Habakkuk 2:6

Habakkuk 2:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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!
• New International Version (NIV)“Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “ ‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’
• English Standard Version (ESV)Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say, "Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own— for how long?— and loads himself with pledges!"
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Will not all these take 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 with many pledges’?

Context of Habakkuk 2:6

4Look now! The enemy is very proud. They do not want to do what is right. But righteous people will live because of their faith in God. 5Wine will destroy that proud enemy. They do not stop attacking other people. They never have enough for themselves. They are like death that is so hungry that it eats as much as it can. The deep hole of death eats everything. The cruel enemy is like that! They want all the nations to belong to them. They catch everyone to be their prisoners. But one day, their prisoners will laugh at them. The people will insult that proud nation with songs and proverbs. They will say, “You have stored for yourselves many valuable things that do not belong to you. It will be very bad for you! You have robbed other nations so that you can be rich. This will not continue much longer!” 7The people that have lent their riches to you will suddenly attack. They will come to take back their things and you will be very afraid. Now they will come to rob you! 8You have robbed many nations. You have murdered people in many lands. You have destroyed towns and the people who live in them. Now the people who remain will come to rob you.

Habakkuk 2:6 word by word

הֲלוֹא־אֵ֣לֶּה כֻלָּ֗ם עָלָיו֙ מָשָׁ֣ל יִשָּׂ֔אוּ וּמְלִיצָ֖ה חִיד֣וֹת ל֑וֹ וְיֹאמַ֗ר ה֚וֹי הַמַּרְבֶּ֣ה לֹּא־ל֔וֹ עַד־מָתַ֕י וּמַכְבִּ֥יד עָלָ֖יו עַבְטִֽיט׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Shall not all these take upנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: loudH5375
• a parableמָשָׁלmâshâl · proverbH4912
• against him, and a tauntingמְלִיצָהmelîytsâh · mockeryH4426
• proverbחִידָהchîydâh · riddleH2420
• against him, and sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Woeהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
• to him that increasethרָבָהrâbâh · to multiplyH7235
• not his! how long? and to him that ladethכָּבֵדkâbad kâbêd · to honor: heavyH3513
• himself with thick clayעַבְטִיט‛abţîyţ · debtH5671

Cross-references for Habakkuk 2:6

• Numbers 23:7Then Balaam started to speak his message from God. He said, ‘Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Syria. He brought me from the mountains in the east. He said “Come and curse Jacob's descendants for me. Say bad things against the Israelites!”
• Isaiah 14:4Then you will laugh at the king of Babylon. You will say to him, ‘Now you cannot be cruel to us any more! Your power to cause trouble has finished!
• Jeremiah 29:22They will be an example to the people of Judah who are now living in Babylon. When they want to curse someone, they will say, “May the Lord punish you in the same way that the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah and Ahab. He burned them to death in a fire!”
• Jeremiah 50:13Nobody will live in Babylon, because I, the Lord, am very angry with it. It will be only a heap of stones. Everyone who goes that way will see that it is a disgusting place. They will insult Babylon, because of the terrible troubles that have happened to it.’
• Ezekiel 32:21In the place of dead people, brave soldiers will welcome the people of Egypt and those who helped them. They will say, “They have come down to join us who do not belong to God. They have died in battle and now they lie in their graves.”
• Micah 2:4At that time, your enemies will laugh at you. They will sing this sad song against you: “God has completely destroyed us! We no longer have any fields, because God has taken them away from us. He has given them to our enemies, who have turned away from what is right.”
• Habakkuk 1:9Their whole army comes to do violent things. They march forward like a wind from the desert. They make people their prisoners, as easily as if they are picking up sand.
• Job 20:15Like a person who is sick and loses the food from his stomach, God will cause the wicked person to lose all his riches.
• Job 22:6You took things from your friends when you lent money to them. You had no reason to do that. You even took away the only clothes that poor people were wearing.
• Proverbs 22:16Someone may be cruel to poor people to make himself rich. Someone else may give gifts to rich people to make them his friends. But both those people will become poor in the end.
• Jeremiah 51:34‘King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has destroyed us with his army. He has made us weak and confused. He has eaten us like a hungry monster. He has filled himself with all our good things. Then he spat us out of his mouth.’
• James 5:1Now, listen to me, you rich people. Weep and cry aloud, because many troubles will soon happen to you.
• Psalms 94:3How long will wicked people continue to be happy? Yes, Lord, how long?
• Luke 12:20But then God said to the man, “You are a fool! Tonight you will die. You will have to leave everything behind that you have stored. Somebody else will have them, but you will not!” ’
• 1 Corinthians 7:29My Christian friends, this is what I mean: The time that remains is very short. So men who have wives should live as if they had no wife.
• 1 Peter 4:7All things in this world will soon come to an end. So you must think clearly. Then you will be able to pray in a serious way.

Commentaries on Habakkuk 2:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6Shall not all these take up a parable against him - His ambition, derangement, and the final destruction of his mighty empire by the Persians, shall form the foundation of many sententious sayings among the people. "He who towered so high, behold how low he is fallen!" "He made himself a god; behold, he herds with the beasts of the field!" "The disturber of the peace of the world is now a handful of dust!"Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him? - Nebuchadnezzar gathered, Daniel 3:4-5, “all people, nations, and languages, to worship the golden image which he had set up.” The second Babylon, pagan Rome, sought to blot out the very Christian Name; but mightier were the three children than the King of Babylon; mightier, virgins, martyrs, and children than Nero or Decius. These shall rejoice over Babylon, that…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-14Verses 5-14 The prophet reads the doom of all proud and oppressive powers that bear hard upon God's people. The lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, are the entangling snares of men; and we find him that led Israel captive, himself led captive by each of these. No more of what we have is to be reckoned ours, than what we come honestly by. Riches are but clay, thick clay; what are gold and silver but white and yellow earth? Those…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6-8In the first of Habakkuk’s taunt songs, he condemns the Babylonians for plundering other nations. him who amasses what is not his and makes himself rich with many loans: The image compares the Babylonians to creditors (people who lend money) who demand harsh repayment. Their oppression causes those they exploit to rise up against them. Greed can damage the spiritual life of both individuals and nations (Luke 12:15; Ephesians 5:3).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. Shall not all these--the "nations" and "peoples" (Ha 2:5) "heaped unto him" by the Chaldean. take up a parable--a derisive song. Habakkuk follows Isaiah (Is 14:4) and Micah (Mi 2:4) in the phraseology. against him--when dislodged from his former eminence. Woe--The "derisive song" here begins, and continues to the end of the chapter. It is a symmetrical whole, and consists of five stanzas, the first three consisting of three verses each, the fourth of…Read the comment

Topics related to Habakkuk 2:6

• Ambition
• Covetousness
• Oppression
• Rulers

In the dictionaries

• Thick clay
• Blood
• Consult
• Proverb
• Put
• Teach
• Weary
• Wood
• Clay
• Figure

Commentaries on Habakkuk 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings