Habakkuk 2:19 (DBY)

Passage

Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake! to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall it teach? Behold it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 2:17 For the violence [done] to Lebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of beasts which made them afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence [done] to the land, to the city, and all that dwell therein.

Habakkuk 2:18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it? the molten image, and the teacher of falsehood, that the maker of his work dependeth thereon, to make dumb idols?

Habakkuk 2:19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake! to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall it teach? Behold it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.

Habakkuk 2:20 But Jehovah is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him!

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "saith", "wood", "awake", "dumb", "stone", "arise", "shall", and "teach". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "saith" and "wood", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "What profiteth the graven image that the..." into verse 20's "But Jehovah is in his holy temple...", so "saith" and "wood" 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 "saith" and "wood" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.