Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Habakkuk 2:18
What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
18 20. Fifth woe: the irrational idolatries of the Chaldean. Isa 19:1; Isa 21:9
18. What profiteth the graven image? ] The idea that the idols do not profit, i.e. save or deliver, is often expressed; 1Sa 12:21; Isa 44:10; Jer 2:8; Jer 2:11; Jer 16:19. Comp. Isaiah 46; Jeremiah 10.
and a teacher of lies ] Here the “teacher” is the idol itself, not its priest or prophet as in Isa 9:15, because the priest or prophet only expressed the indications or intimations given by the god. These intimations are called “lies,” Zec 10:2. The term teacher occurs in the name Oak Moreh (Gen 12:6), which was probably a “talking oak,” in which a deity resided and from which (whether through its rustling or otherwise, cf. 2Sa 5:24) oracles were drawn. Deu 11:30; cf. Jdg 9:37, the oak of the Meonenim (augurs).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
What profiteth – (Hath profited) . Samuel warned them, Serve the Lord with all your heart, and turn ye not aside; for (it would be) after vanities which will not profit nor deliver for they are vain: and Jeremiah tells their past; their prophets prophesied by Baal; and after things which profit not, have they gone. Elsewhere the idol is spoken of as a thing which will not profit (future) My people hath changed its glory for that which profiteth not, Jer 2:8, Jer 2:11. So Isaiah, Who hath formed a god, not to profit. Isa 44:9.10. The makers of a graven image are all of them vanity, and their desirable things will not profit.
The graven image, that the maker therefore hath graven it? – What did Baal and Ashtaroth profit you? What availed it ever but to draw down the wrath of God? Even so neither shall it profit the Chaldaean. As their idols availed them not, so neither need they fear them. Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar were propagandists of their own belief and would destroy, if they could, all other worship, false or true : Nebuchadnezzar is thought to have set up his own image Dan. 3. Antichrist will set himself up as God 2Th 2:4; Rev 13:15-17. We may take warning at least by our own sins. If we had no profit at all from them, neither will the like profit others. the Jews did, in the main, learn this in their captivity.
The molten image and teacher of lies – It is all one whether by teacher of lies we understand the idol , or its priest . For its priest gave it its voice, as its maker created its form. It could only seem to teach through the idol-priest. Isaiah used the title teacher of lies, of the false prophet Isa 9:14. It is all one. Zechariah combines them Zec 10:2; The teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have had false dreams.
That the maker of his work trusteth therein – This was the special folly of idolatry. The thing made must needs he inferior to its maker. It was one of the corruptions of idolatry that the maker of his own work should trust in what was wholly his own creation, what, not God, but himself created, what had nothing but what it had from himself . He uses the very words which express the relation of man to God, the Framer and the thing framed. Isa 29:16, O your perverseness! Shall the framer be accounted as clay, theft the thing made should say of its Maker, He made me not, and the thing framed say of its Framer, He hath no hands? The idol-maker is the creator of his creature, of his god whom he worships. Again the idol-maker makes dumb idols (literally, dumb nothings) in themselves nothings, and having no power out of themselves; and what is uttered in their name, are but lies. And what else are mans idols of wealth, honor, fame, which he makes to himself, the creatures of his own hands or mind, their greatness existing chiefly in his own imagination before which he bows down himself, who is the image of God?
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Hab 2:18-19
What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it.
National wrongs ending in national woes
I. That men often give to the works of their own hands the devotions that belong to God. These old Chaldean idolaters gave their devotions to the graven image and to the molten image that men had carved in wood and stone or moulded from molten metals. It was the works of their own hands they worshipped. Are mens sympathies in their strong current for God, or for something else? Do they expend the larger portion of their time and the greater amount of their energies in the service of the Eternal, or in the service of themselves?
II. That men often look to the works of their own hands for a blessing which God alone can bestow. These old idolaters said to the wood, Awake, to the dumb stone, Arise. Now, it is true that men do not say formal prayers to wealth, or fashion, or fame, or power, albeit to these they look with all their souls for happiness. Men who are looking for happiness to any of these objects are like the devotees of Baal, who cried from morning to evening for help, and no help came.
III. That in all this men entail on themselves the woes of outraged reason and justice. Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake, to the dumb stone, Arise.
1. It is the woe of outraged reason. What help could they expect of the molten image, and a teacher of lies? What answer could they expect from the dumb idols that they themselves had made? How irrational all this! Equally unreasonable it is for men to search for happiness in any of the works of their hands, and in any being or object independent of God.
2. It is the woe of insulted justice. What has God said? Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. All this devotion, therefore, to the works of our own hands, or to any other creature, is an infraction of mans cardinal obligation. (Homilist.)
The misapplication of the teaching of art in the service of religion
There is some difference of opinion as to the exact time at which the prophet Habakkuk delivered his message. But there is no question that it coincided with the period in which Israel came in contact with the great empires of the East, and was allowed to be humbled and punished by them. One of the consequences of intercourse with these empires, ending in the Captivity, was to familiarise their minds with buildings and workings of art which, while they marked the absence of a knowledge and worship of the true God, presented marvellous instances of the power and skill of man! The mind of man, in his fallen state, is ever prone to forget God and to reject Him; it is ever prone to corrupt the simple idea of His majesty and power. The idolatry of power was expressed in the architecture and image worship of this period. The words of the text refer to it, The dumb stone (of the monuments) speaks still; it speaks of abject submission to irresistible power. It speaks of rule and might and iron will; but there is no love, no tenderness, no hope in its utterances. History re-echoes the prophets denunciation, and extends it to after generations, embracing the later and more engaging forms of art thus employed. The message of works of art addresses itself to the carnal and the sensuous that is in us. It does not bring us into contact with the unseen and the infinite. There is a woe in it. May we not, descending the stream of time, go on to point out that the prophets woe also lights upon what is called Christian Art–on them who, in the Church of Christ, have said unto the wood, Awake, and have called upon the dumb stone to teach? The woe has taken effect in bringing down a thick pall of dark superstition and loss of spiritual life wherever the practice has prevailed. It is not to the wood or to the stone that we are directed for our instruction in Divine things, but to the Word and to the testimony. And therefore it is that in the arranging of our churches and the adjusting of their ornaments, at the time of the Reformation, it appeared right to those who were charged with this work that the wood and the stone which had been setup to speak and to teach should be excluded from this office; that no attempt should be made, by an exhibition of the passion and death of our blessed Lord, to the outward eye, to move the feelings and to strengthen the faith; but rather that such things were to be removed as a danger and a hindrance to acceptable worship. In place of ornaments and images the Reformers put the Creed, the Lords Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. It cannot be denied that in our day there is some danger lest too much importance be attached to external appearance, to architecture and decoration. While we do not look to the wood to Speak, or to the dumb stone to teach, we will not hesitate to make both minister to the comeliness of the sanctuary. In so doing we shall not impede but assist devotion. Holding fast the essential truths, and taught by the Word of the living God, we may rejoice with thanksgiving for the comeliness of the sanctuaries which now cover our land in every direction, and cheerfully do our part, that the wood and the stone may be made worthily to set forth the honour of Gods service, and furnish us fitting accompaniment for the prayer and the praise we offer in His name. (Archdeacon Cooper, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 18. What profiteth the graven image] This is against idolatry in general, and every species of it, as well as against those princes, priests, and people who practice it, and encourage others to do the same. See on the parallel passages in the margin. (Isa 44:9-10; Isa 46:2)
Dumb idols?] elilim illemim, “dumb nothings.” This is exactly agreeable to St. Paul, 1Co 8:4, who says, “An idol is nothing in the world.” What signify the idols worshipped by the Chaldeans, Tyrians, and Egyptians? They have not been able to save their worshippers.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Here the prophet removes the confidences of Babylon; she would boast of her gods, and depend on them, but this will be vain and unprofitable, it is not imaginable that these idols should help these persons.
The graven image; carved in wood, or stone, for of such materials did these idolmakers sometimes make their gods.
The maker: it is brutish folly in any one to value, or desire to be helped, by such lifeless idols, but it is greatest folly for him that makes the image, that remember how it was hewed, plead, tumbled about, and all this without the least degree of sense or feeling of what it suffered; and can that be sensible of my sorrows which feels not any thing itself?
The molten image; idols made of gold or silver, or any other rustle metal, were framed out of the metal first melted, and are therefore called molten images.
A teacher of lies; but whether graven or molten, yet all such images are but teachers of lies, Jer 10:8,14. They withdraw the mind from God, our true and only helper, and bewitch men to trust to idols, in which is no help, which ever proved lies to all that trusted on them.
That the maker; who knows, for he saw that there was no life, strength, or wisdom in one or other; it is shameless in any, but most in him that made the idol, to worship his own work, and rely upon that which he knows hath no eyes, or hands, or ears, but what his tool framed for it.
His work; his own work, and yet his god! the product of his art, and yet the hope of his soul! O brutish folly, self-contradiction!
Trusteth therein; resteth confident of defence, and rescue from evil, by it.
Dumb idols; which neither can answer a question, nor give a direction in a strait; can neither promise good to a friend, nor denounce a threat against an enemy.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. The powerlessness of theidols to save Babylon from its doom is a fitting introduction to thelast stanza (Hab 2:19), which,as the former four, begins with “Woe.”
teacher of liesitspriests and prophets uttering lying oracles, as if from it.
make dumb idolsThoughmen can “make” idols, they cannot make them speak.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it,…. The graven images the church of Rome enjoins the worship of; the images of the Trinity, of Christ, of the Virgin Mary, of angels and saints departed, and which are still continued since the Reformation; but of what profit and advantage are they? they may be profitable to the graver, who is paid for graving them; and the metal or matters of which they are made, if sold, and converted to another use, may turn to account; but as deities, and worshipped as such, they are of no profit to them that worship them; they can not hear their prayers, nor answer them; can not bestow any favours on them, and deliver them out of any distress; and particularly can not save them from the judgments before denounced:
the molten image, and a teacher of lies: nor is a molten image any ways profitable, which is made of liquid matter, gold or silver melted and poured into a mould, from whence it receives its form: it may be profitable to the founder, and the metal to the owner, if put to another use; but, as a god, is of no service; and both the graven and molten image, the one and the other, each of then is “a teacher of lies”, and so unprofitable; if they are laymen’s books, as they are said to be, they do not teach them truth; they do not teach them what God is in his nature and perfections; what Christ is in his person and offices; what angels are, who are incorporeal; nor the saints, they neither describe the shape and features of their body, nor express their characters, minds, or manners; they teach men to believe lies, and to worship false deities, as they are. So the Targum renders it, a false deity; which imposes on men, and therefore cannot profit them: or this may be understood of an idolatrous priest, as Aben Ezra; as the idol itself cannot profit, so neither can the priest that teaches men such lies as to worship the idol, and put trust in it:
that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? or, “whilst making dumb idols” m; which is great stupidity indeed! that while a man is graving an image, or casting an idol, which are lifeless senseless things, that can neither move nor speak, yea, are his workmanship, yet puts his trust and confidence in them, that they can do him service he needs, help him in distress, and save him out of his troubles; what profit can be expected from these, though ever so nicely framed, when he considers they are of his own framing, and that they are idols, which are nothing in the world, as the word n here used signifies; and dumb ones, which can give no answer to the requests of their votaries? The Targum is,
“idols in whom there is no profit.”
m “faciendo idola muta”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Vatablus. n “dii nihili”, Drusius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Fifth and last strophe. – Hab 2:18. “What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath carved it; the molten image and the teacher of lies, that the maker of his image trusteth in him to make dumb idols? Hab 2:19. Woe to him that saith to the wood, Wake up; Awake, to the hard stone. Should it teach? Behold, it is encased in gold and silver, and there is nothing of breath in its inside. Hab 2:20. But Jehovah is in His holy temple: let all the world be silent before Him.” This concluding strophe does not commence, like the preceding ones, with hoi , but with the thought which prepares the way for the woe, and is attached to what goes before to strengthen the threat, all hope of help being cut off from the Chaldaean. Like all the rest of the heathen, the Chaldaean also trusted in the power of his gods. This confidence the prophet overthrows in Hab 2:18: “What use is it?” equivalent to “The idol is of no use” (cf. Jer 2:11; Isa 44:9-10). The force of this question still continues in massekhah : “Of what use is the molten image?” Pesel is an image carved out of wood or stone; massekhah an image cast in metal. is the perfect, expressing a truth founded upon experience, as a fact: What profit has it ever brought? Moreh sheqer (the teacher of lies) is not the priest or prophet of the idols, after the analogy of Mic 3:11 and Isa 9:14; for that would not suit the following explanatory clause, in which (in him) points back to moreh sheqer : “that the maker of idols trusteth in him (the teacher of lies).” Consequently the moreh sheqer must be the idol itself; and it is so designated in contrast with the true God, the teacher in the highest sense (cf. Job 36:22). The idol is a teacher of lying, inasmuch as it sustains the delusion, partly by itself and partly through its priests, that it is God, and can do what men expect from God; whereas it is nothing more than a dumb nonentity ( ‘ell ‘illem : compare , 1Co 12:2). Therefore woe be to him who expects help from such lifeless wood or image of stone. is the block of wood shaped into an idol. Haqtsah , awake! sc. to my help, as men pray to the living God (Psa 35:23; Psa 44:24; Psa 59:6; Isa 51:9). is a question of astonishment at such a delusion. This is required by the following sentence: it is even encased in gold. Taphas : generally to grasp; here to set in gold, to encase in gold plate ( zahabh is an accusative). : there is not at all. , breath, the spirit of life (cf. Jer 10:14). Hab 2:18 and Hab 2:19 contain a concise summary of the reproaches heaped upon idolatry in Isa 44:9-20; but they are formed quite independently, without any evident allusions to that passage. In Hab 2:20 the contrast is drawn between the dumb lifeless idols and the living God, who is enthroned in His holy temple, i.e., not the earthly temple at Jerusalem, but the heavenly temple, or the temple as the throne of the divine glory (Isa 66:1), as in Mic 1:2, whence God will appear to judge the world, and to manifest His holiness upon the earth, by the destruction of the earthly powers that rise up against Him. This thought is implied in the words, “He is in His holy temple,” inasmuch as the holy temple is the palace in which He is enthroned as Lord and Ruler of the whole world, and from which He observes the conduct of men (Psa 11:4). Therefore the whole earth, i.e., all the population of the earth, is to be still before Him, i.e., to submit silently to Him, and wait for His judgment. Compare Zep 1:7 and Zec 2:13, where the same command is borrowed from this passage, and referred to the expectation of judgment. is hardly an imper. apoc. of , but an interjection, from which the verb hasah is formed. But if the whole earth must keep silence when He appears as Judge, it is all over with the Chaldaean also, with all his glory and might.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The Prophet now advances farther, and shows that whatever he had predicted of the future ruin of Babylon and of its monarchy, proceeded from the true God, from the God of Israel: for it would not have been sufficient to hold, that some deity existed in heaven, who ruled human affairs, so that it could not be, but that tyrants would have to suffer punishment for their cruelty. We indeed know that such sayings as these were everywhere common among heathen nations—that justice sits with Jupiter—that there is a Nemesis—that there is Divine vengeance. Since then such a conviction had ever been imprinted on the hearts of men, it would have been a frigid and almost an empty doctrine, had not the Prophet introduced the God of Israel. This is the reason why he now derides all idols, and claims for God the government of the whole world, and clearly shows that he speaks of the Jews, because they worshipped no imaginary gods, as the heathen nations, but plainly understood him to be the creator of heaven and earth, who revealed himself to Abraham, who gave his law by the hand of Moses. We now perceive the Prophet’s design.
As then the king of Babylon did himself worship his own gods, the Prophet dissipates that vain confidence, by which he might be deceived and deceive others. Hence he says, What avails the graven image? He speaks here contemptuously of images formed by men’s hands. And he adds a reason, because the maker has graven it, he says. Interpreters give a sense that is very jejune, as though the Prophet had said, “What avails a graven image, when it is graven or melted by its artificer?” But the Prophet shows here the reason why the worship of idols is useless, and that is, because these gods are made of dead materials. And then he says, “What deity can the artificer produce?” We hence see that a reason is given in these words, and therefore we may more clearly render them thus—“What avails the graven image, when the framer has graven it?” that is, since the graven image has its origin from the hand and skill of man, what can it avail? He then adds, he has formed a molten image; that is, though the artificer has given form to the metal, or to the wood, or to the stone, yet he could not have changed its nature. He has indeed given it a certain external appearance; but were any one to ask what it is, the answer would surely be, “It is a graven image.” Since then its nature is not changed by the work of man, it evidently appears, how stupid and mad must all those be who put their trust in graven images. (46)
He then adds, and a teacher of falsehood. He added this clause, because men previously entertain false notions, and dare not to form a judgement on the matter itself. For, how comes it that a piece of wood or a stone is called a god? Had any one asked the sages at Rome or at Athens, or in other cities, who thought all other nations barbarous, What is that? on seeing a Jupiter made of silver; or of wood, or of stone, the answer would have been, “It is Jupiter, it is God.” But how could this be? It is a stone, a piece of wood, or of silver. They would yet have asserted that it was God. Whence came this madness? Even from this, because men were bewitched, so that seeing they saw not; they wilfully closed their eyes, and resolved to be blind, being unwilling to understand. This is the reason why the Prophet, by way of anticipation, says, the artificer has formed —what has he formed? a graven image and a teacher of falsehood. The material remains the same, but a false notion prevails, for men think idols to be gods. How come they to think so? It is no doubt the teaching of falsehood, a mere illusion. He then confirms the same thing; the fashioner, or the artificer, he says, trusts in his own work, or in what he has formed. How is this? Must they not be void of sense and reason who trust in lifeless things? “The workman,” as Isaiah says, “will take his instruments, will form an idol, and then he will bow the knee, and call it his god; yet it is the work of his own hands.” What! art not thou thyself a god? thou knowest thine own frailty, and yet thou createst new gods! Even in this manner does the Prophet confirm what he had previously said, that men are extremely stupid, nay, that they are seized with monstrous sottishness, when they ascribe a kind of deity to wood, or to a stone, or to metal. How so? because they are, he says, false imaginations.
And he adds, that he may make dumb idols. He again repeats what he had said,—that the nature of the material is not changed by men’s workmanship, when they form to themselves gods either from wood or from stone. How so? because they cannot speak. To the same purpose is what immediately follows; the next verse must therefore be added. We shall afterwards say something more on the general subject.
(46) Rightly to understand this verse, it is necessary to remember that the graven and the molten image was the same; it was first graven and then covered with some metal, either of gold or of silver. See Note on Mic 1:7, vol. 3, p. 167.
This verse, as given in our version and in that of Newcome, presents hardly a meaning; and Henderson is not justified in the peculiar sense he gives to the particle [ כי ], taking it as a relative pronoun. The rendering of Calvin gives an evident and a striking sense. The verse may be thus literally rendered—
18. What avails the graven image?— For its graver has formed it,— The molten image and the teacher of falsehood? For trust in it does the former of its form, After having made dumb idols.
The last line show that the singular number before used is to be taken in a collective sense: and the preposition [ ל ] before an infinitive has sometimes the meaning of “after.” See Exo 19:1, “When he has made,” etc., is the rendering of Grotius. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Hab. 2:18.] Exposure of the folly of Babylons idolatry. What] use? none whatever. Lies] Lying oracles connected with idol worship. Dumb] Nonentity (1Co. 12:1).
Hab. 2:19. Awake] to help. Teach] Ironical, it teach! Breath] Not at all breath, the spirit of life (Jer. 10:14).
Hab. 2:20. But] Sublime contrast between Jehovah and utter vanity of idols. Temple] Enthroned in heaven ready to protect his people and destroy their enemies (Psa. 11:4). He is not encased in gold and silver. All] i.e. the people must submit in reverence before him, and wait for his judgment (cf. Zep. 1:7; Zec. 2:1-7). It becomes all to adore such a God who will speak to the soul bushed in silence.
HOMILETICS
THE UNPROFITABLENESS OF IDOLATRY.Hab. 2:18-19
This fifth strophe does not utter woe at first, but makes prominent the cause that leads to it. Like the rest of heathen nations, the Chaldans trusted to their gods, but all hope from this quarter is cut off. Idols profit nothing; it is folly therefore to carve and honour them.
