Habakkuk 1:11
in Habakkuk 1Then they sweep by like the wind and pass on through. They are guilty; their own strength is their god.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then shall he sweep by as a wind, and shall pass over, and be guilty, even he whose might is his god.
KJV
Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.
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This verse in Habakkuk 1
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Then shall his mind change - or, better, “Then he sweeps by, חלף châlaph is used of the overflowing of a river, Isa 8:8, of a wind chasing, Isa 21:1, of the invisible presence of God passing by, Job 9:11, or a spirit, Job 4:15, of the swift passing of our days, like ship or eagle, Job 10:26, of idols utterly passing away. Isa 2:18, of rain past and gone, Son 2:11. It is, together with עבר ‛âbar, used of transgressing God’s law Isa 24:
This site's exposition
gather the captivity as the sand
on Habakkuk 1:9-11
They shall come all for violence... they shall gather the captivity as the sand describes an invasion that takes kings, princes, and strongholds as sport, deriding fortifications it does not need to respect. Verse 11 turns from description to indictment, then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god, the Chaldean crediting his own idol for a victory the true Lord had granted him. Henry and Gill read this line as the turning hinge of the whole book, the instrument of judgment becoming guilty in the moment it forgets whose hand raised it up.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
We are an offending people; he is an offended God; yet he is ours, and we will not entertain any hard thoughts of him, nor of his service, for all this." (3.) "He is my Holy One. " This intimates that the prophet loved God as a holy God, loved him for the sake of his holiness.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Then shall his mind change,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Sacrilegious arrogance, in ascribing to his idol Bel the glory that belongs to God [CALVIN]. GROTIUS explains, "(saying that) his power is his own as one who is a god to himself" (compare Hab 1:16, and Da 3:1-30). So MAURER, "He shall offend as one to whom his power is his god" (Job 12:6; see on Mic 2:1).
Then shall his mind change - This is thought to relate to the change which took place in Nebuchadnezzar, when “a beast’s heart was given to him,” and he was “driven from the dwellings of men.” And this was because of his offending - his pride and arrogance; and his attributing all his success, etc., to his idols.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Then a spirit goes further Then, when they see their way prospering, a spirit of guilt goes further and passes over them. Now what is the spirit?
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And they shall mock the kings shall mock them. Every expression of קַלָּסָה is an expression for the speech of those speaking about another; some [of these speeches] are for good, and some for bad - parledic in O.F.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Daniel 5:20But when his heart became arrogant and his spirit was hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken from him.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 17:14
But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.
- Jeremiah 13:18
Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”
- Hebrews 3:13
But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
- 2 Chronicles 36:13
He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.
- Exodus 9:17
Still, you lord it over My people and do not allow them to go.
- 2 Kings 17:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
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About Habakkuk
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Habakkuk; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.