Bible Strands
Habakkuk 2:19
Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Habakkuk addresses idolaters who commission craftsmen to carve images, condemning them at the moment they trust their own creation for guidance. He speaks in a sequence that moves from the silence of carved idols to the holy presence of the Lord.
The words — ה֣וֹי (Hoy) means “woe to!” and pronounces judgment on the worshiper. אֹמֵ֤ר ('omer) means “[one who] says,” identifying the active delusion of commanding lifeless material to speak.
The thread — The description of gilded idols lacking breath runs through Psalms 135:17 and Jeremiah 10:4, which note their silver and gold overlay and inability to hear or move. The futile shouting directed at silent deities parallels the prophets’ failed calls to Baal in 1 Kings 18:26.
Why it lands — The text states that wood and stone cannot give guidance despite their metal plating because they possess no breath. It requires the reader to stop demanding instruction from static objects and recognize that only the living God speaks and acts.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
Cross-references
- Psalms 135:17 they have ears, but cannot hear; nor is there breath in their mouths.
- Jeremiah 10:4 They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.
- 1 Kings 18:26 And they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one answered as they leaped around the altar they had made.
- Jeremiah 10:9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz—the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.
- Psalms 97:7 All worshipers of images are put to shame—those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods!
- Isaiah 40:19 To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
- Isaiah 44:17 From the rest he makes a god, his graven image. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”
- Isaiah 46:6 They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.
- Jeremiah 10:14 Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
- Jeremiah 51:47 Therefore, behold, the days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her entire land will suffer shame, and all her slain will lie fallen within her.