Habakkuk 2:18

Faith

¹⁶ Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’s right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.

¹⁷ For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?

¹⁹ 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.

²⁰ But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it— or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
KJV: What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
WEB: “What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?
ASV: What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he that fashioneth its form trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
DARBY: What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it? the molten image, and the teacher of falsehood, that the maker of his work dependeth thereon, to make dumb idols?
BLB: What profit [is] an image when its fashioner has carved it, a molten image and a teacher of falsehood? For the one fashioning trusts upon it [in] his fashioning, making mute idols.

ÅB: Hva gagn gjør et utskåret bilde, om enn en mester har skåret det? Eller hva gagn gjør et støpt bilde, en lærer i løgn, om enn dets mester satte sin lit til det da han gjorde målløse avguder?
OTB: Hva verdi har et utskåret bilde når dets skaper har skåret det,
Et støpt metallbilde, en lærer av falskhet?
For dets skaper stoler på sitt eget håndverk
Når han former stumme avguder.
B1930: Hvad gagn gjør et utskåret billede, om enn en mester har skåret det? Eller hvad gagn gjør et støpt billede, en lærer i løgn, om enn dets mester satte sin lit til det da han gjorde målløse avguder?

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Jeremiah 10:8
But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
Read in context
1 Corinthians 12:2
Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
Read in context
Isaiah 44:9–10
They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
Read in context
Zechariah 10:2
For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
Read in context
Jeremiah 2:27–28
Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
Read in context
Isaiah 42:17
They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.
Read in context
Psalms 115:4–8
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
Read in context
Isaiah 45:16
They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.
Read in context