Mazmur 115:4-8

115:4 Their ¹  idols are made of silver and gold –

they are man-made. ² 

115:5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,

eyes, but cannot see,

115:6 ears, but cannot hear,

noses, but cannot smell,

115:7 hands, but cannot touch,

feet, but cannot walk.

They cannot even clear their throats. ³ 

115:8 Those who make them will end up ⁴  like them,

as will everyone who trusts in them.

Habakuk 2:19

2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead ⁵  –

he who says ⁶  to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’

Can it give reliable guidance? ⁷ 

It is overlaid with gold and silver;

it has no life’s breath inside it.

Habakuk 1:1

Habakkuk Complains to the Lord

1:1 The following is the message ⁸  which God revealed to Habakkuk the prophet: ⁹ 

[115:4]  ¹ tn The referent of the pronominal suffix is “the nations” (v. 2).

[115:4]  ² tn Heb “the work of the hands of man.”

[115:7]  ³ tn Heb “they cannot mutter in their throats.” Verse 5a refers to speaking, v. 7c to inarticulate sounds made in the throat (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 3:140-41).

[115:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “will be.” Another option is to take the prefixed verbal form as a prayer, “may those who make them end up like them.”

[115:8]  sn Because the idols are lifeless, they cannot help their worshipers in times of crisis. Consequently the worshipers end up as dead as the gods in which they trust.

[2:19]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.

[2:19]  ⁷ 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).

[1:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “The burden” (so KJV, ASV). The Hebrew term מַשָּׂא (masa’), usually translated “oracle” (NAB, NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “utterance” (BDB 672 s.v. III מַשָּׂא), in prophetic literature is a technical term introducing a message from the Lord (see Zech 9:1; 12:1; Mal 1:1). Since it derives from a verb meaning “to carry,” its original nuance was that of a burdensome message, that is, one with ominous content.

[1:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “The message [traditionally, “burden”] which Habakkuk the prophet saw.”