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.
| Word | Hebrew | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| shew | תַרְאֵ֤נִי tar.'E.ni | H7200 | to see · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix |
| iniquity | אָ֙וֶן֙ 'a.ven | H205 | strictly nothingness · noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| behold | תַּבִּ֔יט ta.Bit | H5027 | to scan · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular |
| grievance | וְעָמָ֣ל ve.'a.Mal | H5999 | toil · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute |
| spoiling | וְשֹׁ֥ד ve.Shod | H7701 | violence · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| violence | וְחָמָ֖ס ve.cha.Mas | H2555 | violence · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| up | יִשָּֽׂא yi.Sa' | H5375 | to lift · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular |
| strife | רִ֦יב riv | H7379 | a contest (personal or legal) · noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| contention | וּמָד֖וֹן u.ma.Don | H4066 | a contest or quarrel · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute |
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
cause me to behold grievance--MAURER denies that the Hebrew verb is ever active; he translates, "(Wherefore) dost Thou behold (without doing aught to check) grievance?" The context favors English Version. there are that raise up strife and contention--so CALVIN. But MAURER, not so well, translates, "There is strife, and contention raises itself."
And cause me to behold grievance - עמל amal, labor, toil, distress, misery, etc., the common fruits of sin.
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 labour of falsehood?'' For spoiling and violence are before me; in my sight and presence, though a prophet, and notwithstanding all my remonstrances, exhortations, and reproofs; such were the hardness, obst…
Read the whole note in the consoleHabakkuk 1:2, 3 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! 2. Quousque, Jehova, clamabo, et non exaudies? Vociferabor ad te ob violentiam, et non servabis? 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. 3. Quare ostendis mihi iniquitatem, et moestiam aspicere facis? Et direptio et violentia in conspectu meo? et est qui litem et contentionem excitet. As I have already reminded you, interpreters think that the Prophet speaks here of future things, as though he had in his view the calamity which he afterw…
Read the whole note in the console(Ver. 3, 4.) And judgment and contradiction become more powerful: therefore the law is torn apart and judgment does not reach its end: because the wicked prevail against the just, therefore a perverse judgment proceeds. LXX: Judgment has been made against me, and the judge accepts it: therefore the law is torn apart and judgment does not reach its end: because the wicked prevail against the just, therefore a perverse judgment proceeds. Still, the prophet or the people speak to the Lord, because they were judged not by truth but by power, and they did not receive any support from the law and righteousness. Therefore, their judgment had no end. However, the purpose of judgment is to judge fairly. And why they dare to speak, they explain in the following, saying: Because the wicked Nebuchadnezzar prevailed against the just Judah (2 Kings 22), and this is the reason why they say judgment has not reached its end; because it is unjust and perverse for the righteous King Josiah to be killed by the Egyptian king (2 Kings 23); for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to serve (Daniel 3); and for the Babylonian emperor to command and for Belshazzar to drink from the vessels of God among his prostitutes and concubines (Daniel 5). This prophet is speaking about the condition of his time (we are following because you wanted an account of history as well). Moreover, according to the Septuagint, it is a common complaint of the saints to God that an unjust judgment is rendered against them and innocent blood is shed in persecutions. And sometimes, when they stand before the secular tribunal, the judge, after receiving bribes, condemns the innocent and sets the guilty free. This can be said not only of judges of the world, but sometimes also of the leaders of the Church, who, because of bribes, disregard the law and do not bring a trial to completion, allowing the wicked to prevail against the righteous. And in the judgment, the sin of the rich is more powerful than the truth of the poor. Where there is complaint, judgment becomes perverted: but we ought not to be disturbed by this inequality of things, seeing in the beginning of the world the impious Cain slew the just Abel (Gen. IV), and afterwards Jacob, being an exile, reigned in his father's house over Esau (Gen. XXVIII), and the Egyptians afflicted the children of Israel with mud and bricks, and the Lord against…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The prophet's lamentation. Hab 1:2. "How long, Jehovah, have I cried, and Thou hearest not? I cry to Thee, Violence; and Thou helpest not! Hab 1:3. Why dost Thou let me see mischief, and Thou lookest upon distress? devastation and violence are before me: there arises strife, and contention lifts itself up. Hab 1:4. Therefore the law is benumbed, and justice comes not forth for ever: for sinners encircle the righteous man; therefore justice goes forth perverted." This complaint, which involves a petition for help, is not merely an expression of the prophet's personal desire for the removal of the prevailing unrighteousness; but the prophet laments, in the name of the righteous, i.e., the beli…
Read the whole note in the consoleIn Habakkuk’s day, destruction and violence permeated Judean society (see Habakkuk Book Introduction, “Setting”).
iniquity plunder and violence. and look upon mischief You look upon this mischief, but You do not help. and the one who bears quarrel and strife endures And this wicked man who bears quarrel and strife, will live, remain in existence, and prosper. endures He who bears quarrel and strife will endure. So did Jonathan render.
Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).
