Hab. 1:1.—The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
DELITZSCH.—Habakkuk delivered his prophecy about the 12Th or 13th year of Josiah, that is, about 630 or 629 B. C.—See Der Prophet Habk., Einl. § 3.
The Chaldeans
Hab. 1:6.—For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs.
DR. ADAM CLARKE.—The Chaldeans were cruel and oppressive in their disposition, and prompt and speedy in their assaults and conquests.—Note, In loco.
Hab. 1:8.—Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.
J. BONOMI, F. R. S. L.—In the sculptures of Khorsabad and Nimroud, the swiftness of the horses and the ferocity of the riders are well portrayed. The Chaldean cavalry were proverbial for swiftness, courage and cruelty. Appianus, a Greek poet of Cilicia, in the second century, in speaking of the horses bred about the Euphrates, says, " They are by nature war-horses, and so intrepid that neither the sight nor the roaring of the lion appalls them; and besides, are astonishingly fleet."—Nineveh and its Palaces, p. 283.
AUSTEN H. LAYARD, D. C. L.—No one can look at the horses of the early Assyrian sculptures without being convinced that they were drawn from the finest models. The head is small and well-shaped, the nostrils large and high, the neck arched, the body long, and the legs slender and sinewy.—Nin. and its Rems., Vol. II., p. 360.
Hab. 1:15.—They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag.
DR. JOHN KITTO, F. S. A.—There appears to be no mode of fishing now in use which was not known to and practiced by the ancients.—Note, In loco.
WILKINSON.—Angling was a favorite pursuit of the wealthy in Egypt, as well as followed by the poor who could not afford a net.—An. Egypt, Vol. III., p. 53.
Hab. 1:16.—Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat and their meat plenteous.
MEZENTIUS.—My strong Right Hand, and Sword, assert my stroke. Those only gods Mezentius will invoke.—"Æn.. X.. 773.
CAPANEUS.—Only thou, my Right Hand, be my aid; I condemn the gods, and adore thee as the chief in battle, and the irresistible deity.—Statius, in Thebaid, lib. X.
Hab. 2:5.—He enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people.
JUVENAL.—One world sufficed not Alexander's mind; Coop'd up, he seemed on earth and seas confined.—Sat., X., 168.
Hab. 2:11.—For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
JUVENAL.—O Corydon, poor, simple Corydon! Do you think aught that a rich man does can be secret? Even though his slaves hold their tongues, his cattle will tell the tale; and his dogs and door-posts, and marble statues.—Sat., IX., v. 102.