Habakkuk 1:4-Habakkuk’s Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Complaints to the Lord in Prayer

Wenstrom Bible Ministries

Habakkuk 1:1 The following is the message which God revealed to Habakkuk the prophet: 1:2 How long, Lord, must I cry for help? But you do not listen! I call out to you, “Violence!” But you do not intervene! 1:3 Why do you force me to witness injustice? Why do you put up with wrongdoing? Destruction and violence confront me; conflict is present and one must endure strife. 1:4 For this reason the law lacks power, and justice is never carried out. Indeed, the wicked intimidate the innocent. For this reason justice is perverted. (NET)

Habakkuk 1:4 contains four declarations from the prophet Habakkuk under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

The first asserts that the Mosaic Law exists in the state of being impotent while the second asserts that justice is perpetually never existing in the state of being executed.

The third asserts that the wicked repeatedly cause the righteous to enter the state of being intimidated and the fourth and final declaration asserts that justice is repeatedly caused to enter the state of being perverted.

Now, the first declaration, which asserts that the Mosaic Law existed in the state of being impotent presents the result of the previous questions and complaints presented in Habakkuk 1:2-3.

Therefore, a comparison of Habakkuk 1:2-3 with Habakkuk 1:4 indicates that the Mosaic Law is impotent or lacking power as a result of the wicked, destructive acts of violence committed by the citizens of the southern kingdom of Judah.

“The Law” (tô·rā(h)) is referring to the 365 prohibitions and 248 commands which appear in the Mosaic Law.

It was impotent in the sense that it was failing to regulate the conduct of the citizens of the southern kingdom of Judah in that it was unable to cause them to obey the Law and thus unable to cause them to live godly lives.

Thus, the fault is not with the Law but with the citizens of Judah who if they obeyed the Law would empower them to live godly lives.

Now, the second declaration in Habakkuk 1:4 asserts that justice is perpetually never existing in the state of being executed and presents the result of the previous assertion that the Law existed in the state of being impotent.

Therefore, a comparison of the first and second declaration in Habakkuk 1:4 indicates that justice was perpetually never existing in the state of being executed in the southern kingdom of Judah as a result of the Law existing in the state of being impotent.

“Justice” (mišpāṭ) pertains to a state or condition of fairness towards people and speaks of the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments and denotes being impartial and fair as a judge.

The word pertains to judgment involved in the determination of rights and the assignment of rewards and punishments.

Therefore, this second declaration is asserting that justice was never executed in Judah in the sense that either judges failed to render decisions in accordance with what the Law requires or judges issued decisions which are in accordance with the Law but which decisions were never carried out.

Consequently, the justice required by the Law was never being executed or carried out so as to hold accountable those citizens of the kingdom of Judah who refused to observe what the Law requires of them and their behavior.

“Perpetually” is the noun nē·ṣǎḥ means “perpetuity” since the word pertains to the quality or state of being perpetual and speaks of an indeterminate and unending time going on into the future.

It is the object of the preposition lĕ which functions as a temporal marker pertaining to the length of time something does or doesn’t take place.

Therefore, this prepositional phrase indicates that justice was never carried out in the kingdom of Judah “in perpetuity” or “perpetually” or in other words, Judah’s society existed perpetually in the state of being lawless.

The third declaration which appears in Habakkuk 1:4 asserts that the wicked repeatedly caused the righteous to enter the state of being intimidated and presents the reason for the previous assertion that justice in the kingdom of Judah perpetually never existed in the state of being carried out.

Therefore, the causal interpretation of this word would be expressing the idea that justice in the kingdom of Judah perpetually never executed “because” the wicked intimidated the righteous.

In this third declaration, the adjective rā·šāʿ pertains to a group of people who are characterized by wicked behavior and character and speaks of being evil with emphasis on the guilt of violating a standard.

Here it is used with regards to unrepentant, disobedient, idolatrous Jews living in Judah and the city of Jerusalem and describes these Jews as wicked or evil in the sense that they are disobedient to God’s law which reflects His holy standards.

Specifically it describes these Jews as wicked or evil in the sense that they are disobedient to the first and second commandments of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-4).

The actions of these wicked individuals are described by the verb kā·ṯǎr which literally means “to surround, to encompass, to gather around” and is used in a negative hostile sense.

It pertains to encircling someone or extending on all sides of them simultaneously in order to intimidate them and conveys the idea of hemming in somebody for the purpose of intimidating them.

“The righteous” (ṣaddîq) pertains to a person who is characterized by righteous words and actions, which are the result of obeying the command to love your neighbor as yourself.

It speaks of the fact that they are fulfilling their obligation to their fellow human being required by the Law, which is that they love their fellow human being as they would themselves.

The participle conjugation of this verb is expressing the idea that the wicked repeatedly caused the righteous in Judah to enter into the state of being intimidated.

Lastly, the fourth and final declaration asserts that justice is repeatedly caused to enter the state of being perverted and presents the result of the previous statement, which asserts that the wicked were repeatedly causing the righteous in the kingdom of Judah to enter the state of being intimidated.

Therefore, a comparison of the third and fourth declarations indicates that justice was repeatedly caused to enter the state of being perverted in the kingdom of Judah as a direct result of the wicked repeatedly causing the righteous to enter into the state of being intimidated.

“Is repeatedly perverted” is the participle conjugation of the verb ʿā·qǎl which pertains to being changed for the worse in inherent purpose or function and speaks of that which is false by virtue of being morally twisted or crooked in contrast to a normal condition and pertains to diverting to a wrong end or purpose.

Therefore, this verb is asserting that justice was being perverted in the kingdom of Judah as a result of the wicked repeatedly causing the righteous to enter into the state of being intimidated in the sense that the wicked were using the Law for their own purpose.

The participle conjugation of this verb is functioning as repeated or continuous predicate which is expressing the idea that justice was repeatedly being perverted by the wicked intimidating the righteous.

The reason why justice was perpetually never executed in the kingdom of Judah in Habakkuk’s day and why it was repeatedly perverted was the civil or political and religious leaders of the nation who were responsible for upholding the Law.

However, the citizens of the nation were also responsible because they did not obey the commands and prohibitions of the Mosaic Law, which were designed to govern their conduct.