Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Habakkuk 2:16
Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’s right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing [shall be] on thy glory.
16. filled with shame for glory ] with shame and not with glory, the construction as Hos 6:6, “mercy and not sacrifices,” cf. Psa 52:3. The term “art filled” or sated must have the meaning: “thou hast feasted thyself on shame,” i.e. on the shame of his victims, or more generally, on that which is shameful, rather than on what is decorous and honourable. Such a sense seems nowhere else expressed by the verb to be sated. The text may be uncertain.
cup turned unto thee ] Lam 4:21; Jer 25:15; Jer 51:7; Isa 51:17.
shameful spuing ] Or, as R.V., foul shame. The word, like “thick clay” ( Hab 2:6), has been taken as two words: spuing of shame, with the sense of A.V. It is no doubt an intensive form of the word shame.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou art filled with shame for glory – Oppressors think to make themselves great by bringing others down, to fill themselves with riches, by spoiling others. They loved shame Hos 4:8, because they loved that, which brought shame; they were filled with shame, in that they sated themselves with shamefulness, which was their shame within, before, in the just judgment of God, shame came on them from without Phi 3:19. Their glory was in their shame. They shall be filled, yea, he says, they are already filled; they would satisfy, gorge themselves, with all their hearts desires; they are filled to the full, but with shame instead of glory which they sought, or which they already had. From and for a state of glory, they were filled with contempt.
Drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered – thy shame like those whom thou puttest to shame, only the greater in being uncircumcised. The cup of the Lords Right Hand shall be turned (round) unto thee (or against thee). It had gone round the circuit of the nations whom God had employed him to chasten, and now, the circle completed, it should be brought round to himself, With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you again Mat 7:2. So Jeremiah says, Jer 25:26, And the king of Shesbach shall drink after them; and of Edom, Lam 4:21, To thee also shall the cup be brought round. Thou, a man, madest man to drink of the cup of thine anger: the cup shall be brought round to thee, but not by man; to thee it shall be given by the Right Hand of the Lord, which thou canst not escape; it shall be the cup of the wine of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God Rev 16:19; as Asaph had said, Psa 76:8, There is a cup in the Lords hand; it is full of mixture, and He poureth out therefrom; but the dregs thereof all the ungodly of the earth shall suck them out, shall drink them.
And shameful spewing shall be on thy glory – Jerome: With the shame of thy spewing shalt thou bring up all thou hast swallowed down, and from the height of glory shalt thou be brought to the utmost ills. The shame of the ungodly cometh forth from himself; the shame he put others to is doubled upon himself; and the very means which he had used to fill himself with glory and greatness, cover the glory which by nature he had, with the deeper disgrace, so that he should be a loathsome and revolting sight to all. Man veils foul deeds under fair words; God, in His word, unveils the foulness.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. The cup of the Lord’s right hand] Among the ancients, all drank out of the same cup; was passed from hand to hand, and each drank as much as he chose. The Chaldeans gave to the neighbouring nations the cup of idolatry and of deceitful alliance: and in return they received from the Lord the cup of his fury. So Grotius.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou, O king of Babylon,
art filled, shortly shalt be, and it is as sure as if already done, with shame for glory; as much filled with shame by the contempt they shall cast upon thee whom thou didst once vilify and contemn; thy shame shall be greater than ever was thy glory, as the Hebrew seems to import.
Drink thou also: thy sin was that thou didst drink, and madest others drink to shameless excess too; now thy punishment shall be to drink of the cup of Gods wrath, which will fill thee with astonishment and calamities.
Let thy foreskin be uncovered; let thy shame be laid open before all; this retaliation is just and necessary.
The cup; a Scripture phrase, expressing the just judgments and corrections of sinners.
Of the Lords right hand; it is said to be in his right hand here, and in his hand, Psa 75:8.
Shall be turned unto thee: they turned the cup of pleasure about, God will carry the cup of indignation about also, and make them drink deep of it, they shall not escape.
Shameful spewing shall be upon thy glory; then shalt thou be as much loathed as a shameful drunkard is in his vomit.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. art fillednow that thouart fallen. “Thou art filled” indeed (though soinsatiable), but it is “with shame.”
shame for gloryinsteadof thy former glory (Ho 4:7).
drink thou alsoThe cupof sorrow is now in thy turn to pass to thee (Jer 25:15-17;Lam 4:21).
thy foreskinexpressingin Hebrew feeling the most utter contempt. So of Goliath (1Sa17:36). It is not merely thy “nakedness,” as in Hab2:15, that shall be “uncovered,” but the foreskin, thebadge of thy being an uncircumcised alien from God. The same shall bedone to thee, as thou didst to others, and worse.
cup . . . shall be turnedunto theeliterally, “shall turn itself,“namely, from the nations whom thou hast made to drink it. “Thoushalt drink it all, so that it may be turned as beingdrained” [GROTIUS].
shameful spewingthatis, vomiting; namely, that of the king of Babylon, compelled todisgorge the spoil he had swallowed. It expresses also theignominious state of Babylon in its calamity (Jer25:27). “Be drunken, spew, and fall.” Lessappropriately it is explained of the foe spewing in the faceof the Babylonian king.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou art filled with shame for glory,…. This is said by the Lord to the man that gives his neighbour drink to intoxicate him, that he may draw him into uncleanness, and please himself with it; who, instead of being filled with the glory of the Lord, and the knowledge of it, as the earth is before said to be, such are filled with shameful doctrines and abominable practices, as those of the church of Rome are; and instead of seeking the glory of God, and the honour of their neighbours, they are satiated with the shameful spectacle of their apostasy, they have been the instruments of; and yet, instead of taking shame to themselves, as they ought to do, they glory in their shame; count it an honour they have been the instruments of bringing them into such uncleanness and idolatry; and glut themselves with the delightful sight; which in the esteem of God, was filling themselves with shame, instead of bringing any glory to him, to themselves, or their neighbours; and therefore should severely smart for it:
drink thou also: of another cup, the cup “of the wine of the wrath of God”; as a just retaliation for giving to others “the wine of wrath of fornication” to drink, and to intoxicate men with; which will be given to mystical Babylon at the time she comes into remembrance before God, or when the time to punish her is come, and to all the followers and worshippers of the beast; see Re 14:10:
and let thy foreskin be uncovered; in retaliation for uncovering the nakedness of others, and looking with pleasure on it; by which it will appear that the men here spoken of, that take all the above methods to draw or force others into the communion of their church, are no other than heathens; their religion consisting greatly of Gentilism; or what has a very great likeness to it; hence the Papists are sometimes called Heathens and Gentiles; see Ps 10:16:
the cup of the Lord’s right hand shall be turned unto thee; who, in their turn, shall drink of it, when his right hand, in which it is, shall reach it out; for there is no resisting the power of that; when he gives the orders to drink it, they must; and this cup in his right hand is a cup of red wine, of the wrath, fury, and indignation of God, the dregs of which these wicked men must wring out, and drink up; see
Ps 75:8. It is no unusual thing in Scripture for the wrath, vengeance, and judgments of God to be represented by a cup, as in Isa 51:17:
and shameful spewing [shall be] on thy glory: signifying that they should be like a man intoxicated with wine, that vomits it up again; and which, falling on his fine clothes, spoils the glory of them: so when this cup of wrath and vengeance should be given unto them, and they be made to drink of it, they should be so full of it, that all their glory should be covered with shame; or all their glorious things should be spoiled, and they deprived of all their riches and honours, their titles and grandeur; the magnificence of their temples, altars, idols, and vestments, &c.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He says that he is satiated with shame instead of glory. Some give this rendering—“Thou art satiated with shame more than glory;” but this does not suit the passage; for the Prophet does not mean that the Babylonian king was satiated with his own reproach, but rather with that of others. Secondly, the particle מ, mem, is not put here in a comparative sense, but the clause is on the contrary to be understood thus—“By thy glory, or, on account of thy glory, thou art satiated with shame”. It must also in the third place be observed, that punishment is not what the Prophet describes in these words; for it immediately follows— שתה גם אחה, shite gam ate, “drink thou also.” He comes now to punishment. By saying, then, that the king of Babylon was satiated with shame on account of glory, it is the same as though he had said, that while he was intent on increasing his own glory he brought all others to shame. It is indeed the common game of great kings, as it has been said, to enlarge their own power at the expense and loss of others. They would, indeed, if they could, render their friends safe; but when any one loses ground in their favor they neglect him. We see how at this day great kings, raising great armies, shed innocent blood. When a slaughter is made in war they express their grief, but it is only on account of their own glory or advantage. They will in words profess that they sympathise with the miserable men who faithfully spent their life for them, but they have for them no real concern. As, then, great kings draw human blood, and care nothing when many perish for their sake, the Prophet justly says, That the king of Babylon was satiated with shame on account of glory; that is, that while he was seeking his own glory he was satiated with the reproaches of many; for many perished on his account, many had been robbed of their power, or were afterwards to be robbed—for the Prophet refers not here to what had taken place, but he speaks of things future; and the past tense of verbs was intended to express certainty; and we know that this was a common mode of speaking with the Prophets. (42)
He now adds— drink thou also. We hence see that the king of Babylon was secure as long as he remained untouched, though his alliance and friendship had proved ruinous to many. As long then as his kingdom flourished, the king of Babylon cared but little for the losses of others. Hence the Prophet says—“Thou shalt also drink; thou thinkest that others only shall be punished, as though thou were not exposed to God’s judgement; but thou shalt come in thy turn and drink;”—in what way? He speaks here allegorically of the vengeance which was nigh the king of Babylon—“Thou, also,” he says, “shalt drink and become a reproach,” or, shalt be uncovered.
The word ערל, orel, means in Hebrew the foreskin; and the foreskinned, or uncircumcised, was the name given to the profane and the base, or the contaminated; and hence many give this rendering—“Thou also shalt become ignominious;” but others express more clearly the Prophet’s meaning by this version—“Thou shalt be uncovered.” Yet their opinion is not amiss who think that there is here a change of letters, that הערל, eorel, is put for הרעל, erol; and רעל, rol, means to be cast asleep; and it well suits a drunken man to say that he is stupefied. But as the Prophet had spoken of nakedness, I retain the word as it is; and thus the two clauses will correspond— Then thou shalt drink and be uncovered
Then follows the explanation— Poured forth (43) into thee shall be the cup of Jehovah’s right hand; that is, “the Lord shall in his time be thy cup-bearer; as thou hast inebriated many nations, and under the pretense of friendship hast defrauded those who, being bound to thee by treaties, have been ruined; so the Lord will now recompense thee with the reward which thou hast deserved: As thou hast been a cup-bearer to others, so the Lord will now become thy cup-bearer, and will inebriate thee, but after another manner.” We indeed know what the Scripture everywhere means by the cup of God’s hand—even vengeance of every kind. God strikes some with giddiness and precipitates them, when deprived of all humanity, into a state of madness; others he infatuates by insensibility; some he deprives of all understanding, so that they perceive nothing aright; against others he rouses up enemies, who treat them with cruelty. Hence the Lord is said to extend his cup to the wicked whenever he takes vengeance on them.
Therefore he adds— the reproach of spewing shall be on thy glory. The word קיקלון, kikolun, is a compound. (44) We have already seen that קלוכ, kolun, is shame; and now he speaks of shameful spewing. And this may be referred to the king of Babylon—that he himself would shamefully spew out what he had before intemperately swallowed down; or it might be fitly applied to his enemies—that they would spew in the face of the king of Babylon.
The end of which Habakkuk speaks, awaits all tyrants, who disturb the world by their cupidity. Ambition does indeed so infatuate them, that they neither spare human blood, nor hesitate to endanger their nearest and most friendly associates. Since then an insatiable thirst for glory thus inflames them, the Prophet justly allots to them this reward—that they shall receive filthy and shameful spewing instead of that glory, in seeking which they observed no limits. Let us now proceed –
(42) The view presented here of the first clause of the verse is striking, and such as the words may admit. But most commentators attach to them another meaning. Newcome’s version is—
Thou art filled with shame instead of glory.
Henderson’s rendering is—
Thou art filled with shame, not with glory.
The verb being in the past tense seems to favor Calvin’s view—“Thou hast been satiated with shame from glory,” that is, thou hast been filled to satiety with the shame occasioned to others, arising from the pursuit of thine own glory. And then, as Calvin justly observes, his punishment is denounced.—“Drink thou also.”— Ed.
(43) The verb [ תסוב ], loosely expressed here, is very correctly rendered by Henderson “shall come round;” and this is the idea which Calvin suggests in the following explanation.— Ed.
(44) It is commonly derived from [ קי ], a contraction of [ קיא ], a vomit or spewing, and [ קלוז ], shame. Compounds are no common things in Hebrew; and these are found separate in nine MSS. The Septuagint have ἀτιμια, reproach only; and the Vulgate, “ vomitus ignominiae —the spewing of shame.” Newcome renders it “foul shame,” and Henderson “great ignominy,” regarding it as a reduplicate noun for [ קלקלוז ]. But as drunkenness is the metaphor used, “shameful spewing,” or the spewing of shame or of reproach is most suitable to the passage.— Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Hab 2:16. Thou art filled with shame, &c. Drink thou also, till thou art filled with shame instead of glory; and let, &c. For the cup of the right hand of the Lord shall come round to thee, &c. And disgrace shall succeed to thy glory. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Hab 2:16 Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’S right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing [shall be] on thy glory.
Ver. 16. Thou art filled with shame for glory ] Or, more with shame than with glory. That is, thou shalt be filled shortly with ignominy for that glory wherein thou presently pridest thyself; thy drunkenness shall redound to thine utter disgrace, as it was to Darius, Alexander, Antoninus, Bonosus, Trajan (a good emperor otherwise, but a drunkard, and a sodomite, as Dio Cassius reporteth him). Yea, Cato, that most severe censurer of other men’s manners, to whom it was sometime objected (how deservedly I know not), quod nocturnis potationibus induigeret, that by night he would drink soundly. This is a blur to him, if true, and confutes that eulogium given him by Paterculus, that he was omnibus humanis vitiis immunis, free from all vices, and as like virtue herself as might be, Homo virtuti simillimus, et rigidae innocentiae. In Scripture the drunkard’s style begins in lawlessness, proceeds in unprofitableness, ends in misery; and all shut up in that denomination of his pedigree, A son of Belial.
Drink thou also
“ Heus, hic situs est Offellius Buratius Bibulus,
Qui dum vixit, aut bibit aut minxit, abi praeceps. ”
Drink another while of the cup of shame and sorrow; take thy part of all manner of miseries, The cup of the Lord’s right hand shall be turned to thee] Heb. Turned about, or shall turn itself, quia rerum omnium vicissitudo;
And shameful spewing shall be on thy glory
Shall be on thy glory
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
let thy foreskin be uncovered: i.e. be as one uncircumcised: i.e. uncovenanted.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
with shame for glory: or, more with shame than with glory, Pro 3:35, Isa 47:3, Hos 4:7, Phi 3:19
drink: Psa 75:8, Isa 49:26, Isa 51:21-23, Jer 25:26, Jer 25:27, Jer 51:57, Rev 18:6
and let: Isa 20:4, Isa 47:3, Nah 3:5
the cup: Jer 25:27-29
and shameful: Isa 28:7, Isa 28:8, Hos 7:5
Reciprocal: Gen 9:21 – and he Gen 19:32 – drink Gen 19:33 – drink 1Sa 25:36 – merry 1Ki 16:9 – drinking Est 1:8 – none did compel Psa 11:6 – their Psa 60:3 – to drink Pro 12:21 – filled Pro 20:1 – General Isa 17:14 – the portion Jer 13:13 – I will Jer 30:16 – General Jer 48:26 – wallow Jer 51:7 – the nations Eze 23:33 – filled Eze 32:24 – borne Zec 12:2 – a cup Heb 2:1 – let them slip Rev 14:10 – into
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hab 2:16. As a degradIng suggestion befitting the character of such a tempter, he is told to drink with his intended victim and thus be induced to expose his own nakedness. Shame for glory is rendered “more with shame than with glory” in the margIn which is evidently correct. The tempter intended to get glory from the shame of his victim, but instead he was destined to bring shame upon himself. The cup Is figurative and means the cup of God’s wrath against such an evil character. He was to be forced to drink of it and be thereby induced to vomit out his own filth instead of glorying over the debauched condition of his victim.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2:16 Thou art filled with shame {n} for glory: drink thou also, and let thy shame come upon thee: the cup of the LORD’S right hand shall be turned to thee, and utter shame [shall be] on thy glory.
(n) Whereas you thought to have the glory of these your doings, they will turn to your shame: for you will drink of the same cup with others in your turn.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
As they had made their neighbors drunk, so the Lord would give them a cup of judgment that would make them drunk. Yahweh’s right hand is a figure for His strong personal retribution, giving back in kind what the person being judged had given (cf. Isa 51:17-23; Jer 25:15-17; Lam 4:21; Mat 20:22; Mat 26:42; 1Co 11:29). Having swallowed the cup’s contents the Babylonians would disgrace themselves rather than honoring and glorifying themselves as they did presently. Their future disgrace contrasts with Yahweh’s future glory (Hab 2:14). They would expose their own nakedness as they had exposed the nakedness of others (Hab 2:15). The Hebrew is more graphic and literally reads, "Drink, yes you, and expose your foreskin," namely, show yourself to be uncircumcised. Nakedness involves vulnerability as well as shame (cf. Gen 9:21-25). The Lord pictured Babylon as a contemptible, naked drunk who had lost his self-control and the respect of everyone including himself.