Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4
#141C Solemnities C Context (27th Sunday in Ordinary Time C)
How long, O Lord? I cry for help
but you do not listen!
I cry out to you, "Violence!"
but you do not intervene.
Why do you let me see ruin;
why must I look at misery?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and clamorous discord.
Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
if it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash one has no integrity;
but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.
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Commentary on Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4
The Prophet Habakkuk, in his oracle, complains against the social abuses taking place in Judah. This takes place before the invasion of King Nebuchadnezzar of the Chaldean empire, who came to invade the region (including Jerusalem) as an instrument of God’s punishment. The selection combines the initial lament of Habakkuk and the Lord’s response from the second chapter, telling the prophet to be patient, that the Lord is answering his plea. In chapter 2, the prophet tells the people that those who have faith in God's warning and are patient will see salvation (but the just one, because of his faith, shall live[v.2:4]).
"St Jerome's interpretation takes account of both the original audience and the Christian readership: 'If your faith is weak and you begin to doubt that what was promised will come about, you will cause my soul great displeasure. But the just man, who believes in my word and never doubts the promises I make, will receive eternal life as his reward […]. It is clear that these words contain a prophecy of the coming of Christ. The problem they contain will be resolved by him: sin will triumph and punishment be never-ending until He comes, (Commentarii in Abucuc, 2, 4)." [1]
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Habakkuk 1:12—2:4
#412 Weekday Year II Context (Saturday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time)
Are you not from eternity, O Lord,
my holy God, immortal?
O Lord, you have marked him for judgment,
O Rock, you have readied him punishment!
Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,
and the sight of misery you cannot endure.
Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence
while the wicked man devours
one more just than himself?
You have made man like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things without a ruler.
He brings them all up with his hook,
he hauls them away with his net,
He gathers them in his seine;
and so he rejoices and exults.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net,
and burns incense to his seine;
for thanks to them his portion is generous,
and his repast sumptuous.
Shall he, then, keep on brandishing his sword
to slay peoples without mercy?
I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.
Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write down the vision
Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash man has no integrity;
but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Hb 1:12—2:4
The Prophet Habakkuk, in his oracle, Recognizes that the Hebrew people have fallen from God’s grace. He complains against the social abuses taking place in Judah before King Nebuchadnezzar of the Chaldean empire came to invade the region (including Jerusalem) as a perceived instrument of God’s punishment. The prophet is lamenting the Diaspora, the dispersal and enslavement of the Hebrews by its neighbors.
The prophet vents his confusion over, not the punishment that God has handed down, but the instrument with which he chose to do so. “Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence while the wicked man devours one more just than himself?” He uses the analogy of the fishermen who rejoice in killing the fish to describe the merciless methods of King Nebuchadnezzar’s invading armies. The final verse is one of encouragement to those taken into slavery to hold fast to the faith, for it shall save them.
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Fin
[1] The Navarre Bible: “Minor Prophets”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, pp. 241-42.
#141C Solemnities C Context (27th Sunday in Ordinary Time C)
How long, O Lord? I cry for help
but you do not listen!
I cry out to you, "Violence!"
but you do not intervene.
Why do you let me see ruin;
why must I look at misery?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and clamorous discord.
Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
if it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash one has no integrity;
but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4
The Prophet Habakkuk, in his oracle, complains against the social abuses taking place in Judah. This takes place before the invasion of King Nebuchadnezzar of the Chaldean empire, who came to invade the region (including Jerusalem) as an instrument of God’s punishment. The selection combines the initial lament of Habakkuk and the Lord’s response from the second chapter, telling the prophet to be patient, that the Lord is answering his plea. In chapter 2, the prophet tells the people that those who have faith in God's warning and are patient will see salvation (but the just one, because of his faith, shall live[v.2:4]).
"St Jerome's interpretation takes account of both the original audience and the Christian readership: 'If your faith is weak and you begin to doubt that what was promised will come about, you will cause my soul great displeasure. But the just man, who believes in my word and never doubts the promises I make, will receive eternal life as his reward […]. It is clear that these words contain a prophecy of the coming of Christ. The problem they contain will be resolved by him: sin will triumph and punishment be never-ending until He comes, (Commentarii in Abucuc, 2, 4)." [1]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Habakkuk 1:12—2:4
#412 Weekday Year II Context (Saturday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time)
Are you not from eternity, O Lord,
my holy God, immortal?
O Lord, you have marked him for judgment,
O Rock, you have readied him punishment!
Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,
and the sight of misery you cannot endure.
Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence
while the wicked man devours
one more just than himself?
You have made man like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things without a ruler.
He brings them all up with his hook,
he hauls them away with his net,
He gathers them in his seine;
and so he rejoices and exults.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net,
and burns incense to his seine;
for thanks to them his portion is generous,
and his repast sumptuous.
Shall he, then, keep on brandishing his sword
to slay peoples without mercy?
I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.
Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write down the vision
Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash man has no integrity;
but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Hb 1:12—2:4
The Prophet Habakkuk, in his oracle, Recognizes that the Hebrew people have fallen from God’s grace. He complains against the social abuses taking place in Judah before King Nebuchadnezzar of the Chaldean empire came to invade the region (including Jerusalem) as a perceived instrument of God’s punishment. The prophet is lamenting the Diaspora, the dispersal and enslavement of the Hebrews by its neighbors.
The prophet vents his confusion over, not the punishment that God has handed down, but the instrument with which he chose to do so. “Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence while the wicked man devours one more just than himself?” He uses the analogy of the fishermen who rejoice in killing the fish to describe the merciless methods of King Nebuchadnezzar’s invading armies. The final verse is one of encouragement to those taken into slavery to hold fast to the faith, for it shall save them.
Fin
[1] The Navarre Bible: “Minor Prophets”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, pp. 241-42.
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