Habakkuk 1:5
in Habakkuk 1“Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvellously; for I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.
KJV
Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
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This verse in Habakkuk 1
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 5.) Look among the nations and see, be astonished and astounded; for a work is being done in your days that you would not believe if you were told. LXX: Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if someone tells you. Symmachus, in response to what we have said: "a work is being done in your days", interpreted it as "a work will be done in your days". The rest is similar.
This site's exposition
Look at the nations and observe
on Habakkuk 1:5-6
God answers with a work "that you would never believe even if someone told you," raising up "that ruthless and impetuous nation". The remedy for Judah's injustice is a nation more violent than Judah. Paul takes up these words at Acts 13:41, while the verse itself speaks of Babylon's rise.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
This is Habakkuk the ninth in order, who was also privileged to speak concerning the resurrection of Christ in these terms: Behold, ye despisers, and regard, and wonder marvellously, and vanish for ever, because I work a work in your days which ye will not …
He remained Lord of all things even when he came, for the divine economy, in the form of a slave, and this is why the mystery of Christ is truly wonderful. Indeed God the Father said to the Jews through one of the prophets, "Look on this, you scoffers, be struck with wonder and disappear, for I am doing a work in your days, a work in which you will not believe even if one were to explain it to you."
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Behold ye - Here God begins to answer the prophet. Among the heathen - See what judgments have been executed upon the heathen for like sins.
Behold ye among the heathen, and regard,....
41 , Behold, you despisers, and wonder, and perish. The ruin of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans for their idolatry was a figure of their ruin by the Romans for rejecting Christ and his gospel, and it is a very marvellous thing, and almost incredible. Is there not a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Behold ye among the heathen - The whole tone of the words suddenly changes. The Jews flattered themselves that, being the people of God, He would not fulfill His threats upon them. They had become like the pagan in wickedness; God bids them look out among them for the instrument of His displeasure. It was an aggravation of their punishment, that God, who had once chosen them, would now choose these whom He had not chosen, to chasten them.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Israelite unbelievers would not credit the prophecy as to the fearfulness of the destruction to be wrought by the Chaldeans, nor afterwards the deliverance promised from that nation. So analogously, in Paul's day, the Jews would not credit the judgment coming on them by the Romans, nor the salvation proclaimed through Jesus.
Behold ye among the heathen - Instead of בגוים baggoyim, among the nations or heathen, some critics think we should read בגדים bogedim, transgressors; and to the same purpose the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic have read; and thus it is quoted by St. Paul Act 13:41. But neither this, nor any tantamount reading, is found in any of the MSS. yet collated. Newcome translates, “See, ye transgressors, and behold a wonder, and perish.” I will work a work in your days - As he is speaking of the desolation that should be produced by the Chaldeans, it follows, as Bp. Newcome has justly observed, that the Chaldeans invaded Judah whilst those were living whom the prophet addressed. Which ye will not believe - Nor did they, after all the declarations of various prophets. They still supposed that God would not give them up into the hands of their enemies, though they continued in their abominations! It is evident that St. Paul, in the above place, accommodates this prediction to his own purpose. And possibly this sense might have been the intention of the Divine Spirit when he first spoke the words to the prophet; for, as God works in reference to eternity, so he speaks in reference to the same; and therefore there is an infinity of meaning in his Word. These appear to be the words of God in answer to the prophet, in which he declares he will entirely ruin this wicked people by means of the Chaldeans.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רְא֤וּ | reu | see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| בַגּוֹיִם֙ | vagoyim | among the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| וְֽהַבִּ֔יטוּ | vehabitu | and look | H5027 → | 69 times |
| וְהִֽתַּמְּה֖וּ | vehittamehu | and be astounded | H8539 → | |
| תְּמָ֑הוּ | temahu | be astonished | H8539 → | |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| פֹ֙עַל֙ | foal | a deed | H6467 → | |
| פֹּעֵ֣ל | poel | [I am] about to do | H6466 → | |
| בִּֽימֵיכֶ֔ם | bimeikhem | in days your | H3117 → | |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | [which] not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַאֲמִ֖ינוּ | taaminu | you will believe | H539 → | |
| כִּ֥י | ki | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יְסֻפָּֽר׃ | yesupar | it will be recounted | H5608 → |
רְא֤וּsee
reuH7200 →1300 times
בַגּוֹיִם֙among the nations
vagoyimH1471 →561 times
וְֽהַבִּ֔יטוּand look
vehabituH5027 →69 times
וְהִֽתַּמְּה֖וּand be astounded
vehittamehuH8539 →
תְּמָ֑הוּbe astonished
temahuH8539 →
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
פֹ֙עַל֙a deed
foalH6467 →
פֹּעֵ֣ל[I am] about to do
poelH6466 →
בִּֽימֵיכֶ֔םin days your
bimeikhemH3117 →
לֹ֥א[which] not
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַאֲמִ֖ינוּyou will believe
taaminuH539 →
כִּ֥יif
kiH3588 →4482 times
יְסֻפָּֽר׃it will be recounted
yesuparH5608 →
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
Isaiah 29:14Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 1:19–24
For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
- Isaiah 28:21
For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing…
- Jeremiah 49:7
Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?
- John 9:39–41
Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”
- Obadiah 1:8
In that day, declares the LORD, will I not destroy the wise men of Edom and the men of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
- 1 Corinthians 1:19–24
Through
Lamentations 4:12The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any people of the world, that an enemy or a foe could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
it leads to
- Psalms 48:4–6
For behold, the kings assembled; they all advanced together.
- Deuteronomy 29:24–28
So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’
- Jeremiah 21:13
Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
- Psalms 48:4–6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
About Habakkuk
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 5; Cyril of Alexandria, ON THE UNITY OF CHRIST; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Habakkuk; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.