Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Habakkuk 1:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse appeals to God's pure eyes and asks why he seems silent while the wicked devours one more righteous.
Read It With
- Habakkuk 1:12-17
Read Habakkuk 1:13 with 1:12-17. This verse appeals to God's pure eyes and asks why he seems silent while the wicked devours one more righteous. The full unit establishes this movement: Habakkuk confesses God's holy permanence yet protests that the Chaldean treats peoples like fish, worships the tools of conquest, and kills without mercy; he asks how God can remain silent when the wicked swallows one more righteous.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The second complaint prevents sovereignty language from silencing moral inquiry. The prophet tests the answer against God's own holiness and the victims' dehumanization. Within that movement, this verse appeals to God's pure eyes and asks why he seems silent while the wicked devours one more righteous.
Read Habakkuk 1:12–17 together
Why these verses belong together: Confession of holiness leads into fish-and-net imagery and the final question about merciless conquest.
Verse 12. 12 Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.
Verse 13. 13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
Verse 14. 14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
Verse 15. 15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.
Verse 16. 16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
Verse 17. 17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?
Follow the Context
- Habakkuk addresses the everlasting and holy God and interprets the Chaldean as appointed for judgment.
- He asks why pure eyes appear to tolerate treachery and greater wickedness.
- He depicts leaderless people as fish captured, gathered, and exploited.
- He exposes worship of the net and asks whether merciless killing will continue forever.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“more righteous than he”
In plain language: The comparison sharpens the moral problem without claiming absolute innocence.
Appeals to God's pure eyes and asks why he seems silent while the wicked devours one more righteous. Holiness provides grounds for protesting tolerated treachery.
Why it matters: The wording carries textual, theological, ethical, or predictive risk that requires its full unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
'More righteous' is a relative comparison and does not declare the victims sinless.
What Remains True
Holiness provides grounds for protesting tolerated treachery.
How It Can Shape Life
- Refuse to excuse greater cruelty simply because earlier wrongdoing was real.
Teach It Back
Explain Habakkuk 1:13's contribution to Habakkuk 1:12-17: Appeals to God's pure eyes and asks why he seems silent while the wicked devours one more righteous. Include what the surrounding verses add, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Habakkuk 1:12-17 — The Second Complaint: How Can the Holy God Use Greater Violence?Sources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The exact groups compared are inferred from the surrounding Chaldean oracle.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and canonical verse coverage.
Exact location: Habakkuk 1:12-17, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Habakkuk
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, repeated terms, clause relationships, and base forms behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Hab.xml, 1:12-17
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Habakkuk with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, Hebrew, text-critical, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Habakkuk PDF, printed pp. 1771, translation and notes on 1:12-17
Open source ↗