Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Habakkuk 2:5
Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, [he is] a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and [is] as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:
5. Yea also transgresseth by wine ] A.V. is hardly a rendering of the text. R.V. renders: yea, moreover, wine is a treacherous dealer, a haughty man, and that keepeth not at home; who enlargeth his desire as hell. Such phraseology has little meaning. Any reference to Chaldean debaucheries, openly expressed by A.V. and apparently insinuated by R.V., is farfetched in the extreme and has no probability. The text cannot be right; the word “wine” does not appear either in Sept. or Syr., and the word rendered “keepeth at home” is unknown.
The term rendered by R.V. “treacherous (barbarous) dealer” is that applied to the Chaldean, ch. Hab 1:13, and it would be more natural to take the “ruthless dealer” as the subject of the statement here, and to suppose that what is said of him is that he is insatiable, in agreement with the second half of the verse. The Syr. contents itself with expressing this general sense: an arrogant and greedy man is not satiated (insatiable). There is some corruption in the word “wine,” which should express the predicate; yea, moreover is the treacherous dealer.
He is a proud man, neither keepeth at home ] The term “proud” occurs Pro 21:24, “The proud and haughty man, scorner is his name.” The verb “keepeth at home” is found nowhere else; a noun in the sense of pasture, homestead, is not uncommon, and the verb if it existed might (after Arab.) mean to find a home, or resting-place possibly even to be quiet or rest (Job 20:20). The whole would then read: yea, moreover is the treacherous dealer, a man that is proud and resteth not; who enlargeth. For “resteth not” ( yinweh) Wellh. suggests “is not satisfied” ( yirweh). The latter word properly means to drink to satiety, as the thirsty does water, and as the sword does blood (Jer 46:10). When Ibn Amar sings of his camel: “She says, when I have raised the saddle upon her, Will Ibn Amar be supplied with drink and never satisfy his thirst ( yarwa) from me?” the beast refers to her sweat. If the word “wine” were retained a slight change in the Heb. text might produce a comparison: Moreover, like wine is the treacherous dealer, a man that is proud and restless (insatiable); who enlargeth: the comparison “like wine” indicating the conduct and demeanour that wine produces. But all efforts to educe sense must fail with the present text.
enlargeth his desire as hell ] who openeth wide his maw like Shel. Shel, the place of the dead, is insatiable. Isa 5:14; Pro 27:20, “Shel and Abaddon are never satisfied,” cf. Pro 30:16. “Death” like Shel is personified.
heapeth unto him all people ] all peoples. He swalloweth down all nations like Shel.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This general rule the prophet goes on to apply in words which belong in part to all oppressors and in the first instance to the Chaldaean, in part yet more fully to the end and to antichrist. Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine (or better, Yea, how much more, since wine is a deceiver , as Solomon says, Pro 20:1, Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever erreth thereby shall not be wise; and Pro 23:32, In the end it biteth like a serpent and pierceth like an adder; and Hosea Hos 4:11, Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. As wine at first gladdens, then deprives of all reason, and lays a man open to any deceit, so also pride. And whereas all pride deceives, how much more , when people are either heated and excited by the abuse of Gods natural gifts, or drunken with prosperity and hurried away, as conquerors are, to all excess of cruelty or lust to fulfill their own will, and neglect the laws of God and man.
Literal drunkenness was a sin of the Babylonians under the Persian rule, so that even a pagan says of Babylon, Nothing can be more corrupt than the manners of that city, and more provided with all to rouse and entice immoderate pleasures; and the Babylonians give themselves wholly to wine, and the things which follow upon drunkenness. It was when flushed with wine, that Belshazzar, with his princes his wives and his concubines, desecrated the sacred vessels, insulted God in honor of his idols, and in the night of his excess was slain. Pride blinded, deceived, destroyed him. It was the general drunkenness of the inhabitants, at that same feast, which enabled Cyrus, with a handful of men, to penetrate, by means of its river, the city which, with its provisions for many years and its impregnable walls, mocked at his siege. He calculated beforehand on its feast and the consequent dissolution of its inhabitants; but for this, in the language of the pagan historian, he would have been caught as in a trap, his soldiery drowned.
He is a proud man, neither keepeth at home. – It is difficult to limit the force of the rare Hebrew word rendered keep at home; for one may cease to dwell or abide at home either with his will or without it; and, as in the case of invaders, the one may he the result of the other. He who would take away the home of others becomes, by Gods Providence, himself homeless. The context implies that the primary meaning is the restlessness of ambition; which abides not at home, for his whole pleasure is to go forth to destroy. Yet there sounds, as it were, an undertone, he would not abide in his home and he shall not. We could scarcely avoid the further thought, could we translate by a word which does not determine the sense, he will not home, he will not continue at home. The words have seemed to different minds to mean either; as they may . Such fullness of meaning is the contrary of the ambiguity of pagan oracles; they are not alternative meanings, which might be justified in either case, but cumlative, the one on the other. The ambitious part with present rest for future loss. Nebuchadnezzar lost his kingdom and his reason through pride, received them back when he humbled himself; Belshazzar, being proud and impenitent, lost both his kingdom and life.
Who enlargeth his desire – literally, his soul. The soul becomes like what it loves. The ambitious man is, as we say, all ambition; the greedy man, all appetite; the cruel man, all savagery; the vain-glorious, all vain glory. The ruling passion absorbs the whole being. It is his end, the one object of his thoughts, hopes, fears. So, as we speak of largeness of heart, which can embrace in its affections all varieties of human interests, whatever affects man, and largeness of mind uncramped by narrowing prejudices, the prophet speaks of this ambitious man widening his soul, or, as we should speak, appetite, so that the whole world is not too large for him to long to grasp or to devour. So the Psalmist prays not to be delivered into the murderous desire of his enemies (Psa 27:12; Compare Psa 41:3 (Psa 41:2 in English); Ezek. 26:27) (literally their soul,) and Isaiah, with a metaphor almost too bold for our language Isa 5:14, Hell hath enlarged her soul, and opened her mouth beyond measure. It devours, as it were, first in its cravings, then in act.
As hell – which is insatiable Pro 30:15. He saith, enlargeth; for as hell and the grave are year by year fuller, yet there is no end, the desire enlargeth and becometh wider, the more is given to it to satisfy it.
And (he) is (himself) as death – o, sparing none. Our poetry would speak of a destroyer as being like the angel of death; his presence, as the presence of death itself. Where he is, there is death. He is as terrible and as destroying as the death which follows him.
And cannot be satisfied – Even human proverbs say (Juv. Sat. xiv. 139): The love of money groweth as much as the money itself groweth. The avaricious is ever needy. Ecc 5:10 : he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver. For these fleeting things cannot satisfy the undying soul. It must hunger still; for it has not found what will allay its cravings .
But gathereth – literally, And hath gathered – He describes it, for the rapidity with which he completes what he longs for, as though it were already done.
Unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people – One is still the subject of the prophecy, rising up at successive times, fulfilling it and passing away, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, Attila, Timur, Genghizchan, Hunneric, scourges of God, all deceived by pride, all sweeping the earth, all in their ambition and wickedness the unknowing agents and images of the evil One, who seeks to bring the whole world under his rule. But shall it prosper?
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Hab 2:5
Who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied.
Moral wrong; some of its national phases
Evil, like good, is one in essence, but it has many forms and phases. The branches that grow out of the root, whilst filled with the same sap, vary widely in shape and hue.
I. Drunkenness. This is one of the most loathsome, irrational, and Pernicious forms which it can assume. Drunkenness puts the man or the woman absolutely into the hands of Satan, to do whatsoever he wills.
