John Calvin Commentary Habakkuk 2:11-13

"For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity! Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?" — Habakkuk 2:11-13 (ASV)

The Prophet here introduces a new personification. He had previously prepared a common song, which would be on everyone's lips. He now ascribes speech to stones and wood, of which buildings are formed. The stone, he says, shall cry from the wall, and the wood from the chamber; that is, there is no part of the building that will not cry out that it was built by plunder, by cruelty, and, in a word, by evil deeds.

The Prophet not only ascribes speech to wood and stone, but he also makes them respond to one another as in a chorus, as in lyrics where voices take up the song in turns. The stone, he says, shall cry from the wall, and the wood shall respond to it from the chamber; as if he said, “There will be a striking harmony in every part of the building; for the wall will begin and will utter its song, ‘Behold I have been built by blood and by iniquity;’ and the wood will utter the same, and will cry, ‘Woe;’ but all in due order; there will be no confused noise, but as music has distinct sounds, so also the stones will respond to the wood and the wood to the stones, so that there may be, as they say, corresponding voices.”

The stone, then, from the wall shall cry, and the wood shall answer—what will it answer?—Woe to him who builds a city by blood, and who adorns his city by iniquity. By blood and by iniquity, he understands the same thing; for though the avaricious do not kill innocent men, they yet suck their blood, and what else is this but to kill them by degrees, by a slow tormenting process? For it is easier at once to undergo death than to pine away in want, as it happens to helpless men when plundered and deprived of all their property. Wherever there is wanton plundering, there is murder committed in the sight of God; for as it has been said, he who spares not the helpless, but drinks up their blood, doubtless sins no less than if he were to kill them.

But if this personification seems strange to anyone, he must consider how incredible what the Prophet here teaches seemed, and how difficult it was to produce conviction on the subject. We indeed confess that God is the judge of the world; indeed, there is no one who does not anticipate His judgment by condemning avarice and cruelty; the very name of avarice is infamous and hated by all: the same may be said of cruelty.

Yet when we see the avaricious in splendor and in esteem, we are astounded, and no one is able to foresee by faith what the Prophet here declares. Since, then, our dullness is so great, or rather our foolishness, it is no wonder that the Prophet here sets before us the stones and the wood, as if he said, “When all prophecies and all warnings lose their force, and God Himself is not believed while openly declaring what He will do, and when His servants labor in vain by warning and crying, let the stones now come forth and be teachers to you who will not listen to the voice of God Himself, and let the wood also cry out in its turn.” This, then, is the reason why the Prophet here introduces mute things as speakers, namely, to awaken our insensibility.

Then he adds, Shall it not be, behold, from Jehovah of hosts? Some give a wrong version, “Is not this,” as though הנה, ene, were put here instead of a demonstrative pronoun; but they diminish and obscure the beauty of the expression; indeed, they pervert the meaning of the Prophet. For when he says, הנה, ene, behold, he does not refer to what he had said, nor does he specify any particular thing, and yet he shows, as it were by pointing a finger, the judgment of God, which he bids us to expect; as if he said, “Shall God not at length have His turn, when the avaricious and the cruel have obtained their triumphs in the world and darkened everyone's minds and thoughts, as though no account were to be given by them before the tribunal of God? Shall God not sometime show that it is His time to interpose?”

When, therefore, he says, Shall it not be, behold, from Jehovah? it is an indefinite mode of speaking. He does not say, “This or that shall be from the God of hosts”; but, Shall it not be, behold, from Jehovah of hosts? That is, God seems now indeed to rest, and on this account men indulge themselves with greater boldness; but He will not always remain still. Shall God not then come forth, who seems now to be unconcerned? Something will at length come from the God of hosts.

And the demonstrative particle confirms the same thing. Behold, he says, as if he would show to the faithful, as in a picture, the tribunal of God, which cannot be seen by us now except by faith. He says, Behold, will not there be something from the God of hosts? That is, will God not at length stretch forth His hand to show that He is not unconcerned, but that He cares for the affairs of men? In a word, by this mode of speaking, the change we are to hope for is pointed out to us, inasmuch as it cannot be soon realized.

Hence he concludes, The people, then, labor in the fire, and the people weary themselves in vain. To labor in the fire means the same as undertaking an unprofitable work, the fruit of which is immediately consumed. Some say that people labor in the fire because Babylon had been built by a great number of men and at length perished by fire; but this explanation seems far-fetched. I take a simpler view—that people labor in the fire like one who performs a work, and a fire is put under it and consumes it; or like one who with great labor polishes his own work, and a fire is prepared, which destroys it while in the hands of the craftsman. For it is certain that the Prophet repeats the same thing in another form, when he says, בדי-ריק, bedi-rik, with vanity, or for vanity. We now therefore understand his object.

We may collect a useful doctrine here—that not only will the fruit of labor be lost by all who seek by wicked means to enrich themselves, but also that even if the whole world were favorable and subservient to them, it would all still be useless; as it happened to the king of Babylon, though he had many people ready to obey him. But the Prophet derides all those great preparations, for God had fire at hand to consume whatever those who wished to spend all their labor to please one man had so eagerly contrived. He finally adds—