THE POEM OF HABAKKUK ARRAIGNING THE JUSTICE OF YAHWEH (Ch. i, 2-4, 12a, 13; ii, 1-4; i, 5-12b, 14-17; ii, 5b-13, 15-17, 19, 18, 20) How long, O Yahweh, shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear? Why are rapine and violence before us, Therefore law is perverted and right judgment For the wicked beset the righteous, And wrong judgment is wrested from them. Art Thou not from everlasting, O Yahweh, With eyes too pure to behold evil, And art silent when the wicked devoureth I will stand upon the watch, I will set me on my tower And what I shall answer unto His reproof. Then did Yahweh answer me and say: That a man may read it readily when running swiftly. It declareth the end; it will not lie. Though it tarry, wait thou for it, Because it will surely come; it cannot delay. Behold, the haughty of soul hath no uprightness in him; Shall live because of his faith. Look around you among the nations, observe and ponder For I will work a work in your days Which ye will not believe for the telling. For behold, I am raising the Chaldæans Against that bitter, impetuous nation That marcheth throughout the earth to possess Terrible, dreadful are they,-a law unto themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, More fierce than wolves of the desert. Their horsemen spread them abroad, yea, they come from far; They fly like vultures hastening to devour. All of them come to do violence, Their faces sup up the east wind. They gather up captives as the sand, And they do scoff at kings. To them princes are a derision, strongholds they deride. Thou, O Yahweh, hast ordained them for judgment; As worms that have no ruler. They take them all up with their hook, They catch them in their net, They gather them in with their drag-net. Therefore they rejoice and are glad, They sacrifice unto their net, And burn incense unto their drag-net. For through these their portion is fat, their meat plenteous. Woe to that proud and treacherous one Who gathereth unto himself all nations, And heapeth unto himself all peoples. Shall not all these take up a proverb against him? Woe to him that heapeth up what is not his, That loadeth himself with many pledges! Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all they, Woe to him that covereth evil gains for his house, And be secured from the power of evil! For the stone shall cry out of the wall, Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, So that the people labor even in the fire Thou shalt be filled with shame instead of glory; For the violence done to Lebanon shall be on thee, For the violence done to the land, To the city and to all that dwell therein. Woe unto him that saith unto the wood: Awake! To the dumb stone: Arise! What profiteth it the graven image That the maker thereof hath graven it? Even the molten image, and the teacher of lies? Doth the maker of his work trust therein That maketh dumb idols? Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and with silver Let all the earth keep silence before Him.1 1 The superb ode that follows in (Ch. iii, A. V.), known as the "Prayer of Habakkuk." belongs to a different age and different circumstances. It will be found in Part II in the Appendix to the Psalms. TWO POEMS UPON THE MISSION OF ISRAEL [Yahweh speaks] THE SERVANT OF YAHWEH (Isaiah xlii, 1-4; xlix, 1-6) Behold My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, I have put My spirit upon him. He will set forth the Law to the Nations. He will not cry aloud nor roar as a lion, A dim-burning wick will he not quench; He will not burn dimly, nor be crushed in spirit [The Servant speaks] Hearken, ye far countries to me, and listen, Ye distant peoples! Yahweh hath called me from the womb From my mother's lap hath He honored my name. In the shadow of His hand He hid me; He made me a polished shaft, in His quiver He stored me. He said to me: Thou art My Servant in whom I will glorify Me. I was honored in the sight of Yahweh; my God became my strength. But I, I said: I have labored in vain; For naught and vanity have I spent my strength. And my recompense with my God. And now saith Yahweh, He who from the womb To bring back Jacob to life, to assemble Israel together: IT IS TOO LIGHT A THING THAT THOU SHOUDST RAISE UP AND RESTORE THE PRESERVED OF ISRAEL; THEREFORE I SET THEE TO BE A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS, THAT MY DELIVERANCE MAY BE TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. 1 The unknown author of these two poems sees in the experiences of his nation a Divine preparation for a world-wide spiritual leadership. He may or may not be the great prophet of the "New Covenant" (Jer. xxxi, 31-34) which proclaims the essence of religion for the individual; but the same lofty idealism informs his view of permanent international relations. He is inspired by the same joy of unexpected return to Zion; possibly by recognition of the thinness of the veil that separates his faith from that of his new beneficent masters. The other two poems usually grouped with these (Is. 1, 4-9 and lii, 13-liii, 12) show a very different background, and are now attributed to an author of the time of Artaxerxes III (B.C. 389-338), when the Jews were again subjected to very grievous persecution. |