Habakkuk 1:3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Habakkuk 1:1-4

We are told no more in the title of this book (which we have, Hab. 1:1) than that the penman was a prophet, a man divinely inspired and commissioned, which is enough (if that be so, we need not ask concerning his tribe or family, or the place of his birth), and that the book itself is the burden which he saw; he was as sure of the truth of it as if he had seen it with his bodily eyes already accomplished. Here, in these verses, the prophet sadly laments the iniquity of the times, as one... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Habakkuk 1:3

Why dost thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance ?.... That is, wicked men, and such as give a great deal of trouble vexation, and grief to others, by their rapine and oppression; suggesting that he could not turn his eyes any where, but such persons presented themselves to his view; and that their wicked actions were performed by them openly and publicly, in the sight of all, without any shame or fear. So the Targum, "why do I see oppressors, and behold those that do the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Habakkuk 1:3

And cause me to behold grievance - עמל amal , labor, toil, distress, misery, etc., the common fruits of sin. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Habakkuk 1:3

Verse 3 He afterwards adds, How long wilt thou show me iniquity, and make me to see trouble? Here the Prophet briefly relates the cause of his indignation,—that he could not, without great grief, yea, without anguish of mind, behold such evils prevailing among God’s chosen people; for they who apply this to the Chaldeans, do so strainedly, and without any necessity, and they have not observed the reason which I have stated—that the Prophet does not here teach the Jews, but prepares them for a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Habakkuk 1:1-4

The cry of a good man under the perplexing procedure of God. "The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thee wilt not save!" etc. Of Habakkuk nothing is known for certainty. The fifth and sixth verses of the first chapter tell us that he prophesied before that series of invasions by the Chaldeans which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people—probably between 640... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Habakkuk 1:2-4

2. The prophet complains to God of the iniquity of his own nation, and its consequence. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Habakkuk 1:2-4

The elegy. In this brief and plaintive strain we have— I. AN EARNEST HEART REFLECTING UPON THE PREVAILING INIQUITY . Whatever may have been the exact date of this prophecy, it is clear that the writer stood connected with the close of the kingdom of Judah, the eve of the Captivity, and that he presents to us, in a few graphic touches, a vivid description of the depravity then prevailing in the land. He bitterly laments over: 1 . The insecurity of property. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Habakkuk 1:3

Why dost thou show me— Why dost thou let me see daily with my own eyes—iniquity abounding, the very evil which Balaam says ( Numbers 23:21 ) the Lord had not found in Israel? Cause me to behold grievance. This should be, Dost thou look upon perverseness? He asks how God can look on this evil and leave it unpunished. The LXX . and the Vulgate translate the word amal "trouble," or "labour;" Keil, "distress." In this case it means the trouble and distress which a man inflicts on... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Habakkuk 1:3

Why dost Thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold - , or rather, “Why beholdest Thou grievance?” God seemed to reverse what He had said by Balaam Numbers 23:21, “He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, and hath not seen grievousness in Israel”; and in the Psalms Psalms 10:14, “Thou hast seen, for thou (emphatic) beholdest grievousness and wrong, to put it in Thy hand,” i. e., Thou layest it up in Thy hand, to cast it back on the head of the evildoer. Now He seemed to behold it and leave it... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Habakkuk 1:2-4

Habakkuk 1:2-4. O Lord, how long shall I cry, &c. How long shall I complain unto thee of might overcoming right, and thou wilt not save or prevent it? The prophet here proposes the common objection against Providence, taken from the prosperity of the wicked, and their oppression of the righteous, which has often been a stumbling-block even to good men: see Jeremiah 12:1; Job 12:6; and Job 21:7; Psalm 37., 73. Why dost thou show me iniquity? Why hast thou caused me to live in such... read more

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