Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Habakkuk 2:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse contrasts the breathless idol with the LORD in his holy temple and calls the earth to reverent silence.
A maker trusts a breathless teacher
This verse is one part of that explanation in Habakkuk 2:18-20. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Habakkuk 2:18-20
Read Habakkuk 2:20 with 2:18-20. This verse contrasts the breathless idol with the LORD in his holy temple and calls the earth to reverent silence. The full unit establishes this movement: Manufactured, decorated idols cannot speak, breathe, teach, or awaken; the living LORD is in his holy temple, so the whole earth is summoned to silence rather than trusting human-made power.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The woes end by contrasting powerless crafted gods with the living LORD, moving the book from taunt into reverent prayer. Within that movement, this verse contrasts the breathless idol with the LORD in his holy temple and calls the earth to reverent silence.
Follow the Context
- The maker trusts a product that teaches lies.
- The fifth woe mocks commands for wood and silent stone to wake and teach.
- Gold and silver covering cannot supply breath.
- The LORD's holy-temple presence calls the whole earth to silence.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“let all the earth keep silence”
In plain language: The summons answers idolatrous noise with reverence, not enforced institutional secrecy.
Contrasts the breathless idol with the LORD in his holy temple and calls the earth to reverent silence. The living God is not manufactured or controlled by imperial religion.
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
'Keep silence' does not command victims, witnesses, lamenters, or abuse reporters to stop speaking.
What Remains True
The living God is not manufactured or controlled by imperial religion.
How It Can Shape Life
- Practice humility before God while preserving truthful lament and testimony.
Teach It Back
Explain Habakkuk 2:20's contribution to Habakkuk 2:18-20: Contrasts the breathless idol with the LORD in his holy temple and calls the earth to reverent silence. Include what the surrounding verses add, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Habakkuk 2:18-20 — Fifth Woe: Breathless Idols and the Living LORDSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The holy temple may be heavenly, earthly, or a theological relation of both.
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 2:18-20, 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, 2:18-20
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. 1774, translation and notes on 2:18-20
Open source ↗