Discovery BoxHabakkuk 1:5-6 
Context1:5 “Look at the nations and pay attention! 1
You will be shocked and amazed! 2
For I will do something in your lifetime 3
that you will not believe even though you are forewarned. 4
1:6 Look, I am about to empower 5 the Babylonians,
that ruthless 6 and greedy 7 nation.
They sweep across the surface 8 of the earth,
seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.
Habakkuk 2:15
Context2:15 “You who force your neighbor to drink wine 9 are as good as dead 10 –
you who make others intoxicated by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger, 11
so you can look at their genitals. 12
Habakkuk 3:6
Context3:6 He takes his battle position 13 and shakes 14 the earth;
with a mere look he frightens 15 the nations.
The ancient mountains disintegrate; 16
the primeval hills are flattened.
He travels on the ancient roads. 17
1 tn Or “look among the nations and observe.” The imperatival forms in v. 5 are plural, indicating that the Lord’s message is for the whole nation, not just the prophet.
2 tn The Hebrew text combines the Hitpael and Qal imperatival forms of the verb תָּמַה (tamah, “be amazed”). A literal translation might read, “Shock yourselves and be shocked!” The repetition of sounds draws attention to the statement. The imperatives here have the force of an emphatic assertion. On this use of the imperative in Hebrew, see GKC 324 §110.c and IBHS 572-73 §34.4c.
3 tc Heb “for a work working in your days.” Following the LXX reading, some supply a first person singular pronoun with the participle פֹּעֵל (po’el). Ellipsis of a first singular pronoun before participles is relatively rare (see GKC 360 §116.s); perhaps an original אֲנֹכִי (’anoki; or אֲנִי, ’aniy) followed the initial כִּי (ki) and was omitted by homoioteleuton.
4 tn Heb “you will not believe when it is told.” In this context the force of כִּי (ki) may be “when,” “if,” or “even though.”
5 tn Heb “raise up” (so KJV, ASV).
6 tn Heb “bitter.” Other translation options for this word in this context include “fierce” (NASB, NRSV); “savage” (NEB); or “grim.”
7 tn Heb “hasty, quick.” Some translate here “impetuous” (so NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “rash,” but in this context greed may very well be the idea. The Babylonians move quickly and recklessly ahead in their greedy quest to expand their empire.
8 tn Heb “the open spaces.”
9 tn No direct object is present after “drink” in the Hebrew text. “Wine” is implied, however, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
10 tn On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
11 tc Heb “pouring out your anger and also making drunk”; or “pouring out your anger and [by] rage making drunk.” The present translation assumes that the final khet (ח) on מְסַפֵּחַ (misapeakh, “pouring”) is dittographic and that the form should actually be read מִסַּף (missaf, “from a bowl”).
sn Forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger. The Babylonian’s harsh treatment of others is compared to intoxicating wine which the Babylonians force the nations to drink so they can humiliate them. Cf. the imagery in Rev 14:10.
12 tn Heb “their nakedness,” a euphemism.
sn Metaphor and reality are probably blended here. This may refer to the practice of publicly humiliating prisoners of war by stripping them naked. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 124.
13 tn Heb “he stands.”
14 tn This verb has been traditionally understood as “measure” (from מוּד, mud), but the immediately following context (vv. 6b-7) favors the meaning “shake” from מָוד (mavd; see HALOT 555 s.v.).
15 tn Heb “makes [the nations] jump [in fear].”
16 tn Or “crumbled,” broke into pieces.”
17 tn Heb “ancient ways [or, “doings”] are his.” The meaning of this line is unclear. Traditionally it has been translated, “his ways are eternal.” However, in this context (see vv. 3, 7) it is more likely that the line speaks of the
