Habakkuk 2

The Prophet closes with an animated appeal to the Almighty — the Chaldean conquerors, as attributing to themselves all the glory of their achievements, and as themselves guilty of the very sins they were employed to correct in others. Chap. II. Ver. 1—20. The necessity of faith and patience. —A Prophet is a spiritual watchman, and one part of his duty is, to wait for divine communications. So did Isaiah, (Chap. xxi. 8.) and so Habakkuk in the chapter now before us. Having appealed to the divine Being in behalf of his country, he expects, and speedily receives, an answer, in a prophetic vision, which he is ordered to record. At the same time he is guarded against expecting an immediate fulfilment of the whole, by being told that the vision was for an appointed time; but he is encouraged to wait, by an assurance that it shall be punctually fulfilled whenever that time shall come.

Bishop Chandler, however, considers this as a direct prophecy of Messiah, who is elsewhere described as “He that should come,” ((Matthew 9:3),) and whose time of coming, both first and second, is designated “the end, the latter days.” &c. (See (Deuteronomy 8:19, 23); xii. 4, &c.) Of him also it might be justly said, “He shall break forth as the morning,” and not disappoint the expectation of those who “waited for the salvation of Israel.” It is therefore added, “though he tarry, wait for him because he will surely come.” He will not be behind the appointed period. But what connexion shall we trace between the passage so explained and the verse following? The inspired author of the Epistle to the Hebrews will perhaps give us a clue to this.

The humble believer (and there are no un-humbled believers) is upright and righteous before God, and by his faith, lives and triumphs; but the proud man, (whose soul is lifted up,) he falls back, or withdraws in the hour of trial; apostatizes, and is lost. If we apply this to the particular circumstances of either Christ’s first or second coming, it will harmonize with this connexion. Doubtless many infidels have said concerning both, “Where is the promise of his coming?” (2 Peter iii. 4,) and from the apparent delay of his incarnation, in the first instance, and in the next, from a like apparent delay in his second coming, have renounced their profession, and denied the faith. What relation this passage has to the fall of the Chaldeans, is not so easy to ascertain.

The coming of Messiah was so Chap. II. Ver. 1—15. Judgments on the Philistines and which were ready to fall upon his people, exhorts them to sincere repentance, before these judgments overtake them. He then foretels the fate of other neighbouring and hostile nations, the Philistines, Moabites, and Ammonites, Ethiopians and Assyrians. In the close of the chapter, Nineveh, reduced to ruins, is beautifully contrasted with its former flourishing condition. Ah! what is all the strength and riches, the pomp and splendour of Nineveh, or Babylon, when the Almighty enters into judgment with it! For many years, no doubt, every passing stranger was ready to point with his hand, and say, “There was Nineveh, and there Babylon!” But now the very site of those mighty cities is only known by conjecture.

Chap. III. Ver. 1-20. Promises of future restoration to [Zion], of the rulers and higher classes of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, presents features of horror and disgust. Her princes roaring lions; her judges ravening wolves, so covetous of prey, that they stop not to devour what they obtain, but hide it in their dens, and prowl again for more. Her prophets full of levity, and treacherous; and her priests polluting the sanctuary, and wresting the law of God! But the Lord will arise to judgment, and make a prey of them who have preyed upon his church. In the midst of this depraved and guilty nation, there is yet “a poor and afflicted people;” and while the rich and great are consigned to deserved destruction, God will bring his poor and humble suppliants, even from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.

To them we will give “a pure lip;” humble and appropriate language. They shall take with them words, and turn unto the Lord, and say, “Receive us graciously, and love us freely.” Humbled, contrite, but not desponding; they shall be received, not only with favour, but with rapture. God himself will “rejoice over them with singing,” and will make them a name and a praise among all the nations of the earth. but not depressed; Chap. II. Ver. 1-23. The future glory of the church to exceed its former glory.—When this prophecy was uttered (about four years before the temple was finished, and about 520 B. C.) it appears that some aged men among the Jews were greatly dispirited, on account of this second temple being, in its appearance, so much inferior to the former.

(See (Ezra 3:12).) To animate and encourage them in the work, the Prophet solemnly assures them that the glory of this second temple (or the second glory of this temple) should exceed the former, through its being honoured with the presence of the Messiah, whose presence alone was more than a counterbalance to every supposable deficiency. And he, who was exhibited in the types and prophecies as the glory of the old dispensation, should now be exhibited as the glory of the new dispensation, in his miracles and discourses, life, death, and [resurrection]. The latter part of the chapter adverts to subjects more temporary and peculiar, not only to the Jews, but to that generation. Two questions are put to the priests, relative to ceremonial pollution, and from these an inference is drawn, that if such apparently trivial circumstances rendered them ceremonially unclean, much more would their neglect of God’s house and worship render them so morally, and subject them to the divine displeasure.

