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Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Habakkuk 1:12

The prophet, having summed up the deeds of the enemy of God in this his end, sets forth his questions anew. He had appealed against the evil of the wicked of his people; he had been told of the vengeance by the Chaldaeans (Heading of Habakkuk 1:0). But the vengeance is executed by them who are far worse. How then? The answer is: “Wait to the end, and thou shalt see.” What remains are the triumphs of faith; the second chapter closes with the entire prostration of the whole world before God, and... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Habakkuk 1:12

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... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Habakkuk 1:12-17

Second complaint and answer (1:12-2:5)Habakkuk replies to God by asking a further question. If Judah is God’s people for ever, and if God is holy, how can he use Babylon to punish Judah when the Babylonians are more wicked than the Judeans (12-13)? It seems to Habakkuk that God has the same standards as the Babylonians. They treat the people of nations as if they were no better than fish in the sea - there to be caught for the fisherman’s enjoyment (14-15). The Babylonians’ power is their god.... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Habakkuk 1:12

Art Thou not . . . ? Note the change of subject, as shown in the Structure above. God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 . we shall not die. This is one of the eighteen emendations of the Sopherim (see App-33 ), which they say they made because it was considered offensive to say this of Jehovah; hence, the one word of the primitive text "who diest not" was changed to "who die not" (rendered in Authorized Version, Revised Version, and American Revised Version, "we shall not die"). This is the only one... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Habakkuk 1:12

"Art not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, my Holy One? we shall not die. O Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast established him for correction."The last paragraph of Habakkuk 1 (Habakkuk 1:12-17) is to be understood in connection with what has preceded.Question: Habakkuk asked God, "How long" would the wickedness of Judea be tolerated? (Habakkuk 1:2-4).Answer: God's reply (Habakkuk 1:6-11) was the revelation that a vicious new world-state would soon arise... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Habakkuk 1:12

Habakkuk 1:12. Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord— For thou, O Lord, my God, the holy God, the God of truth, thou hast of old ordained him to judgment: thou hast made him a strong enemy, that thou mightest correct him. Houbigant. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Habakkuk 1:12

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 (Isaiah 37:23). we shall not die—Thou, as... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Habakkuk 1:2-20

II. HABAKKUK’S QUESTIONS AND YAHWEH’S ANSWERS 1:2-2:20The prophet asked Yahweh two questions and received two answers. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Habakkuk 1:12

Power was not Habakkuk’s god; Yahweh was. The Lord’s revelation of what He was doing in the prophet’s day brought confidence to his heart and praise to his lips. With a rhetorical question, Habakkuk affirmed his belief that Yahweh, his God, the Holy One, was from everlasting (or antiquity). The implication is that Yahweh is the only true God and that history was unfolding as it was because the God who created history was in charge of events (i.e., sovereign).Habakkuk believed the Judeans would... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Habakkuk 1:12-17

C. Habakkuk’s question about Babylonia 1:12-17This section is another lament (cf. Habakkuk 1:2-4). It expresses the problem of excessive punishment. read more

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