Habakkuk 2:19

Habakkuk 2:19 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’ Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, Yet in it there is no breath at all.

Context of Habakkuk 2:19

17You have done cruel things to the people in Lebanon. You destroyed their animals. The Lord will punish you for the things that you have done, and you will be very afraid. You have murdered people. You have destroyed the land and the towns and the people who live in them. 18What value does an idol have? What help can it give? Somebody has made it as the image of a false god. It can only tell false messages. Why should its maker trust it for help? He has used wood or metal to make it and it cannot speak! It will be very bad for anyone who says to a piece of wood, “Wake up!” It will be bad for anyone who says to a stone that cannot speak, “Get up and help me!” It cannot teach you! It has gold or silver to make it look nice, but it is not alive. 20But the Lord rules from his holy temple. Everybody on the earth should be quiet in front of him.’

Habakkuk 2:19 word by word

ה֣וֹי אֹמֵ֤ר לָעֵץ֙ הָקִ֔יצָה ע֖וּרִי לְאֶ֣בֶן דּוּמָ֑ם ה֣וּא יוֹרֶ֔ה הִנֵּה־ה֗וּא תָּפוּשׂ֙ זָהָ֣ב וָכֶ֔סֶף וְכָל־ר֖וּחַ אֵ֥ין בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Woeהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
• unto him that saithאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• to the woodעֵץ‛êts · tree: woodH6086
• Awakeקִיץqûts · to awakeH6974
• to the dumbדּוּמָםdûmâm · silenceH1748
• stoneאֶ֫בֶן'eben · stoneH68
• Ariseעוּר‛ûr · to rouseH5782
• it shall teachיָרָהyârâh yârâ' · to showH3384
• laidתָּפַשׂtâphaώ · to captureH8610
• over with goldזָהָבzâhâb · goldH2091
• and silverכֶּ֫סֶףkeseph · silver: moneyH3701
• no breathרוּחַrûach · spirit: breathH7307
• at all in the midstקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130

Cross-references for Habakkuk 2:19

• 1 Kings 18:26So Baal's prophets took a bull as Elijah had told them. They prepared it and they put it on the altar that they had made. Then they prayed to Baal all the time, from morning until noon. They shouted, ‘Baal, answer us!’ But there was no voice that answered them. They jumped and they danced around the altar.
• Psalms 97:7Everyone who worships idols should be ashamed. They should not boast about useless idols! All gods like that will fall down in front of the Lord.
• Isaiah 44:17He uses the rest of the wood to make an idol to be his god. He bends down in front of it and he worships it. He prays to it and he says, ‘Save me, because you are my god!’
• Jeremiah 51:47So the time will soon come when I will punish Babylon's idols. The whole country will become ashamed. Its people will die and their dead bodies will lie everywhere.
• Daniel 3:7So, when all the people heard the different kinds of music, they obeyed. The people from every country and nation, who spoke different languages all bent down low. They worshipped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had built.
• Daniel 5:23You thought that you were greater than the Lord of heaven. So you told your servants to bring the valuable cups that belong to God's temple. You yourself, your wives, your other women and your important friends drank wine from those cups. You praised your gods that were made from silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood and stone. Those are idols that cannot see or hear. They cannot understand anything. But you worshipped them instead of the true God. He is the God who gives life to you. He has power over everything that you do.
• Jonah 1:5The sailors were very frightened. Each of them called out to his own god for help. They threw into the sea all the things that the ship carried. They wanted to make the ship as light as they could. Jonah had gone down into the bottom of the ship. He was lying down and he was asleep.
• Isaiah 40:19A worker may use special skill to make an idol. Another worker may cover it with gold. He may use silver chains to make it beautiful.
• Isaiah 46:6Some people make idols for themselves. They pour out gold coins from their purse. They weigh silver on their scales. They pay a worker with special skill to use the silver and the gold to make a god. Then they bend down low in front of it, and they worship it!
• Jeremiah 10:4He covers it with silver and gold to make it look beautiful. He uses nails to fix it together so that it will not fall down.
• Daniel 3:1King Nebuchadnezzar caused his workers to make a gold statue. It was 30 metres high and 3 metres wide. He built it on the flat land called Dura, in the Babylon region.
• Acts 17:29So, because we are God's children, we should not think that he is a thing like an idol. Clever people use gold or silver or stone to make images of gods. But God is not like these things that people choose to make for themselves.
• Revelation 17:4The woman was wearing clothes that were made from expensive cloth. She also wore bright things that made her look beautiful. She shone with gold, valuable stones and pearls. She held a gold cup in her hand. The cup was full of the bad and disgusting things that she had caused people to do.
• Psalms 135:17They have ears, but they cannot hear! They cannot even breathe!

Commentaries on Habakkuk 2:19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19Wo 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.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19But then the greater is the “Woe” to him who deceiveth by them. The prophet passes away from the idols as “nothings” and pronounces “woe” on those who deceive by them. He. first expostulates with them on their folly, and would awaken them. “What hath it profited?” (As in Psalm 115:5; 1 Corinthians 12:2) Then on the obstinate he denounces “woe.” “Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise.” Self-made blindness alone could, in the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-20Verses 15-20 A severe woe is pronounced against drunkenness; it is very fearful against all who are guilty of drunkenness at any time, and in any place, from the stately palace to the paltry ale-house. To give one drink who is in want, who is thirsty and poor, or a weary traveller, or ready to perish, is charity; but to give a neighbour drink, that he may expose himself, may disclose secret concerns, or be drawn into a bad bargain, or for any such…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-20In the fifth taunt song, the Babylonians face criticism for worshiping idols. Whether people carve or cast idols, they cannot save or teach their worshipers (Isaiah 42:17). Only the Lord truly deserves worship (Habakkuk 2:20; Exodus 20:2–6; compare Ecclesiastes 5:1–2).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1919. Awake--Arise to my help. it shall teach!--rather, An exclamation of the prophet, implying an ironical question to which a negative answer must be given. What! "It teach?" Certainly not [Maurer]. Or, "It (the idol itself) shall (that is, ought to) teach you that it is deaf, and therefore no God" [Calvin]. Compare "they are their own witnesses" (Is 44:9). Behold--The Hebrew is nominative, "There it is" [Henderson]. it is laid over with gold ... no…Read the comment

Topics related to Habakkuk 2:19

• Carving
• Idolatry

In the dictionaries

• Blood
• Consult
• Put
• Teach
• Weary
• Wood
• Dumb
• Habakkuk
• Jehoiachin
• Stone, Stones

Commentaries on Habakkuk 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings