Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Habakkuk · About this commentary
The Righteous Will Live by His Faith
Habakkuk 2:1-4
1 I will stand at my watch and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. · WEB
The answer is not an explanation but a sentence to hold on to while the explanation is withheld.
I will stand at my watch and set myself on the ramparts. The prophet takes a sentry's position and waits, expecting both a reply and a rebuke — what I will answer concerning my complaint.
The reply comes as an instruction about writing. Make it plain on tablets, that he who runs may read it: legible at speed, because it will have to be carried. Verse 3 explains why. The vision is for an appointed time; it hurries toward the end; though it seems slow, wait for it, because it will surely come. God does not deny the delay. He dates it.
Then verse 4 sets two men side by side. One is puffed up, and his soul is not upright in him. The other — the righteous, tsaddiq H6662 — will live by his faith, emunah H530. That single clause is quoted three times in the New Testament, in three different arguments Romans 1:17 Galatians 3:11 Hebrews 10:38. What Habakkuk asked for was an explanation of history. What he was given was a way to stand in it.
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