Habakkuk 2:2

2. The prophet gazes not in vain.

Vision See on Nahum 1:1. Jehovah grants an answer in the form of an inner vision, but since the solution is intended for all who might be troubled in a similar manner, the prophet is exhorted to make it known to all by writing it upon tablets where the people could read it.

Tables Literally, the tablets; either tablets such as are commonly used for inscriptions set up in public places, or tablets such as the prophet was accustomed to use for these or similar purposes.

Make it plain Because it is an important message (compare Isaiah 8:1).

That he may run that readeth it It is to be written so plainly that anyone hurrying by may read it, without being compelled to stop and study. There is no reason for doubting that the command was to be understood and carried out literally. Keil’s view, that “the words simply express the thought that the prophecy is to be laid to heart by all the people on account of its great importance, and that not merely in the present but in the future also,” does scant justice to the statements in Habakkuk 2:2-3.