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LXX Habakkuk

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 2

1 I will stand upon my watch, and mount upon the rock, and watch to see what he will say by me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. 2 And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision, and that plainly on a tablet, that he that reads it may run. 3 For the vision is yet for a time, and it shall shoot forth at the end, and not in vain: though he should wait, wait for him; for he that is coming will come, and will not wait.⁠ 4 If he should draw back, my soul has no pleasure in him: but the just shall live by my faith.⁠ 5 But the arrogant man and the scorner, the boastful man, shall not finish anything; who has enlarged his desire as the grave, and like death he is never satisfied, and he will gather to himself all the nations, and will receive to himself all the peoples. 6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him? and a proverb to tell against him? and they shall say, Woe to him that multiplies to himself the possessions which are not his! how long? and who heavily loads his yoke. 7 For suddenly there shall arise up those that bite him, and they that plot against you shall awake, and you shall be a plunder to them. 8 Because you have looted many nations, all the nations that are left shall loot you, because of the blood of men, and the sins of the land and city, and of all that dwell in it. 9 Woe to him that covets an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evils. 10 You have devised shame to your house, you have utterly destroyed many nations, and your soul has sinned. 11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beetle out of the timber shall speak. 12 Woe to him that builds a city with blood, and establishes a city by unrighteousness. 13 Are not these things of the Lord Almighty? surely many people have been exhausted in the fire, and many nations have fainted. 14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord; it shall cover them as water. 15 Woe to him that gives his neighbor to drink the thick lees of wine, and intoxicates him, that he may look upon their secret parts. 16 Drink also your fill of disgrace instead of glory: shake, and quake,⁠ the cup of the right hand of the Lord has come round upon you, and dishonor has gathered upon your glory. 17 For the ungodliness of Lebanon shall cover you, and distress because of wild beasts shall dismay you, because of the blood of men, and the sins of the land and city, and of all that dwell in it. 18 What does the carved image profit, that they have carved it? one has made it a molten work, a false image; for the maker has trusted in his work, to make silent idols. 19 Woe to him that says to the wood, Awake, arise; and to the stone, Be exalted! whereas it is an image, and this is a casting of gold and silver, and there is no breath in it. 20 But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth fear before him.

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Compare Habakkuk 2:4 and LXX Habakkuk 2:4

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

Habakkuk contrasts the proud with one who lives by his own faithfulness. The Greek Septuagint translation urges people not to draw back and says the just will live by God's faith, a difference likely due to misunderstanding the Hebrew.

Passages

Habakkuk 2:4

Hebrew Bible
3 For the message is a witness to what is decreed; it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out. Even if the message is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently; for it will certainly come to pass—it will not arrive late. 4 Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, but the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness. 5 Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man! His appetite is as big as Sheol’s; like death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations; he seizes all peoples. 6 “But all these nations will someday taunt him and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: ‘Woe to the one who accumulates what does not belong to him (how long will this go on?)—he who gets rich by extortion!’
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Habakkuk

LXX Habakkuk 2:4

Septuagint
3 For the vision is yet for a time, and it shall shoot forth at the end, and not in vain: though he should wait, wait for him; for he that is coming will come, and will not wait. 4 If he should draw back, my soul has no pleasure in him: but the just shall live by my faith. 5 But the arrogant man and the scorner, the boastful man, shall not finish anything; who has enlarged his desire as the grave, and like death he is never satisfied, and he will gather to himself all the nations, and will receive to himself all the peoples. 6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him? and a proverb to tell against him? and they shall say, Woe to him that multiplies to himself the possessions which are not his! how long? and who heavily loads his yoke.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Habakkuk

References

"... The earliest known interpretation of this passage is found in the Septuagint. The interpreter or translator presents us the third and fourth verses in the following language: 'For the vision [is] for a set time, and will come forth at last and not in vain. If he tarry, wait for him, for he will surely come, and will not linger. If he shrink back, my soul has no pleasure in him; but the just shall live by my faith.' The Septuagint translator quite misconceived the true meaning of the passage and seems to have had for the basis of a part of it another Hebrew text. His idea evidently was that if the Chaldean should shrink back from carrying out God's will in invading the territory of the Jewish people, he would certainly forfeit the divine favor. In sharp contrast with him, a righteous person would save himself, would endure by being faithful to the requirements of his God. The "my faith" is probably an error for "his faith," for the real difference in the Hebrew is exceedingly small ..."
Ira Maurice Price, “The Just Shall Live By Faith: Habakkuk 2:4,” BW 35.1 (1910): 39–45.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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