Habakkuk here pictures the stone and wood of the rich houses which the Babylonians had built as speaking out against them. It is as if these materials were witnesses of the cruelty and oppression of the people who built with them.

For the stone will cry out from the wall: Good News Translation puts this into a more natural order as “Even the stones of the walls cry out against you.” “Cry out against you” may be translated in some languages as “cry out accusing you” or “accuse you with a loud voice.”

And the beam from the woodwork respond: Good News Translation uses the technical term “rafters” in place of the beam from the woodwork. Good News Translation also translates respond with the expression “echo the cry,” which has a stronger emotive impact.

We may note that Babylonian houses were usually built with brick rather than stone, and the prophet is describing Babylonian homes in terms of the building materials he was familiar with in Palestine. In a similar way some translators may have to speak of building materials in common use in their own areas, such as clay and wood, or wood and thatch, rather than trying to describe “rafters.” So a possible alternative translation model is “and the wood (or thatch, or clay) in the roof cries back (or, echoes the cry).”

In some languages it may not be possible to speak of building materials crying out like people. In such cases it may be possible to make the figure of speech into a simile and say “It will be as if even the stones and woodwork of your houses bore witness to your evil deeds.”

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .