---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Verse Habakkuk 2:1. I will stand upon my watch — The prophets are always represented as watchmen, watching constantly for the comfort, safety, and welfare"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/habakkuk/2"
---

Verse [Habakkuk 2:1](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/1). ***I will stand upon my watch*** — The prophets are always represented as *watchmen*, watching constantly for the comfort, safety, and welfare of the people; and watching also to receive information from the Lord: for the prophetic influence was not *always* with them, but was granted only at particular times, according to the will of God. When, in doubtful cases, they wished to know what God was about to do with the country, they retired from society and gave themselves to meditation and prayer, waiting thus upon God *to hear what he would say IN them*.
***What he will say unto me*** — בי *bi, IN me* - in my understanding and heart.
***And what I shall answer when I am reproved.*** — What I shall say to God *in behalf* of the people; and what the Lord shall command me to say *to the people*. Some translate, "And what he will answer for my conviction." Or, "what shall be answered to my pleading."

Verse [Habakkuk 2:2](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/2). ***Write the vision*** — Carefully take down all that I shall say.
***Make*****it*****plain upon tables*** — Write it in a full plain, legible hand.
***That he may run that readeth it.*** — That he who attentively peruses it may speed to save his life from the irruption of the Chaldeans, by which so many shall be cut off. The prophet does not mean that the words are to be made so plain, that a man *running by* may easily read them, and catch their meaning. This interpretation has been frequently given; and it has been incautiously applied to the whole of the Bible: "God's book is so plain, that he that runs may read;" but it is very foolish: God never intends that his words shall be understood by the *careless*. He that *reads, studies,* *meditates*, and *prays*, shall understand every portion of this sacred book that relates immediately to his own salvation. But no *trifler* can understand it. If the contents of a *play-bill* were to be read as many read the *Bible*, they would know just as much of the *one* as they do of the *other*.

Verse [Habakkuk 2:3](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/3). ***The vision*****is*****yet for an appointed time*** — The Chaldeans, who are to ruin Judea, shall *afterwards* be ruined themselves: but they must do this work *before* they receive their wages; therefore the vision is for an *appointed time*. *But at the end it shall* *speak*. When his work of devastation is done, his day of retribution shall take place.
***Though it tarry*** — Though it appear to be long, do not be impatient; *it will surely come; it will not tarry* longer than the prescribed time, and this time is not far distant. Wait for it.

Verse 4. ***Behold, his soul*****which*****is lifted up*** — Hee that presumes on his safety without any special warrant from God, is a *proud* *man*; and whatever he may profess, or think of himself, his *mind* *is not upright in him*. But he that is *just by faith shall live* - he that *believes* what God hath said relative to the Chaldeans besieging Jerusalem, shall make his escape from the place, and consequently shall *save his life*. The words in the *New Testament* are accommodated to the *salvation* which *believers in Christ* shall possess. Indeed, the just - the true Christians, who believed in Jesus Christ's words relative to the destruction of Jerusalem, when they found the Romans coming against it, left the city, and escaped to *Pella* in Coelesyria, and did *live* - their lives were saved: while the unbelieving Jews, to a man, either *perished* or were made *slaves*. One good sense is, He that believes the promises of God, and has found life through believing, shall live by his faith.

Verse 5. ***Because he transgresseth by wine*** — From the present translation, it is not easy to see either reason or meaning in the first clause of this verse. *Newcome* translates, "Moreover, as a mighty man transgresseth through wine, he is proud, and remaineth not at rest." *Houbigant* thus: "For he, though he be a despiser, and powerful, and proud, yet shall he not have rest."
Nebuchadnezzar is here represented in his usual character, *proud, haughty*, and *ambitious*; inebriated with his successes, and determined on more extensive conquests; and, like the *grave*, can never have enough: yet, after the subjugation of many peoples and nations, he shall be brought down, and become so despicable that he shall be a *proverb* of *reproach*, and be taunted and scorned by all those whom he had before enslaved.
***And cannot be satisfied*** — When he has obtained all that is within his reach, he wishes for more; and becomes miserable, because any limits are opposed to his insatiable ambition. It is said of *Alexander*: -
Unus Pellaeo juveni non sufficit orbis;
AEstuat infelix angusto limite mundi.
*Juv. Sat*. x. 168.

One world sufficed not Alexander's mind;
Coop'd up, he seem'd on earth and seas confined.

And the poet justly ridicules him, because at last the sarcophagus was found *too large* for his body!

Verse 6. ***Shall not all these take up a parable against him*** — His ambition, derangement, and the final destruction of his mighty empire by the Persians, shall form the foundation of many *sententious sayings* among the people. "He who towered so high, behold how *low* he is fallen!" "He made himself a god; behold, he herds with the *beasts* of the field!" "The disturber of the peace of the world is now a *handful of dust*!"

Verse 7. ***Shall they not rise up suddenly*** — Does not this refer to the *sudden* and *unexpected taking of Babylon by Cyrus*, whose troops entered into the city through the bed of the Euphrates, whose waters they had diverted by another channel; so that the Babylonians *knew nothing of the matter* till they *saw* the Persian soldiers *rise up as in a moment*, in the very heart of their city?

Verse 8. **For*****the violence of the land*** — Or, *for the violence* done *to the land* of Judea, *and to the city* of Jerusalem.

Verse 9. ***An evil covetousness to his house*** — Nebuchadnezzar wished to aggrandize his *family*, and make his *empire* permanent: but both *family* and *empire* were soon cut off by the death of his son Belshazzar, and the consequent destruction of the Chaldean empire.

Verse [Habakkuk 2:10](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/10). ***Hast sinned*****against*****thy soul.*** — Thy *life* is forfeited by thy crimes.

Verse [Habakkuk 2:11](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/11). ***The stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out**********of the timber shall answer it****.*] This appears to refer to the ancient mode of building walls; *two* or *three courses* of *stone*, and then *one course* of *timber*. See [1 Kings 6:36](../../../kjv/1-kings/6/36): thus was the palace of Solomon built. The splendid and costly buildings of Babylon have been universally celebrated. But how were these buildings erected? By the *spoils* of conquered nations, and the expense of the *blood* of multitudes; therefore the *stones* and the *timber* are represented as calling out for vengeance against this ruthless conqueror.

Verse [Habakkuk 2:12](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/12). ***Wo to him that buildeth a town with blood*** — At the expense of much slaughter. This is the answer of the *beam* to the *stone*. And these things will refer to the vast fortunes gained, and the buildings erected, by means of the *slave-trade*; where, to a considerate and humane mind, the *walls* appear as if composed of the *bones* of *negroes*, and *cemented* by their *blood*! But the towns or houses *established* by this *iniquity* soon come to ruin; and the fortunes made have, in most cases, become as chaff and dust before the whirlwind of God's indignation. But where are the dealers in the souls and bodies of men? Ask *him* who has them in his keeping. He can tell.

Verse [Habakkuk 2:13](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/13). ***The people shall labour in the very fire*** — All these superb buildings shall be burnt down. See the parallel passage, [Jeremiah 51:58](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/58), and the note there.
***Shall weary themselves for very vanity?*** — For the gratification of the wishes of ambition, and in buildings which shall be brought to naught.

Verse [Habakkuk 2:14](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/14). ***For the earth shall be filled*** — This is a singular and important verse. It may be *first* applied to *Babylon*. God's power and providence shall be widely displayed in the destruction of this city and empire, in the humiliation of Nebuchadnezzar, [Daniel 4:37](../../../kjv/daniel/4/37), and in the captivity and restoration of his people. See *Newcome*, and see [Isaiah 11:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/11/9).
*Secondly*. It may be applied to the *glorious days* of the *Messiah*. The *land of Judea* should by his preaching, and that of his disciples, be *filled with the knowledge of God*. God's great design fully discovered, and the scheme of salvation amply explained.
*Thirdly*. It may be applied to the *universal spread of the Gospel* over the habitable globe; when the fulness of the Gentiles should be brought in, and the Jews gathered in with that fulness. The *earth* cannot perish till every continent, island, and inhabitant, is illuminated with the light of the Gospel.

Verse [Habakkuk 2:15](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/15). ***Wo unto him that giveth his neighbour drink*** — This has been considered as applying to *Pharaoh-hophra*, king of Egypt, who enticed his neighbours Jehoiachin and Zedekiah to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar, whereby the nakedness and imbecility of the poor Jews was soon discovered; for the Chaldeans soon took Jerusalem, and carried its kings, princes, and people, into captivity.

Verse [Habakkuk 2:16](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/16). ***The cup of the Lord's right hand*** — Among the ancients, all drank out of the same cup; was passed from hand to hand, and each drank as much as he chose. The Chaldeans gave to the neighbouring nations *the cup of idolatry* and of *deceitful* *alliance*: and in return they received from the Lord the *cup of* *his fury*. So *Grotius*.

Verse [Habakkuk 2:17](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/17). ***For the violence of Lebanon*** — Or, the violence done to *Lebanon*; to *men*, to *cattle*, to *Judea*, and to *Jerusalem*. See the note on the parallel place, [Habakkuk 2:8](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/8). This may be a threatening against *Egypt*, as the former was against *Chaldea*.

Verse [Habakkuk 2:18](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/18). ***What profiteth the graven image*** — This is against idolatry in general, and every species of it, as well as against those princes, priests, and people who practice it, and encourage others to do the same. See on the parallel passages in the margin. ([Isaiah 44:9-10](../../../kjv/isaiah/44/9-10); [Isaiah 46:2](../../../kjv/isaiah/46/2))
***Dumb idols?*** — אלילים אלמים *elilim illemim*, "dumb nothings." This is exactly agreeable to St. Paul, [1 Corinthians 8:4](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/8/4), who says, "An idol is nothing in the world." What signify the idols worshipped by the Chaldeans, Tyrians, and Egyptians? They have not been able to save their worshippers.

Verse [Habakkuk 2:19](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/19). ***Wo unto him*** — How foolish and contemptible to worship a thing *formed by the hand of man* out of *wood, stone, gold*, or *silver*! The meanest *brute* is superior to them all; it *breathes* and *lives*, but they have *no breath* in them. However, they are said above to be *teachers of lies*; that is, they appeared to give out *oracles*: but these were *lies*; and were not given by the *statue,* *but by the priest*.

Verse [Habakkuk 2:20](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/20). ***The Lord*****is*****in his holy temple*** — Jehovah has his *temple*, the *place* where he is to be *worshipped*; but *there* there is no *image*. *Oracles*, however, are given forth; and every word of them is *truth*, and is fulfilled in its season. And this temple and its worship are *holy*; no *abomination* can be practiced there, and every thing in it leads to *holiness* of heart and life.
***Let all the earth keep silence before him.*** — Let all be dumb. Let none of them dare to open their mouths in the presence of Jehovah. He alone is Sovereign. He alone is the arbiter of life and death. Let all hear his commands with the deepest respect, obey them with the promptest diligence, and worship him with the most profound reverence. When an Asiatic sovereign goes to the mosque on any of the eastern festivals, such as the *Bairham*, the deepest *silence* reigns among all his retinue, viziers, foreign ambassadors, c. They all bow respectfully before him but no word is spoken, no sound uttered. It is to this species of reverence that the prophet alludes, and with this he concludes the *prophetic* part of this book. What God has threatened or promised, that he will fulfil. Let every soul bow before him, and submit to his authority.

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/habakkuk/2#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Clarke's Commentary -  Habakkuk 2"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/habakkuk/2#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/habakkuk/2","name":"Clarke's Commentary -  Habakkuk 2","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/habakkuk/2#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Verse Habakkuk 2:1. I will stand upon my watch — The prophets are always represented as watchmen, watching constantly for the comfort, safety, and welfare","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/habakkuk/2#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/habakkuk/2"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/habakkuk/2#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary","name":"Clarke's Commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/habakkuk","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/habakkuk","name":"Habakkuk"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/habakkuk/2","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/habakkuk/2","name":"2"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```