5
said, "Write [the] vision and make it plain
19
upon the tablets,
20
in order that the
one who reads it may run. 3 For yet there is a vision for the appointed time, and it
hurries
21
toward the end, and it will not prove false. If it should seem to be
delayed,
22
wait for it. For it will indeed come to pass. It will not fail.
23
4 Pay
attention!
24
It is puffed up,
25
his inner being
26
does not go straight in it.
27
But, as
parallelism with the preceding line, and believe that the text of MT makes perfect sense in its
view that God would respond with gentle but firm reproof to help the prophet make sense of His
divine purposes in bringing punishment by means of the Chaldeans.
19
The word is Piel impv 2MS plus a simple waw. The root b'r is only found two other times in
the OT, both in Deuteronomy (1:5; 27:8).
20
The word is used of the stone tablets on which YHWH wrote the "Ten Words." It is also used
of wooden planks (e.g. in tabernacle and temple), and as a writing surface in Isa. 30:8.
21
This translation assumes the traditional parsing of the Hebrew word as a Hiphil form from a
verbal root pwch. Dennis Pardee, "YPH "Witness" in Hebrew and Ugaritic," Vetus Testamentum
28 (1978):204-213, argues that the word is a verbal noun, "witness," and that the line should be
translated "a witness for the end." This possible aletrnate translation does not effect the argument
of this paper in any way.
22
The verb used in MT is yitmahmah, a rare verb that parses as hithpalpel impf 3MS. A literal
rendering would be "if it delays." However, in the light of the subsequent divine assurance that
the vision would indeed come to pass, it appears valid to nuance the translation to clarify that any
delay would only be apparent.
23
Lit. "it will not delay." However, in view of the discussion in the preceding footnote, the
statement must be understood as referring to delay resulting in non-occurrence.
24
The MT reads hinneh. The word serves to call attention to something that is important.
25
The MT reads uppelah, which is parsed as a Pual perfect 3FS from the root 'pl. A decision
about the meaning of this word is difficult due to its infrequent use in the OT and the existence
of two different roots, 'pl I, presumed meaning "to swell," and 'pl II, presumed meaning "to be
heedless." Both roots occur only once in the OT, and therefore their meaning is very uncertain.
In this paper, due to time constraints, an attempt will be made to understand the text of MT as it
stands without discussing the many suggestions for possible emendations to the text and the
resulting possibilities for alternate meanings.
26
The word is nephesh, here used to speak of the inner core of the human personality.
27
A major question relates to the antecedent of this pronoun. Is it the vision (hinted at in the
translation above), or the person whose nephesh is puffed up. The latter would require a
translation "is not right in him." The only verbal use of yashar in the OT that is analogous to the
use in Habakkuk, I Sam. 6:12, argues for the translation suggested in the text above. It seems to
express that a certain type of person does not live his life by making God's vision the basis on
which he approaches life.