to stand · verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common singular
watch
מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֣יmish.mar.Ti
H4931
watch · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
set
וְאֶֽתְיַצְּבָ֖הve.'et.ya.tze.Vah
H3320
to place (any thing so as to stay) · conjunction + verb, hithpael infinitive construct, 1st person common singular
tower
מָצ֑וֹרma.Tzor
H4692
something hemming in · noun, common masculine singular absolute
watch
וַאֲצַפֶּ֗הva.'a.tza.Peh
H6822
properly · conjunction + verb, piel, 1st person common singular
see
לִרְאוֹת֙lir.'Ot
H7200
to see · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
say
יְדַבֶּרye.da.ber-
H1696
perhaps properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
answer
אָשִׁ֖יב'a.Shiv
H7725
to turn back (hence · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular
reproved
תּוֹכַחְתִּֽיto.khach.Ti
H8433
chastisement · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
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
Isaiah 21:8 And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:
Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep no…
2 Samuel 18:24 And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, a…
Psalms 85:8 I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
Psalms 73:16-17 When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;
Psalms 5:3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
2 Corinthians 13:3 Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you.
Jeremiah 12:1 Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Habakkuk 2:1-4
Here, I. The prophet humbly gives his attendance upon God (Hab 2:1): "I will stand upon my watch, as a sentinel on the walls of a besieged city, or on the borders of an invaded country, that is very solicitous to gain intelligence. I will look up, will look round, will look within, and watch to see what he will say unto me, will listen attentively to the words of his mouth and carefully observe the steps of his providence, that I may not lose the least hint of instruction or direction. I will watch to see what he will say in me" (so it may be read), "what the Spirit of prophecy in me will dictate to me, by way of answer to my complaints." Even in a ordinary way, God not only speaks to us by…
I will stand upon my watch - The prophets are always represented as watchmen, watching constantly for the comfort, safety, and welfare of the people; and watching also to receive information from the Lord: for the prophetic influence was not always with them, but was granted only at particular times, according to the will of God. When, in doubtful cases, they wished to know what God was about to do with the country, they retired from society and gave themselves to meditation and prayer, waiting thus upon God to hear what he would say In them.
What he will say unto me - בי bi, In me - in my understanding and heart.
And what I shall answer when I am reproved - What I shall say to God in behalf…
I will stand upon my watch,.... These are the words of the prophet: so the Targum introduces them,
"the prophet said;''
and this he said in character as a watchman, as all the prophets were: as a watchman takes the proper place he watches in and looks out, especially in time of danger and distress, if he can spy anyone bringing tidings, that he may receive it, and notify it to the people that have appointed him a watchman; so the prophet retired from the world, and gave himself up to meditation and prayer, and put himself in a waiting posture; looking up to the Lord, and expecting an answer to his expostulations with him, concerning the success of the enemies of God's people, and the calam…
The Church Fathers
If someone perseveres continually in this watchfulness, therefore, he will effectively bring to pass what is quite plainly expressed by the prophet Habakkuk: "I will stand on my watch and go upon my rock, and I will look out to see what he will say to me and what I should reply to him who reproaches me." The laboriousness and difficulty of this is very clearly proved by the experiences of those who dwell in the desert of Calamus or Porphyrion.
Where, then, did I find you in order to learn about you? For you were not already in my memory before I learned of you. Where, then, did I find you in order to learn about you, unless in yourself above me? Yet there is no place. We go backward and we go forward, yet there is no place. O truth, you do preside over all things, even those that take counsel with you, and you do answer in the same time all who consult you, however diverse their questions. You do answer clearly, but all do not hear clearly. All seek counsel concerning what they wish, but they do not always hear what they wish. He serves you best who does not so much expect to hear the thing from you that he himself desires, but rather to desire what he hears from you.
(Chapter 2, Verse 1) I will stand upon my watch, and set myself upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. LXX: I will stand upon my watch, and get upon the rock, and will watch to see what will be said unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. Symmachus more clearly pursued: Like a guard I will stand upon the lookout, and I will stand like one who is enclosed, and will watch to see what will be said unto me, and what I shall answer, and I will contradict the one who argues against me. For munition and stone, in whose place Symmachus interpreted as concluded, is called Masur in Hebrew, which Theodotion, Aquila, and the fifth edition translated as a compass. The Lord had responded to the first cause: Look among the nations and see, and be amazed, and be astounded. To this the prophet, acting as if repenting of the previous statement, moderated the question, saying: O Lord my God, my holy one, we shall not die (Habakkuk 1:12). But nevertheless, with reverence and praise for God himself had queried: Your eyes are blinded so that you do not see evil, and you do not look upon iniquity (ref. Hab 1:13). Why do you not look upon those who do evil and remain silent while the wicked devours the righteous? And what is the devouring of the righteous, carried out in part: so that people become like fish of the sea, and like creeping creatures. And with a hook, and a net, and a dragnet, all are drawn toward destruction, and there is no end to their killing. Therefore, because he is a prophet, and therefore he seeks and doubts, it is right that what is answered to him should be answered to everyone: I will stand, he says, on my watchtower, that is, in the height of my prophecy, and I will see what happens after the captivity of the people, and the destruction of the city and the temple, and afterwards what will follow. Or indeed, like this: I will guard my heart with all diligence, and I will stand upon the rock of Christ. And with this compass and circle, I will enclose myself like a wall, so that the roaring lion cannot break through to me, and I will see what God answers me after the second question: and after he has answered me and rebuked me for complaining, what should I also respond to him. On the other hand, he describes with an elegant and remarkable perception the impatience that we…
Dictionary and topics
Towers · Watchmen posted on, in times of danger — Watchmen posted on, in times of danger
Watchfulness · 36:18-21; — 36:18-21;
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 2:1
1. I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
1. Super speculam meam stabo, et statuam me super arcem, et speculabor ad videndum quid loquatur mecum, et quid respondeam ad increpationem meam.
We have seen in the first chapter Habakkuk 1:2-3 that the Prophet said in the name of all the faithful. It was indeed a hard struggle, when all things were in a perplexed state and no outlet appeared. The faithful might have thought that all things happened by chance, that there was no divine providence; and even the Prophet uttered complaints of this kind. He now begins to recover hi…
Hab 2:1-3 form the introduction to the word of God, which the prophet receives in reply to his cry of lamentation addressed to the Lord in Hab 1:12-17. Hab 2:1. "I will stand upon my watchtower, and station myself upon the fortress, and will watch to see what He will say in me, and what I answer to my complaint. Hab 2:2. Then Jehovah answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon the tables, that he may run who reads it. Hab 2:3. For the vision is yet fore the appointed end, and strives after the end, and does not lie: if it tarry, wait for it; for it will come, it does not fail." Hab 2:1 contains the prophet's conversation with himself. After he has poured out his trouble a…
I will . . . stand at my guardpost: Like a sentinel on duty (see also 2 Sam 18:24-28; 2 Kgs 9:17-20; Ezek 33:2-6), Habakkuk waited expectantly to see how God would answer his complaint, even if that meant being reproved by the Lord.
Rashi on Habakkuk 2:1
On my watch I will stand Habakkuk dug a circular hole, stood within it, and said, “I will not budge from here until I hear what He will say to me concerning this, my question why He looks and sees the prosperity of a wicked man.”
and what I will reply to those who come to contend with me.
when I am reproved mon aprobement in O.F.; the reproach one addresses to me. when I am reproved For they reprove me to my face that one should criticize the Divine standard of justice.