II. Haughtiness. Is a proud man. Babylon became inspired with a haughty insolence. She regarded herself as the queen of the world, and looked down with supercilious contempt upon all the other nations of the earth, even upon the Hebrew People, the heavenly chosen race. Nebuchadnezzar expresses, the spirit of the kingdom as well as his own, when he says, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? It is suggested that their love of wine had much to do in the developing of this haughty spirit. We read, chapter 5th, that Belshazzar at his feast drank wine with the thousands of his lords, his princes, his wives, his concubines.
III. Rapacity. Two things are suggested concerning the rapacious form it assumed in Babylon.
1. It was restless. Neither keepeth at home. Not content with its own grandeur, wealth, and luxuries, it goes from home in search of others; goes out into other countries to rifle and to rob.
2. It is insatiable. Who enlargeth his desire as hell,–that is, as Sheol the grave,–and is as death, and cannot be satisfied. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. Because he transgresseth by wine] From the present translation, it is not easy to see either reason or meaning in the first clause of this verse. Newcome translates, “Moreover, as a mighty man transgresseth through wine, he is proud, and remaineth not at rest.” Houbigant thus: “For he, though he be a despiser, and powerful, and proud, yet shall he not have rest.”
Nebuchadnezzar is here represented in his usual character, proud, haughty, and ambitious; inebriated with his successes, and determined on more extensive conquests; and, like the grave, can never have enough: yet, after the subjugation of many peoples and nations, he shall be brought down, and become so despicable that he shall be a proverb of reproach, and be taunted and scorned by all those whom he had before enslaved.
And cannot be satisfied] When he has obtained all that is within his reach, he wishes for more; and becomes miserable, because any limits are opposed to his insatiable ambition. It is said of Alexander: –
Unus Pellaeo juveni non sufficit orbis;
AEstuat infelix angusto limite mundi.
Juv. Sat. x. 168.
One world sufficed not Alexander’s mind;
Coop’d up, he seem’d on earth and seas confined.
And the poet justly ridicules him, because at last the sarcophagus was found too large for his body!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Yea also, or
moreover, furthermore, because he, the king of Babylon, or every one of them,
transgresseth by wine; which vice destroys kings and kingdoms, and in the excesses of luxury the Babylonian king Belshazzar, his city and kingdom of Babylon, fell a prey to Darius and Cyrus.
A proud man; insolent in his behaviour towards all, both retainers, subjects, strangers, and conquered enemies: such pride shall have a fall.
Neither keepeth at home; is ever abroad warring upon some or other, which though it enlarge his countries, it weakeneth his kingdom and gives advantage to malcontents and conspirators, besides that it exposeth him to imminent and continual dangers.
Enlargeth his desire as hell; is most insatiably greedy to devour all, as far from saying It is enough as the grave is.
Is as death; as pernicious and ravenous.
Cannot be satisfied; all is too little for him, and there is no possibility to satiate his appetite. Gathereth, addeth one after another, unto him, to his kingdom, all nations, that are round about him; all he knows are designed upon, and he purposeth to engross them.
Heapeth unto him all people; another expression of the same import. Now all this, foretold of the future temper of the Babylonish kings and kingdoms, is a sure presage of their no long continuance in grandeur, but that shortly Divine vengeance will overtake them. This might be an answer to disputers.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. Yea also, becauseadditionalreason why the Jews may look for God punishing their Chaldean foe,namely, because . . . he is
a proud manrather,this clause continues the reason for the Jews expecting thepunishment of the Chaldeans, “because he transgresseth by wine(a besetting sin of Babylon, compare Da5:1-31, and CURTIUS[5.1]), being a proud man.” Love of wine often begets aproud contempt of divine things, as in Belshazzar’s case,which was the immediate cause of the fall of Babylon (Dan 5:2-4;Dan 5:30; compare Pro 20:1;Pro 30:9; Pro 31:5).
enlargeth his desire ashellthe grave, or the unseen world, which is “never full”(Pro 27:20; Pro 30:16;Isa 5:14). The Chaldeans underNebuchadnezzar were filled with an insatiable desire of conquest.Another reason for their punishment.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine,…. Or rather, “how much less” or “more o, wine dealing treacherously”: or “a man of wine”, as Aben Ezra supplies it; that is, a winebibber, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it: and the sense in connection with the preceding verse Hab 2:4 is, if a Jew, elated with his works of righteousness, his soul is not right in him, “how much less” a drunken, treacherous, proud, and ambitious heathen? if the Scribes and Pharisees, who expected the coming of the Messiah, yet withdrew from him, and opposed themselves unto him when come, “how much more” will such persons set themselves against him and his interest, thus described? by whom are meant, not the Babylonian monarchs, Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar and the Chaldeans, as usually interpreted, though there are many things in the account applicable to them; but this is breaking the thread of the prophecy, which carries on the account of the enemies of Christ, and of his kingdom, from his first to his second coming; whereas to interpret this prophecy of the Chaldeans is to go back to times before the first coming of Christ; nor does it seem necessary to say anything more concerning them, since the people of God might be satisfied that these would be in their turn destroyed, and they delivered from them; and that they, the Jews, could not be cut off as a people, since the promise of the Messiah, as springing from them, is firmly established; and it is so strongly asserted, that he should come at the appointed time, and not tarry: after which the prophet goes on to observe two different sorts of people among the Jews; one sort proud and vain glorious, who opposed themselves to Christ when he came; the other sort true believers in him, who lived by faith upon him: so things would stand among the Jews when Christ came, and so they did; there was a separation among them on his account: next the prophet proceeds to observe another sort of enemies to Christ and his interest among the heathens, which was not to be wondered at, and therefore introduced by a comparative particle, “how much more” or “less”; and who must be removed to make way for his kingdom and glory in the latter day, manifestly pointed at in Hab 2:14 now who can these be but the Romans, both Pagan and Papal in succession? and with these and their rulers, civil and ecclesiastical, do the characters given as well agree as with the Babylonian monarchy, and the Chaldeans, or better and therefore, after Cocceius and Van Till I shall choose to interpret the whole of them; and it is well known that several of the Roman emperors were greatly given to luxury and intemperance, the first character they stand described by in the text. Tiberius was greatly addicted to this vice; and, because of his greediness after wine p, used to be called Biberius Caldius Mero, instead of Tiberius Claudius Nero; his successor Caligula spent the immense riches Tiberius had gathered together in less than a year’s time in luxury and intemperance q; and Claudius, that succeeded him, scarce ever went out of his doors but he was drunk r; and Nero, who came after him to the empire, was of unusual luxury and sumptuousness, as the historian says s; he used to keep on his banquets from the middle of the day to the middle of the night t; to say nothing of Domitian, Commodus, and other emperors that followed after them: and these men were deceitful and treacherous, both to their friends and enemies; and it is no wonder that such as these should oppose themselves to the kingdom and interest of Christ, as they did. Kimchi interprets this of Nebuchadnezzar; and Jarchi of Belshazzar; and most interpreters think it refers to his drinking in the vessels of the temple, Da 5:2:
[he is] a proud man; the Roman emperors were excessively proud, like the unjust judge, neither feared God, nor regarded man; nay, set up themselves for gods, and required divine worship to be given them. Caius Caligula claimed divine majesty to himself, and set himself up to be worshipped among his brother gods; he built a temple to his own deity, and appointed priests and sacrifices; and placed a golden image of himself in it, and clothed it every day with such a garment as he himself wore u; he also set up his own image in the temple at Jerusalem. Nero suffered himself to be called lord and god by Tiridates king of the Armenians, with bended knees, and hands lift up to heaven. Domitian and Aurelianus took the same titles as Nero did; and Dioclesian would be worshipped as a god, and called himself the brother of the sun and moon; and no marvel that such men as these should be enemies to Christ, and persecutors of his people:
neither keepeth at home; or “dwells not in the fold” w; in the sheepfold of Christ, in his church, being none of his sheep, an alien from the commonwealth of Israel; and so it denotes a infidel, an heathen; a fit character for the Pagan emperors, who had no habitation in the house of God. Kimchi interprets it of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom not being continued; or of his being driven from his habitation, his palace, from among men, to live with beasts; but it is the character, and not the punishment, of the person that is here pointed at:
who enlargeth his desire as hell, and [is] as death, and cannot be satisfied; death and the grave, though such vast numbers are continually slain by the one, and laid in the other, yet are never satisfied; see Pr 27:20. This describes the insatiable thirst of the Roman emperors after honour, riches, and universal monarchy; who were never satisfied with what they obtained:
but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people; that is, subdued them, and made them provinces of the Roman empire, and tributary to it, even almost all the then known world; hence the Roman empire is called the whole world, Lu 2:1 so Agrippa, in his orations to the Jews, mentions all nations as subject to the Romans x.
o “quanto magis”, Calvin, Drusius, Tarnovius, Cocceius, Van Till, Burkius. p Suetonius in Vita Tiberii, c. 42. q Ib. Vita Caligulae, c. 37. r Ib. Vita Claudii, c. 33. s Eutrop. Hist. Rom. l. 7. t Suetonius in Vita Neronis, c. 27. u Suetonius in Vita Caligulae, c. 22. w “qui non habitat; quod de mansionibus ovium imprimius dicitur”, Cocceius; “qui non inhabitat grata”, Van Till. x Apud Joseph de Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 16. sect. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Judgment Predicted; Judgment of the King of Babylon. | B. C. 600. |
5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people: 6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay! 7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? 8 Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. 9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! 10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul. 11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. 12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity! 13 Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? 14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
The prophet having had orders to write the vision, and the people to wait for the accomplishment of it, the vision itself follows; and it is, as divers other prophecies we have met with, the burden of Babylon and Babylon’s king, the same that was said to pass over and offend, ch. i. 11. It reads the doom, some think, of Nebuchadnezzar, who was principally active in the destruction of Jerusalem, or of that monarchy, or of the whole kingdom of the Chaldeans, or of all such proud and oppressive powers as bear hard upon any people, especially upon God’s people. Observe,
I. The charge laid down against this enemy, upon which the sentence is grounded, v. 5. The lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life, are the entangling snares of men, and great men especially; and we find him that led Israel captive himself led captive by each of these. For, 1. He is sensual and voluptuous, and given to his pleasures: He transgresses by wine. Drunkenness is itself a transgression, and is the cause of abundance of transgression. We read of those that err through wine, Isa. xxviii. 7. Belshazzar (in whom particularly this prophecy had its accomplishment) was in the height of his transgression by wine when the hand-writing upon the wall signed the warrant for his immediate execution, pursuant to this sentence, Dan. v. 1. 2. He is haughty and imperious: He is a proud man, and his pride is a certain presage of his fall coming on. If great men be proud men, the great God will make them know he is above them. His transgressing by wine is made the cause of his arrogance and insolence: therefore he is a proud man. When a man is drunk, though he makes himself as mean as a beast, yet he thinks himself as great as a king, and prides himself in that by which he shames himself. We find the crown of pride upon the head of the drunkards of Ephraim, and a woe to both, Isa. xxviii. 1. 3. He is covetous and greedy of wealth, and this is the effect of his pride; he thinks himself worthy to enjoy all, and therefore makes it his business to engross all. The Chaldean monarchy aimed to be a universal one. He keeps not at home, is not content with his own, which he has an incontestable title to, but thinks it too little, and so enjoys it not, nor takes the comfort he might in his own palace, in his own dominion. His sin is his punishment, his ambition is his perpetual uneasiness. Though the home be a palace, yet to a discontented mind it is a prison. He enlarges his desire as hell, or the grave, which daily receives the body of the dead, and yet still cries, Give, give; he is as death, which continues to devour, and cannot be satisfied. Note, It is the sin and folly of many who have a great deal of the wealth of this world that they do not know when they have enough, but the more they have the more they would have, and the more eager they are for it. And it is just with God that the desires which are insatiable should still be unsatisfied; it is the doom passed on those that love silver that they shall never be satisfied with it, Eccl. v. 10. Those that will not be content with their allotments shall not have the comfort of their achievements. This proud prince is still gathering to him all nations, and heaping to him all people, invading their rights, seizing their properties, and they must not be unless they will be his, and under his command. One nation will not satisfy him unless he has another, and then another, and all at last; as those in a lower sphere, to gratify the same inordinate desire, lay house to house, and field to field, that they may be placed alone in the earth, Isa. v. 8. And it is hard to say which is more to be pitied, the folly of such ambitious princes as place their honour in enlarging their dominions, and not in ruling them well, or the misery of those nations that are harassed and pulled to pieces by them.
II. The sentence passed upon him (v. 6): Shall not all these take up a parable against him? His doom is,
1. That, since pride has been his sin, disgrace and dishonour shall be his punishment, and he shall be loaded with contempt, shall be laughed at and despised by all about him, as those that look big, and aim high, deserve to be, and commonly are, when they are brought down and baffled.
2. That, since he has been abusive to his neighbours, those very persons whom he has abused shall be the instruments of his disgrace: All those shall take up a taunting proverb against him. They shall have the pleasure of insulting over him and he the shame of being trampled upon by them. Those that shall triumph in the fall of this great tyrant are here furnished with a parable, and a taunting proverb, to take up against him. He shall say (he that draws up the insulting ditty shall say thus), Ho, he that increases that which is not his! Aha! what has become of him now? So it may be read in a taunting way. Or, He shall say, that is, the just, who lives by his faith, he to whom the vision is written and made plain, with the help of that shall say this, shall foretel the enemy’s fall, even when he sees him flourishing, and suddenly curse his habitation, even when he is taking root, Job v. 3. He shall indeed denounce woes against him.
(1.) Here is a woe against him for increasing his own possessions by invading his neighbour’s rights, v. 6-8. He increases that which is not his, but other people’s. Note, No more of what we have is to be reckoned ours than what we came honestly by; nor will it long be ours, for wealth gotten by vanity will be diminished. Let not those that thrive in the world be too forward to bless themselves in it, for, if they do not thrive lawfully, they are under a woe. See here, [1.] What this prosperous prince is doing; he is lading himself with thick clay. Riches are but clay, thick clay; what are gold and silver but white and yellow earth? Those that travel through thick clay are both retarded and dirtied in their journey; so are those that go through the world in the midst of an abundance of the wealth of it; but, as if that were not enough, what fools are those that load themselves with it, as if this trash would be their treasure! They burden themselves with continual care about it, with a great deal of guilt in getting, saving, and spending it, and with a heavy account which they must give of it another day. They overload their ship with this thick clay, and so sink it and themselves into destruction and perdition. [2.] See what people say of him, while he is thus increasing his wealth; they cry, “How long? How long will it be ere he has enough?” They cry to God, “How long wilt thou suffer this proud oppressor to trouble the nations?” Or they say to one another, “See how long it will last, how long he will be able to keep what he gets thus dishonestly.” They dare not speak out, but we know what they mean when they say, How long? [3.] See what will be in the end hereof. What he has got by violence from others, others shall take by violence from him. The Medes and Persians shall make a prey of the Chaldeans, as they have done of other nations, Hab 2:7; Hab 2:8. “There shall be those that will bite thee and vex thee; those from whom thou didst not fear any danger, that seemed asleep, shall rise up and awake to be a plague to thee. They shall rise up suddenly when thou are most secure, and least prepared to receive the shock and ward off the blow. Shall they not rise up suddenly? No doubt they shall, and thou thyself hast reason to expect it, to be dealt with as thou hast dealt with others, that thou shalt be for booties unto them, as others have been unto thee, that, according to the law of retaliation, as thou hast spoiled many nations so thou shalt thyself be spoiled (v. 8); all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee.” The king of Babylon thought he had brought all the nations round about him so low that none of them would be able to make reprisals upon him; but though they were but a remnant of people, a very few left, yet these shall be sufficient to spoil him, when God has such a controversy with him, First, For men’s blood, and the thousands of lives that have been sacrificed to his ambition and revenge, especially for the blood of Israelites, which is in a special manner precious to God. Secondly, For the violence of the land, his laying waste so many countries, and destroying the fruits of the earth, especially in the land of Israel. Thirdly, For the violence of the city, the many cities that he had turned into ruinous heaps, especially Jerusalem the holy city, and of all that dwelt therein, who were ruined by him. Note, The violence done by proud men to advance and enrich themselves will be called over again (and must be accounted for) another day, by him to whom vengeance belongs.
