I didn't really have many insights while reading these three minor prophets this week. There were a couple of things I picked up from podcasts that I want to remember if I am ever teaching these books in the future.
One thing is that translation is really an issue in these books. They are, all three, written in poetry. If you read different translations they can make the same verse mean very different things. There is even one verse where probably a scribal error introduced a mistranslation. In Habakkuk 2:5 the KJV reads, "because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargest his desire as hell..." The word for "wine" היין looks very much like the word for "wealth" הון. a yod י, looks like a vav ו, only shorter. It would be easy to misread one as the other and if it had an accent mark over it, for two yods. The word wealth makes a lot more sense in the verse, and in the whole chapter which is condemning oppression of the poor.
Another observation is that Habakkuk makes a lot more sense if you keep track of who is saying what. It is a dialog between Habakkuk and the Lord. Habakkuk complains and the Lord replies. If I were teaching adult Sunday School, I would type up several verses from chapters 1 and 2 as a script and have two class members that are a little theatrical read the two parts. Then I would have a discussion about whether it is appropriate to complain to the Lord.
That is about all for this section. I am looking forward to the post exile prophetic works next week.
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