Глава 2

1. An introductory note regarding the prophet's receipt of the second Divine answer set forth in this chapter. 2–3. The importance of this answer and revelation, attested by God himself, and its relevance to the distant future. 4–5. The topic or the main and at the same time the starting point of all subsequent content of the chapter. 6–20. Fivefold “woe” on the wicked, godless victors. Hab.2:1. I stood on my watch and, standing on the tower, watched to find out what He would say in me, and what should I answer to my complaint? Having expressed his bewilderment or complaints before God about the domination of the pagans over the chosen people of God (Hab. 1:12–17), the prophet desires from God himself “to see with prophetic eyes the solution of what is being sought” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 27). “He says: I will stand on my guard, that is, in admiration of the Prophetic Spirit, and I will watch what will follow after the captivity of the people and after the fall of the city and the church... it should also be noted that the prophetic vision and word of God was not external to the prophet, but internal, and was addressed to the internal man. Therefore, the prophet Zechariah said: And the angel who spoke in me (Zechariah 1.9), and the Psalms say: I will hear what the Lord says in me (Psalm 84.9)” (Blessed Jerome, 154-155). The concepts of “guard” (Hebrew mishmeret) and “strengthening” (Hebrew matzor) in this case do not have a literal meaning, but a figurative one; they represent a symbolic designation (as in Is. 21.8) of the administration of prophetic ministry; thus, the first half of Art. 1 can be paraphrased as follows: “The Prophet says: I will remain in the rank to which I was elevated, and I will not leave the stronghold” (Blessed Theodoret). The prophets in general were the guardians of the house of Israel (Ezek.3:17; Jer.6:17; Isa.52:8, 56:10), whom Jehovah God, the supreme Shepherd and Guardian of Israel (Ps. 79:2, 120:4), erected to protect the integrity and holiness of the covenant and theocracy among the people of God - in view of its frequent deviations from these principles. (See P. Laur. Die Prophetennamen des Alten Testamentes. Freiburg. 1903. s. s. 103–107). “Rising always and in all respects above their contemporaries, constantly uttering instructions, reproofs, threats, oppression to them and for this purpose being enlightened by the Spirit of God, testing the very depths of God, these people, in especially important and doubtful cases, especially strengthened their feat of standing on the spiritual guard of the walls of Jerusalem entrusted to them (Isaiah 62.6) and themselves prayerfully asking God about His will, so that announce it to the people. This prayer was generally recognized as one of the special duties of the prophets (Jer. 32:16, 26; Dan. 9:3, 20), and sometimes it was directly commanded to them by God” (Prof. Golubev, p. 863). So the prophet Habakkuk, wanting to receive a new Divine one due to the perplexities expressed by him, according to his complaint (Heb. tokahat) (chap. I), gathers all his attention, ascends to a certain “stone, i.e. to some elevated and safe stronghold of thoughts” (St. Cyril of Alexandria) and awaits the revelation of God to convey it to people. Thus, “this place is very important from a psychological point of view - for judging the state of persons who have been granted the prophetic gift. From the initial words of the place it is revealed that it was not constantly inherent in the soul of the prophets; it first required something special to obtain its mood of the soul, that the prophets constantly needed divine illumination and received it only at times and in parts, just as students, having received information about the principles of teaching, still need to be taught about each of them in particular (Isaiah 50.4). From the words of the latter, that this gift was not a self-dream, a prophecy from one’s heart (Jer. 23:16, 26; Eze. 13:2-3), but a word proceeding from the mouth of God (Is. 55.11), a truly divine gift” (Prof. Golubev, p. 866). Regardless of these features, the prophet's speech in v. I has parallels for itself in Mic.7.7 and in the psalms: Ps.85:9, 120:1, 122:1. Hab.2:2. And the Lord answered me and said: Write down the vision and write it clearly on the tablets, so that the reader can easily read, The divine answer this time came, obviously, immediately, which is why we do not read the previous mournful: “until” (Hab 1.2). In this answer, Jehovah, first of all, tells us to write down the following revelation, namely, to inscribe it with all clarity on certain tablets, Heb. halluchot, so that the reader can easily read (v. 2). The tablets here are obviously similar to the stone tablets of Sinai (Ex. 24:12, 