Habakkuk 2:7

Woe to the Wicked

5 “Indeed, because he transgresses by wine,
He is a proud man,
And he does not stay at home.
Because he ^aenlarges his desire as hell,
And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied,
He gathers to himself all nations
And heaps up for himself all peoples.

6 “Will not all these ^atake up a proverb against him,
And a taunting riddle against him, and say,
‘Woe to him who increases
What is not his—how long?
And to him who loads himself with¹ many pledges’?

7 Will not¹ your creditors rise up suddenly?
Will they not awaken who oppress you?
And you will become their booty.

8 ^aBecause you have plundered many nations,
All the remnant of the people shall plunder you,
Because of men’s¹ blood
And the violence of the land and the city,
And of all who dwell in it.

9 “Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house,
That he may ^aset his nest on high,
That he may be delivered from the¹ power of disaster!

Commentaries:

Barnes' Notes

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Habakkuk 2:7

Shall not they rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee? - The destruction of the wicked is ever sudden at last. Such was the flood Luke 17:26-27, the destruction of Sodom, of Pharaoh, of the enemies of God' s people through the Judges, of Sennacherib, Nineveh, Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Such shall the end be Matthew 24:43-44; Matthew 25:13; Luke 17:26-30; Luke 21:34-35; I Thessalonians 5:3; II Peter 3:10; Revelation 16:15. As he by his oppressions had pierced others (it is the word used of the oppression of usury), so should it be done to him. "The Medes and Persians who were before subject to the Babylonian empire, and whose kings were subject to Nebuchudnezzar and his successors, rose up and awaked, i. e., stirred themselves up in the days of Belshazzar to rebel against the successors of Nebuchadnezzar which sat on his throne, like a man who awaketh from sleep." The words "awake," "arise," are used also of the resurrection, when the worm of the wicked gnaweth and dieth not (See Isaiah 14:11; Isaiah 66:24).

And thou shall be for booties unto them? - The common phrase is modified to explain the manifoldness of the plunder which he should yield. So Jeremiah Jeremiah 50:10, "Chaldaea shall be a spoil; all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord." See Cyr: "We may hear Him who saith Matthew 12:29, ' How can one enter into a strong man' s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.' For, as soon as He was born of the holy Virgin, He began to ' spoil his goods.' For the Magi came from the East - and worshiped Him and honored Him with gifts and became a first-fruits of the Church of the Gentiles. And being vessels of Satan, and the most honored of all his members, they hastened to Christ."

**Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Habakkuk 2:7:**

2 Kings 20:14

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