This is mentioned to account for their late unfruitful seasons, and ill success in [agricultural] pursuits. The last four verses appear of doubtful Interpretation. Who is intended by Zerubbabel? Surely it did not require again to shake heaven and earth, to promote the man who was already in possession of the government. The next Prophet will exhibit this Zerubbabel as a type of Christ ((Zechariah 4:7).) and the genealogies of the New Testament inform us, that he was the lineal ancestor of our Lord, ((Matthew 1:12); (Luke 3:27);) whom Isaiah introduces as God’s elect (servant,) in whom his soul delighteth! ((Isaiah 42:1).)

Notes on the verses

Then shall his (or their) mind change—That is, corrupted by their extraordinary successes, they will attribute all to themselves, or to their idols, and thus becoming guilty, call down punishment on themselves. Ver. 12. O mighty God.—See (Deuteronomy 32:4). Boothroyd, “Thou hast founded them (as) a rock for correction;” Newcome, “to correct us.” Ver. 13. Canst not look—That is, with pleasure, or endurance; hence it follows, Wherefore lookest thou upon them…. and holdest thy tongue—Newcome, “Art silent,” &c. Ver. 14. And makest men—That is, why dost thou suffer thy people to be taken, and swallowed up by them, as if they were fishes, &c. Ver. 16. Their drag—A part of their fishing tackle; the meaning is, they attribute every thing to their own merits, or their idols—[They ascribed their victory to their sword and armour, which they worshipped instead of God.]

So King Mezentius, one of the worst characters in the Æneid of Virgil, is represented as invoking his own right hand, and his spear, in battle.—Bagster. Ward (on idolatry) says, “The Hindus annually worship the implements of their trade.” Chap. II. Ver. 1. When I am reproved—That is, in case what I deliver should be disputed: but most of the ancient versions and modern critics read, “What he (the Lord) would reply to my arguing;” referring to the close of the preceding chapter. So Boothroyd; but Newcome hesitates. Ver. 2. Upon tables—Or tablets, which were commonly hung up in public places, (like our placards,) being written in large and bold characters. That he may run that readeth—That is, so legible that it may be read while running.

Ver. 3. It shall speak and not lie—That is, not deceive, but surely be fulfilled at the appointed time; but Bishop Chandler renders this by a personal pronoun, He, as the Hebrew certainly will bear; and so is the text rendered by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Chap. x. 37. instead of “It shall speak,” he reads, “He shall break forth,” alluding to the breaking of the day, as the Hebrew verb is used. (Song of Solomon 2:17); iv. 6.—Though it tarry.—Chandler, “Though he tarry, wait for him; he will not go beyond, (or be after,) namely, the appointed time.” The Hebrew word here used is totally distinct from that rendered tarry in the preceding member of the verse. Ver. 4. His soul which is lifted up, is not upright.—This, as a general proposition, is incontrovertible, “the Lord abhorreth the proud.”

(Proverbs 16:5). Ver. 5. Yea also.—Newcome, “Moreover;” Boothroyd, “Truly.” Ver. 9. Power of evil.—See margin. The grasp of evil. Ver. 10. Thou hast consulted.—Boothroyd, “Devised” shame.—Sinned against thy soul—That is, rendered thyself guilty. Ver. 11. For the stone…. and the beam.—The ancients used to lay beams of timber in their stone walls, to bind them. Juvenal (the Roman poet) has a passage which well illustrates this: “Should trembling slaves not dare to squeak: Beasts, dogs, and posts, and marble walls will speak also.” Ver. 12. Wo to him, &c.—The celebrated and costly buildings of Babylon had been erected by the spoils of conquered nations, and by the blood of multitudes; and, in the righteous judgment of God, the royal family would soon be ruined, the seat of empire removed, and the city itself finally destroyed.

Houses built, and fortunes made by such iniquitous means, in most cases become as chaff before the whirlwind of God’s indignation. Hark! he answers. Wild tornadoes, Strewing yonder seas with wrecks, Wasting towns, plantations, meadows, Are the voice with which he speaks.”—Cowper. Ver. 13. Labour in the fire—See (Jeremiah 51:58). 969 Chap. II. Ver. 6. Yet once, it is a little while—Newcome, “Yet once (more; in) a short (time.”)—I will shake the heavens, &c.—This refers to the numerous revolutions, civil and religious, which preceded the appearance of our Lord.—[This refers to a most important change or revolution, which should take place during the continuance of this temple, introducing a new and more glorious state of the church.

