New Living Translation
Habakkuk 2:19
19What sorrow awaits you who say to wooden idols, ‘Wake up and save us!’ To speechless stone images you say, ‘Rise up and teach us!’ Can an idol tell you what to do? They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside.
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 cut down the forests of Lebanon. Now you will be cut down. You destroyed the wild animals, so now their terror will be yours. You committed murder throughout the countryside and filled the towns with violence. 18“What good is an idol carved by man, or a cast image that deceives you? How foolish to trust in your own creation— a god that can’t even talk! What sorrow awaits you who say to wooden idols, ‘Wake up and save us!’ To speechless stone images you say, ‘Rise up and teach us!’ Can an idol tell you what to do? They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside. 20But the Lord is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.”
Read all of Habakkuk 2Habakkuk 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 they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.
- Psalms 97:7Those who worship idols are disgraced— all who brag about their worthless gods— for every god must bow to him.
- Isaiah 44:17Then he takes what’s left and makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down in front of it, worshiping and praying to it. “Rescue me!” he says. “You are my god!”
- Jeremiah 51:47For the time is surely coming when I will punish this great city and all her idols. Her whole land will be disgraced, and her dead will lie in the streets.
- Daniel 3:7So at the sound of the musical instruments, all the people, whatever their race or nation or language, bowed to the ground and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
- Daniel 5:23For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!
- Jonah 1:5Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.
- Isaiah 40:19Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?
- Isaiah 46:6Some people pour out their silver and gold and hire a craftsman to make a god from it. Then they bow down and worship it!
- Jeremiah 10:4They decorate it with gold and silver and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails so it won’t fall over.
- Daniel 3:1King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
- Acts 17:29And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
- Revelation 17:4The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls. In her hand she held a gold goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality.
- Psalms 135:17They have ears but cannot hear, and mouths but cannot 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
In the dictionaries
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
New Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
Commentaries