3:11 and it occurs again in
Hebrews 10:38.
Habakkuk 2:6-8, "How long must this go on?"
"Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying,
"`Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
and makes himself wealthy by extortion!
How long must this go on?'
Will not your debtors suddenly arise?
Will they not wake up
and make you tremble?
Then you will become their victim.
Because you have plundered many nations,
the peoples who are left will plunder you.
For you have shed man's blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities
and everyone in them.
The remainder of chapter 2 is a sequence of five warning "woe!" messages. These are to taunt the coming oppressor. In each message, the oppressor receives judgment in kind (
lex talionis.) In the first "woe!", the evil oppressors are eventually overthrown and destroyed. But before that happens, they plunder nations and people. Evil triumphs
for a time.
Habakkuk 2:9-11, Futile nest on high
"Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain
to set his nest on high,
to escape the clutches of ruin!
You have plotted the ruin of many peoples,
shaming your own house
and forfeiting your life.
The stones of the wall will cry out,
and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.
In the second "woe!", the rich and powerful see themselves as impervious to retribution and ruin. But that is not so -- as they have plotted the ruin of others, so too will they be brought down. Even the stones and beams of their houses cry out for justice!
Habakkuk 2:12-14, City built with bloodshed
"Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and establishes a town by crime!
Has not the LORD Almighty determined
that the people's labor is only fuel for the fire,
that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
Even cities can be built on organized crime. But all of that is vanity; the evil labor will eventually be in vain.
Habakkuk 2:14, Covered with the knowledge of God
For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
as the waters cover the sea.
A brief interlude reminds everyone that eventually the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God and will respond to His justice.
Habakkuk 2:15-17, Drinking destruction
"Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors,
pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
so that he can gaze on their naked bodies.
You will be filled with shame instead of glory.
Now it is your turn!
Drink and be exposed!
The cup from the LORD's right hand is coming around to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory.
The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
and your destruction of animals will terrify you.
For you have shed man's blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities
and everyone in them.
In the fourth "woe!", those who use alcohol to seduce others, so that they can be aroused by their nakedness, are told that they, themselves will be exposed.
Habakkuk 2:18-19, Silly silly idols
"Of what value is an idol,
since a man has carved it?
Or an image that teaches lies?
For he who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak.
Woe to him who says to wood, `Come to life!'
Or to lifeless stone, `Wake up!'
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;
there is no breath in it.
In this passage, the fifth "Woe!" is occurs in the middle of the accusation. One watches as a man carves a piece of wood -- and then worships it! He builds an image out of stone -- and then tells it to come to life!
The absurdity of idol worship impressed many Old Testament prophets. Habakkuk, like
Isaiah 44:9-20.
Isaiah 2:8,
Jeremiah 10, and others, finds idol making not just sin, but illogical and ridiculous.
Habakkuk 2:20, Holy temple
But the LORD is in his holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before him."
Just as before in verse 14, there is an insertion, a statement of worship. Regardless of the powers arranged around Israel, God is still in charge, still in His temple.
First published July 25, 2025; updated July 25, 2025