Habakkuk 3:2 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Habakkuk 3:2
O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
speech
שִׁמְעֲךָ֮shim.'a.Kha
H8088
something heard · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
afraid
יָרֵאתִי֒ya.re.Ti
H3372
to fear · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
LORD
יְהוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
revive
חַיֵּ֔יהוּchai.Yei.hu
H2421
to live · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
work
פָּֽעָלְךָ֙pa.'a.le.Kha
H6467
an act or work (concretely) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
midst
בְּקֶ֤רֶבbe.Ke.rev
H7130
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
years
שָׁנִים֙sha.Nim
H8141
a year (as a revolution of time) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
midst
בְּקֶ֥רֶבbe.Ke.rev
H7130
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
years
שָׁנִ֖יםsha.Nim
H8141
a year (as a revolution of time) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
known
תּוֹדִ֑יעַto.Di.a'
H3045
to know (properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
wrath
בְּרֹ֖גֶזbe.Ro.gez
H7267
commotion · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
remember
תִּזְכּֽוֹרtiz.Kor
H2142
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
mercy
רַחֵ֥םra.Chem
H7355
to fondle · verb, piel infinitive construct
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
Psalms 85:6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
Psalms 90:13-17 Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
Hosea 6:2-3 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
Isaiah 51:9-11 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Ra…
Lamentations 3:32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
Isaiah 54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer…
Isaiah 63:15-64:4 Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of…
Habakkuk 3:16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might res…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Habakkuk 3:1-2
This chapter is entitled a prayer of Habakkuk. It is a meditation with himself, an intercession for the church. Prophets were praying men; this prophet was so (He is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, Gen 20:7); and sometimes they prayed for even those whom they prophesied against. Those that were intimately acquainted with the mind of God concerning future events knew better than others how to order their prayers, and what to pray for, and, in the foresight of troublous times, could lay up a stock of prayers that might then receive a gracious answer, and so be serving the church by their prayers when their prophesying was over. This prophet had found God ready to answer his requests and…
I have heard thy speech--Thy revelation to me concerning the coming chastisement of the Jews [CALVIN], and the destruction of their oppressors. This is Habakkuk's reply to God's communication [GROTIUS]. MAURER translates, "the report of Thy coming," literally, "Thy report."
and was afraid--reverential fear of God's judgments (Hab 3:16).
revive thy work--Perfect the work of delivering Thy people, and do not let Thy promise lie as if it were dead, but give it new life by performing it [MENOCHIUS]. CALVIN explains "thy work" to be Israel; called "the work of My hands" (Isa 45:11). God's elect people are peculiarly His work (Isa 43:1), pre-eminently illustrating His power, wisdom, and goodne…
In the midst of the years - בקרב שנים bekereb shanim, "As the years approach." The nearer the time, the clearer and fuller is the prediction; and the signs of the times show that the complete fulfillment is at hand. But as the judgments will be heavy, (and they are not greater than we deserve), yet, Lord, in the midst of wrath - infliction of punishment - remember mercy, and spare the souls that return unto thee with humiliation and prayer.
John Gill
The Church Fathers
I considered Your works and was afraid: surely those works by which He redeemed the world, becoming obedient to the Father unto death, even the death of the cross: that, as the Apostle again says, through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:14). Indeed, the more one diligently considers these works, the more one trembles at the works of one's own frailty.
The Father gave to the Son new disciples after Moses and Elijah had been exhibited along with him in the honor of his glory and had then been dismissed as having fully discharged their duty and office.… But we have the entire structure of this same vision in Habakkuk also, where the spirit in the person of some of the apostles says, "O Lord, I have heard your speech and was afraid." What speech was this, other than the words of the voice from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, hear him"? "I considered your works and was astonished." When could this have better happened than when Peter, on seeing his glory, knew not what he was saying? "In the midst of the two you shall be known"—even Moses and Elijah.
When the years draw near, you will be known, when the time arrives, you will be revealed. The Apostles refer to this when they say: After the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law (Gal. IV, 4). The prophets foresaw these times and years from afar and greeted them from a distance, saying that when the years drew near and the time arrived, the Lord would be revealed and recognized. For it was also heard above, as the Lord said to him: Though the vision is yet for an appointed time; it will speak at the end and will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not delay (Habak. II, 3). Hearing this, and considering the works of the passion, he feared and was in awe, because he was moved by the transitory happiness of the wicked and the temporal affliction of the good. However, for having made a penance worthy of his unaware wrongdoings, he soon trusted that he could obtain forgiveness for his error. Hence he consequently adds:
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
Poetry — Has been well defined as “the measured language of emotion.” Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man’s relation to God. “Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon,…
Psalms — The psalms are the production of various authors. “Only a portion of the Book of Psalms claims David as its author. Other inspired poets in successive generations added now one now another…
Affliction, Prayer Under · For mercy — For mercy
Anger Of God, The · Removal of, should be prayed for — Removal of, should be prayed for
Desire · SPIRITUAL — SPIRITUAL
Prophets · Sometimes received divine communications and uttered predictions under great bodily and mental excitement — Sometimes received divine communications and uttered predictions under great bodily and mental excitement
Revivals · .Prayer for — .Prayer for
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).
on Habakkuk 3:2
O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid,.... Or, "thy hearing" (p); which the Lord had caused to be heard from and of himself; the report that had been made to him, and other prophets before him, particularly Isaiah, who says, "who hath believed our report?" Isaiah 53:1 where the same phrase is used as here: though it seems here not so much to regard the evangelical part of that report, concerning the coming of Christ, his sufferings and death, in order obtain redemption and salvation for his people; for this would have been, and was, matter of joy, and not of fear and consternation: but the truth is this, the Lord in the preceding speech, being a report he made to the prophet concer…
Habakkuk 3:2
2. O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
2. Jehova, audivi vocem tuam (auditum tuum, ad verbum, [dms]; [50] ) Jehova, opus tuum in medio annorum vivifica illud (sed relativum pronomen abundat;) in medio annorum notum fac; in ira misericordiae recorderis.
The Prophet says here, in the name of the whole people, that he was terrified by the voice of God, for so I understand the word, though in many places it means report, as some also explain it in this place. But as the preaching of the Gospel is called in Isaiah 53:1, smh, shemoe, report, it seems to me…
"Jehovah, I have heard Thy tidings, am alarmed. Jehovah, Thy work, in the midst of the years call it to life, in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy." שׁמעך is the tidings (ἀκοή) of God; what the prophet has heard of God, i.e., the tidings of the judgment which God is about to inflict upon Judah through the Chaldaeans, and after that upon the Chaldaeans themselves. The prophet is alarmed at this. The word יראתי (I am alarmed) does not compel us to take what is heard as referring merely to the judgment to be inflicted upon Judah by the Chaldaeans. Even in the overthrow of the mighty Chaldaean, or of the empire of the world, the omnipotence of Jehovah is displayed i…
Habakkuk stands in awe before the Sovereign One who sits enthroned in his holy Temple (2:20). • In light of God’s message of Judah’s coming chastisement, Habakkuk prays that God, who has miraculously intervened on Israel’s behalf in the past, will once again make known his work of redemption (see also Ps 77).
Rashi on Habakkuk 3:2
I heard a report of You that from days of yore You always inflicted retribution upon those who provoked You, yet You tolerate this wicked man.
I feared I said, “How has the Divine standard of justice changed because of Israel’s iniquity?”
Your deed. In the midst of the years Your original deed, that You would wreak vengeance for us upon our enemies in the midst of the years of trouble in which we are found. revive it Awaken it and restore it. in the midst of the years And in the midst of these years let it be known.
In anger In the anger that You will vent upon the wicked, You will remember to have mercy.
to have mercy like לְרַחֵם, to have mercy.
You shall remember You shall remember t…
