Habakkuk 1:12

[Art] thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine holy One?

Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. Art thou not from overlasting.

Art thou not from everlasting? in being, thou art that God who art not like the gods of the nations, upstart and novel, but before the mountains were brought forth thou wast God; thou hast permitted, borne with, restrained, overthrown, and punished such proud, bloody, and sacrilegious wretches. In thy works of old, before this proud Chaldean monarch was thought of, thou wert as now, wonderful, just, and good, and thy saints found support in the remembrance thereof, 77:5,11 143:5 . In covenant with thine Israel, which covenant is not of late years, it is an ancient covenant, and as it hath, it still shall be kept for our good. O Lord; the Sovereign Lord and Ruler of the world, who only art Jehovah. My God; Judge and Vindex by office; as Judge, engaged to defend, rescue, and avenge the oppressed; and my God or Judge. Whether the prophet speaks only in his own, or in his people’ s name, he hath a respect to that peculiar relation he or they had to God, much like that . He refers to the ancient covenant relation which God had taken them into, and implies his hope and expectation of help from God, their Judge and Vindex. Mine Holy One; holy in thy nature, law, and government, in thy mercies, and in judgments, who dost intend to make thy holiness appear in due time by saving us; though thou seem to forget, or at least to delay the work, yet thou art the Holy One in the midst of us, , and we wait for thee. We, who are thine, and oppressed, threatened, and exposed to the avarice and cruelty of the Chaldean, shall not die; be utterly cut off and destroyed, for the death of a nation is the destruction or desolation of it. Thou who hast made us thine by an everlasting covenant of mercy, wilt show us such mercy that we shall outlive the rage of our enemies. O Lord: with humble veneration he doth look towards God, and discerneth what quieteth his spirit, and confirms his faith and patience. Thou hast ordained, set up, maintained, and designed, them, the Chaldean kingdom, as . for judgment; to execute this judgment, which is ever attempered with mercy, which ever betters, never destroys thy people: see , &c. Babylon, as Assyria, was the rod of God’ s indignation, &c. O mighty God: this he repeats for confirmation and illustration, and intimateth God to be his people’ s rock and refuge. Thou hast established, strengthened and fortified, them for correction; to chastise and discipline, not to destroy.

Habakkuk 1:12 [Art] thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.Ver. 12. Art not thou from everlasting, O Lord my God] Art thou not Jehovah the unchangeable, and shall we, poor sons of Jacob, be utterly consumed by these Chaldees? Malachi 3:6. Art not thou my God, my Iudex et Vindex, who hast hitherto judged and revenged my cause? and wilt thou now abandon me to the fury of such an enemy? Art not thou mine Holy One, whom I have hitherto sanctified in mine heart and life, Isaiah 5:16, and whom I have avouched for mine, Deuteronomy 26:17, devoting myself wholly to thy fear and service? Art thou not all this, and more than this, saith the prophet, in the name and behalf of the Church here? Well, then, We shall not die] I am confident, and dare be bold to say it. Lo, here the triumph of faith and the top gallant of it, "We shall not die" (saith she), abruptly, but sweetly, that is sure enough. She drinks to the disconsolate soul in a cup of Nepenthes, and saith, Courage, my heart! Why art thou cast down, O my soul! and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God. If he be everlasting, so shalt thou; if he be thy God, and thine Holy One, thine in an inviolable covenant, in a league defensive and offensive, shalt thou die? Lo tamuth, Thou shalt not die (so some say this text was anciently read), Lo Namuth, We will not die. So the Church promiseth herself upon the former promises; and such an answer she receiveth in her own heart to her former prayers. And whereas it might be objected that they were likely to be little better than dead in the Babylonish captivity (for Morris habet vices quae trahitur vita gemitibus, an afflicted life is a lifeless life), the prophet answereth: O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment] i.e. The Chaldeans (our oppressors), for punishment, for destruction, to burn thy rod, when thou hast therewith whipped thy children. See Exodus 9:16. And, O mighty God (Heb. O rock), thou hast established them for correction] Heb. Thou hast founded them, sc. thy people Israel; thou hast thereunto appointed them, 1 Thessalonians 3:3, thou hast both founded and fitted them for thy fatherly chastisements, who are therefore chastened of the Lord, that they may not be condemned with the world. See here the different kinds and ends of good and bad men’ s sufferings. It hath been noted before that Almighty God, as he is Piorum rupes, a rock of refuge to the truly religious, so he is Reorum scopulus, a rock of revenge to dash in pieces the impenitent; as Valerius. Maximus saith of Lucius Cassius’ s tribunal.

