Habakkuk 1:7

They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. THEIR JUDGMENT AND THEIR DIGNITY SHALL PROCEED OF THEMSELVES - i:e., they recognize no judge save themselves, and they get for themselves and keep their own "dignity," without needing others' help. It will be vain for the Jews to complain of their tyrannical judgments; for whatever the Chaldeans decree they will do according to their own will: they will not brook any one attempting to interfere....

By saying that the Chaldeans would be terrible and dreadful, he praises not their virtues; but, as I have already reminded you, he shows that they would be prepared to do his service by executing his vengeance: and he so regulated his judgement, that he used their cruelty for a good purpose. Thus we see that the worst of men are in God’s hand, as Satan is, who is their head; and yet that God is not implicated in their wickedness, as some insane men maintain; for they say—That if God governs the world by his providence, he becomes thus the author of sin, and men’s sins are to be ascribed to him. But Scripture teaches us far otherwise,—that the wicked are led here and there by the hidden power of God, and that yet the fault is in them, when they do anything in a deceitful and cruel manner, and that God ever remains just, whatever use he may make of instruments, yea, the very worst. But whe...

1-11 The servants of the Lord are deeply afflicted by seeing ungodliness and violence prevail; especially among those who profess the truth. No man scrupled doing wrong to his neighbour. We should long to remove to the world where holiness and love reign for ever, and no violence shall be before us. God has good reasons for his long-suffering towards bad men, and the rebukes of good men. The day will come when the cry of sin will be heard against those that do wrong, and the cry of prayer for those that suffer wrong. They were to notice what was going forward among the heathen by the Chaldeans, and to consider themselves a nation to be scourged by them. But most men presume on continued prosperity, or that calamities will not come in their days. They are a bitter and hasty nation, fierce, cruel, and bearing down all before them. They shall overcome all that oppose them. But it is a grea...

Verse 7. _THEIR JUDGMENT - SHALL PROCEED OF THEMSELVES._] By revolting from the Assyrians, they have become a great nation. Thus, their judgment and excellence were the result of their own valour. Other meanings are given to this passage....

THEY ARE TERRIBLE - איום _'âyôm_ occurs here only and Song of Solomon 6:4, Song of Solomon 6:10, compared with the “bannered host,” but the root is common in אימה _'ēymâh_. AND DREADFUL - He describes them, first in themselves, then in act. They are terrible, and strike fear through their very being, their known character, before they put it forth in act. THEIR JUDGMENT AND THEIR DIGNITY SHALL PROCEED OF THEMSELVES. - Judgment had gone forth in God’s people wrested Habakkuk 1:4; now shall it go forth against the

EXPOSITION VERSE 1:1-2:20 PART I. JUDGMENT UPON THE EVIL, IN THE FORM OF A COLLOQUY BETWEEN THE PROPHET AND GOD. HABAKKUK 1:1 § 1. _The inscription of the book. _THE BURDEN (see note on Nahum 1:1). The prophet (Habakkuk 3:1). This title, which is added in the inscriptions only to the names of Haggai and Zechariah, and cursorily to that of Jeremiah (46, 47; 50.), implies that he exercised the pr

THEY [ARE] TERRIBLE AND DREADFUL,.... For the fierceness of their countenances; the number and valour of their troops; the splendour of their armour; the victories they had obtained, and the cruelty they had exercised; the fame of all which spread terror wherever they came: THEIR JUDGMENT AND THEIR DIGNITY SHALL PROCEED OF THEMSELVES; they will not be directed and governed by any laws of God and man, but by their own; they will do according to their will and pleasure, and none will be able to gainsay and resist them; they will hear no reason or argument; their decrees and determinations they make of themselves shall be put into execution, and there will be no opposing their tyrannical measures; they will usurp a power, and take upon them an authority over others of themselves, which all must submit unto; no mercy and pity: no goodness and humanity, are to be expected from such lawless a...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS CHAPTER 1 The Judgment of Judah Through the Chaldeans Announced _ 1. The prophet's cry to Jehovah (Habakkuk 1:1) _ 2. The answer (Habakkuk 1:5) 3. The prophet's plea (Habakkuk 1:12) Habakkuk 1:1. The prophet begins his message with a prayer-cry to Jehovah. He whose name is “the embracer” embraces the Lord and cries to Him on account of the conditions prevailing in Judah. The Spirit of God stirred up the heart of Habakkuk on account of the moral conditions in Judah. He is jealous for Jehovah's glory, which manifested itself in hating the evil. “There is no prophetic

THE CHALDEANS AS MINISTERS OF DIVINE JUSTICE. In His answer Yahweh directly addresses the evil-doers, warning them that He is about to work a work in their days they would never have believed: He is raising against them the fierce and dreaded power of the Chaldeans, who are already carrying destruction to the ends of the earth, swooping from afar like eagles on the prey, gathering captives like the sand, scoffing at kings and princes, carrying fortresses with a rush, and making their strength a god. HABAKKUK 1:5. For _baggoyim_, among the nations, read _bog dim_, ye evil-doers (LXX). I WORK (ptcp.): _i.e._ I am just about to work. Habakkuk 1:6. bitter and hasty: rather, fierce and impetuous (vehement)....

THEY. It. JUDGMENT. decision. DIGNITY. elevation. themselves. itself. Compare Isaiah 10:8; Isaiah 10:13; Isaiah 10:14....