Habakkuk 3:17

Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls,

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Habakkuk speaks to himself and the covenant community during a period of anticipated national invasion. He stands at the threshold of divine judgment, having just trembled at God's revelation and resolved to wait for the coming day of trouble.

The words — The Hebrew כִּֽי (ki) functions as a concessive "though," introducing the conditions that follow. תְאֵנָה (te'enah) literally means "fig tree," while תִפְרָח (tiphraḥ) denotes the action of budding or flowering.

The thread — The verse catalogs total agricultural and livestock collapse, a pattern of covenant curses first introduced in Deuteronomy 28:15 and later echoed in Jeremiah 5:17 and Joel 1:16 as markers of national judgment.

Why it lands — The text demands a reader acknowledge total material loss before declaring trust in God. It asks the reader to separate reliance on economic stability from reliance on divine salvation.

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

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

Cross-references

Jeremiah 5:17 They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.”
Joel 1:16 Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes—joy and gladness from the house of our God?
Deuteronomy 28:15 If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
Deuteronomy 28:30 You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit.
Amos 4:6 “I afflicted all your cities with cleanness of teeth and all your towns with lack of bread, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
Haggai 2:16 from that time, when one came expecting a heap of twenty ephahs of grain, there were but ten. When one came to the winepress to draw out fifty baths, there were but twenty.
Jeremiah 14:2 “Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
Joel 1:10 The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.