31:18; Deut. 9.9); the prophet Habakkuk, like the prophet who received similar commands. Isaiah (Isaiah 30:8, 8:1), had to “write with human writing” (Isaiah 8.1) to write what was communicated on boards - stone or copper (cf. Deut. 9.9; 1 Mac 14.27), due to the slow fulfillment of the revelation and its deliberate importance (cf. Jer. 30.2; Job 19.24). It is not incredible the opinion of those scientists (Ewald, Kleinert, etc.) that such boards with prophetic speeches written on them, after the latter were announced to the people, were transferred to the temple and were preserved there, to which we owe the intactness of so many prophecies; This method of preserving written monuments in antiquity is confirmed by Assyro-Babylonian cuneiform documents that occupied entire rooms. End of Art. 2 from euros i.e. literally this: “so that he who reads it can run” (as in LXX: οπως διωκη, glorified “as if he befallen”), i.e. “to run in order to spread the news in the vicinity of Jerusalem, where it is given, and further... The prophetic good news must be spread with all speed” (cf. Nahum 1:15; Isa 52:7; Dan. 12:4; Jer 23:21) (Prof. Golubev, p. 868). Hab.2:3. for the vision still refers to a certain time and speaks of the end and will not deceive; and even if it slows down, wait for it, for it will certainly come true, it will not be canceled. In Art. 3 indicates the reason or basis for what is said in Art. 2; The event pre-depicted by the vision refers to a specific, namely distant time (cf. Dan. 8:17, 19, 26, 10:14, 11:27, 35). But at the same time, it “hurries, literally breathes, greedily strives, is drawn by itself, so as not to be late (as it is said in parallel at the very end of the verse): true prophecy, like the word of a living, omniscient and omnipotent God, is, as it were, animated by the desire for its end, fulfillment, just as a healthy life that has been conceived is animated by the desire for birth, the search for final development, which is not present in false prophecy - deception” (Prof. Golubev, p. 871). He will not deceive - just as false prophets deceived people, promising their listeners various benefits in the near future (cf. Micah 2.11). “And if by chance, reader, as a result of your impatience and ardent desire, it would seem to you that the promised has been somewhat delayed in fulfillment, then do not despair of its coming, but wait patiently” (Blessed Jerome, p. 156). “The word of this prophecy is true, therefore do not doubt, although after a long time you will not see the end; because it will certainly be accomplished and will not remain undone” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 28). “It will certainly come true, it will not be canceled”, Heb.: bo yabo loy eaher, Vulg.: veniens veniet, et non tardabit. LXX: ερχομενος ηξει, και ουμη χρονιση). LXX, as well as the Vulgate, understood Heb. but not like infin. absolut, but as participium (Heb. ba), and in this participle (ερχομενος) they saw an indication of the personal Messiah, who will undoubtedly come as the judge of the world. In this sense, the words in question in Art. 3 are also given in the letter to the Hebrews, Hebrews 10.37 “He who comes will come and will not cut down.” This understanding, in its idea and essence, is, of course, completely acceptable and completely correct, but the form of Heb. expressions for this reason favor a more abstract than concrete understanding of the subject with this predicate (“coming” would be gabba). Hab.2:4–5. Behold, an arrogant soul will not rest, but the righteous will live by his faith: An arrogant man, like fermenting wine, does not calm down, so he expands his soul like hell, and like death he is insatiable, and gathers all nations to himself, and captures all tribes. In the Divine answer v. 4 in two opposite, but mutually explaining each other, positions, the Divine judgment is depicted both about the people who have to oppress the people of God, and about this latter, condemnation is foreshadowed for the first, justification, life, and salvation for the second. The sin of the rapist people is indicated by the verbs: upplela and lo-yashara. The first verb means: to swell, to inflate (the corresponding main name of the creature, ophel, means: swelling, growth) and expresses the main feature in the character of the Chaldeans as a conquering people: arrogance, self-adoration with daring oblivion of God (cf. (Num. 14:44; Deut. 1.43), where the same chapter afal is used about the daring attempt of the Jews, after condemnation them for a forty-year wandering, to occupy Canaan, contrary to the will of God). In the same way, the second verb means the absence in the character of this people of moral straightforwardness, ingenuity, meekness (chap. yashar in a material sense means leveling the roads, lowering mountains, hills and cliffs (Isaiah 40:3-4), and in a moral sense - the rightness of the ways of life, and humility and uprightness of heart (Ps 31:11, 36:14, 38:2). Both verbs, thus, give Divine confirmation of the veracity of the prophet’s comments about the character of the conquering people (Hab 1:15–16), and express agreement with the thoughts expressed by the prophet about the latter and the moral superiority of the people of God before him (Hab 1.13). Already from the first hemistich of Art. 4, therefore, one can infer the idea of ​​God’s punishment awaiting the wicked people of the Chaldeans. But this idea follows even more clearly from the second hemistich of Art. 4: “But the righteous shall live by his faith” (Heb. vetzaddik bemunatav ihye). Here the Divine answer calls the chosen people of God by the name of the righteous, as the prophet had previously called them (Hab 1.13), and also briefly but fully designates the happy, blissful future awaiting them with the name of life - also in accordance with and in contrast to the words of the prophet about the death threatening his people (Hab 1.12); life, of course, of course, in that highest understanding and sense which is generally characteristic of the law of Moses (Deut. 30.15–19) and the prophets (Ezek 18.22; Am 5.4). Such life will be granted through the faith of the righteous (beemunato). That the last name - emunah in this case means precisely faith and trust 3 in God and His salvation (and not human honesty and righteousness, as some interpreters of the rationalist trend have explained), this is obvious both from the context of this place, v. 3–4, which speaks only about man’s relationship with God, and from other Old Testament places, where the same word (emuna), as well as the verb of the same root (namely, in the form Gif. Geemin) means in a technical sense faith in God (Gen. 15.6; Ex. 14:31, 19:9; Num. 14:11, 20:12; Deut. 1:32, 9:23 ; 2 Kings 17:14; 2 Chronicles 20.20; Isa. 43.10, etc.) and usually the happiness of life and salvation depended on faith (2 Chronicles 20.20; Isa. 28.16, etc.). This is how the ancient Jewish tradition interpreted the place in question, as its preserved traces in the Talmud and individual rabbis show (Babul, Gemara, tr. Makkot f. 24a). The most important thing is that such an understanding passed from the Old Testament church to the New Testament and was confirmed by the threefold testimony of St. Apostle Paul: Rom. 1.17 ; Gal. 3.11; Heb. 10.38, and in the latter case the apostle quotes the words of the prophet v. 4 according to the LXX translation and, moreover, with the rearrangement of the two halves of the verse, one in place of the other. The LXX translation differs in the rendering of Art. 4 by the fact that, firstly, in the first half of the verse it speaks not about the arrogance of the enemy, but about doubt, hesitation, lack of faith (in the Jews themselves), and, secondly, in the second half of the verse it has “my faith” (and not “my own”), although many codes do not read μου (see code. 26, 36, 42, 49, 62, 68, 70, 86, 87, 91, 97, 228, 240, 310, 311 in Golmes). The first feature occurs in both the Vulgate and Slavic. translation ("If he doubts, My soul has no pleasure in him, but the righteous will live by faith"). Art. The 4th, depicting the very essence of the feat set before Israel, actually ends the Divine answer to Habakkuk, and the prophet now, as before (Hab 1.12), adds to it his lengthy reflection on the revelations he received during the Divine guard. 5–20, which reflection, as spoken by the prophet at the moment of illumination by the Spirit of God, is also a true prophecy. To give greater expressiveness to his thoughts about the terrible fate awaiting the Chaldeans, the prophet, starting from Art. 6, puts his speech, full of bitterness and irony, into the mouths of the tribes and peoples robbed and humiliated by the Chaldeans. On their behalf, a fivefold “woe” is announced to the Chaldeans. But the theme of these threatening foreshadowings for the Chaldeans is given in Art. 5. Here the disastrous pride and arrogance of the Chaldeans is explained by a comparison with intoxication: both concepts are related, and, in addition, the Chaldeans, according to history, indulged in wine a lot, and the very destruction of their capital occurred amid intoxication (Jer 51.31, 39; Isa 21.5; Dan 5.1). “Just as wine produces such an effect on a drunkard that when he rises, neither his legs nor his thoughts fulfill their duties, and the speed of his thoughts becomes disordered; so an arrogant person will not boast and will not bring his desire to fulfillment. He who is like death and hell will not be satisfied and will not see the end of his greed, even when he subjugates all tribes and all peoples under his rule” (Blessed Jerome, p. 161). Wed. the same image of gluttony in Isaiah 5.14; Proverbs 20:1, 30:16. The accusatory speech itself, announcing “woe” to the Chaldeans, consists of five stanzas, each with three verses: 1) 6–8; 2) 9–11; 3) 12–14; 4) 15–17; and 5) 18–20). Moreover, in the first four stanzas, each first verse contains a saying of grief, or a curse, the second - a designation of its (“grief” image or appearance, and the third, constantly beginning with the conjunction since (Hebrew ki), - an indication of its basis, the motivation for punishment or grief. Only in the fifth stanza the saying of “grief” (Hab. 2:19) is preceded by an indication of its basis (Hab. 2:18). it is said that it was put into the mouths of the peoples and tribes that were once defeated and oppressed by the Chaldeans, now rejoicing at the fall of their oppressor (cf. Nahum 3.19), and, by its very content and character, is called a “parable”, waved in the special sense of a “mocking song” (Hab. 2:6, as in Is. 14.4; Mic. 2.4), “sharp, caustic riddle”, melitsa chidot (cf. Proverbs 1.6). Having a close relationship with the Chaldeans of Babylon itself, this song or speech also contains general, universal thoughts of a religious and moral nature, as indicated by the final exclamation of the speech: “let all the earth be silent before the face of Jehovah” (Hab. 2:20). Hab.2:6–8. But won’t they all pronounce a parable and a mocking song about him: “Woe to him who enriches himself beyond measure with what is not his own—for how long? – and burdens himself with collateral!”: Will not those who will torment you suddenly rise up, and will not robbers rise up against you, and you will fall to them for plunder?: Since you have robbed many nations, all other nations will also rob you for the shedding of human blood, for the ruin of the country, the city and everyone living in it. The first "woe": to the people - the enemy, who personified, as in Art. 5, in the form of one man, his immeasurable acquisitiveness is imputed, because of which he mercilessly plundered many nations and cities; he immeasurably burdened himself with “collaterals” or “hostages”, Heb. abtit (v. 6). The last dark word was understood by the rabbis and the Syriac translation as composed of ab, cloud, density, and tit, mud, - “a mass of mud”; This understanding was also known from Jewish teachers to Blessed Jerome: “pay attention,” he says, “and how subtly he called the accumulated wealth thick mud” (p. 162). The punishment for the crime of Babylon will be fully consistent: the peoples plundered by it with interest, with interest (v. 7) will exact their goods from it, and it will go to them for complete plunder (vv. 7–8, cf. Isa. 33.1). Hab.2:9–11. Woe to him who thirsts for unrighteous gains for his house, in order to build his nest on high and thereby protect himself from the hand of misfortune!: You have devised dishonor for your house, destroying many nations, and you have sinned against your soul: The stones of the walls will cry out and the beams of wood will answer them: The second “woe” also exposes the enemy’s covetousness, but from the side of his misunderstood goal of protecting oneself from the enemy: one cannot hide from evil with evil, one cannot build one’s well-being on theft and untruth (v. 9, cf. Jer 22.13–19); according to the law of God’s righteousness, the lot of one who does this is dishonor, shame and destruction (v. 10). “Truly unfortunate and three times unfortunate is the one who desires more, tries to enrich his home with such means, and strives to become higher than all people. Such a one will suffer a greater fall, like one falling from a great height into the depths. Having caused thousands of evils to many peoples, you pierced your soul with sins and covered your whole house with shame” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 29). A similar image is in Proverbs. 1:19 and in Ps 9.16–17. The very stones and wood - the material of an unjustly created house - will testify to the fragility and destruction of such construction. “Not only those gifted with reason, but also inanimate and unreasonable creatures will cry out about your unreason and fury” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 30). Wed. Matthew 21:9, 16; Luke 19.40. Hab.2:12–14. “Woe to him who builds a city on blood and builds fortresses in wickedness!” Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that nations labor for fire and nations torment themselves in vain? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. The idea of ​​the previous stanza continues in the present stanza, but develops with greater breadth: the previously denounced enemy was presented as the builder of the house of unrighteousness, here of entire cities and fortresses, and the builder is no longer one, but a whole set of peoples. The complete insignificance of the labors of entire nations carried out on the basis of lawlessness (v. 13, cf. Jer 51.58), the prophet shows in the very name of God, by Whose definition, all their undertakings turn out to be insignificant without the assistance of God (cf. Ps 126.1), namely the name of the Lord of Hosts, Jehovah of armies (Jehovah Zebaoth; about the meaning of this name of God, used precisely in royal-prophetic period of biblical history, see in the book of the priest - Prof. A. A. Glagolev, Old Testament Biblical Teaching about Angels, 1900, pp. 238–256). In contrast to the insignificance of human deeds (cf. Micah 3.10; Eccl. 1:3, 5:15), the greatness and glory of the Lord will shine brighter in his judgment over the proud and wicked kingdom (the Chaldeans), and the knowledge of this glory should spread throughout the whole earth (v. 14, cf. Isa 11:9). Hab.2:15–17. Woe to you, who serve your neighbor drink laced with your malice and make him drunk so that you can see his shame! You are fed up with shame instead of glory; Drink and show your shame, and the cup of the right hand of the Lord will return to you and the shame will be brought to your glory: For your villainy in Lebanon will fall upon you for the destruction of frightened animals, for the shedding of human blood, for the devastation of the country, the city and everyone living in it. In the fourth “mountain,” it is in the first position (v. 15) that a particularly characteristic sign of the cunning, insidious malice of the Chaldeans is indicated: like a treacherous friend, plying his neighbor with wine only to then gloatingly enjoy his humiliated appearance. Babylon lured nations into friendly alliances with itself (cf. 2 Kings 20.12–18), so that later, having drunk them from the cup of its malice (cf. Jer 25.15; Nahum 3.11), it rejoiced in their own extreme humiliation, shame (cf. Nahum 3.5; Isaiah 47.3), - an image borrowed from extreme corruption morals, which the enemy indulged in at his feasts (and, according to Jewish tradition, captives were brought to these feasts, they were given wine, forced to dance until they were exhausted and naked, and this was contemptuously amused). The crime will also be punished exactly - according to the general law of God's truth: Jehovah, who once handed the cup of His wrath to Babylon to present it to other nations (Jer 25.15; cf. Is 51.17; Ps. 59:5, 74.9), now returns to Babylon itself - he must inevitably drink it to the dregs (see. Avd 1.16; Jer 51.7, 39), and the same humiliation, shame and disgrace that he prepared for others await him (v. 16: gearel, show the word uncircumcision; kikalon - vomit, cf. Is 28.8). In Art. 17 indicates the basis of such retribution from God to Babylon, namely, the atrocities and devastation it committed in Lebanon (v. 17), as a representative of the Promised Land (Jer 22.6, 23). Hab.2:18–19. What is the use of an image made by an artist, this cast false teacher, although the sculptor, when making dumb images, relies on his work? Woe to him who says to the tree, “Arise!” and to the dumb stone: “Wake up!” Will he teach you anything? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, but there is no breath in it. The fifth and final “woe” exposes the root of the malice and wickedness of the Chaldeans (as well as other pagan peoples), namely: their idolatry. Idols of all kinds: an idol made of wood or stone, a pesel or cast from metal, a masseka - a complete insignificance, and a prayerful appeal to it is absurd; the first is proved by the usual indication among biblical writers that an idol is the work and product of human hands (v. 18: cf. Ps. 113:11-16; Isaiah 44.9), the second by the fact that idols are “teachers of lies” - in the sense that people expected wise advice and prophecies from them, but both turned out to be complete lies. Hab.2:20. And the Lord is in His holy church: let all the earth be silent before His face! Art. 20, which no longer relates to the menacing speech of “grief,” but serves as a transition to ch. III, indicates that the only worthy objects of faith and hope of people can only be Jehovah. Before Jehovah, who dwells in heaven (cf. Deut. 26.15; Ps. 10.4), as well as in the temple of Jerusalem (cf. Isa. 66.6; Joel.3.16; Am 1.2), the whole earth must fall silent (cf. Zeph 1.7), and not just the Chaldeans. “Idols are mute and devoid of all power; and heaven serves our Lord as a kind of church, and on earth in Jerusalem, He has a place dedicated to Him.” philologically, emunah first of all means firmness, steadfastness in the word and promise of God, faith in the invisible, indestructible by any contradictions of reality (Greek). υποστασις, Heb 11.1; lat. constantia, fiducia. You might be interested in: