Habakkuk 1:13 (WEB)

Passage

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,

Nearby Context

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?

Habakkuk 1:15 He takes up all of them with the hook. He catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "purer", "eyes", "than", "evil", "look", "perversity", "tolerate", and "deal". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "purer" and "eyes", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "Aren t you from everlasting Yahweh my..." into verse 14's "and make men like the fish of...", so "purer" and "eyes" 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 "purer" and "eyes" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.