Habakkuk 1:12 (WEB)

Passage

Aren’t you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 1:10 Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him. He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen ramp, and takes it.

Habakkuk 1:11 Then he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on. He is indeed guilty, whose strength is his god.”

Habakkuk 1:12 Aren’t you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.

Habakkuk 1:13 You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,

Habakkuk 1:14 and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "aren", "everlasting", "yahweh", "holy", "appointed", "judgment", and "rock". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "aren" and "everlasting", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "Then he sweeps by like the wind..." into verse 13's "You who have purer eyes than to...", so "aren" and "everlasting" 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 "aren" and "everlasting" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.