I. Idolatry is a system of lies. A teacher of lies.
1. The idol itself is a lie. It represents God as visible, finite, and dependent, whereas he is Infinite and Invisible. It contradicts the word of God and the nature of man; and represents carnal conceptions of truth and worship.
2. The teaching of the idol is a lie. In itself and by its priests it sustains delusions. Its oracle is the doctrine of vanities; it is a falsehood and a work of errors (Jer. 10:8), leading men to trust in dumb idols, the work of their own hands (1Co. 12:2). We have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.
Gods omnipresence seems not sensuous;
Unless he be in us, we are not in him [Bailey].
II. Idolatry is a system of impotence. Idols may be adorned and beautified, commended and honoured, but they are only dumb nothings.
1. They are fashioned by man. Carved and encased with gold and silver, and yet neither breath, feeling, nor understanding. They are inferior to their maker, how then can they impart life and help to those who trust them? They that make a graven image are all of them vanity (Isa. 44:9-10).
2. They respond not to the requests of man. Men cry to the wood, Awake, for our relief; to the dumb stone, Arise, deliver me, for thou art my God (Isa. 44:17): but there is no answer. A god that cannot speak is nothing. The cries of man must be heard, the wants of man must be satisfied. Without a true response to the entreaties of man there is no religion. We cannot animate stocks and stones. Art and science may create and beautify gods; but this is labour in vainwill deceive, and nourish superstition. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.
III. Idolatry is a system of vanity. When men have done all they can, displayed their skill and carved their image, God ridicules the result. Only wood and stone, base and inferior matter. That teach! Yes, though dumb it speaks of impotence, vanity, and folly.
1. What vanity to trust in a god of your own creation! If images are made by man, how can they have the being and authority of God? Why spend your energy in the service of that which will not profit? Tis mad idolatry, says Shakspeare, to make the service greater than the God. What profiteth the graven image?
2. What folly to rely upon that which brings a curse! Woe unto him that said to the wood, Awake. Whatever is accounted a god, which is only a creature or a feigned thing, is a curse to man. It curses human nature by degrading it, and making men like brutes. It curses the world by bringing down the judgments of God. When men are determined not to retain God in their thoughts, but to exalt that which is below themselves to be in the place of God, they become brutish in their knowledge, vain in their imaginations, and alienated in their hearts. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections.
THE DIVINE COURT.Hab. 2:20
In sublime contrast to idols, Jehovah is set forth in his dwelling-place and authority. None should dispute with him, but stand in awe before him. In the court-house of God let all the earth keep silence.
I. God resides in this court. The Lord is in his holy temple. The world is not empty space. A true and personal God exists; not like idols dwelling in temples made with hands, but revealing himself in the visible universe. In heaven by glory and honour, in earth by grace and goodness. The Being whose centre is everywhere, but whose circumference is nowhere. In every state and condition God is ever near. The Lord is in his holy temple.
II. God governs in this court. He dwells in his temple, and has not left the world to chance, inflexible law, or abstract powers. His throne is on high, and has neither been overturned nor vacated. He judges the world in righteousness, delivers his people in distress. and punishes the insolence of the wicked. He is not enshrined in gold and silver; but our God is in the heavens, reigning supreme over all the nations of the earth. He is the worlds great King, discerning and rewarding the works and ways of men. The Lords throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men.
III. God demands silence in his court. Let all the earth keep silence. If we are silent in courts of law, if all are reverent and solemn before an earthly judge, how should we stand before Almighty God!
1. Let sinners tremble at his judgments. He will strike idolaters dumb, convince the wicked of folly, and cover them with shame.
2. Let saints trust in his word. If perplexed, hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God; for the day of the Lord is at hand (Zep. 1:7). If afflicted, be still, and know that I am God (Psa. 46:10). If weakened in faith, and disappointed in prayer, Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near: let them speak (Isa. 41:1). In speaking of God our best eloquence is silence, says Hooker. Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Hab. 2:18-19. The destruction of idols. Created by mandeaf and dumb, impotent and false. Dumb idols: Lit. dumb nothings. And what else are mans idols of wealth, honour, fame, which he makes to himself, the creatures of his own hands or mindtheir greatness existing chiefly in his own imaginationbefore which he bows down himself, who is the image of God? [Pusey]. The folly of idol worshippers. Trusting their own creationcalling upon it as God, and exposing their own souls. Here is a double woe:
1. Loss of labour;
2. Want of help. In the first they bewray their folly; the god of this world hath made fools of them for turning the glory of the invisible God into the image of creatures; but in the second we find the misery, for we cannot subsist without help, and they trust to idols where there is no help [Marbury].
Behold. Though the vanity of worshipping idols be palpably gross, so that seriously to consider it is sufficient to refute it, yet such is mans stupidity that he needs stirring up to notice the error of his wayto caution him of his danger, and to wean him from his sins [cf. Hutcheson].
Hab. 2:4; Hab. 2:14; Hab. 2:20. Three bright stars. As the prophet stood on his eminence and saw nothing but darkness, God revealed three great principles which infused light and life into the gloomprinciples which stand out to this day to all perplexed, fearful, and sceptical souls, as stars in a dark sky.
