ESTUDIO DEL VERSÍCULO
Habakkuk 1:5 — 'Look and Wonder Marvelously'
God commands the audience to look among the nations and be astonished, because He is about to do a work in their days that they will not believe even when told.
Escritura
- 5.Mirad entre las naciones, y ved, y asombraos; porque haré una obra en vuestros días, que aun cuando se os contare, no la creeréis.Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvellously; for I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.
Qué significa este pasaje
Habakkuk 1:5 opens with a triple injunction: 'Behold,' 'look,' and 'wonder marvelously.' The repetition intensifies the call to attention and signals that what follows will overturn expectations. God is not giving a quiet word of comfort; He is demanding that the hearers fix their gaze on something they would otherwise dismiss as impossible.
The reason for this startled attention is given in the second half of the verse: 'I am working a work in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.' The construction here is remarkable — God frames the coming event as 'a work' already in progress. It is not a distant possibility but something actively underway within the lifetime of the hearers, yet so contrary to expectation that even direct testimony would not produce faith.
The phrasing 'in your days' locates the event in the immediate horizon of the original audience. The clause 'which ye will not believe though it be told you' prepares the reader for the content of the next verse: the raising of the Chaldeans. The fact that such an instrument would be hard to credit underscores how deeply Habakkuk's complaint — about injustice among his own people — runs counter to the answer God is about to give.
Contexto
Verses 2–4 establish the prophet's complaint: the law is paralyzed, the wicked surround the righteous, and justice comes out perverted. Against this backdrop, the command to 'look and wonder' is striking — God does not first answer the complaint but interrupts it with astonishment.
Verse 6 reveals what the 'work' is: 'I raise up the Chaldeans.' The verse thus functions as a hinge between complaint and revelation, framing the coming Babylonian invasion as an act of God rather than a mere political event. The audience's disbelief anticipated in v. 5 corresponds to the shock that an instrument this severe could be God's answer to injustice.
Preguntas frecuentes
What is the 'work' God announces in Habakkuk 1:5?
Based on the verses that follow, the 'work' is identified in verse 6 as God's raising up of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) as an instrument of judgment. Verse 5 builds suspense and tells the hearers that even when they hear it explained, they will struggle to believe it.
Why does God command the audience to 'wonder marvelously' before explaining?
The triple injunction ('behold, look, wonder marvelously') is designed to fix attention on an event so contrary to expectation that even a direct report would not secure belief. It also reframes Habakkuk's complaint: God's answer will come in a form the prophet did not anticipate, requiring an astonished reorientation rather than a comfortable solution.
How does Habakkuk 1:5 set up the rest of the chapter?
Verse 5 functions as a hinge: it closes the first complaint (vv. 2–4) by issuing God's response-attention command, and it opens the revelation section (vv. 6–11) by previewing the raising of the Chaldeans. The prophet's second complaint in vv. 12–17 then responds to this revealed 'work.'