(2.) Here is a woe against him for coveting still more, and aiming to be still higher, v. 9-11. The crime for which this woe is denounced is much the same with that in the foregoing article–an insatiable desire of wealth and honour; it is coveting an evil covetousness to his house, that is, grasping at an abundance for his family. Note, Covetousness is a very evil thing in a family; it brings disquiet and uneasiness into it (he that is greedy of gain troubles his own house), and, which is worse, it brings the curse of God upon it and upon all the affairs of it. Woe to him that gains an evil gain; so the margin reads it. There is a lawful gain, which by the blessing of God may be a comfort to a house (a good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children), but what is got by fraud and injustice is ill-got, and will be poor gain, will not only do no good to a family, but will bring poverty and ruin upon it. Now observe, [1.] What this covetous wretch aims at; it is to set his nest on high, to raise his family to some greater dignity than it had before arrived at, or to set it, as he apprehends, out of the reach of danger, that he may be delivered from the power of evil, that it may not be in the power of the worst of his enemies to do him a mischief nor so much as to disturb his repose. Note, It is common for men to pretend it as an excuse for their covetousness and ambition that they only consult their own safety, and aim to secure themselves; and yet they do but deceive themselves when they think their wealth will be a strong city to them, and a high wall, for it is so only in their own conceit, Prov. xviii. 11. [2.] What he will get by it: Thou hast consulted, not safety, but shame, to thy house, by cutting off many people, v. 10. Note, An estate raised by iniquity is a scandal to a family. Those that cut off, or undermine, others, to make room for themselves, that impoverish others to enrich themselves, do but consult shame to their houses, and fasten upon them a mark of infamy. Yet that is not the worst of it: “Thou hast sinned against thy own soul, hast brought that under guilt and wrath, and endangered that.” Note, Those that do wrong to their neighbour do a much greater wrong to their own souls. But if the sinner pleads, Not guilty, and thinks he has managed his frauds and violence with so much art and contrivance that they cannot be proved upon him, let him know that if there be no other witnesses against him the stone shall cry out of the wall against him, and the beam out of the timber in the roof shall answer it, shall second it, shall witness it, that the money and materials wherewith he built the house were unjustly gotten, v. 11. The stones and timber cry to heaven for vengeance, as the whole creation groans under the sin of man and waits to be delivered from that bondage of corruption.
(3.) Here is a woe against him for building a town and a city by blood and extortion (v. 12): He builds a town, and is him-self lord of it; he establishes a city, and makes it his royal seat. So Nebuchadnezzar did (Dan. iv. 30): Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom? But it is built with the blood of his own subjects, whom he has oppressed, and the blood of his neighbours, whom he has unjustly invaded; it is established by iniquity, by the unrighteous laws that are made for the security of it. Woe to him that does so; for the towns and cities thus built can never be established; they will fall, and their founders be buried in the ruins of them. Babylon, which was built by blood and iniquity, did not continue long; its day soon came to fall; and then this woe took effect, when that prophecy, which is expressed as a history (Isa. xxi. 9), proved a history indeed: Babylon has fallen, has fallen! And the destruction of that city was, [1.] The shame of the Chaldeans, who had taken so much pains, and were at such a vast expense, to fortify it (v. 13): Is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people who have laboured so hard to defend that city shall labour in the very fire, shall see the out-works which they confided in the strength of set on fire, and shall labour in vain to save them? Or they, in their pursuits of worldly wealth and honour, put themselves to great fatigue, and ran a great hazard, as those that labour in the fire do. The worst that can be said of the labourers in God’s vineyards is that they have borne the burden and heat of the day (Matt. xx. 12); but those that are eager in their worldly pursuits labour in the very fire, make themselves perfect slaves to their lusts. There is not a greater drudge in the world than he that is under the power of reigning covetousness. And what comes of it? Though they take a world of pains they are but poorly paid for it; for, after all, they weary themselves for very vanity; they were told it was vanity, and when they find themselves disappointed of it, and disappointed in it, they will own it is worse than vanity, it is vexation of spirit. [2.] It was the honour of God, as a God of impartial justice and irresistible power; for by the ruin of the Chaldean monarchy (which all the world could not but take notice of) the earth was filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, v. 14. The Lord is known by these judgments which he executes, especially when he is pleased to look upon proud men and abase them, for he thereby proves himself to be God alone,Job 40:11; Job 40:12. See what good God brings out of the staining and sinking of earthly glory; he thereby manifests and magnifies his own glory, and fills the earth with the knowledge of it as plentifully as the waters cover the sea, which lie deep, spread far, and shall not be dried up until time shall be no more. Such is the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ given by the gospel (2 Cor. iv. 6), and such was the knowledge of his glory by the miraculous ruin of Babylon. Note, Such as will not be taught the knowledge of God’s glory by the judgments of his mouth shall be made to know and acknowledge it by the judgments of his hand.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
The Prophet has taught us that a tranquil state of mind cannot be otherwise had than by recumbing on the grace of God alone; and that they who elate themselves, and fly in the air, and feed on the wind, procure for themselves many sorrows and inquietudes. But he now comes to the king of Babylon, and also to his kingdom; for in my judgement he speaks not only of the king, but includes also that tyrannical empire with its people, and represents them as a great company of robbers. He then says in short, that though the Babylonians, like drunken men, hurried here and there without any control, yet God’s vengeance, by which they were to be brought to nothing, was nigh at hand. What ever therefore the Prophet subjoins to the end of the chapter tends to confirm his doctrine, which we have already explained—that the just shall live by faith. We cannot indeed be fully convinced of this except we hold firmly this principle—that God cares for us, and that the whole world is governed by his providence; so that it cannot be but that he will at length check the wicked, and punish their sins, and deliver the innocent who call upon him. Unless this be our conviction, there can be no benefit derived from our faith; we might indeed be a hundred times deceived; for experience teaches us that the hopes of men, as long as they are fixed on the earth, are vain and delusive, as they are only mere imaginations. Except then God governs the world there is no salvation to the faithful; for God in that case would delude them with vain promises, and they would flatter themselves with an empty prospect, or hope for that which is not. Hence the Prophet shows how it is that the just shall live by faith; and that is because the Lord will defend all who call upon him, and that inasmuch as he is the just Judge of all the world, he will finally execute judgement on all the wicked, though for a time they act wantonly, and think that they shall escape punishment, because God does not execute upon them immediate vengeance. We now perceive the design of the Prophet.
As to the words, these two particles, אף כי, aph ki, when joined together, amplify the meaning; and some render them—”how much more;” others take them as a simple affirmative, and render them “truly.” I approve of a middle course, and render them “yea, truly;” ( Etiam certe;) and they are so taken as I think, in Gen 3:1, Satan thus asked the woman—yea, truly! Est-ce pour vrai? for the question is that of one doubting, and yet it refers to what is certain,—“How comes it that God should interdict the eating of the fruit? yea, is it so truly? can it be so? So it is in this place, yea, truly, says the Prophet. That it is an amplification may be gathered from the context. He had said before that they who elevate themselves, or seem to themselves to be well fortified, are fearful in their minds, and driven backwards and forwards. He now advances another step—that when men are borne along by unrestrained wantonness, and promise themselves all things, as though there was no God, they surpass even the drunken, being hurried on by blind cupidity. When therefore men thus abandon themselves, can they escape the judgement of God? Far less bearable is such a madness than that simple arrogance of which he had spoken in the last verse. Thus then are the two verses connected together,—“Yea, truly, he who in his pride is like a drunken man, and restrains not himself, and who is even like to wild beasts or to the grave, devouring whatever meets them—he surely will not at length be endured by God.” Vengeance, then, is nigh to all the proud, who are cruelly furious, passing all bounds and without any fear.
But interpreters differ as to the import of the words which follow. Some render בוגד, bugad, to deceive, and it means so in some places; and they render the clause thus—“Wine deceives a proud man, and he will not dwell.” This is indeed true, but the meaning is strained; I therefore prefer to follow the commonly received interpretation—that the proud man transgresses as it were through wine. At the same time I do not agree with others as to the expression “transgressing as through wine.” Some give this version—“Man addicted to wine or to drunkenness transgresses;” and then they add—“a proud man will not inhabit;” but they pervert the sentence, and mangle the words of the Prophet; for his words are— By wine transgressing the proud man: he does not say that a man addicted to wine transgresses; but he compares the proud to drunken men, who, forgetting all reason and shame, abandon themselves unto all that is disgraceful; for the drunken distinguishes nothing, and becomes like a brute animal, so that he shuns nothing that is base and unbecoming. This is the reason why the Prophet compares proud men to the drunken, who transgress through wine, that is, who observe no moderation, but indulge themselves in excesses. We now then understand the real meaning of the Prophet, which many have not perceived. (31)
As to the word inhabiting I take it in a metaphorical sense, as signifying to rest or to continue in the same place. The drunken are borne along by a certain excitement; so they do not restrain themselves, for they have no power over their feet or their hands: but as wine excites them, so they ramble here and there like insane persons. As then such an unruly temper lays hold on and bewilders drunken men, so the Prophet very aptly says that the proud man never rests.
And the reason follows, (provided the meaning be approved,) because he enlarges as the grave his soul he is like to death. This is then the insatiableness which he had mentioned—that the proud cannot be satisfied, and therefore include heaven and earth and sea within the compass of their desires. Since then they thus run here and there, it is no wonder that the Prophet says that they do not rest. He enlarges then as the grave his soul; and then he adds— he heaps together, or congregates, or collects to himself all nations, and accumulates to himself all people; that is, the proud man keeps within no moderate limits; for though he were able to make one heap of all nations, he would yet think that not enough, like Alexander, who wept because he had not then enjoyed the empire of the whole world; and had he enjoyed it his tears would not have been dried; for he had heard that, according to the opinion of Democritus, there were many worlds. What did he mean? even this “Were I to obtain the empire of the world, I should still be poor; for if there are more worlds I should still wish to devour them all.” These proud men surpass every kind of drunkenness.
We now apprehend the meaning of the words; and though they contain a general truth, yet the Prophet no doubt applies them to the king of Babylon and to all the Chaldeans; for as it has been said, he includes the whole nation. He shows then here, that the Chaldeans were much worse and less excusable than those who with great fierceness elated themselves, for their rage carried them farther, as they wished to swallow up the whole world. But in order to express this more fully, he says that they were like drunken men; and he no doubt indirectly derides here the counsels of princes, who think themselves to be very wise, when either by deceit they oppress their neighbors, or by artful means seize for themselves on the lands of others, or by some contrivance, or even by force of arms, take possession of them. As princes take wonderful delight in their iniquities, so the Prophet says that they are like drunken men who transgress by wine, that is, who are completely overcome by excessive drinking; and at the same time he shows the cause of this drunkenness by mentioning the words גבר יהיר, “proud man.” As then they are proud, so all their crafts are like the freaks of drunkenness, that is, furious, as when a man is deprived of reason by wine. Having thus spoken of the Babylonians he immediately adds—
(31) Though the general meaning of the beginning of this verse is what most critics agree in, yet the construction is difficult. The only difference as to the meaning is, whether the proud man is said to be given to wine, or is compared to such an one, or to wine itself. Newcome takes the first, and gives this version—
Moreover, as a mighty man transgresseth through wine, He is proud, and remaineth not at rest.
Henderson, agreeing with Grotius and Mede, takes the latter sense, and renders the line as follows:—
Moreoever wine is treacherous; The haughty man stayeth not at home.
This is rather a paraphrase than a version; but this is the meaning of which the words are most capable. The two first participles need not be connected according to what Calvin proposes. Then the distich may be thus rendered—
And truly, as wine is treacherous, So is the proud man, and he will not rest.
Then follows a delineation of his character—
Because he enlarges as the grave his desire, And he is like death and cannot be satisfied; For he gathers to himself all the nations, And collects to himself all the people.
As to wine being treacherous, see Pro 30:1. Wine is pleasant to the taste and inviting in its color, but degrading, when taken immoderately, in its effects; so a proud and arrogant man is at first glittering and plausible, and splendid in his appearance, but afterwards cruel and oppressive. This seems to be the most obvious similitude, as contained in the passage.
Parkhurst renders the two first lines as follows—
Yea, as when wine deceiveth a man, So he is proud, and is not at rest.
He interprets “proud,” as meaning “intoxicated with power and dominion,” and refers to Dan 4:30.— Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Hab. 2:5.] The thought further developed by a proverbial saying with special reference to the Chaldeans. They were given to wine and insatiable conquest. Wine is treacherous; the haughty man stayeth not at home [Hend.] (cf. Pro. 30:1). Prond] Elated, haughty (Pro. 21:24). Home] For he longs to go forth to destroy. Desire] Lit. soul; passions widen or enlarge the soul (Psa. 27:12; Psa. 41:2-3; Isa. 5:14). Hell] Which is insatiable (Pro. 30:15). Death] Which spares none, but swallows up every living thing (Pro. 27:20). Gather] Lit. hath gathered. He describes it, for the rapidity with which he completes what he longs for, as though it were already done [Pusey].
HOMILETICS
WINE A DECEIVER.Hab. 2:5
This verse not only developes the thought of the preceding, but adds another feature. Yea also, i.e. add to this that wine is treacherous [cf. Keil]. The general rule is applied to all oppressors, and especially to the Chaldeans, who were addicted to the sins here described.
I. Wine deceives in its nature. Its victims are mocked and grievously deceived. Wine promises pleasures which it cannot give. Strong drink is raging, not that good creature which some think it is. Intoxicating drinks abuse men, deceive, and lead them astray. They are overcome, beguiled, and befooled before they are aware. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
II. Wine deceives in its effects. That it strengthens the system is a deception; chemistry has shown that it contains no nourishment for the body. That it enriches the national revenue is a deception. It is true that the taxes on alcoholic drinks bring millions annually into the national exchequer, but how much of the wealth of the nation does it exhaust by the pauperism and crime which it creates! Alcoholic drink is the great false prophet in England [Dr. Thomas]. Prince and people, priest and prophet, have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way.
Ah! sly deceiver! branded oer and oer,
Yet still believed! exulting oer the wrecks
Of sober vows [Armstrong, I., M.D., 1744].
WINE AND ITS ASSOCIATES.Hab. 2:5
Drunkenness itself is sin, and is the cause of other sins. Those who are given to wine are sensual and voluptuous. Wine never stands alone. We have here its associated evils.
I. Pride. He is a proud man. The proud man thinks too much of himself, despises others, and is arrogant in his conduct, dealeth in proud wrath. Pharaoh, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar are fearful examples of pride. Flushed with wine, Belshazzar and his princes desecrated the sacred vessels and insulted God. The drunkenness of the inhabitants enabled Cyrus to take Babylon, well provisioned and strongly fortified. Pride is a vice, says Hooker, which cleaveth so fast unto the hearts of men, that if we were to strip ourselves of all faults one by one we should undoubtedly find it the very last and hardest to put off. A mans pride shall bring him low.
II. Ambition. Neither keepeth at home. Restless in spirit and in condition. Though home be a palace, to a discontented mind it is a prison. Drunk with ambition, as well as wine, the Chaldeans were not satisfied with their splendid kingdom, but sought to enlarge it. The world cannot fill the abyss of the soul without God. The man who treads others under his feet exalts his gate (Pro. 17:19) above his neighbour, affects a style beyond his rank, and seeks destruction. Think of Alexander, Csar, and Napoleon. When Philip was thrown down in the games he saw the marks of his body, and said, How little a parcel of earth will hold us when we are dead, who are ambitiously seeking after the whole world while living.
III. Covetousness. Who enlargeth his desire as hell, &c. Covetousness and greed of wealth result from pride. Covetous men invade the rights and seize the property of others. One nation will not satisfy without another. The ambitious gathereth unto him all nations and heapeth unto him all people. This passion is never satisfied.
1. It is like Hades, which devours in its desire and act, and ever cries Give, give. Hell and destruction are never full.
2. It is like death, which has slain its millions and ready to take as many more. Death spares none but is terrible to all. Hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Hab. 2:5-6. Desire. Could you change the solid earth into a single lump of gold, and drop it into the gaping mouth of avarice, it would only be a crumb of transient comfort, a cordial drop, enabling it to cry a little louder, Give, give [Royal Preacher].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(5) Yea, also. . . .Better, Add, too, that wine is treacherous (and that) he is a braggart and cannot be quiet, whose appetite is large as (that of) Hades. The rest of the verse illustrates this last-named characteristicrestless, rapacious ambition. Two more charges are thus added to the gravamen of Hab. 2:4. Not only are the Chaldans arrogant, but drunkards, and insatiably covetous. The former charge is expressed in a kind of proverb, (It is a known fact that) wine is treacherous. Perhaps the aphorisms of Pro. 20:1 are in Habakkuks mind: Wine is a mocker, strong drink is noisy. The other charge, that of rapacity, also recalls the Book of Proverbs, where the insatiable appetite of death and Hades is twice described. (See Pro. 27:20; Pro. 30:16.) The charge of drunkenness is illustrated in Rawlinson, Ancient Monarchies, vol. 2, 504-507.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Hab 2:5 seems to be an oracle by itself, though in thought it is an expansion of Hab 2:4 a, describing, as it does, the character of the Chaldean. But, while the general import of the verse is clear, the interpretation of details is uncertain; and it seems almost beyond doubt that the text has suffered in transmission. A few simple changes would produce the following: “Yea, moreover, treacherous as wine is he, a haughty man, who keepeth not at home, who enlargeth his desire as Sheol; he is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples.” These words are a description of the lust of conquest that impels the Chaldeans to overrun the whole earth and of the treachery they practice when dealing with other nations.
Hell Better, R.V., “Sheol.” The abode of the departed; it is pictured here, as elsewhere, as a devouring, insatiable monster (see on Hos 13:14; compare Isa 5:14). As Sheol seeks to devour all, so the Chaldeans are not satisfied until all nations have become their prey.
Hab 2:5 marks the transition to the five woes in Hab 2:6-20. Now the Chaldean is the triumphant conqueror, but his doom is determined in the heavenly councils; therefore the oppressed nations may begin their song of rejoicing over his downfall. The ancient Babylonian Kings took comparatively little interest in war; but the Chaldean power, which was the heir of Assyria, continued the latter’s cruel policy.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Hab 2:5-6. Yea, also, &c. A transgressor by wine, is quite foreign to the subject; nor do the Syriac, LXX, or Arabic mention any thing of it. Houbigant renders the verse, very agreeably to the context, thus, For he, though he is a despiser, and powerful, and proud, yet shall he not have rest. After he shall have enlarged his desire as the grave, and as death, he shall not be satisfied; and after he shall have gathered to him all nations, and have heaped unto him all people. Hab 2:6. For all these things they shall take up a parable, &c.Woe to him who hath heaped together those things which were not his; and hath made his chain more thick and heavy; “has increased his power and majesty by his rapine and plunder.” See his note, and the LXX.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Hab 2:5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, [he is] a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and [is] as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:
Ver. 5. Yea, also because he transgresseth by wine ] Or, How much more because he is a wine bibber, perfidious, proud, neither keepeth at home. These four faults the prophet here layeth to the charge of the Babylonian, and therehence inferreth for the comfort of the distressed captives, that his destruction cannot be far off; and therefore the just should meanwhile live by faith, and bear up under affliction. For if those that believe not the promises, but shift and shark for help and comfort elsewhere, shall smart for their unbelief, as Hab 2:4 , where shall those appear that are here described? shall these bipedum nequissimi, worst of men, escape by iniquity? Never think it. First, their drunkenness alone would undo them; as it did Amnon, Elah, Nabal, Belshazzar, Bonosus, &c. Aristotle saith, that double punishments are due to drunkards ( T ): first for their drunkenness, and then for other sins committed in and by their drunkenness. Nebuchadnezzar (or, as some will have it, Belshazzar) is here called, wine, or (by an ordinary elipsis) a man of wine; not only Meribibulus, but a deep and desperate drunkard, a very tundish a (as Diotimus of Athens was called), a hogshead, as young Cicero. No wonder therefore though he were all the rest that followeth. 1. Perfidious, to those that committed themselves to his trust, or made leagues with him, which he kept no longer than stood with his profit. 2. Proud, or arrogant, Pro 21:24 . See Dan 4:30 , how he spreads his peacock’s tail, and prides himself in it: his great wealth tumoured him up with great swealth.
3. He keepeth not at home
4. He enlargeth his desire as hell
And is as death
And cannot be satisfied
But gathereth unto him all nations, &c.
a A wooden dish or shallow vessel with a tube at the bottom fitting into the bung-hole of a tun or cask, forming a kind of funnel used in brewing. D
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
transgresseth = = is transgressing, or is acting deceitfully.
wine. Hebrew. yayin. App-27.
man = strong man.
desire = soul. Hebrew. nephesh.
hell = Sheol. See App-35. Compare Isa 5:14.
is = he [is].
people = peoples
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
The proclamations fall into two parts. The first is concerned with the “puffed up,” the second concerns the righteous.
The “puffed up” are described as haughty, ambitious, conquering, against whom the prophet pronounces certain woes.
In considering these the progress is to be carefully noted. The first was against ambition, which was described. The judgment pronounced against it was a revolt of the oppressed, and retribution in kind. The second was against covetousness, that lust for possession at the expense of others. Judgment was to be the subjugated people rising against the oppressor, the stones and beams of the house testifying. The third was against violence, the infliction of cruel sufferings on the subjugated. Judgment was that the very cities so built should be destroyed. The fourth was against insolence, the brutal act of making a man drunk, and then making sport of him. Its judgment was to be retribution in kind. The fifth was against idolatry, the description of which was wholly satirical. Its judgment was declared to be unanswering gods.
The final statement of the prophet in this connection declared that he had found the solution, “The Lord is in His holy temple.” The apparent strength of wickedness is false. Jehovah reigns.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
hell
Sheol is, in the O.T., the place to which the dead go.
(1) Often, therefore, it is spoken of as the equivalent of the grave, merely, where all human activities cease; the terminus toward which all human life moves (e.g. Gen 42:38 grave Job 14:13 grave Psa 88:3 grave
(2) To the man “under the sun,” the natural man, who of necessity judges from appearances, sheol seems no more than the grave– the end and total cessation, not only of the activities of life, but of life itself. Ecc 9:5; Ecc 9:10
(3) But Scripture reveals sheol as a place of sorrow 2Sa 22:6; Psa 18:5; Psa 116:3; in which the wicked are turned Psa 9:17 and where they are fully conscious; Isa 14:9-17; Eze 32:21 see, especially, Jon 2:2 what the belly of the great fish was to Jonah that sheol is to those who are therein). The sheol of the O.T. and hades of the N.T. (See Scofield “Luk 16:23”) are identical.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Yea also: or, How much more
he transgresseth: Pro 20:1, Pro 23:29-33, Pro 31:4, Pro 31:5, Isa 5:11, Isa 5:12, Isa 5:22, Isa 5:23, Isa 21:5, Jer 51:39, Dan 5:1-4, Dan 5:23, Nah 1:9, Nah 1:10
a proud man: Hab 2:4, Psa 138:6, Pro 30:13, Pro 30:14, Isa 2:11, Isa 2:12, Isa 2:17, Isa 16:6, Jer 50:29, Dan 5:20-23, Jam 4:6
keepeth: 2Ki 14:10, 1Th 4:11,*Gr.
who: Isa 5:8, Isa 10:7-13
as hell: Pro 27:20, Pro 30:15, Pro 30:16, Ecc 5:10
gathereth: Hab 2:8-10, Isa 14:16, Isa 14:17, Jer 25:9, Jer 25:17-29
Reciprocal: Ecc 4:8 – is his Isa 5:14 – hell Isa 10:14 – And my Isa 33:1 – thee that Isa 47:8 – I am Jer 43:2 – all the Jer 50:1 – against Babylon Jer 50:31 – O thou Jer 51:13 – abundant Dan 4:30 – Is not Dan 5:19 – that he Dan 7:4 – lifted Hos 12:8 – I have Amo 1:13 – ripped up the women with child Mic 2:2 – they covet Mic 6:10 – the treasures Hab 1:9 – for Hab 1:17 – and 2Co 6:11 – our heart Jam 4:2 – lust Rev 6:8 – was Death
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hab 2:5. This and a number of verses following describe some characteristics of the Chaldeans who were destined finally to come against Judah. Neither keepeth at home indicates the practice of that heathen nation in seeking further territory to subdue. In the pursuit of such a desire it gathers unto him all nations. This explains the motive that Babylon had in subduing Judah although it was the decree of God that his people be taken into that captivity. But since the motive was wrong, the Lord was determined to punish that heathen nation, which accounts for these verses against it.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Hab 2:5. Yea also, because he Namely, the king of Babylon; transgresseth by wine Hereby Belshazzar, his city and kingdom, fell a prey to Darius and Cyrus. He is a proud man Insolent in his behaviour toward all, whether subjects, strangers, or conquered enemies; such pride shall have a fall. Neither keepeth at home Is always abroad, warring upon some nation or other. The sense, some think, would be plainer, if the words were thus translated: Moreover, like a man transgressing by wine, he is proud, and shall not continue, or prosper. So the Chaldee paraphrase and Vulgate interpret the words. Who enlargeth his desire as hell Or rather, as the grave. He is most insatiably greedy to devour all, and as far from saying, It is enough, as the grave is. And is as death As pernicious and ravenous. And cannot be satisfied All is too little for him. But gathereth unto him all nations Addeth one after another of the neighbouring nations to his kingdom; and heapeth unto him all people Another expression of the same import. Now all these things, predicted of the future disposition of the kings of Babylon and their kingdom, were sure presages of their not continuing long in power and grandeur, but that divine vengeance would soon overtake them. Accordingly at this verse begins the denunciation against the Chaldean, or Babylonian empire, which is spoken of as comprised under one head, who is described as intoxicated with his successes, and not knowing how to set any bounds to his ambition; but still, as his conquests enlarged, his desire of having more increased. Death and the grave are proverbial emblems of an insatiable temper.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Hab 2:5-20. Woes on the Evil-doer.
Hab 2:5 f. Woe on the insatiable conqueror, who treacherously gathers to himself the heritage of all the nations, only to be the victim of their bitterest maledictions.
Hab 2:5. As Davidson acknowledges, all efforts to educe sense must fail with the present text. A few slight changes yield the following: Ah! proud and treacherous man, haughty and never satisfied, who enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and like Death is never satisfied, etc.
Hab 2:6. parable: rather taunt-song (cf. Num 21:27).taunting proverb: lit. a satire, even riddles (dark sayings, with a sting in them, working out their curse upon their victims).
Hab 2:6-8. Woe to him that amasseth what is not his, and runneth up debts on pledge. Soon shall his victims awake and torment him, even all whom he has spoiled shall turn and spoil him.
Hab 2:6. How long? a marginal note which should be omitted.pledges: rather debts on pledge.
Hab 2:7. The word noshekim means both biters and payers of interest (lit. biters from the capital sum).
Hab 2:9-11. Woe to him that hath built his house on evil gains, and by cruel and oppressive means. Though he have set that house high as an eagles nest, he has only brought shame upon it, besides forfeiting his own life. The very stones and beams will take up the cry of vengeance for the blood that is shed.
Hab 2:10. consulted: rather, planned (the result being regarded as the deliberate intention of the act).
Hab 2:11. answer: i.e. re-echo the cry for justice.On the sympathy of inanimate objects with the victims of oppression cf. Job 31:38.
Hab 2:12-14. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and foundeth a city on crime. In such case shall not the peoples toil but for the fire (labour at what must soon be destroyed), and weary themselves for naught?
Hab 2:13 f. The context is awkwardly broken by the citation from Isa 11:9, introduced by the formula, Behold it is (these words are) from Yahweh of Hosts.
Hab 2:15-17. Woe to him that maketh his neighbour drunk, filling his land and cities with bloodshed and violence. To him also shall the cup pass round: he too shall be made drunk, and his glory turned into shame and ruin.
Hab 2:15. The text is somewhat confused Read perhaps, Woe . . . drink, from his glowing cup (or, the cup of his wrath) to utter drunkenness, that he may look on his shame. As applied to the Chaldeans, this must be understood of the violence that laid the nations prostrate, powerless, and disgraced (cf. Isa 51:17, Jer 25:15 ff.).
Hab 2:16 f. The oppressor is to be paid back in his own coin: the devastation he has wrought in mountain, field, and city will overwhelm himself.For hearel, be uncircumcised, read herael, stagger (LXX).cover: overwhelm.Read, the havoc thou hast made of cattle shall dismay thee (cf. mg.). Such ruthless destruction of forest, city, and cattle is amply attested by the Assyrian monuments.
Hab 2:18-20. Woe on the senseless idolator, who bids the wood and dumb stone rise and teach him. It may be finely overlaid with gold and silver, but there is no breath in it. As against this vain show, Yahweh dwells in His holy Temple, claiming the reverent adoration of all the earth. Him alone let men worship and serve.
Hab 2:18. the teacher of lies: rather, the lying oracle (in reference to the image itself).the maker of his work: probably just its maker (yotsero).
Hab 2:20. silence: the reverential hush that befits the near presence of the Divine.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
2:5 Yea also, because {e} he transgresseth by wine, [he is] a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and [is] as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth to him all nations, and heapeth to him all people:
(e) He compares the proud and covetous man to a drunkard that is without reason and sense, whom God will punish and make a laughing stock to all the world: and this he speaks for the comfort of the godly, and against the Chaldeans.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord advanced the thought of Hab 2:4 further. When a person drinks too much wine it leads him to reveal his pride publicly. The Babylonians were known for their consumption of wine (e.g., Daniel 5). Wine makes a person dissatisfied with his present situation and possessions, and he often leaves his home to find more elsewhere (cf. Pro 23:31-32). The proud person is never satisfied, like death that consumes people every day and never stops. Babylon was similar, opening wide its jaws to consume all peoples. The proud person also seeks to dominate others, and this too marked Babylon. These were the evidences of Babylon’s pride and the basis of Yahweh’s indictment of this nation (cf. Hab 1:17).
"Sheol is, in the O.T., the place to which the dead go. (1) Often, therefore, it is spoken of as the equivalent of the grave, where all human activities cease; the terminus toward which all human life moves (e.g. Gen 42:38; Job 14:13; Psa 88:3). (2) To the man ’under the sun,’ the natural man, who of necessity judges from appearances, sheol seems no more than the grave-the end and total cessation, not only of the activities of life, but also of life itself (Ecc 9:5; Ecc 9:10). But (3) Scripture reveals sheol as a place of sorrow (2Sa 22:6; Psa 18:5; Psa 116:3), into which the wicked are turned (Psa 9:17), and where they are fully conscious (Isa 14:9-17; Eze 32:21). Compare Jon 2:2; what the belly of the great fish was to Jonah, sheol is to those who are therein. The sheol of the O.T. and hades of the N.T. are identical." [Note: The New Scofield Reference Bible, p. 954.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Hab 2:1-20
Hab 2:5-20
The dramatic piece Hab 1:2-17; Hab 2:1-4 is succeeded by a series of fine taunt-songs, starting after an introduction from Hab 2:6 b, then Hab 2:9, Hab 2:11, Hab 2:15, and Hab 2:18-19, and each opening with “Woe!” Their subject is, if we take Buddes interpretation of the dramatic piece, the Assyrian and not the Chaldean tyrant. The text, as we shall see when we come to it, is corrupt. Some words are manifestly wrong, and the rhythm must have suffered beyond restoration. In all probability these fine lyric Woes, or at least as many of them as are authentic-for there is doubt about one or two-were of equal length. Whether they all originally had the refrain now attached to two is more doubtful.
Hitzig suspected the authenticity of some parts of this series of songs. Stade and Kuenen have gone further and denied the genuineness of Hab 2:9-20. But this is with little reason. As Budde says, a series of Woes was to be expected here by a prophet who follows so much the example of Isaiah Isa 5:8 ff., Isa 10:1-4, etc. In spite of Kuenens objection, Hab 2:9-11 would not be strange of the Chaldean, but they suit the Assyrian better. Hab 2:12-14 are doubtful: Hab 2:12 recalls Mic 3:10 is a repetition of Jer 51:58, Hab 2:14 is a variant of Isa 40:9 . Very likely Jer 51:58, a late passage, is borrowed from this passage; yet the addition used here, “Are not these things from the Lord of Hosts?” looks as if it noted a citation. Hab 2:15-17 are very suitable to the Assyrian; there is no reason to take them from Habakkuk. The final song, Hab 2:18-19, has its Woe at the beginning of its second verse, and closely resembles the language of later prophets. Moreover the refrain forms a suitable close at the end of Hab 2:17. Hab 2:20 is a quotation from Zephaniah, perhaps another sign of the composite character of the end of this chapter. Some take it to have been inserted as an introduction to the theophany in chapter 3.
Smend has drawn up a defense of the whole passage, if Hab 2:9-20, which he deems not only to stand in a natural relation to Hab 2:4-8, but to be indispensable to them. That the passage quotes from other prophets, he holds to be no proof against its authenticity. If we break off with Hab 2:8, he thinks that we must impute to Habakkuk the opinion that the wrongs of the world are chiefly avenged by human means-a conclusion which is not to be expected after Habbakkuk 1- Hab 2:1 ff.
TYRANNY IS SUICIDE
Hab 2:5-20
IN the style of his master Isaiah, Habakkuk follows up his “Vision” with a series of lyrics on the same subject: Hab 2:5-20. They are taunt-songs, the most of them beginning with “Woe unto,” addressed to the heathen oppressor. Perhaps they were all at first of equal length, and it has been suggested that the striking refrain in which two of them close:-
“For mens blood, and earths waste, Cities and their inhabitants-“
was once attached to each of the others as well. But the text has been too much altered, besides suffering several interpolation, to permit of its restoration, and we can only reproduce these taunts as they now run in the Hebrew text. There are several quotations (not necessarily an argument against Habakkuks authorship); but, as a whole, the expression is original, and there are some lines of especial force and freshness. Hab 2:5-6 a are properly an introduction, the first Woe commencing with Hab 2:6 b.
The belief which inspires these songs is very simple. Tyranny is intolerable. In the nature of things it cannot endure, but works out its own penalties. By oppressing so many nations, the tyrant is preparing the instruments of his own destruction. As he treats them, so in time shall they treat him. He is like a debtor who increases the number of his creditors. Some day they shall rise up and exact from him the last penny. So that in cutting off others he is “but forfeiting his own life.” The very, violence done to nature, the deforesting of Lebanon for instance, and the vast hunting of wild beasts, shall recoil on him. This line of thought is exceedingly interesting. We have already seen in prophecy, and especially in Isaiah, the beginnings of Hebrew Wisdom-the attempt to uncover the moral processes of life and express a philosophy of history But hardly anywhere have we found so complete an absence of all reference to the direct interference of God Himself in the punishment of the tyrant; for “the cup of Jehovahs right hand” in ver. 16 is simply the survival of an ancient metaphor These “proverbs” or “taunt-songs,” in conformity with the proverbs of the later Wisdom, dwell only upon the inherent tendency to decay of all injustice. Tyranny, they assert, and history ever since has affirmed their truthfulness-tyranny is suicide.
The last of the taunt-songs, which treats of the different subject of idolatry, is probably, as we have seen, not from Habakkuks hand, but of a later
INTRODUCTION TO THE TAUNT-SONGS
{Hab 2:5-6}
“For treacherous, An arrogant fellow, and is not Who opens his desire wide as Sheol; He is like death, unsatisfied; And hath swept to himself all the nations, And gathered to him all peoples. Shall not these, all of them, take up a proverb upon him, And a taunt-song against him? and say”:-
FIRST TAUNT-SONG. {Hab 2:6-8}
“Woe unto him who multiplies what is not his own, -How long?-And loads him with debts! Shall not thy creditors rise up, And thy troublers awake, And thou be for spoil to them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, All the rest of the peoples shall spoil thee. For mens blood, and earths waste, Cities and all their inhabitants.”
SECOND TAUNT-SONG. {Hab 2:9-11}
“Woe unto him that gains evil gain for his house, To set high his nest, to save him from the grasp of calamity! Thou hast planned shame for thy house; Thou hast cut off many people, While forfeiting thine own life. For the stone shall cry out from the wall, And the lath from the timber answer it.”
THIRD TAUNT-SONG. {Hab 2:12-14}
“Woe unto him that builds a city in blood, {Mic 3:10} And stablishes a town in iniquity {Jer 22:13} Lo, is it not from Jehovah of hosts, That the nations shall toil for smoke, And the peoples wear themselves out for nought? But earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, Like the waters that cover the sea”.
FOURTH TAUNT-SONG. {Hab 2:15-17}
“Woe unto him that gives his neighbor to drink, From the cup of his wrath till he be drunken, That he may gloat on his nakedness! Thou art sated with shame-not with glory; Drink also thou, and stagger. Comes round to thee the cup of Jehovahs right hand, And foul shame on thy glory. For the violence to Lebanon shall cover thee, The destruction of the beasts shall affray thee. For mens blood, and earths waste, Cities and all their inhabitants.”
FIFTH TAUNT-SONG. {Hab 2:18-20}
“What boots an image, when its artist has graven it, A cast-image and lie-oracle, that its molder has trusted upon it, Making dumb idols? Woe to him that saith to a block, Awake! To a dumb stone, Arise! Can it teach? Lo, it with gold and silver; There is no breath at all in the heart of it. But Jehovah is in His Holy Temple: Silence before Him, all the earth.”