(12-17) Though sore perplexed, Habakkuk feels sure that the God whom this swaggering conqueror has insulted will at last vindicate Himself.

Verse 12. Art thou not frown everlasting] The idols change, and their worshippers change and fail: but thou, Jehovah, art eternal; thou canst not change, and they who trust in thee are safe. Thou art infinite in thy mercy; therefore, "we shall not die," shall not be totally exterminated. Thou hast ordained them for judgment] Thou hast raised up the Chaldeans to correct and punish us; but thou hast not given them a commission to destroy us totally. Instead of לא נמות lo namuth, "we shall not die," Houbigant and other critics, with a little transposition of letters, read אל אמת El emeth, "God of truth;" and then the verse will stand thus: "Art thou not from everlasting, O Jehovah, my God, my Holy One? O Jehovah, GOD OF TRUTH, thou hast appointed them for judgment." But this emendation, however elegant, is not supported by any MS.; nor, indeed, by any of the ancient versions, though the Chaldee has something like it. The common reading makes a very good sense.

12–17. Remonstrance of the Prophet with God, the righteous Ruler of the world, over the cruelties and inhumanity of the Chaldeans 12. The words down to “die” must form two lines and cannot be divided at “Holy One.” Most naturally thus: Art not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah! My God, mine Holy One, we shall not die! Others make the division at “my God.” The word “everlasting” again Deuteronomy 33:27. The eternity of their God is often a ground of confidence to Israel; Isaiah 40:28, “an everlasting God is Jehovah, he fainteth not neither is weary.” Cf. Psalms 90:2, “from everlasting to everlasting thou art God.” we shall not die] This is said half in supplication, half in assurance; Psalms 118:17; cf. 1 Samuel 20:14. Comp. the assurance “shall live” ch. Habakkuk 2:4. The accumulation of divine names shews the earnestness and importunity of the prophet. According to Jewish tradition “we shall not die” is a tiḳ ?ḳ ?un (emendation) of the “scribes” for thou shall not die (diest not). Opinions differ as to who the “scribes” are. Some consider that the original authors are meant, in which case the tiḳ ?ḳ ?un would be a second thought of the writer. What occurred to him to say first was “thou diest not,” but reverence restrained him from bringing the ideas of death and God together, and he said “we shall not die.” We are not informed how this interesting process in the prophet’s mind became known to after-times. Obviously this is not the real account of the matter, which is not easy to give. No doubt, however, these so-called emendations—there are eighteen of them—were either (1) real corrections by the scribes, i.e. copyists or editors of the sacred books; or (2) they are no emendations at all, but the original text; the supposed readings which they are said to have supplanted being mere fancies of Jewish scholars as to what might have been written. Possibly they are partly of the one class and partly of the other. In the present passage Sept. agrees with Heb., but in another, Job 7:20, it exhibits the supposed original reading: “I am become a burden unto Thee” (Heb. unto myself). ordained them for judgment] lit. him, i.e. the Chaldean. The prophet proceeds in the same tone of half prayer, half confidence, struck in “we shall not die,” explaining to himself and venturing to suggest before God what must be the meaning of the Chaldean’s supremacy and oppression—he is not meant to cause Israel to perish, only to execute God’s temporary judgment upon it. Ewald takes the other possible view, viz. that it is the Chaldean himself who is appointed to be judged and receive punishment. This view is less natural in the connexion. O mighty God … correction] and O Rock thou hast appointed him for correction—to be the instrument of chastising Israel. The term Rock is used of God, Deuteronomy 32:4; Deuteronomy 32:18; Deuteronomy 32:30-31; 1 Samuel 2:2, 2 Samuel 22:32; 2 Samuel 23:3; cf. Genesis 49:24.

The prophet, having summed up the deeds of the enemy of God in this his end, sets forth his questions anew.

12. The prophet begins with an expression of confidence in his God. A better arrangement of the words would be: — Art not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah?