Habakkuk 2:11

For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. FOR THE STONE SHALL CRY OUT OF THE WALL. Personification. The very stones of thy palace, built by rapine, shall testify against thee (). AND THE BEAM OUT OF THE TIMBER - the cross-beam or main rafter connecting the timbers in the walls. SHALL ANSWER IT - "it," namely, the stone. The stone shall begin, and the cross-beam continue the cry against thy rapine....

There is here introduced by the Prophet a new personification. He had before prepared a common song, which would be in the mouth of all. He now ascribes speech to stones and wood, of which buildings are formed. _The stone, he says, shall cry from the wall, and the wood from the chamber_; that is, there is no part of the building that will not cry out that it was built by plunder, by cruelty, and, in a word, by evil deeds. The Prophet not only ascribes speech to wood and stone, but he makes them also respond one to the other as in a chorus, as in lyrics there are voices which take up the song in turns. _The stone, he says, shall cry from the wall, and the wood shall respond to it from the chamber_; (37) as though he said, “There will be a striking harmony in every part of the building; for the wall will begin and will utter its song, ‘Behold I have been built by blood and by iniquity;’ an...

5-14 The prophet reads the doom of all proud and oppressive powers that bear hard upon God's people. The lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, are the entangling snares of men; and we find him that led Israel captive, himself led captive by each of these. No more of what we have is to be reckoned ours, than what we come honestly by. Riches are but clay, thick clay; what are gold and silver but white and yellow earth? Those who travel through thick clay, are hindered and dirtied in their journey; so are those who go through the world in the midst of abundance of wealth. And what fools are those that burden themselves with continual care about it; with a great deal of guilt in getting, saving, and spending it, and with a heavy account which they must give another day! They overload themselves with this thick clay, and so sink themselves down into destruction and...

Verse Habakkuk 2:11. _THE STONE SHALL CRY OUT OF THE WALL, AND THE BEAM OUT_ _OF THE TIMBER SHALL ANSWER IT__._] This appears to refer to the ancient mode of building walls; _two_ or _three courses_ of _stone_, and then _one course_ of _timber_. See 1 Kings 6:36: thus was the palace of Solomon built. The splendid and costly buildings of Babylon have been universally celebrated. But how were these buildings erected? By the _spoils_ of conquered nations, and the expense of the _blood_ of multitudes; therefore the _stones_ and the _timber_ are represented as calling out for vengeance against this ruthless conqueror....

FOR THE STONE SHALL CRY OUT OF THE WALL, AND THE BEAM OUT OF THE TIMBER SHALL ANSWER IT - All things have a voice, in that they are . God’s works speak that, for which He made them Psalms 19:1 : “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Psalms 65:13 : “the valleys are clad with corn, they laugh, yea, they sing;” their very look speaks gladness. Cyril: “For the creation itself proclaims the glory of the Maker, in that it is admired as well made. Wherefore there are voices in things, although there are not words.” Man’s works speak of that in him, out of which and for which he made them. Works of mercy go up for a memorial before God, and plead there; great works, performed amid wrong and cruelty and for man’s ambition and pride, have a voice too, and cry out to God, calling down His

EXPOSITION HABAKKUK 2:1 § 5. _The prophet, waiting for an answer to his expostulation, is bidden to write the oracle in plain characters, because its fulfilment is certain._ HABAKKUK 2:1 Habakkuk speaks with himself, and, mindful of his office, waits for the communication which he confidently ex-poets (Jeremiah 33:3). I WILL STAND UPON MY WATCH (Isaiah 21:6, Isaiah 21:8). As a watchman goes to a high place to see all around and discern what is coming, so the prophet pla

FOR THE STONE SHALL CRY OUT OF THE WALL,.... Of their own house; some from among themselves, that truly feared God, seeing the evil practices done among them, and abhorring them, such as their covetousness, ambition, murders, excommunications, and anathemas, should cry out against them in their sermons and writings; such as were lively stones, eminent for religion and godliness, as Bernard, Wickliff, Huss, and others: AND THE BEAM OUT OF THE TIMBER SHALL ANSWER IT; such as were of eminent note in things civil, as beams and rafters in the house; emperors and governors of provinces, who observed the complaints of godly ministers and people, answered to them, and checked the evil bishops and clergy, and hindered them in the pursuit of their schemes, and so brought them to shame and confusion. Aben Ezra observes, that the word signifies the hard place in the wood; or the harder part of it,...

Habakkuk 2:1. _I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved._ «I shall look to God, and I shall also look to myself. There shall be an expectation as I gaze upward to my Lord, and there shall also be an examination as I look within at my empty, guilty, good-for-nothing self.» Habakkuk 2:2. _And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it._ The prophets were accustomed to write their messages upon wax tablets, and the Lord bade Habakkuk thus write what he had seen. God would have both his law and his gospel plainly revealed to men, so that they might know and understand his will. Paul wrote to the Corint

CHAPTER 2 The Ungodliness of the Chaldeans and Their Destruction _ 1. The waiting prophet and the message he received (Habakkuk 2:1) _ 2. The five-fold woe upon the Chaldeans (Habakkuk 2:5) Habakkuk 2:1. It seems there was no immediate answer to the plea of the prophet. He then speaks to himself and expresses his attitude. “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and I will wait to see what He will say to me, and what I shall answer as to my complaint.” He watches like a sentinel upon a watchtower for the answer the Lord will give him. It does not mean that the prophet actually ascended a tower, but he expresses his innermost attitude by the symbol of the watchman. He remained

WOES ON THE EVIL-DOER. Habakkuk 2:5 f. Woe on the insatiable conqueror, who treacherously gathers to himself the heritage of all the nations, only to be the victim of their bitterest maledictions. Habakkuk 2:5. As Davidson acknowledges, all efforts to educe sense must fail with the present text. A few slight changes yield the following: Ah! proud and treacherous man, haughty and never satisfied, who enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and like Death is never satisfied, etc. Habakkuk 2:6. parable: rather taunt-song (_cf._ Numbers 21:27). TAUNTING PROVERB: lit. a satire, even riddles (dark sayings, with a s