Habakkuk 1:3
in Habakkuk 1Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Why dost thou show me iniquity, and look upon perverseness? for destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up.
KJV
Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.
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This verse in Habakkuk 1
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(Ver. 3, 4.) And judgment and contradiction become more powerful: therefore the law is torn apart and judgment does not reach its end: because the wicked prevail against the just, therefore a perverse judgment proceeds. LXX: Judgment has been made against me, and the judge accepts it: therefore the law is torn apart and judgment does not reach its end: because the wicked prevail against the just, therefore a perverse judgment proceeds.
This site's exposition
cause me to behold grievance
on Habakkuk 1:3-4
The prophet names what he sees plainly, iniquity, grievance, spoiling, violence, strife and contention crowding his sight, and the law itself slacked so that judgment never goes forth. Gill and Clarke read this as Judah's own corruption under a wicked king, most likely Jehoiakim, the courts captured so that the wicked compass about the righteous and wrong judgment proceeds unchecked. The complaint is domestic before it is international, God's own people, not yet the Chaldeans, are Habakkuk's first grief.
The record, by era
The Reformation2 voices
Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
I therefore consider that the Prophet here solicits God to visit these many sins in which the people had hardened themselves. And hence we conclude that he had previously exercised his office of a teacher; for it would have been otherwise improper for him to begin his work with such a complaint and expostulation.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Why dost thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance?.... That is, wicked men, and such as give a great deal of trouble vexation, and grief to others, by their rapine and oppression; suggesting that he could not turn his eyes any where, but such persons presented themselves to his view; and that their wicked actions were performed by them openly and publicly, in the sight of all, without any shame or fear.
And, if blessed are the peace-makers, cursed are such peace-breakers, that make parties, and so make mischief that spreads further, and lasts longer, than they can imagine. It is sad to see bad men warming their hands at those flames which are devouring all that is good in a nation, and stirring up the fire too.
They make no difficulty of killing them, but do it with as much ease as men catch fish, that make no resistance, but are unguarded and unarmed, and it is rather a pastime than any pains to take them. They make no distinction among them, but all is fish that comes to their net; and they reckon every thing their own that they can lay their hands on.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Why dost Thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold - , or rather, “Why beholdest Thou grievance?” God seemed to reverse what He had said by Balaam Num 23:21, “He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, and hath not seen grievousness in Israel”; and in the Psalms Psa 10:14, “Thou hast seen, for thou (emphatic) beholdest grievousness and wrong, to put it in Thy hand,” i. e., Thou layest it up in Thy hand, to cast it back on the head of the evildoer.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2711: “The Sight of Iniquity” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IN this discourse, it will be my endeavor to assign some reasons why God causes His people to see iniquity in themselves and in others I. We wi1l begin with the first part and enquire, WHY DOES GOD CAUSE US TO SEE INIQUITY IN OURSELVES? What is the reason of the discoveries which the Holy Spirit sometimes makes to us, of the evil of our hearts? It is well known, to all who love the Lord, that there are seasons when the Holy Spirit takes us into the darkest chambers of our being and there reveals to us evils which, perhaps, we had never suspected. "Son of man," He says, "I will show you what great abominations there are within you." He lays bare the loathsome kennel of the human heart and lets us look at all our deformity and depravity. He takes us to the rock from where we were hewn and to the hole of the pit from where we were dug. He bids us look with horror upon our natural state and see that awful and hideous corruption that still remains in our hearts—even though we have been regenerated by Him. Why does He do this? We will answer the question in several ways. Sometimes, He does it to confirm us in the Doctrines of Grace. My Brothers and Sisters, Arminianism is the natural religion of us all. I think one of the surest ways in the world to put down all our self-sufficiency and all our erroneous views of the Gospel is for God, the Holy Spirit, to show us our own depravity. A man may talk glibly concerning free will as long as he knows nothing about himself—but when the Lord has shown him what he is by nature, he will say no more about that matter. Or if he talks about it as a mere theory, he will not believe it in his inmost spirit. A man untaught of the Spirit says that sinners, of their own free will, turn to God.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2711: “The Sight of Iniquity” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IN this discourse, it will be my endeavor to assign some reasons why God causes His people to see iniquity in themselves and in others I. We wi1l begin with the first part and enquire, WHY DOES GOD CAUSE US TO SEE INIQUITY IN OURSELVES? What is the reason of the discoveries which the Holy Spirit sometimes makes to us, of the evil of our hearts?
And cause me to behold grievance - עמל amal, labor, toil, distress, misery, etc., the common fruits of sin.
The words behind it
12 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָ֣מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תַרְאֵ֤נִי | tareni | do you make see me | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אָ֙וֶן֙ | ʾaven | wickedness | H205 → | |
| וְעָמָ֣ל | veamal | and mischief | H5999 → | |
| תַּבִּ֔יט | tabit | do you look at? | H5027 → | 69 times |
| וְשֹׁ֥ד | veshod | and devastation | H7701 → | |
| וְחָמָ֖ס | vechamas | and violence | H2555 → | 60 times |
| לְנֶגְדִּ֑י | lenegdi | [are] to before me | H5048 → | |
| וַיְהִ֧י | vayhi | and it has been | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| רִ֦יב | riv | strife | H7379 → | |
| וּמָד֖וֹן | umadon | and contention | H4066 → | |
| יִשָּֽׂא׃ | yisa' | it arises | H5375 → | 656 times |
לָ֣מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
תַרְאֵ֤נִיdo you make see me
tareniH7200 →1300 times
אָ֙וֶן֙wickedness
ʾavenH205 →
וְעָמָ֣לand mischief
veamalH5999 →
תַּבִּ֔יטdo you look at?
tabitH5027 →69 times
וְשֹׁ֥דand devastation
veshodH7701 →
וְחָמָ֖סand violence
vechamasH2555 →60 times
לְנֶגְדִּ֑י[are] to before me
lenegdiH5048 →
וַיְהִ֧יand it has been
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
רִ֦יבstrife
rivH7379 →
וּמָד֖וֹןand contention
umadonH4066 →
יִשָּֽׂא׃it arises
yisa'H5375 →656 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Ecclesiastes 5:8If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and…
it leads to
- Psalms 12:5
“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
- Ecclesiastes 4:1
Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their…
- Ecclesiastes 3:16
Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
- Matthew 13:41–42
The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness.
- Psalms 82:1
God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods:
- Psalms 12:5
Through
Jeremiah 20:8For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 36:16
But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
- Jeremiah 6:10
To whom can I give this warning? Who will listen to me? Look, their ears are closed, so they cannot hear. See, the word of the LORD has become offensive to them; they find…
- Jeremiah 5:15–17
Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose…
- 2 Chronicles 36:16
Where this verse is studied
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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); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2711: “The Sight of Iniquity” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jerome, Commentary on Habakkuk; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.