Habakkuk 2:19 (DRB)

Passage

Woe to him that saith to wood: Awake: to the dumb stone: Arise: can it teach? Behold, it is laid over with gold, and silver, and there is no spirit in the bowels thereof.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 2:17 For the iniquity of Libanus shall cover thee, and the ravaging of beasts shall terrify them because of the blood of men, and the iniquity of the land, and of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

Habakkuk 2:18 What doth the graven thing avail, because the maker thereof hath graven it, a molten, and a false image? because the forger thereof hath trusted in a thing of his own forging, to make dumb idols.

Habakkuk 2:19 Woe to him that saith to wood: Awake: to the dumb stone: Arise: can it teach? Behold, it is laid over with gold, and silver, and there is no spirit in the bowels thereof.

Habakkuk 2:20 But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "What doth the graven thing avail because..." into verse 20's "But the Lord is in his holy...", so "Spirit" and "saith" 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 "Spirit" and "saith" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.