Habakuk 2:9
Konteks2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. 1
He does this so he can build his nest way up high
and escape the clutches of disaster. 2
Habakuk 2:19
Konteks2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead 3 –
he who says 4 to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’
Can it give reliable guidance? 5
It is overlaid with gold and silver;
it has no life’s breath inside it.
[2:9] 1 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:9] 2 tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”
[2:9] sn Here the Babylonians are compared to a bird, perhaps an eagle, that builds its nest in an inaccessible high place where predators cannot reach it.
[2:19] 3 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who says.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:19] 4 tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.
[2:19] 5 tn Though the Hebrew text has no formal interrogative marker here, the context indicates that the statement should be taken as a rhetorical question anticipating the answer, “Of course not!” (so also NIV, NRSV).