“Yet once more” Jehovah intended to change entirely its external form, and to bring in that dispensation which should endure to the end. This would be “a little while,” compared with that which had elapsed from the first promise of the Messiah, or even from the giving of the law. Then the Lord would “shake the heavens and the earth:” various convulsions and changes would take place in the Jewish church and state, which would [result] in the abrogation of the ritual law, and the ruin of their civil government, attended with tempests, earthquakes, &c. These events would be preceded by great revolutions among the nations; the Persian monarchy would be subverted by that of the Greeks, and that by the Romans; and at the appointed time, the Messiah, “the desire of all nations,”

whom all nations should and would desire, He, “in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed,” would come, and fill that “house with glory.”]—Bagster. Ver. 7. The desire of all nations.—Most Christian commentators apply this to the Messiah; but against this a critical objection has been raised, from the verb being plural, whereas the noun is singular. For answer to this, it is sufficient to refer to the late Professor Dathe, as quoted by Dr. Pye Smith. Archbishop Newcome, however, thinks “the noun also was originally plural, with a vau inserted, which is now supplied by a Masoretic point. Nor is the noun being plural an objection of any weight, as applied to an individual, since the Hebrews often use plural nouns by way of excellence, and this, in particular, is so used in reference to Messiah, (Song of Solomon 5:16). See Bishop Newcome. Compare also, in the Hebrew, (Daniel 11:37, 43). But to obviate all objections, Bishop Chandler reads, “And he shall come, even the desire of all nations.” He supposes that the vau prefixed to the verb, should be prefixed to the noun immediately following; an error easily accounted for, as originally the words were not divided. See concluding remarks on Haggai. Ver. 8. The silver is mine, &c.—Many Jewish commentators, and some others, consider this clause as explaining ver. 7. “The silver and the gold,” say they, “are the desirable things of all nations;” but, after all, in silver and gold the second temple was comparatively poor, nor does this agree with the solemnity of the introduction; it needed not, surely, to shake all nations, and even heaven and earth, to produce those presents which had been already made by Cyrus and his successors; besides, the mention of these things seems rather with a view to undervalue, than to extol them.

Compare (Psalms 50:10-12). Ver. 9. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former.—Whoever compares the description of the temple of Solomon, in the first book of Kings, with the most splendid accounts of the second temple, however adorned with costly stones and other magnificent decorations in after ages, must perceive, that the former, being wholly overlaid with pure gold, was incomparably more glorious than the latter in its greatest magnificence; and the Jews themselves allow, that the ark of the covenant, fire from heaven, the Urim and Thummim, the anointing oil, the Shechinah, or visible glory, and the Spirit of prophecy, which distinguished the former temple, were wanting in this.

In nothing, in fact, could the second temple excel the first in glory, except in the personal presence of ‘‘the Desire of all nations,’’ He who is “the glory of the Lord,” and the true temple “in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,” and who was the true Shechinah of which that of Solomon’s temple was merely a type. And if it be admitted that the presence of the promised Messiah was intended, then it will follow that ‘‘Jesus of Nazareth’’ was He; for the second temple, in which as the “Prince of peace” he [brought] peace and reconciliation with God, has been utterly destroyed for upwards of seventeen hundred years.]—Bagster. But a query has been here

CONCLUDING REMARKS ON THE BOOK OF HAGGAI.

In order to encourage and cheer those who fondly remembered the glorious structure which had been raised by Solomon, and who, perhaps, impressed with the description furnished by Ezekiel, must have lamented the comparative meanness of the present building, the prophet Haggai declares to them in the name of the Lord, that the glory of this latter house, though it might appear as nothing in their eyes, should be greater than that of the former. A glory more apparent and manifest than was that clouded and symbolical representation of the Divine Majesty, which overshadowed the mercy-seat in the old temple; and which prefigured only that incarnate presence of the Messiah in whom “dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,”

((Colossians 2:9).) and from this temple, which though not decorated with gold and silver should thus surpass the former in glory, should appear the “Prince of peace,” (ch. ii. 9. compared with Ep. ii. 14.) This illustrious prophecy the ancient Jews correctly applied to the Messiah, though some modern writers have made objections to its exact fulfilment by the advent of Christ. It has been pretended, that the temple in which our Saviour appeared was in reality not a second, but a third temple, rebuilt by Herod; but it is certain, that whatever alterations and additions were made by Herod, it did not constitute an entirely new building. There was a temple for the worship of Jehovah, agreeably to the law, during all the forty-six years which were spent in repairing or rebuilding it; and consequently, one part must have been taken down at once, as far as was needful for the purpose, and no more; but the old foundations, and the most essential parts of the structure, no doubt remained. In fact, no nominal distinction between Zerubbabel’s and Herod’s temple was ever made by the Jews; but, in popular language, both these structures were spoken of as the second temple.

