Habakkuk
Chapter 2
Wait and Oracle
Waiting and Oracle (Is 21:1-10) 1I will stand on my watchtower and take my position on the battlements; I will see what he replies if there is an answer to my question.
Then the Lord responded and said: “Write down the vision, inscribe it on tablets so it can be easily read,
since this is a vision for an appointed time; it will not fail but will be fulfilled in its proper time. If it is delayed, wait for it, because it will come a and will not be late. Look:
I don’t look with favor on the one who gives way; the upright, on the other hand, will live by his faithfulness.”
The grasping conqueror is always ready to devour; he opens his mouth wide like the underworld; he is as insatiable as death; he takes over all nations and controls all the people for himself.
The Five Woes 6But will not all the people mock him, as with one voice? Will they not write fierce satires to expose him? They will say: Woe to him who amasses what is not his and fills himself with extorted pledges.
Your creditors will come suddenly; your money collectors will awaken and take away all your goods.
Since you have plundered many nations, shedding blood and stripping land, their cities and homes, all remaining nations will turn against you.
Woe to him who builds his house on unjust gains and nests so high he thinks he can escape misfortune!
You have chosen disgrace for your house; you bring evil upon yourself.
The very stones of your walls cry out against you, and the rafters reply from above.
Woe to the one who builds a city on bloody foundations and establishes a town through evil!
Has the Lord of hosts not willed that the work of the nations be consumed by fire and that the people labor for nothing?
For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.
Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors and drugs them, to make them drunk, so that everyone sees their nakedness!
This will bring you more shame than glory. You will also drink and stagger. The cup turns over in the Lord’s hand and pours out on you: disgrace will swallow your glory.
The violence you inflicted in Lebanon will come back to you, and the animals will consume you, since you slaughtered human beings, destroyed the country and its cities, and ended all who lived there.
What good is a statue? Why do sculptors create them? Why these images and deceptive answers? Why do their makers trust them and produce silent idols?
Woe to the one who says to a piece of wood: “Wake up,” and to a dumb stone: “Get up.” Can it give any answer? For even though it is plated with gold and silver, there is not a single breath of life in it.
But the Lord lives in his holy temple: let the whole earth be silent before him!
Commentaries
Waiting and Oracle.
Like a sentry, the prophet waits alert and watchful for the Lord’s response to his second complaint. God does not delay and instructs him to write down his words clearly, a message that is essential for understanding his actions in human history and the attitude he expects from his faithful: “The ambitious will fail; the righteous, because of their faithfulness, will live” (4). The proud, who trust in their wealth and military or political power, are insatiable, like death, which will inevitably overtake them (5). In this context, the Hebrew word “emunah” signifies steadfastness and faithfulness in the face of violence and injustice. Although it may seem that the Lord is delaying, the righteous are called to “hope against all hope” (Rom 4:18). It is not so much faith in doctrine or teaching as it is complete trust in the Lord of history, who will fulfill his promises and execute his plan.
The Five Woes.
The Lord affirms the prophet’s description of the Babylonians: a ruthless people, intoxicated with pride and greed (6-8). Like eagles, they desire to build their nests high in secure places (9-11), but their stubborn arrogance cannot compare with true divine glory and wisdom (12-14). The invaders’ fortunes will turn: those who forced other nations to drink their fury will end up drinking the cup of God’s wrath. In prophetic language, nakedness—as referenced in Isaiah 20:2-3 and 47:3—symbolizes humiliation and shame (15-18). The final “woe” condemns idolatry, which always leads to injustice, since idols are false gods supporting and justifying the power of those who commit injustice. The Lord, who dwells in the holy temple in Jerusalem, is the only God of all peoples, and His presence should be contemplated and worshiped in silence (19-20). Through these woes, the Lord makes clear that, after using the Babylonians to fulfill His purpose, He will judge them severely.