1:3 Why do you force me to witness injustice? 1
Why do you put up with wrongdoing? 2
Destruction and violence confront 3 me;
conflict is present and one must endure strife. 4
3:9 Your bow is ready for action; 5
you commission your arrows. 6 Selah.
You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface. 7
1 tn Heb “Why do you make me see injustice?”
2 tn Heb “Why do you look at wrongdoing?”
sn Habakkuk complains that God tolerates social injustice and fails to intervene on behalf of the oppressed (put up with wrongdoing).
3 tn Heb “are before.”
4 tn Heb “and there is conflict and strife he lifts up.” The present translation takes the verb יִשָּׂא (yisa’) in the sense of “carry, bear,” and understands the subject to be indefinite (“one”).
5 tn Heb “[into] nakedness your bow is laid bare.”
6 tn Heb “sworn in are the arrow-shafts with a word.” The passive participle of שָׁבַע (shava’), “swear an oath,” also occurs in Ezek 21:23 ET (21:28 HT) referencing those who have sworn allegiance. Here the
7 tn Heb “[with] rivers you split open the earth.” A literal rendering like “You split the earth with rivers” (so NIV, NRSV) suggests geological activity to the modern reader, but in the present context of a violent thunderstorm, the idea of streams swollen to torrents by downpours better fits the imagery.
sn As the