Habakkuk 2:3

Habakkuk 2:3 indicates the reason for the command. The writing down of the vision is necessary, because its fulfillment will be delayed; when it is fulfilled the tablets will serve as witnesses to the truthfulness of Jehovah and of his prophet (compare Isaiah 8:16-18).

The vision is yet for an appointed time It relates not to the present, but to the time fixed by Jehovah for its realization, which is yet in the future (compare Daniel 8:19; Daniel 8:26; Daniel 10:14, etc.).

At the end it shall speak Better, R.V., “it hasteth toward the end.” The end is not the “last days,” nor the fulfillment of the vision as such, but the time fixed for it. The oracle is thought of as possessing a vital energy of its own. “True prophecy,” says Hitzig, “is inspired, as it were, by an impulse to fulfill itself.”

Not lie It will not prove false, but will surely be realized. In the rest of the verse the prophet is exhorted to wait patiently, for, though delayed, the vision will surely be realized.