1. The just shall live by faith. A truth so important that it is quoted thrice in the New Testament (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38).
2. The earth shall be filled, &c.
3. The Lord is in his holy temple. The first of these three lights reveals the secret of our religion. It is faith. Faith in Gods word, and faith in Gods work. The second opens up to the faith supposed to exist; a glorious promise that all sin, misery, and confusion which now disgrace and oppress the earth, shall disappear, and make room for the glory of the Lord to take their place. The third sets forththe stay, the confidence, the breathless silence of the children of God, while the promise is fulfilling, and especially when the ways of God are dark and mysterious. Think of the circumstances and prospects of the prophet, and learn that God, in dispensing his blessings, takes seasons of despondency and thick gloomthat in selecting such times for predicting splendid futures he draws from the opposition of men and the infidelity of the Church an illustration of his irresistible majesty and unchangeable truth [Anon.].
Hab. 2:5-20. Of shameful and hurtful avarice.
1. Avarice is contrary to the order prescribed by God; therefore God must bring it back to order by chastisement (Hab. 2:1; Hab. 2:6 b, 7).
2. It is contrary to love, therefore it produces a harvest of hatred (Hab. 2:6 a).
3. It confounds the ideas of right, therefore wrong must befall it (Hab. 2:8 a).
4. It makes the mind timid; but where fear is there is no stability (Hab. 2:9).
5. It accumulates (riches) with sin, therefore for nothing (Hab. 2:12; Hab. 2:11; Hab. 2:13; Hab. 2:17).
6. It seeks false honour, therefore it acquires shame (Hab. 2:15-16).
7. It sets its heart upon gold and silver and lifeless things, therefore it must perish with its lifeless gods (Hab. 2:18-19).
8. On the whole it provokes the judgment of God (Hab. 2:8 b, 14, 20) [Lange].
Hab. 2:20. Notice
1. The privilege of the godly. The Lord is in his holy temple, to guide them by his wisdom, defend them by his power, and save them by his grace.
2. The duty of the godly. Let all the earth be silent; but they should acquiesce in his word and work. Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
Wait, O my soul, thy Makers will;
Tumultuous passions, all be still!
Nor let a murmuring thought arise;
His ways are just, his counsels wise.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Hab. 2:16-18. Shame. There is none of you that ever entered this house of pleasure but he left the skirts of his garment in the hands of shame, and had his name rolled in the chambers of death. What fruit had ye then? This is the question [Bp. Taylor]. The man wakes from his dream, and finds that he possesses not an atom of the rich possessions he had dreamed of [Lorin].
Hab. 2:18-19. Idolatry. Any opinion which tends to keep out of sight the living and loving God, whether it be to substitute for him an idol, or any occult agency, or a formal creed, can be nothing better than the portentous shadow projected from the slavish darkness of an ignorant heart [Hallam]. While earthly objects are exhausted by familiarity, the thought of God becomes to the devout man continually brighter, richer, vaster, derives fresh lustre from all that he observes of nature and providence; and attracts to itself all the glories of the universe [Channing].
Hab. 2:20. A heathen philosopher once asked a Christian, Where is God? The Christian answered, Let me first ask you, Where is he not? [Arrow-smith.]. The Will of God is our pole-star, and, with our eye constantly on it, we shall be carried safely through every storm and tempest of this mortal life [Anon.]. What I do, thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter, is the unvaried language of God in his providence. He will have credit every step. He will not assign reasons, because he will exercise faith [Wilson].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(18) A teacher of lies.Not the false prophet, but the idol itself, as pointing out false ways in opposition to God, the teacher of truth.
That the maker . . .Better, that he who frames his image trusts in it, so as to make dumb idols. Dumb nothings is, perhaps, the literal translation of ellm illmm, and the words are chosen for their similarity of sound.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(18-20) Woe on him who neglects Jehovah to worship dumb idols of his own making.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Woe upon idolatry, 18-20.
The last strophe is unlike the preceding in that the “woe” does not stand at the beginning, but at the opening of Hab 2:19. In order to restore similarity many commentators place 19a, “Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise!” before Hab 2:18. This arrangement, 19a, 18, 19b, 20, would bring this strophe into accord with the four preceding, and would give a more satisfactory logical arrangement; but that it was the original order cannot be proved; if it was, the present order cannot be accounted for very easily, unless, with Nowack, we assume that Hab 2:18 is a later marginal note, which was inserted in the text in the wrong place.
For this assumption there is insufficient evidence, and the omission of Hab 2:18 would make the strophe too brief.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
18. What profiteth A rhetorical question, equivalent to “It profiteth nothing”; the idols can render no help in the hour of calamity (Amo 2:4; 1Sa 12:21; Isa 44:10).
Graven image See on Mic 5:13.
Molten image See on Nah 1:14.
The maker thereof hath graven it An expression of contempt; they are only the work of man; how can they be of any use?
Teacher of lies Not the priest or prophet of the idol (Isa 9:15; compare Mic 3:11), but the idol itself (Amo 2:4; Zec 10:2), so called in contrast with Jehovah whose word is faithful and true.
