Habakuk 2:17

2:17 For you will pay in full for your violent acts against Lebanon; ¹ 

terrifying judgment will come upon you because of the way you destroyed the wild animals living there. ² 

You have shed human blood

and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.

Habakuk 3:2

3:2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; ³ 

I am awed, ⁴  Lord, by what you accomplished. ⁵ 

In our time ⁶  repeat those deeds; ⁷ 

in our time reveal them again. ⁸ 

But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy! ⁹ 

[2:17]  ¹ tn Heb “for the violence against Lebanon will cover you.”

[2:17]  ² tc The Hebrew appears to read literally, “and the violence against the animals [which] he terrified.” The verb form יְחִיתַן (yÿkhitan) appears to be a Hiphil imperfect third masculine singular with third feminine plural suffix (the antecedent being the animals) from חָתַת (khatat, “be terrified”). The translation above follows the LXX and assumes a reading יְחִתֶּךָ (yÿkhittekha, “[the violence against the animals] will terrify you”; cf. NRSV “the destruction of the animals will terrify you”; NIV “and your destruction of animals will terrify you”). In this case the verb is a Hiphil imperfect third masculine singular with second masculine singular suffix (the antecedent being Babylon). This provides better symmetry with the preceding line, where Babylon’s violence is the subject of the verb “cover.”

[2:17]  sn The language may anticipate Nebuchadnezzar’s utilization of trees from the Lebanon forest in building projects. Lebanon and its animals probably represent the western Palestinian states conquered by the Babylonians.

[3:2]  ³ tn Heb “your report,” that is, “the report concerning you.”

[3:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “I fear.” Some prefer to read, “I saw, Lord, what you accomplished” (cf. NEB).

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “your work.”

[3:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the midst of years.” The meaning of the phrase, which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain (cf. NIV “in our day”; NEB, NASB “in the midst of the years”).

[3:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “revive it” (i.e., “your work”).

[3:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “make known.” The implied object is “your deeds”; the pronoun “them,” referring to “deeds” in the previous line, was employed in the translation to avoid redundancy. The suffix on the form חַיֵּיהוּ (khayyehu, “revive it”) does double duty in the parallelism.

[3:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “in turmoil remember [to show] compassion.”