Habakkuk 2:18-20

Woe upon idolatry, 18-20.

The last strophe is unlike the preceding in that the “woe” does not stand at the beginning, but at the opening of Habakkuk 2:19. In order to restore similarity many commentators place 19a, “Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise!” before Habakkuk 2:18. This arrangement, 19a, 18, 19b, 20, would bring this strophe into accord with the four preceding, and would give a more satisfactory logical arrangement; but that it was the original order cannot be proved; if it was, the present order cannot be accounted for very easily, unless, with Nowack, we assume that Habakkuk 2:18 is a later marginal note, which was inserted in the text in the wrong place.

For this assumption there is insufficient evidence, and the omission of Habakkuk 2:18 would make the strophe too brief.