the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.

6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.

7 They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.

8 Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.

10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust,

and take it.

CHAP. I.

[the Chalde

11 Then shall his mind change, and

he shall pass over, and offend, imputag this his power unto his god.

12 Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast or dained them for judgment; and, ( mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.

13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on inquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously? and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.

17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations? (A)

Ver. 5. Behold ye among the heathen.-For St. Paul's quotation of this passage, see Acts xiii. 41. But for "the heathen" (Heb. "nations"), the LXX read as quoted by St. Paul, ye despisers," with the difference of one letter only, as suggested by Houbigant. So also the Arabic and Syriac. Wonder marvellously-that is, exceedingly. Ver. 6. Hasty-Newcome, "Swift." Ver. 7. Their judgment, &c.—that is, they depend upon their own strength and wisdom only, for which the prophet censures them, ver. 16.

Ver. 8. Fierce-Heb. "Sharp."- -Spread themselves that is, to ravage and destroy, like the modern Tartars. So Harmer. But the late Mr. Taylor, remarking that the Hebrew (Parash) is here used both for horses and horsemen (see Gesenius), applies the term in both places to the former, as being, in the first place, a technical term, implying the ground they cover; and, in the second place, to their being a foreign breed, "from afar," perhaps Egyptian. See Taylor's Expos. Index, p. 191.

Ver. 9. Their faces shall sup up.-Marg. "The supping up of their faces." So Peters, Newcome, &c. The meaning appears to us to be, that as the east-wind blasts and destroys every thing within its reach, so these Chaldeans should gather up every thing within their reach, as is said, ver. 15.-Their faces, according to the Hebrew idiom, means, their

presence; which agrees with the clause following, gather the captivity, i. e. the captives.

Ver. 10. They shall heap dust (or earth) and take it. The Chaldee explains this of raising maunds of earth, as was the practice of those times, by which they might scale and attack the walls.

Ver. 11. Then shall his (or their) mind changethat is, corrupted by their extraordinary successes, they will attribute all to themselves, or to their iden and thus becoming guilty, call down punishment of

themselves.

Ver. 12. O mighty God - Heb. "Rock." See Deut. xxxii. 4. Boothroyd, "Thou hast founded them (as) a rock for correction;" Newcome, “Þ

correct us."

Ver. 13. Canst not look-that is, with pleasure, of endurance; hence it follows, Wherefore leakest thes upon them....and holdest thy tongue - Newcome, "Art silent," &c.

Ver. 14. And makest men-that is, why dost thou suffer thy people to be taken, and swallowed up of them, as if they were fishes, &c.

Mr. Ward (the

Ver. 16. Their drag a part of their fishertackle; the meaning is, they attribute every thing to their own merits, or their idols. Missionary) says, The Hindoos annually worship the implements of their trade." View of the Hindows, vol. ii. p. 334.

Judgments on]

CHAP. II.

I WILL stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:

6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting pro= verb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not

[the Chaldeans.

his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!

7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?

8 Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be de. livered from the power of evil!

10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.

11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.

12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity!

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?

of vice and impiety among his countrymen, reproaches, as it were, the Almighty, for suffering such a state of things to prevail, and then suddenly bursts forth in a divine oracle, and threatens them with judgments, not only alarming, but incredible, to be inflicted by the agency of the Chaldeans, who should themselves be af

terwards visited for their idolatry and other sins.

The Prophet closes with an animated appeal to the Almighty against the Chaldean conquerors, as attributing to themselves all the glory of their achievements, and as themselves guilty of the very sins they were employed to correct in others.

CHAP. 11. Ver. 1. When I am reproved-that is, in case what I deliver should be disputed: but most of the ancient versions and modern critics read, "What he (the Lord) would reply to my arguing;" referring to the close of the preceding chapter. So Boothroyd; but Newcome hesitates.

Ver. 2. Upon tables-or tablets, which were commonly hung up in public places (like our placards) being written in large and bold characters.That he may run that readeth-that is, so legible that it may be read while running.

er. 3. It shall speak and not lie-that is, not deceive, but surely be fulfilled at the appointed time; but Bp. Chandler renders this by a personal pronoun, He, as the Hebrew certainly will bear; and so is the text rendered by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. x. 37, instead of "It shall speak," he reads, " He shall break forth," alluding to the breaking of the day, as the Hebrew verb is used, Cant. ii. 17; iv. 6.

Ibid. Though it tarry-Chandler, "Though he tarry, wait for him; he will not go beyond (or be

after), namely, the appointed time. The Hebrew word here used is totally distinct from that rendered tarry in the preceding member of the verse.

Ver. 4. His soul which is lifted up is not upright. -This, as a general proposition, is incontrovertible, "the Lord abhorreth the proud," Prov. xvi. 5.

Ver. 5. Yea also Newcome," Moreover;" Boothroyd, "Truly."

Ver. 9. Power of evil-Heb. "Palm of the hand," the grasp of evil.

Ver. 10. Thou hast consulted-Boothroyd, "Devised" shame.Sinned against thy soul-that is, rendered thyself guilty.

Ver. 11. For the stone.... and the beam.-The ancients used to lay beams of timber in their stone walls, to bind them. Juvenal (the Roman poet) bas a passage which well illustrates this: "Should trembling slaves not dare to squeak,

Beasts, dogs, and posts, and marble walls will
speak."
Sat. ix.

Ver. 13. Labour in the fire.-See Jer. Ji. 58.

14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their naked

ness!

16 Thou art filled with shame for glory drink thou also, and let thy nakedness be uncovered: the cup of the LORD's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful vomiting shall be on thy glory.

17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, be

CHAP. II.

[the Chaldean

cause of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath gravenit; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trasteth therein, to make dumb idols!

19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.

20 But the LORD is in his hely temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. (B)

(B) The necessity of faith and patience.A Prophet is a spiritual watchman, and one part of his duty is, to wait for divine communications. So did Isaiah (chap. xxi. 8.), and so Habakkuk in the chapter now before us. Having appealed to the divine Being in behalf of his country, he expects, and speedily receives, an answer, in a prophetic vision, which he is ordered to record. At the same time he is guarded against expecting an immediate fulfilment of the whole, by being told that the vision was for an appointed time; but he is encouraged to wait, by an assurance that it shall be punctually fulfilled whenever that time shall come.

Bp. Chandler, however, considers this as a direct prophecy of Messiah, who is elsewhere described as "He that should come" (Matt. ix. 3), and whose time of coming, both first and second, is designated "the end, the latter days," &c. (See Deut. viii, 19, 23; xii. 4, &c.) Of him also it might be justly said, "He shall break forth as the morning," and not disappoint the expectation of those who "waited for the salvation of Israel." It is therefore added, "though he tarry, wait for him, because he will surely come." He will not be behind the appointed period. But what connexion shall we trace between the passage so explained and the verse following? The inspired author of the Epistle to the Hebrews will perhaps give us a clue to this.

"

The humble believer (and there are no humbled believers) is upright and righteous before God, and by his faith, lives and triumphs; but the proud man (whose soul is lifted up), he falls back, or withdraws in the hour of trial; apostatizes, and is lost If we apply this to the particular circumstances of either Christ's first or second coming, it will harmonize with this cou nexion. Doubtless many infidels have said concerning both, "Where is the promise of his coming?" (2 Peter iii. 4.) and from the apparent delay of his incarnation, in the first instance, and in the next, from like apparent delay in his second coming, have renounced their profession, and de

nied the faith.

What relation this passage has to the fall of the Chaldeans, is not so easy to as certain. The coming of Messiah was so important a part of the Old Testament predictions, that it seems, in many cases, ab ruptly introduced, and with but a remote connexion to the subject immediately in hand. The 5th verse evidently refers to Nebuchadnezzar, who is brought in as a contrast to the humble believer in the preceding verses. The particle which intro duces this verse, is very general and inde finite; we should render it, "But truly, he that transgresseth through wine; aproud man, and one who is never quiet; whose avarice and ambition are as insatiable as death and the grave; who grasps at the possession of all countries, and at the sub

Ver. 14. The earth shall be filled, &c.-This may refer primarily to the spread of the knowledge of the true God upon Nebuchadnezzar's conversion. Dan. iv. 34-37. Compare Isa. xi. 9.

Ver. 16. Thy nakedness....vomiting.—Onrauthorized version, for nakedness, reads foreskin, and for vomiting, spewing, which terms we have not thought it necessary to retain.

Ver. 17. Violence of Lebanon, &c.-In felling its trees, in stripping it of cattle, and perhaps of wild beasts, for show, and for skins.

Ver. 18. The maker of his work — Heb. "The fashioner of his fashion," the idol maker. Ver. 20. Let all the earth, &c.-Heb. “Be silent all," &c.

The prayer]

CHAP. III.

A PRAYER of Habakkuk the prophet, upon Shigionoth.

2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.

4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand and there was the hiding of his power.

:

5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.

6 He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.

7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

[of Habakkuk.

8 Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? 9 Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.

11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitations: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.

12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.

13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

jugation of the world; shall not all the people whom he has subdued take up a parable against him, saying, Wo to him that increaseth what is not his! How long will he lade himself with thick clay?" &c, Such we take to be the general meaning of this passage, and such was the character of the Chaldean monarch, who was himself,

in his turn, to be subdued, reproached, insulted, and subjugated, partly in his own person, and partly in his immediate suc cessors. The rest of the chapter goes on with exposing the other parts of this character, as a perfect contrast to the humble and pious believer in the true God and his Messiah.

CHAP. III. Ver. 1. Shigionoth. — See Note on the title of Ps. vii. Newcome agrees with those who take this for a musical instrument of great com. pass; but we know nothing of any such instrument; and had this referred to an instrument, it would doubtless have been connected with the last verse. We are satisfied that the sense given to the term in the above note, is just; namely, that of elegy, a grave and solemn poem.

Ver. 2. O Lord, I have heard-Heb. "Hearing, I have heard (and) feared."Make known-that is, "make (thyself) known." Bp. Lowth explains

"in the midst of the years," to mean," within a fixed time;" i. e. the time predicted.

Ver.3. God came from Teman- the same able critic considers this as a sudden burst of poetic ardour, referring back to God's wonderful appearances on the behalf of Israel. See Deut. xxxiii. 1, &c. and Exposition. - Teman was in Moab, see Jer. xlix. 7; Amos i. 12; Obad. 9. —Selah-see Note on Ps. iii. 2.

Ver. 4. He had horns coming out of his hand.— The Hebrew verb signifies to shine, and the noun, "a pencil, or cone of rays, issuing from a point, and diverging into the shape of a horn." Newcome.

Comp. Dent. xxxiii. 2, 3, and Notes. . There? (in his hand, or at his right hand, Dent. xxxiii, 3.) was the hiding of his power-that is, the infinity of his power is concealed from us by the immensity of his glory.

Ver.5. And burning coals-Newcome," Flashes of fire went after him.' English readers should remember, that pit-coal (which we burn) was unknown to the Hebrews; when, therefore, we read of coals, we should understand fames, or flaming brands. Ver. 6. Scattered-Newcome," Broken;" namely, by fire and earthquake..

Ver.7. Cushan-or the Arabian Cushites.

Ver. 9. Thy bow was made quite naked, or bare.— Bows were generally kept in cases, to preserve them from the weather.

Ver. 11. Stood still.-See Josh. x. 13.-At the light, &c.-Newcome, "By their light," and "by their shining;" i. e. of the sun and moon.

Ver. 13. Unto the neck-Newcome, "The rock." Ver. 14. Strike through with his staves-Newcome, "Thou didst pierce with thy rod," &c. See Ps. ii. 9.They (the enemy) came out ́as a whirlwind to scatter me-Newcome," us."

The triumph]

14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.

15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.

16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

[of faith 17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. (C)

CHAP. III.

(C) An Ode of prayer and praise." The Prophet having seen the calamities which were to be brought on his country by the ministry of the Chaldeans, and the punishments which awaited the Chaldeans themselves, partly struck with terror, and partly revived with hope and confidence in the divine mercy, beseeches God to hasten the redemption of his people. Such a petition would naturally lead his thoughts to the astonishing deliverance which God vouchsafed to the same people of old; and the inference from it was obvious, that he could, with the same ease, deliver their posterity now. But hurried on by the fire and impetuosity of his spirit, he disdains to wait the process of connecting these ideas, and bounds at once into the midst of his subject: "God came from Teman," &c. He goes on to describe the majesty and might which God displayed in conducting his people to the land of promise; selecting the most remarkable circumstances, and clothing them in the most lofty language. As he goes along, his fancy becomes more glowing, till at length he is transported to the scene of action, and becomes an eye-witness of the wonders he describes : "I beheld the tents of Cu

shan in affliction." After having touched on the principal circumstances of that de liverance which he celebrates, be returs to what passed before them in Egypt, bis enthusiasm having led him to begin in the midst of his subject; and at last he ends the hymn as he began it, with expressing his awe of the divine judgments, and his firm trust in the mercy and goodness of God while under them; and that in termis of such singular beauty, elegance, and sublimity, as to form a very proper conclu sion to this admirable piece of divine composition. It would seem, from the title, and from the note annexed to the end, that it was set to music, and sung in the ser vice of the temple." Dr. Jn. Smith.

This last idea receives confirmation from the repeated use of the term Selak in this Ode, which marked certain pauses in the music. (See Note.) It is generally agreed that Habakkuk prophesied before the captivity, though but a short time; and it is probable that when Jehoiakim was carried off to Babylon, with all the chief people (2 Kings xxiv. 14.), the musical establishment of the Temple was broken up: this prophecy was, therefore, probably written and sung in the Temple before this period.

Ver. 19. He will make my feet like hinds' feetthat is, he will renew my strength and activity.

Ibid. To the chief singer, &c.-We have before seen, 1 Kings x. 12., that Solomon "made harps and

psalteries for singers; and from comparing these passages we may infer, that the principal singers in the temple, like the Grecian bards, accompanied them selves in singing. See Exposition of Psalm iv.