Habakkuk — Chapter 2

Et respondit mihi Dominus et dixit

'And the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision and make it plain upon tablets that he that readeth it may run through it.' À Lapide treats the divine command to write as the foundation of the inspiration of Scripture: God himself directs the written preservation of prophetic vision for posterity. The tablets (tabulae) recall Sinai; the New Law is also written—on hearts, by the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:3).

Quia adhuc visio longe

'For the vision is yet for an appointed time, and it shall appear at the end and shall not lie; if it make any delay, wait for it, for it shall surely come and shall not tarry.' À Lapide reads this as the promise of the Incarnation: the long wait of the Old Testament ends with the 'fullness of time' (Gal. 4:4). Hebrews 10:37 cites this verse about Christ's coming. The theology of divine promise and patient waiting is central to à Lapide's eschatology.

Ecce qui incredulus est non erit recta anima eius

'Behold, he that is incredulous, his soul shall not be right in himself; but the just shall live in his faith.' À Lapide's commentary on Hab. 2:4 is the longest in his Habakkuk section. He carefully distinguishes the three Pauline uses: (1) Romans 1:17—the just man justified by faith, not by works of the Law; (2) Galatians 3:11—faith as against the curse of the Law; (3) Hebrews 10:38—persevering faith against apostasy. He steers between Luther's sola fide and Pelagianism, following Trent: faith formed by charity (fides caritate formata) is the proximate principle of justification.

Quia replebitur terra scientia gloriae Domini

'For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as waters cover the sea.' À Lapide reads this as the Messianic promise fulfilled in the universal proclamation of the Gospel. He notes the parallel with Isaiah 11:9. The 'knowledge of the glory of the Lord' is not merely intellectual but the experiential knowledge of God's presence that comes through the sacraments and contemplative prayer.

Dominus autem in templo sancto suo

'But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.' À Lapide treats this as the most solemn verse in the chapter: after the five woes against oppressive power, the prophet falls silent before the divine majesty. He connects it to the practice of sacred silence in the liturgy—the silence before the Canon of the Mass. Zephaniah 1:7 and Zechariah 2:13 use the identical formula, establishing a canonical liturgical imperative.