13<\/strong>. people in the very fire<\/em> ] peoples shall labour for the fire<\/strong>. Those great cities of the heathen world on which the peoples labour are destined to become the prey of the fire.<\/p>\n people for very vanity<\/em> ] the nations shall weary themselves for vanity<\/strong>, or, for nought, in vain. The great buildings on whose construction the nations exhaust themselves are doomed to annihilation. This is the decree of the Lord of Hosts. The words with some difference occur again, Jer 51:58<\/span>, with special reference to Babylon. The passage is scarcely a quotation from Jer., neither do the words, Behold, is it not<\/em>, &c., imply that it is a quotation from some other source. Cf. 2Ch 25:26<\/span>, where the peculiar phrase occurs again.<\/p>\n Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that (the) people (nations) shall labor – <\/B>o<\/SUP><\/P> In (for) the very fire – <\/B>literally, to suffice the fire? By Gods appointment, the end of all their labor is for the fire, what may suffice it to consume. This is the whole result of their labor; and so it is as if they had toiled for this; they built ceiled palaces and gorgeous buildings, only for the fire to consume them.<\/P> And the peoples shall weary themselves for very vanity – <\/B>They wearied themselves, and what was their reward? What had they to suffice and fill them? Emptiness. This is from the Lord of hosts, whom all the armies of heaven obey and all creatures stand at His command against the ungodly, and in whose Hand are all the hosts of earth, and so the oppressors also, to turn as He wills.<\/P> Near upon the first stage of the fulfillment, Jeremiah reinforces the words with the name of Babylon; Jer 51:58<\/span> : Thus saith the Lord of hosts! The broad walls of Babylon, shall be utterly destroyed, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labor in vain (for vanity), and the folk in (for) the fire, and they shall be weary.<\/P> <\/p>\n Verse 13<\/span>. The people shall labour in the very fire<\/B><\/I>] All these superb buildings shall be burnt down. See the parallel passage, Jer 51:58<\/span>, and the note there.<\/P> <\/P> Shall weary themselves for very vanity?<\/B><\/I>] For the gratification of the wishes of ambition, and in buildings which shall be brought to naught.<\/P> <\/p>\n Behold:<\/B> the prophet calls for attention, and that we observe who it is will execute vengeance on bloody cities and kingdoms. Babylon is a mighty city, and the kingdom is over-match to any kingdom, and perhaps it may be thought none can give Babylon blood to drink, or kindle a fire in her, that shall consume her. <\/P> Is it not of the Lord of hosts?<\/B> though men cannot, the Lord of hosts can; and is not this vengeance his? will not he repay? <\/P> The people shall labour in the very fire; <\/B>either Babylonians and their confederates labour for that the fire shall consume; or the adversaries of Babylon shall be able to endure a service for God against Babylon hot as if they laboured in the fire. Either literally taken or figuratively will well consist with the text. <\/P> The people, <\/B>either Medes and Persians against Babylon, or the Chaldeans for Babylon, shall weary themselves, spend their strength and life, for very vanity; the one to preserve what shall never profit them, which they laid up in vain, the other to destroy all (though they lose their booty by destroying it) in the fire; yet all this from the Lord of hosts, justly punishing Babylon for all her cruelties. <\/P> <\/p>\n 13. is it not of the Lord ofhosts<\/B>JEHOVAH, whohas at His command all the hosts<\/I> of heaven and earth, is therighteous author of Babylon’s destruction. “Shall not God haveHis turn, when cruel rapacious men have triumphed so long, though Heseem now to be still?” [CALVIN].<\/P> people . . . labour in the .. . fire . . . weary themselves for . . . vanity<\/B>The Chaldeanslabor at what is to be food for the fire, namely, their city andfortresses which shall be burnt. Jer51:58<\/span> adopts the same phraseology to express the vanity of theChaldean’s labor on Babylon, as doomed to the flames.<\/P><\/p>\n Behold, [is it] not of the Lord of hosts<\/strong>?…. That which follows; the judgments of God upon the bloody city, which they that labour to prevent labour in vain. So the Targum,<\/p>\n “lo, strong and mighty blows or judgments come from the Lord of hosts;”<\/p>\n the mighty God, the Lord of armies, whose hand when stretched out none can turn back; he does what he pleases, and none can hinder him; when the decree is gone forth from him, it is in vain to attempt to stop it:<\/p>\n that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity<\/strong>? words of the same import, and expressed in much the same language, were used of the destruction of literal Babylon by fire, and of the vain attempts of the Chaldeans in labouring and wearying themselves to quench it, Jer 51:58<\/span> and here of mystical Babylon, and the vanity of the people of it, in labouring to support it by their wars, for recovering the holy land from the Turks, and against the Waldenses, Hussites, and Bohemians; for, notwithstanding all their successes, and the vast number of persons slain by them, yet they could never prevail so as to root out the kingdom and interest of Christ: and their city and state shall fall, and they will not be able to uphold it; and a considerable blow and shock it received at the time of the Reformation; and this great city Babylon will be destroyed by fire, which its best friends cannot prevent; even the ten kings that have given their kingdom to the beast will hate the whore, and burn her with fire; and those antichristian kings that will continue friends to her, when they see her burning, will find it in vain to attempt to help her, and will stand afar off lamenting her case, Re 17:16<\/span>. Kimchi begins here to see that this section and paragraph does not belong to Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans, but to the times of the Messiah; and interprets it of the vengeance of God that shall come upon all the nations that come along with Gog against Jerusalem in the latter day; but he is mistaken: it designs what will come on mystical Babylon; so Abarbinel owns, that, from Hab 2:12<\/span>, what is said belongs to the Roman empire, which he calls the kingdom of Edom.<\/p>\n Then he adds, Shall it not be, behold, from Jehovah of hosts? (38) Some give a wrong version, “Is not this,” as though הנה, ene, were put here instead of a pronoun demonstrative; but they extenuate and obscure the beauty of the expression; nay, they pervert the meaning of the Prophet: for when he says, הנה, ene, behold, he refers not to what he had said, nor specifies any particular thing, and yet he shows, as it were by the finger, the judgement of God, which he bids us to expect; as though he said, “Shall not God at length have his turn, when the avaricious and the cruel have obtained their triumphs in the world, and darkened the minds and thoughts of all, as though no account were to be given by them before the tribunal of God? Shall not God sometime show that it is his time to interpose?” When, therefore, he says, Shall it not be, behold, from Jehovah? it is an indefinite mode of speaking; he does not say, This or that shall be from the God of hosts; but, Shall it not be, behold, from Jehovah of hosts? that is, God seems now indeed to rest, and on this account men indulge themselves with greater boldness; but he will not always remain still, Shall not God then come forth, who seems now to be unconcerned? Something there will at length be from the God of hosts. And the demonstrative particle confirms the same thing: Behold, he says, as though he would show to the faithful as in a picture the tribunal of God, which cannot be seen by us now but by faith. He says, Behold, will not there be something from the God of hosts? that is, Will not God at length stretch forth his hand, to show that he is not unconcerned, but that he cares for the affairs of men? In a word, by this mode of speaking is pointed out to us the change, which we are to hope for, inasmuch as it cannot be soon realised. <\/p>\n Hence he concludes, The people, then, labor in the fire, and the people weary themselves in vain. To labor in the fire means the same thing as to take in hand an unprofitable work, the fruit of which is immediately consumed. Some say that people labor in the fire, because Babylon had been built by a great number of men, and at length perished by fire; but this explanation seems far-fetched. I take a simpler view—that people labor in the fire, like him who performs a work, and a fire is put under it and consumes it; or like him, who with great labor polishes his own work, and a fire is prepared, which destroys it while in the hands of the artificer. For it is certain that the Prophet repeats the same thing in another form, when he says, בדי-ריק, bedi-rik, with vanity, or for vanity. We now then apprehend his object. <\/p>\n We may here collect a useful doctrine—that not only the fruit of labor shall be lost by all who seek by wicked means to enrich themselves, but also that were the whole world favorable and subservient to them, the whole would yet be useless; as it happened to the king of Babylon, though he had many people ready to obey him. But the Prophet derides all those great preparations, for God had fire at hand to consume whatever they had so eagerly contrived who wished to spend all their labor to please one man. He at length adds— <\/p>\n (38) The construction of the first line of this verse, as given by Calvin, is stiff and unnatural. There is no doubt but that [ הנה ] is a pronoun in the plural number, and so it has been taken by the Septuagint, ταυτα, these things, and such is the rendering of the Syriac and Arabic versions. No improvement, perhaps, can be made on Newcome’s rendering of this verse,— <\/p>\n Are not these things from Jehovah God of hosts, That people should labor for the fire, And nations should weary themselves for a vain thing? <\/p>\n The intimation is, that all the buildings erected by blood and prepared by iniquity, were destined for the fire. “For the fire,” [ בדי אש ], literally is, for the supply of fire, as Parkhurst renders the phrase: then it is, for the supply of emptiness or vacuity, [ ברי ריק ]. <\/p>\n The last two lines, with some variety, are found in Jer 51:58<\/span>, and applied to Babylon. In Jeremiah, “for a vain thing,” is in the first line, and “for the fire” is in the second. Jeremiah puts the less evil first, and the greatest last; but Habakkuk’s usual manner is the reverse, which has been before noticed, and we find an instance in the preceding verse, where he mentions “blood” first, and in the next line, “iniquity.” <\/p>\n That the destination of Babylon for the fire is here meant, seems evident from the following verse. See Jer 51:25<\/span>.— Ed. <\/p>\n (13) In the very fire . . . for very vanity.<\/strong> The preposition is the same in both clauses, and means for an equivalent in. The sense is sufficiently conveyed if we render labour only for the fire<\/em> . . . weary themselves all for nothing.<\/em> The same expressions occur in Jeremiahs denunciation of Babylon (Jer. 51:58<\/span>). Both prophets predict that Jehovah shall render all this compulsory service fruitless. Jeremiah adds the explanatory clauses, the broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire.<\/p>\n 13<\/strong>. <\/strong> Jehovah has decreed the destruction. <\/p>\n Behold, is it not of Jehovah <\/strong> Is it not purposed by Jehovah? For Jehovah of hosts <\/em> see on Hos 12:5<\/span>. <\/p>\n The people the people <\/strong> Better, R.V., “the peoples the nations”; that is, the nations subdued by the Chaldeans. <\/p>\n Labor in the very fire <\/strong> R.V., “for the fire”; literally, for the need of the fire. <\/em> Jehovah has purposed to give all the works of their hands a prey to the flames. <\/p>\n For very vanity <\/strong> In vain. The judgment of Jehovah will bring all they have done to naught. Judgment upon Babylon is announced in similar terms in Jer 51:58<\/span>, but it is not certain that there is a direct literary dependence of the one passage upon the other. Nowack, followed by Marti, thinks that the words are a free reproduction of Jer 51:58<\/span>, and he renders the first sentence, “Behold, is not of Jehovah of hosts the word”; which he understands as an introduction to the quotation. If this passage is dependent upon Jer 51:58<\/span>, Nowack is right in considering it a later addition, but there is insufficient evidence for Nowack’s contention.<\/p>\n Hab 2:13<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Behold, is it not, <\/em><\/strong>&c.<\/strong> For certainly this is from the Lord of Hosts, that the people shall take pains for the fire, and the nations shall weary themselves, <\/em>&c. Houbigant. <\/p>\n Hab 2:13 Behold, [is it] not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?<\/p>\n Ver. 13. Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labour in the fire<\/strong> ] Labour in vain to quench the fire, wherewith Babylon shall be burnt, Jer 51:58<\/span> . Or have laboured to no purpose in building that city and enlarging that empire, which now God will have down. Is it not evident, that they have lost oleum et operam,<\/em> oil and work, yea, hazarded their own lives, as those do that strive against a flame. What profit hath he that laboureth for the wind, Ecc 5:16<\/span> , much less he that laboureth in the fire, that devouring element, see Isa 33:14<\/span> . Possibly he may be saved himself, yet so as by fire, but his work shall be burnt, that loss he shall suffer, 1Co 3:15<\/span> . As they that seek after the philosopher’s stone labour in the very fire to as little purpose as may be; for they must use so much gold, and spend so much gold, and then perhaps they can turn as much into gold by it as they have spent in making of it. Hence one calls alchemy a multiplying of something by nothing; another an Omne, Aliquid, Nihil<\/em> all things, some things, nothing, another, an art without art, never taught by Moses and Miriam, as some have doted, and delivered, that this was a piece of their Egyptian learning. But it is certain that those holy souls never either learned or taught any such laborious loss of time and money. Demetrius Phalereus complaineth of these alchemists long gone not without indignation, quod certis consumptis incertorum gratis, quae se capturos sperabant, non ceperunt, quod vero habebant abiecerint,<\/em> that they cast away certainties for uncertainties, that they attained not what they hoped for, but cast away what they had (Athenaeus). Julius Scaliger also, Fornaculas istas odi,<\/em> saith he, odio plus quam Vatiniano. Sunt enim noctuae ad aucupia crumenarum.<\/em> I cannot abide those furnaces; indeed, they are pick purses, &c.; know there is a true alchemy called by some the Spagirick art, being in great use in medicine. This I condemn not, so it be warily and wisely dealt in. But this by the way only. It seemed to some an impossible thing that Babylon should so suddenly be destroyed as was foretold, Hab 2:7<\/span> . It will be done certo, cito, penitus,<\/em> suddenly, surely, severely, saith the prophet, for the Lord of hosts hath undertaken the doing of it. Annon ecce a Domino exercituum<\/em> (so the Hebrews hath it by an emphatic aposiopesis a<\/em> device)? Is it not, look you, of the Lord of hosts? The people shall labour in the very fire. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The nations also shall weary themselves for very vanity<\/strong> ] viz. In seeking to save Babylon, which by a Divine decree is to be destroyed without remedy, Psa 137:8<\/span> . So is Rome, that other Babylon, Rev 18:2<\/span> , cito itidem casura, si vos essetis viri,<\/em> said Petrarch long since (De rein. ut. fort. dial. 118). It would soon be down would you but stand up as men. Neither shall the Jesuits (that ultimus diaboli crepitus<\/em> ) be able to uphold it; there is a cold sweat upon all the limbs of antichrist already. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n a<\/em> A rhetorical artifice, in which the speaker comes to a sudden halt, as if unable or unwilling to proceed. D<\/p>\n the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah.(with ‘eth) = Jehovah of Hosts Himself. App-4. See note on 1Sa 1:3. <\/p>\n is it not Or, it is not of the LORD, etc., i.e. though permitted in His providence, not His plan. Cf. Mic 4:2-4. <\/p>\n is it: Gen 11:6-9, 2Sa 15:31, Job 5:13, Job 5:14, Psa 39:6, Psa 127:1, Psa 127:2, Pro 21:30, Isa 41:5-8, Isa 50:11, Isa 55:2, Jer 51:58, Jer 51:64, Mal 1:4 <\/p>\n for very vanity: or, in vain <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Lev 26:20 – your strength Job 28:3 – searcheth Job 39:16 – her labour Pro 16:27 – diggeth Ecc 1:3 – profit Ecc 2:11 – behold Ecc 5:11 – what Isa 44:12 – he is Isa 47:13 – wearied Isa 57:10 – wearied Jer 9:5 – weary Jer 12:13 – put Eze 24:12 – wearied Hab 2:6 – ladeth Joh 6:27 – the meat 1Th 2:1 – in vain Jam 1:13 – no man<\/p>\n Hab 2:13. The Lord has decreed that all who pursue such wicked courses for gain shall find themselves laboring in vain. Their own practices wlll turn out to be as a fire about them that will destroy all their evil labors.<\/p>\n 2:13 Behold, [is it] not from the {k} LORD of hosts that the people shall labour [only] for fire, and the nations shall weary themselves for nothing?<\/p>\n (k) Meaning, that God will not defer his vengeance long, but will come and destroy all their labours, as though they were consumed with fire.<\/p>\n This verse is the center of this taunt song structurally. It is significant that it focuses on almighty Yahweh, the Judge. His assessment was that the Babylonians’ hard work was in vain; all their labor would amount to nothing. Their works would turn out to be fuel for fire that would burn them up, the fire of His judgment (cf. Jer 51:58).<\/p>\n Behold, [is it] not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? 13. people in the very fire ] peoples shall labour for the fire. Those great cities of the heathen world on which the peoples labour are destined to … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Habakkuk 2:13”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22772\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"