Here at last the content of “the vision” referred to in verse 2 is given. It is introduced by a Hebrew word translated Behold in Revised Standard Version. The function of this word is shown more clearly in Good News Translation with “And this is the message.” One may also say “Here is the message” or “This is what I want you to write.”
The message itself consists of two statements, but unfortunately the first one is somewhat uncertain in meaning. Since the second statement is about the righteous, it is reasonable in a context like this to expect that the first statement will be in contrast to it, speaking about the wicked. Most translations fit this expectation, but the details of the statement remain uncertain.
The traditional Hebrew text is translated literally in Revised Version as “his soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him.” There is no noun for the pronouns “his” and “him” to refer to, but the general setting suggests that they refer to “the wicked” of 1.13, that is, the Babylonians. The expression “puffed up” in English usually means “full of pride” (as in Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), and some versions have something similar to this (New American Bible “rash,” New English Bible “reckless”). George Adam Smith translates “swollen, not level is his soul within him,” and compares this with the everyday English expressions “swollen headed” (that is, proud of one’s achievements) and “level headed” (that is, having a fair assessment of oneself and one’s situation).
Some scholars prefer to change the order of two letters in one Hebrew word. This gives a translation like that of Revised Standard Version, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail (compare Moffatt, Jerusalem Bible). He whose soul simply means “he.” The soul stands for the whole person, as it often does in the Bible. Good News Translation also accepts this change but expresses it in a clearer way as “Those who are evil will not survive.” Good News Translation uses the plural to express the general statement, and replaces the negative not upright with the single term “evil.” This gives a balanced contrast with the second half of the verse, and translators are recommended to follow it. Shall fail (“will not survive”) may be expressed more simply as “will die.”
The second statement, in its King James Version form “the just shall live by his faith,” is the best known text in the book of Habakkuk. Revised Standard Version replaces “just” with righteous, which is less ambiguous (compare New English Bible, Good News Translation, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible). Jerusalem Bible uses the more modern term “upright.” In Habakkuk’s time, to be “righteous” or “upright” meant to obey God’s law and to treat other people fairly. So Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “whoever keeps faith with me and does what is right.” A good summary of the conduct intended is given in Psalm 15. The righteous here are the people of Judah, or at least those of them who share Habakkuk’s concerns. Righteous may be rendered as “good people,” “straight people,” “upright people,” “people who obey (or, are loyal to) God,” or even figuratively as “people with straight livers.”
The word translated faith in Revised Standard Version is more accurately “faithfulness” (Revised Standard Version footnote, Jerusalem Bible; compare “faithful” in Moffatt, New English Bible, Good News Translation). This means being loyal to God and obedient to his law, even when outward circumstances make it difficult, as they did in Habakkuk’s day. In modern speech we may perhaps use the word “integrity,” though this does not have the religious overtones that “faithfulness” has.
Good News Translation again uses the plural to express a general statement: “those who are righteous.” Good News Translation also makes the religious aspect explicit by saying “because they are faithful to God.”
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• This is what I want you to write: ‘Those people who are evil will die, but the good people will live because they obey God (or, follow God faithfully).’ ”
This verse is quoted three times in the New Testament (Rom 1.17; Gal 3.11; Heb 10.38) from its Septuagint translation. Paul makes it the basis for his doctrine of justification by faith, but in doing so he alters its meaning in two ways. First, the Greek word for “faith” does not have exactly the same components of meaning as the Hebrew word for “faithfulness.” The Greek word has a stronger element of intellectual and emotional commitment and less ethical emphasis. This change of focus was caused by the very fact of translation rather than by Paul’s deliberate choice. Secondly, Paul does deliberately link the words of Habakkuk together in a way different from that which Habakkuk intended. In linguistic terms, Paul uses a different immediate constituent analysis, that is, he sees a different set of semantic relationships between the words as they occur in the sentence. Whereas Habakkuk linked “by his faithfulness” with “shall live,” Paul linked “by faith” with “the righteous.” The contrast may be shown as “The righteous//shall live by faithfulness” (Habakkuk) as against “The righteous by faith//shall live” (Paul). In both the Hebrew and the Greek, the terms for “by faithfulness” or “by faith” come between “the righteous” and “shall live,” and so the change in the analysis can be made more easily than appears from the English. (Compare Revised Standard Version Rom 1.17, “He who through faith is righteous shall live,” with Good News Translation‘s restructuring, “The person who is put right with God through faith shall live.”)
The translator of Habakkuk does not need to worry too much about Paul’s theology. However, he does need to see what Paul has done, so that he can understand the difference between the meaning Habakkuk intended and the meaning Paul later drew from these words. Among Christians, Paul’s teaching is much more familiar than Habakkuk’s, and translators must therefore be careful not to translate in such a way that they make Habakkuk sound like Paul! Habakkuk’s own meaning in its original context must be respected, and not changed to conform to the New Testament application of his words.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .