Habakkuk 2:18 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Habakkuk 2:18
What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
an untruth · noun, common masculine singular absolute
maker
יֹצֵ֤רyo.Tzer
H3335
to mould into a form · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
work
יִצְרוֹ֙yitz.Ro
H3336
a form · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
trusteth
בָטַ֞חva.Tach
H982
figuratively · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
make
לַעֲשׂ֖וֹתla.'a.Sot
H6213
to do or make · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
dumb
אִלְּמִֽים'i.le.Mim
H483
speechless · adjective, masculine plural absolute
idols
אֱלִילִ֥ים'e.li.Lim
H457
good for nothing · noun, common masculine 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
Jeremiah 10:8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
Isaiah 44:9-10 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they s…
Zechariah 10:2 For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went th…
1 Corinthians 12:2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
Jeremiah 2:27-28 Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their fa…
Isaiah 42:17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.
Psalms 115:4-8 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
Psalms 135:15-18 The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Habakkuk 2:15–end
The three foregoing articles, upon which the woes here are grounded, are very near akin to each other. The criminals charged by them are oppressors and extortioners, that raise estates by rapine and injustice; and it is mentioned here again (Hab 2:17), the very same that was said Hab 2:8, for that is the crime upon which the greatest stress is laid; it is because of men's blood, innocent blood, barbarously and unjustly shed, which is a provoking crying thing; it is for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein, which God will certainly reckon for, sooner or later, as the asserter of right and the avenger of wrong.
But here are two articles more, of a different natu…
The powerlessness of the idols to save Babylon from its doom is a fitting introduction to the last stanza (Hab 2:19), which, as the former four, begins with "Woe."
teacher of lies--its priests and prophets uttering lying oracles, as if from it.
make dumb idols--Though men can "make" idols, they cannot make them speak.
Adam Clarke on Habakkuk 2:18
What profiteth the graven image - This is against idolatry in general, and every species of it, as well as against those princes, priests, and people who practice it, and encourage others to do the same. See on Isa 44:9-10 (note); Isa 46:2 (note).
Dumb idols? - אלילים אלמים elilim illemim, "dumb nothings." This is exactly agreeable to St. Paul, Co1 8:4, who says, "An idol is nothing in the world." What signify the idols worshipped by the Chaldeans, Tyrians, and Egyptians? They have not been able to save their worshippers.
John Gill on Habakkuk 2:18
What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it,.... The graven images the church of Rome enjoins the worship of; the images of the Trinity, of Christ, of the Virgin Mary, of angels and saints departed, and which are still continued since the Reformation; but of what profit and advantage are they? they may be profitable to the graver, who is paid for graving them; and the metal or matters of which they are made, if sold, and converted to another use, may turn to account; but as deities, and worshipped as such, they are of no profit to them that worship them; they can not hear their prayers, nor answer them; can not bestow any favours on them, and deliver them out of any…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 18.) What profit is there in a carved image, because the maker thereof hath carved it, a molten and a false image? because the maker thereof hath trusted in his own workmanship, to make dumb idols. LXX: What profit is there in a carved image, because they have carved it, and fashioned it by the molten workman, a false image? because the artificer thereof hath trusted in his own workmanship, to make dumb idols. Furthermore, it is said in the preceding (or in the preceding matter), concerning Nebuchadnezzar, that he made a statue of the idol Bel, and set it in the field of Dura: or, as it is written in Hebrew, Dora, about which we read more fully in Daniel (Dan. 3). Therefore, the Scripture marvels at the madness and foolishness of the king, because he commanded a golden statue to be made, and the artist places confidence in the image that he created. And indeed, we can apply this, generally speaking, to all idol worshippers. We cannot consider that which is sculpted and that which is cast to be the same thing. For the sculpting, we can understand it to be in stones and marbles; but the casting is understood in those metals which can be melted and cast, for example, gold, silver, bronze, lead, and tin. Let this saying be, that according to tropology we may understand what is the difference between a sculpture and an idol. We read in Deuteronomy: Cursed be he who makes a sculpture and an idol, the work of the craftsman's hands, and sets it up in secret (Deut. XXVII, 15). I believe that sculptures and idols are perverse doctrines which are worshiped by those who made them. See how Arianus sculpted an idol for himself and worshiped what he had sculpted. Cerne Eunomium conflasse imaginem falsam, et conflationi suae curvare cervicem. Signanterque Scriptura: Et ponet, inquit, illud in abscondito. Habent enim et ipsi orgia sua, et quasi pro perfectis quibusque discipulis tradunt abscondita sacramenta, quae si ad lucem processerint, statim quod ficta sunt, arguuntur. Nihil igitur eis proderit sculptura et conflatio sua. Sculptura, quae refertur ad lapides, in his dogmatibus intelligitur, quae stultitiam prima fronte demonstrant. Conflatio is where there appears to be a semblance of secular wisdom, and as if with gold, the image is formed of the disciplines of philosophers and the splendor of eloquence. Therefore, the fabrication will be of no benefit to its…
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
Idol · Ma — Ma
Idolatry · Objects of described as: Molten images — Objects of described as: Molten images
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 2:18
18. What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
18. Quid prodest sculptile? quia sculpsit illud fictor ejus conflatile et doctorem mendacii; quia confidit fictor figmento suo, ut faciat idola muta.
The Prophet now advances farther, and shows that whatever he had predicted of the future ruin of Babylon and of its monarchy, proceeded from the true God, from the God of Israel: for it would not have been sufficient to hold, that some deity existed in heaven, who ruled human affairs, so that it could not be, but that tyrants would have to suffer pun…
Fifth and last strophe. - Hab 2:18. "What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath carved it; the molten image and the teacher of lies, that the maker of his image trusteth in him to make dumb idols? Hab 2:19. Woe to him that saith to the wood, Wake up; Awake, to the hard stone. Should it teach? Behold, it is encased in gold and silver, and there is nothing of breath in its inside. Hab 2:20. But Jehovah is in His holy temple: let all the world be silent before Him." This concluding strophe does not commence, like the preceding ones, with hōi, but with the thought which prepares the way for the woe, and is attached to what goes before to strengthen the threat, all hope of help…
In the fifth taunt song, the Babylonians are condemned for their devotion to idolatry. Whether idols are carved or cast by the hand of man, they can neither save nor teach their worshipers (Isa 42:17). Only the Lord truly deserves our worship (Hab 2:20; Exod 20:2-6; cp. Eccl 5:1-2).
Rashi on Habakkuk 2:18
What did a graven image avail Babylon?
that the maker of his work trusted The man who formed it, who is the maker of this god of his.
in it He trusts in this creation of his, that it assists him, so he comes to make dumb idols.