On one occasion, Josephus himself mentions only two buildings of the temple; a former in the time of Solomon, and a latter in that of Cyrus; and in the Chronicon Hebraeum, &c. Vespasian is said to have destroyed the temple four hundred and forty years after it was built. The Prophet, indeed, could not have used greater precision of language, consistently with his design of consoling the Jews; for had he adopted such a distinction it would have led them to expect the demolition of the temple then build—

{ZECHARIAH was, as he himself informs us, the son of Berechiah, and grandson of Iddo; but the tribe and family from which he was descended, as well as the time and place of his birth, are equally unknown.

It is, however, certain that he was one of the captives who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel; and from an expression in ch. ii. 4. there is reason to believe that he was called to the prophetic office when a young man. He began to prophesy in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, A. M. 3484. B. C. 520., in the eighth month of the sacred year, and consequently two months after Haggai. Zechariah, after general warnings, and exhortations to repentance, foretels the completion of the temple, (ch. i.;) the rebuilding and prosperity of Jerusalem, raised, whether the temple in our Lord’s time can be called the second temple, having, according to Josephus, been again rebuilt by Herod. On this Dr. Boothroyd says, “It may, I think, be doubted whether the whole was rebuilt by Herod.

It is probable that what Herod did, was repairing certain parts, erecting others, and making the whole as perfect and complete as possible; and though ever so much improved, yet it would be regarded as the same house. I know that Josephus says, that Herod took away the old foundations, and laid others; but I think this must be confined to such parts as were decayed; or else how could the divine service have been observed? Rabbi Joseph, Maimonides, and other Jewish authors, always speak of this as a second temple.” See the authors distinctly cited by Archbishop Newcome. See also concluding remarks on Haggai. After all, perhaps the words might be translated, “The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.”

So Parkhurst, who refers to the Hebrew of (Jeremiah 2:34), for a similar construction, Heb. (Leviticus 10)in Chemd, 3d edit., and so Dr. Blayney. Dr. Pye Smith renders it, “Great shall be the glory of this house, the latter above the former.”—In this place I will give peace.—Peace, with the Hebrews, included every blessing, and it might here have reference personally to him who is our peace, ing, and the erection of another in its stead. It is also undeniable, that the Jews did, in consequence of this prophecy, expect the Messiah to appear in this temple, till after its destruction by Vespasian; they then, in order to evade its application to Jesus of Nazareth, applied it to a third, which they expect at some future period.

For the same purpose, other Jewish writers, who are followed by some modern commentators, contend, that chemdath, “desire,” which is in construction with a plural verb, oovaoo, “and they shall come,” should be read chemdoth, “desires,”—“the desirable things of all nations shall come:” which they understand of the valuable and rich presents which various nations should bring into the temple. But this alteration, though apparently sanctioned by some of the ancient versions, is not acknowledged by any MS. yet collated; and it was evidently read in the singular by both the Targum and Vulgate; which have, “and the Desire of all nations shall come,” “and the Desired Person shall come to all nations.”

It has also been justly objected to this interpretation, that it is inconsistent with the great solemnity of the introduction; and that the language itself, “the desirable things of all nations shall come,” is highly improper, as it should rather have been, “the desirable things of all nations shall be brought,” a sense which ba never has in Kal, but only in Hophal. In fact, no alteration is needed to clear the grammatical construction; for it is a well known Hebraism for a verb or participle to agree with the latter of two connected substantives, though in sense it strictly relates to the former; and thus oovaoo, “they shall come,” agrees, not with chemdath, “desire,” its proper nominative, but with goyim, “nations,”

with which it is in construction. For similar instances the reader is referred to (Genesis 4:10). (Leviticus 13:9). (1 Samuel 2:4). (2 Samuel 10:9). (1 Kings 17:16). (Nehemiah 9:6). (Job 15:20). xxix. 10. xxxii. 7. (Proverbs 29:25). (Ecclesiastes 11:1). (Isaiah 25:3). (Jeremiah 2:34). in the Hebrew. To nothing else indeed than the advent of the Messiah can this prophecy refer; and nothing but the presence of the incarnate son of God could fulfil the prediction, and render “the glory of this latter house greater than of the former.” This great event, and this alone, agrees with the whole of the context; with the political convulsions by which it was preceded and followed, and with the great and final religious revolution which it introduced.

THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH.

and the cities of Judah, (ch. 1—5;) the judgments of God upon Babylon, from which he admonishes the Jews to depart previous to its destruction, (ver. 6—9.) promising them the Divine presence, (ver. 10—13;) under a vision of Joshua the high-priest arrayed in new sacerdotal attire, he predicts the restoration of the temple and its service, (ch. iii. 1—7;) whence, by an easy transition, he sets forth the glory of Christ, as the chief corner stone of his church, (ver. 8—10;) under the vision of the golden candlestick and two olive trees, he represents the success of Zerubbabel and Joshua, in rebuilding the temple, and restoring its service, (ch. iv.;) by the vision of a flying roll and an ephah, he shows the judgments which would come [upon] wicked Jews,