New English Translation
Habakkuk 2:15
15“You who force your neighbor to drink wine are as good as dead – you who make others intoxicated by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger, so you can look at their genitals.
Habakkuk 2:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
- New International Version (NIV)“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink— you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness!
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, Pressing him to your bottle, Even to make him drunk, That you may look on his nakedness!
Context of Habakkuk 2:15
13Be sure of this! The Lord who commands armies has decreed: The nations’ efforts will go up in smoke; their exhausting work will be for nothing. 14For recognition of the Lord’s sovereign majesty will fill the earth just as the waters fill up the sea. “You who force your neighbor to drink wine are as good as dead – you who make others intoxicated by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger, so you can look at their genitals. 16But you will become drunk with shame, not majesty. Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised foreskin! The cup of wine in the Lord’s right hand is coming to you, and disgrace will replace your majestic glory! 17For you will pay in full for your violent acts against Lebanon; terrifying judgment will come upon you because of the way you destroyed the wild animals living there. You have shed human blood and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.
Read all of Habakkuk 2Habakkuk 2:15 word by word
ה֚וֹי מַשְׁקֵ֣ה רֵעֵ֔הוּ מְסַפֵּ֥חַ חֲמָתְךָ֖ וְאַ֣ף שַׁכֵּ֑ר לְמַ֥עַן הַבִּ֖יט עַל־מְעוֹרֵיהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Woeהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
- unto him that giveth his neighbourרֵעַrêa‛ rêya‛ · neighborH7453
- drinkשָׁקָהshâqâh · to water: drinkH8248
- that puttestסָפַחsâphach ώâphach · to attachH5596
- thy bottleחֵ֫מֶתchêmeth · bottleH2573
- drunkenשָׁכַרshâkar · be drunkH7937
- also, that thou mayest lookנָבַטnâbaţ · to lookH5027
- on their nakednessמָעוֹרmâ‛ôr · nakednessH4589
Cross-references for Habakkuk 2:15
- Genesis 19:32Come, let’s make our father drunk with wine so we can have sexual relations with him and preserve our family line through our father.”
- 2 Samuel 11:13Then David summoned him. He ate and drank with him, and got him drunk. But in the evening he went out to sleep on his bed with the servants of his lord; he did not go down to his own house.
- 2 Samuel 13:26Then Absalom said, “If you will not go, then let my brother Amnon go with us.” The king replied to him, “Why should he go with you?”
- Jeremiah 25:15So the Lord, the God of Israel, spoke to me in a vision. “Take this cup from my hand. It is filled with the wine of my wrath. Take it and make the nations to whom I send you drink it.
- Jeremiah 51:7Babylonia had been a gold cup in the Lord’s hand. She had made the whole world drunk. The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath. So they have all gone mad.
- Revelation 17:2with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality and the earth’s inhabitants got drunk with the wine of her immorality.”
- Revelation 18:3For all the nations have fallen from the wine of her immoral passion, and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have gotten rich from the power of her sensual behavior.”
- Hosea 7:5At the celebration of their king, his princes become inflamed with wine; they conspire with evildoers.
- Genesis 9:22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers who were outside.
- Exodus 32:25Moses saw that the people were running wild, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies.
Commentaries on Habakkuk 2:15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15Wo unto him that giveth his neighbor drink - This has been considered as applying to Pharaoh-hophra, king of Egypt, who enticed his neighbors Jehoiachin and Zedekiah to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar, whereby the nakedness and imbecility of the poor Jews was soon discovered; for the Chaldeans soon took Jerusalem, and carried its kings, princes, and people, into captivity.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15From cruelty the prophet goes on to denounce the woe on insolence. “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor” (to whom he owes love) drink (literally, that maketh him drink); that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look (gaze with devilish pleasure) on their nakedness.” This may either be of actual insults (as in the history of Noah), in keeping certainly with the character of the later Babylonians, the last wantonness…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-20Verses 15-20 A severe woe is pronounced against drunkenness; it is very fearful against all who are guilty of drunkenness at any time, and in any place, from the stately palace to the paltry ale-house. To give one drink who is in want, who is thirsty and poor, or a weary traveller, or ready to perish, is charity; but to give a neighbour drink, that he may expose himself, may disclose secret concerns, or be drawn into a bad bargain, or for any such…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15-17In the fourth taunt song, the Babylonians face condemnation for their shameful acts against people, animals, and the environment. They are like a man who pretends to be friendly but, after getting his neighbors drunk, takes everything from them. However, the Babylonians will face disgrace after drinking from the cup of the Lord’s judgment (see Jeremiah 25:15–17; compare John 18:11).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. giveth ... neighbour drink ... puttest ... bottle to him--literally, "skin," as the Easterns use "bottles" of skin for wine. Maurer, from a different Hebrew root, translates, "that pourest in thy wrath." English Version keeps up the metaphor better. It is not enough for thee to be "drunken" thyself, unless thou canst lead others into the same state. The thing meant is, that the Chaldean king, with his insatiable desires (a kind of intoxication)…Read the comment
Topics related to Habakkuk 2:15
In the dictionaries
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries