Habakkuk 1:7 (DBY)

Passage

They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 1:5 See ye among the nations, and behold, and wonder marvellously; for [I] work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be declared [to you].

Habakkuk 1:6 For behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, which marcheth through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.

Habakkuk 1:7 They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

Habakkuk 1:8 And their horses are swifter than the leopards, and are more agile than the evening wolves; and their horsemen prance proudly, and their horsemen come from afar: they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour.

Habakkuk 1:9 They come all of them for violence: the crowd of their faces is forwards, and they gather captives as the sand.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "terrible", "dreadful", "judgment", "dignity", "proceed", and "themselves". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "terrible" and "dreadful", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "For behold I raise up the Chaldeans..." into verse 8's "And their horses are swifter than the...", so "terrible" and "dreadful" belong inside that flow. In Habakkuk context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "terrible" and "dreadful" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.