Habakkuk 1:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Habakkuk 1:6
For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
a foreign nation · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
march
הַֽהוֹלֵךְ֙ha.ho.leKh
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
breadth
לְמֶרְחֲבֵיle.mer.cha.vei-
H4800
enlargement · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
land
אֶ֔רֶץ'E.retz
H776
the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular absolute
possess
לָרֶ֖שֶׁתla.Re.shet
H3423
to occupy (by driving out previous tenants · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
dwellingplaces
מִשְׁכָּנ֥וֹתmish.ka.Not
H4908
a residence (including a shepherd's hut · noun, common feminine plural 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
2 Kings 24:2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon…
2 Chronicles 36:6 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
2 Chronicles 36:17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no…
Jeremiah 5:15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation who…
Deuteronomy 28:49-52 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou sha…
Isaiah 23:13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the t…
Jeremiah 4:6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
Jeremiah 25:9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bri…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Habakkuk 1:5-11
We have here an answer to the prophet's complaint, giving him assurance that, though God bore long, he would not bear always with this provoking people; for the day of vengeance was in his heart, and he must tell them so, that they might by repentance and reformation turn away the judgment they were threatened with.
I. The preamble to the sentence is very awful (Hab 1:5): Behold, you among the heathen, and regard. Since they will not be brought to repentance by the long-suffering of God, he will take another course with them. No resentments are so keen, so deep, as those of abused patience. The Lord will inflict upon them, 1. A public punishment, which shall be beheld and regarded among the…
I raise up--not referring to God's having brought the Chaldeans from their original seats to Babylonia (see on Isa 23:13), for they had already been upwards of twenty years (since Nabopolassar's era) in political power there; but to His being about now to raise them up as the instruments of God's "work" of judgment on the Jews (Ch2 36:6). The Hebrew is future, "I will raise up."
bitter--that is, cruel (Jer 50:42; compare Jdg 18:25, Margin; Sa1 17:8).
hasty--not passionate, but "impetuous."
Adam Clarke on Habakkuk 1:6
That bitter and hasty nation - Cruel and oppressive in their disposition; and prompt and speedy in their assaults and conquests.
John Gill on Habakkuk 1:6
For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans,.... A people still of late mean and low, famous only for their soothsaying, divination, and judicial astrology; but now become a powerful and warlike people, rising up under the permission of Providence to universal monarchy, and who would quickly add Judea to the rest of their dominions:
that bitter and hasty nation; a cruel and merciless people in their temper and disposition: "bitter" against the people of God and true religion, and causing bitterness, calamities, and distress, wherever they came: "hasty" and precipitate in their determinations; swift and nimble in their motions; active and vigorous in the prosecution of their designs:
which shall marc…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 6 onwards) For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth to take possession of dwelling places that are not theirs. They are feared and dreaded; their justice and dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. They all come for violence; their faces forward; they gather captives like sand. At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god. LXX: For behold, I will raise up the bitter and swift Chaldeans, who walk over the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. They are dreadful and renowned; their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and more fierce than evening wolves. Their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from afar; they shall fly as the eagle that hastens to eat. They shall come all for violence; their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn to them; they shall deride every stronghold, for they shall heap up earth and take it. Then his spirit shall change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god. What I have told you: Look among the nations, and see, and be amazed, and be astounded; for a work is being done in your days that you would not believe if you were told. This is what the following passage describes: Behold, I am stirring up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. And this is his work, not to exercise the land by plowing; but to live by plunder and sword, and to possess cities that are not his own: before he strikes his hand, before he breaks out into war, he carries terror on his face. And when he says, 'Judgment and burden will come out from himself,' as Symmachus interpreted, it means that he will judge for himself, and will go forth according to his decree, or it should be understood that he will appoint princes…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Bitter — Bitterness is symbolical of affliction, misery, and servitude (Ex. 1:14; Ruth 1:20; Jer. 9:15). The Chaldeans are called the “bitter and hasty nation” (Hab. 1:6). The “gall of bitterness” expresses a…
Tyre — A rock, now es-Sur; an ancient Phoenician city, about 23 miles, in a direct line, north of Acre, and 20 south of Sidon. Sidon was the oldest Phoenician city, but Tyre had a longer and more…
Armies · Marched: Often in open line — Marched: Often in open line
Chaldea · Character of its people — Character of its people
Heathen, The · Employed to chastise the Church — Employed to chastise the Church
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).
Habakkuk 1:6
6. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
6. Quia ecce ego excito Chaldaeos, gentem asperam, et praecipitem, quae incedet per latitudines terrae, ad possidendum tabernacula non sua.
This verse is added by the Prophet as an explanation; for it was not enough to speak generally of God's work, without reminding them that their destruction by the Chaldeans was nigh at hand. He does not indeed in this verse explain what would be the character of that judgement which he had mentioned in the last verse Habakkuk 1:5; but he will do this in what follows. Now…
Announcement of this work. - Hab 1:6. "For, behold, I cause the Chaldaeans to rise up, the fierce and vehement nation, which marches along the breadths of the earth, to take possession of dwelling-places that are not its own. Hab 1:7. It is alarming and fearful: its right and its eminence go forth from it. Hab 1:8. And its horses are swifter than leopards, and more sudden than evening wolves: and its horsemen spring along; and its horsemen, they come from afar; they fly hither, hastening like an eagle to devour. Hab 1:9. It comes all at once for wickedness; the endeavour of their faces is directed forwards, and it gathers prisoners together like sand. Hab 1:10. And it, kings it scoffs at, an…
God’s answer to Habakkuk’s question is startling. God would send a violent people—the Babylonians—to deal with the violence in Judah. The Babylonian army, well-trained and battle-hardened, was an unstoppable force.
1:5 Look . . . look: Two different Hebrew verbs, both of which are here translated look, are translated as see and watch in 1:3. This forms a literary link between Habakkuk’s questions in 1:3 and God’s reply in 1:5-11.
Rashi on Habakkuk 1:5
You shall not believe when it is told When this is told to you, that I am setting up the Chaldeans, the people that did not deserve to be created, as it is written (Isa. 23:13): “This people has never been.” They are one of three things whose creation God regrets, and now [they] will rise, and [they] will be bitter, and [they will be] impetuous to run and to march to the breadth of the lands of all the nations.