To make dumb idols Literally, dumb nothings (Isa 46:5-7; compare 1Co 12:2). It is foolish to trust in idols; it is foolish even to make them, for the maker cannot put life into them.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Fifth Woe ( Hab 2:18-20 ).
Hab 2:18-20
‘What does it profit the graven image that his maker has graven it,
The molten image, even the teacher of lies,
That the maker of his work trusts in it,
So that he makes dumb idols?
Woe to him who says to the wood, “Awake.”
To the dumb stone, “Arise.”
Will this teach? Behold it is laid over with silver and gold,
And there is no breath at all within it.
But YHWH is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before him.’
The final woe is over men’s idolatry. What profit is there for a graven image or a molten image that its maker has made it? It is a dead thing without consciousness, and remains so. It does not appreciate what has been done. And yet the maker trusts in these teachers of lies. That is indeed why he makes dumb idols. He has confidence in them (in contrast with the righteous who have confidence in YHWH – Hab 2:4). And yet they are teachers of lies because men read into them what is untrue, and their priests declare falsehoods to them.
‘Woe to him who says to the wood, “Awake.” To the dumb stone, “Arise.” Will this teach? Behold it is laid over with silver and gold, and there is no breath at all within it.’ The picture is one of the idol maker futilely saying to the wooden thing, ‘Awake’. And to the dumb stone. ‘Arise’. Vainly he seeks to stir them into action (compare 1Ki 18:26-27), but there is no answer. Will they teach him? The answer is ‘no’. All he will learn through them is falsehood. The image may have been clothed magnificently in silver and gold, but it has no breath at all within it (see Jer 10:14; Psa 135:15-17; Isa 41:7; Isa 44:9-20; Isa 45:16; Isa 45:20; Isa 46:1-2; Isa 46:6-7; ). For only YHWH can breathe life into His creation.
‘Woe to him.’ For it can only lead him away from God into sin, meaninglessness and judgment. The New Testament makes clear that it also brings him under Satan (1Co 10:20). The folly of such images, made to represent humans, animals, fish, birds and creeping things is brought out well in Rom 1:18-23. They look to created things and not to the Creator. Modern man may pride himself that he does not indulge in such folly. Instead he looks to and worships skyscrapers, wealth, success, fame, pop idols, sportsmen and their clubs, and such like. They too are creaturely things not worthy of man’s adoration.
‘But YHWH is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him.’ It is unlikely that Habakkuk had a lesser view of God than Solomon. He knew that God would not dwell in an earthly house, that even the heaven of heavens could not contain Him, thus how much less a house built with human hands (1Ki 8:27; see also 1Ki 22:19; Dan 7:9). So this temple that he has in mind is a heavenly temple, similar to that which descended to earth on ‘a high mountain’ away from Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s vision, not to be seen by man, and is revealed in Revelation 4-5 and constantly.
YHWH is seated above His creation (Psa 29:10, the flood represents the whole of creation – Gen 1:2), unlike the gods which are simply a part of it. He sits in glorious splendour surrounded by His hosts (1Ki 22:29) and in view of what He is, and in view of what history reveals about His actions, let all the earth keep silent before Him. Silent in awe, and worship, and reverence. This will one day be the result of what He has done.
Thus YHWH’s reply to Habakkuk’s questions is that through what He is doing Babylon will be judged and punished, the world will be filled with the knowledge of God, and all the earth will worship in awe and reverence before Him in His heavenly temple.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Hab 2:18. What profiteth the graven image What, &c. when the maker thereof hath graven it? The molten image, and the doctrine of lies that he who hath formed it may have hope therein, while he maketh dumb idols? Houbigant. The prophet speaks here against idols in general, and idolatrous princes. What will they avail Nebuchadnezzar, and others like him, in the day of danger, and when the Lord ariseth to take vengeance upon them?
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Hab 2:18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
Ver. 18. What profiteth the graven image ] The Chaldees promised themselves much help against their enemies from their idols; and were ready to say, as that Roman emperor, Antoninus, the philosopher, did, when he was to meet his enemy, Non sic deos coluimus, ut ille nos vinceret: We have not so served the gods as that he should overcome us. The prophet here rejecteth their confidence, and layeth open their folly. See the like Jer 10:8 ; Jer 10:14-15 Zec 10:2 Isa 44:16-17 , &c. Confer Jer 51:47 ; Jer 51:52 Eze 20:30 ; Eze 20:32 .
That the maker thereof hath graven it
“ Olim truncus cram ficulnus, &c. ”
He thought no otherwise of the images of Jupiter, and the rest; but durst not say so, for fear of the people. So that of him it might be said, as Augustine doth of Seneca, who wrote a book against superstitions, but colebat quod reprehendebat, agebat quod arguebat, quod culpabat, adorabat, he reproved them, but yet used them (De Civ. Dei, lib. 6. c. 10).
The molten image, and a teacher of lies
That the maker of his work trusteth therein
To make dumb idols
“ quorum sunt numina nomina tantum. ”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
trusteth = confideth. Hebrew. batah. App-69.
dumb idols. Note the Figure of speech Paronomasia (App-6). Hebrew. ‘elilim illemim = nothings [that] say nothing. Compare Jer 14:14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
trusteth (See Scofield “Psa 2:12”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
profiteth: Isa 37:38, Isa 42:17, Isa 44:9, Isa 44:10, Isa 45:16, Isa 45:20, Isa 46:1, Isa 46:2, Isa 46:6-8, Jer 2:27, Jer 2:28, Jer 10:3-5, Jer 50:2, Rom 6:21
a teacher: Jer 10:8, Jer 10:14, Jer 10:15, Jon 2:8, Zec 10:2, Rom 1:23-25, 2Th 2:9-11, 1Ti 4:1, 1Ti 4:2, Rev 13:11-15, Rev 19:20
that the: Psa 115:4-8, Psa 135:15-18, Isa 1:31, Isa 44:14-20
maker of his work: Heb. fashioner of his fashion
dumb: 1Co 12:2
Reciprocal: Jdg 17:3 – a graven image Jdg 18:24 – what have 1Sa 12:21 – vain things 1Ki 18:26 – no voice Psa 115:8 – General Ecc 1:3 – profit Isa 26:14 – dead Isa 40:19 – General Isa 41:26 – declared Isa 41:29 – they are all Isa 44:20 – Is there Jer 2:8 – do not Jer 13:25 – trusted Jer 16:19 – Surely Jer 50:38 – the land Jer 51:17 – brutish by his knowledge Eze 6:6 – your works Eze 24:12 – wearied Dan 5:23 – which Hos 8:6 – the workman Hos 13:2 – have made Amo 2:4 – and their Act 7:41 – rejoiced Rom 1:25 – into a lie 2Ti 2:14 – to no Rev 9:20 – and idols
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hab 2:18-19. The weakness and foolishness of idolatry is the subject of this paragraph. Teacher of lies. Every expectation that an idol seems to offer its maker is a He. Man made the idol and therefore it could not possess any wisdom or power that man does not already have and so It could contribute nothing to him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Hab 2:18-19. What profiteth the graven image The last sin that the prophet takes notice of, for which God would execute his judgments upon Babylon, is idolatry. Compare Jer 50:2; and Jer 51:44; Jer 51:47. But what he says was not intended to be confined to Nebuchadnezzar and the idols of Babylon: it is equally applicable to idols in general. What will they avail their worshippers in the day of danger, and when the Lord ariseth to take vengeance on them? The molten image, and a teacher of lies Rather, a molten image, teaching lies. This was a very proper epithet for the image of an idol; because the worshippers of them thought that a deity, or a divine power, resided in them, when there was no such thing; and that God was like the work of mens hands. That the maker of his work trusteth therein Or, that the maker trusteth in his work; that any one should be so unreasonable and foolish as to trust in that as a god which he has made and fashioned with his own hands! To make him dumb idols Which have mouths and speak not; which can neither hear nor answer his prayers, nor do him good or harm. Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver They are beautified with a great deal of cost, on purpose to delude their ignorant worshippers, and make them fancy some divinity lodges within them. And there is no breath at all, &c. They are altogether without life, sense, and motion.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2:18 What profiteth the graven {p} image that its maker hath engraved it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth in it, to make dumb idols?
(p) He shows that the Babylonian gods could not help them at all, for they were but blocks or stones. See Geneva Jer “10:8”
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Judgment for idolatry 2:18-20
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Habakkuk, like other prophets, saw through the folly of idolatry and exposed it (cf. Isa 41:7; Isa 44:9-20; Isa 45:16; Isa 45:20; Isa 46:1-2; Isa 46:6-7; Jer 10:8-16). An idol carved by human hands cannot help its maker because anyone who creates is always greater than his creation. Images really become teachers of falsehood since their existence implies a lie, namely, that they can help humans. An idol-carver trusts his own handiwork by making it. Idols cannot even speak much less provide help (cf. Rom 1:22-25).
"Modern people in their sophistications may regard themselves as free from the obvious folly of idolatry. What educated, self-respecting person would be deluded into expecting special powers to emanate from the form of an antiquated Idol? Yet the new covenant Scriptures make it plain that covetousness is idolatry (Eph 5:5). Whenever a person’s desire looks to the creature rather than the Creator, he is guilty of the same kind of foolishness. An insatiable desire for things not rightly possessed assumes that things can satisfy rather than God himself. Whenever a person sets his priorities on the things made rather than on the Maker of things, he is guilty of idolatry." [Note: Robertson, p. 209.]
"Famous people are the ’idols’ of millions, especially politicians, athletes, wealthy tycoons, and actors and actresses. Even dead entertainers like Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Elvis Presley still have their followers. People may also worship and serve man-made things like cars, houses, boats, jewelry, and art. While all of us appreciate beautiful and useful things, it’s one thing to own them and quite something else to be owned by them. Albert Schweitzer said, ’Anything you have that you cannot give away, you do not really own; it owns you.’ I’ve met people who so idolize their children and grandchildren that they refused to let them consider giving their lives for Christian service.
"Social position can be an idol and so can vocation achievement. For some people, their god is their appetite (Php 3:19; Rom 16:18); and they live only to experience carnal pleasures [including following their favorite sports?]. Intellectual ability can be a terrible idol (2Co 10:5) as people worship their IQ and refuse to submit to God’s Word." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 418.]