Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Habakkuk · About this commentary
Purer Eyes Than to See Evil
Habakkuk 1:12-17
12 Aren’t you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed them for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish. · WEB
The second complaint is sharper than the first, and it is built entirely out of things the prophet believes about God.
Aren't you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? The complaint opens by confessing, and every clause of the confession becomes part of the problem. God is eternal, holy, and a Rock; he has appointed the Chaldeans for judgment. None of that is disputed, which is precisely why the question that follows is unanswerable on its own terms.
You who have purer eyes than to see evil — why do you tolerate the treacherous and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? The comparison is careful. Habakkuk does not claim Judah is righteous, only that Babylon is worse, and the objection is to the ratio rather than to the punishment.
Verses 14 to 17 give the picture that most offends him: men made like fish, hauled up with hook and dragnet by a fisherman who then sacrifices to his net and burns incense to it. The conqueror worships his own equipment. And the closing question is about limit — will he empty his net forever, killing nations without mercy?
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