(Chapter 2, Verse 1) I will stand upon my watch, and set myself upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. LXX: I will stand upon my watch, and get upon the rock, and will watch to see what will be said unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. Symmachus more clearly pursued: Like a guard I will stand upon the lookout, and I will stand like one who is enclosed, and will watch to see what will be said unto me, and what I shall answer, and I will contradict the one who argues against me. For munition and stone, in whose place Symmachus interpreted as concluded, is called Masur in Hebrew, which Theodotion, Aquila, and the fifth edition translated as a compass. The Lord had responded to the first cause: Look among the nations and see, and be amazed, and be astounded. To this the prophet, acting as if repenting of the previous statement, moderated the question, saying: O Lord my God, my holy one, we shall not die (Habakkuk 1:12). But nevertheless, with reverence and praise for God himself had queried: Your eyes are blinded so that you do not see evil, and you do not look upon iniquity (ref. Hab 1:13). Why do you not look upon those who do evil and remain silent while the wicked devours the righteous? And what is the devouring of the righteous, carried out in part: so that people become like fish of the sea, and like creeping creatures. And with a hook, and a net, and a dragnet, all are drawn toward destruction, and there is no end to their killing. Therefore, because he is a prophet, and therefore he seeks and doubts, it is right that what is answered to him should be answered to everyone: I will stand, he says, on my watchtower, that is, in the height of my prophecy, and I will see what happens after the captivity of the people, and the destruction of the city and the temple, and afterwards what will follow. Or indeed, like this: I will guard my heart with all diligence, and I will stand upon the rock of Christ. And with this compass and circle, I will enclose myself like a wall, so that the roaring lion cannot break through to me, and I will see what God answers me after the second question: and after he has answered me and rebuked me for complaining, what should I also respond to him. On the other hand, he describes with an elegant and remarkable perception the impatience that we humans always have in debates: that before someone responds to us, and we know in what they have accused us, we prepare ourselves to respond. From which it is shown that the response is not of reason, but of contention. For if it were reason, the response should be awaited, and thus see whether it should respond or agree with a reasonable response. But this should also be noted from what he said, that in order to see what he speaks in me, the prophetic vision and speech of God do not happen externally to the prophets, but internally and in response to the inner person. Hence also Zacharias: And the angel, he said, who spoke in me (Zech. I, 9). And in the Psalms: I will hear what the Lord speaks in me (Psalm LXXXIV, 9).
Where, then, did I find you in order to learn about you? For you were not already in my memory before I learned of you. Where, then, did I find you in order to learn about you, unless in yourself above me? Yet there is no place. We go backward and we go forward, yet there is no place. O truth, you do preside over all things, even those that take counsel with you, and you do answer in the same time all who consult you, however diverse their questions. You do answer clearly, but all do not hear clearly. All seek counsel concerning what they wish, but they do not always hear what they wish. He serves you best who does not so much expect to hear the thing from you that he himself desires, but rather to desire what he hears from you.
If someone perseveres continually in this watchfulness, therefore, he will effectively bring to pass what is quite plainly expressed by the prophet Habakkuk: “I will stand on my watch and go upon my rock, and I will look out to see what he will say to me and what I should reply to him who reproaches me.” The laboriousness and difficulty of this is very clearly proved by the experiences of those who dwell in the desert of Calamus or Porphyrion.
Will stand: Waiting to see what the Lord will answer to my complaint, viz., that the Chaldeans, who are worse than the Jews, and who attribute all their success to their own strength, or to their idols, should nevertheless prevail over the people of the Lord. The Lord's answer is, that the prophet must wait with patience and faith: that all should be set right in due time; and the enemies of God and his people punished according to their deserts.
[AD 420] Jerome on Habakkuk 2:1