New English Translation
Habakkuk 2:6
6“But all these nations will someday taunt him and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: ‘The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead (How long will this go on?) – he who gets rich by extortion!’
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, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, but the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness. 5Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man! His appetite is as big as Sheol’s; like death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations; he seizes all peoples. “But all these nations will someday taunt him and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: ‘The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead (How long will this go on?) – he who gets rich by extortion!’ 7Your creditors will suddenly attack; those who terrify you will spring into action, and they will rob you. 8Because you robbed many countries, all who are left among the nations will rob you. You have shed human blood and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.
Read all of Habakkuk 2Habakkuk 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 uttered his oracle, saying, “Balak, the king of Moab, brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’
- Isaiah 14:4you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: “Look how the oppressor has met his end! Hostility has ceased!
- Jeremiah 29:22And all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use them as examples when they put a curse on anyone. They will say, “May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted to death in the fire!”
- Jeremiah 50:13After I vent my wrath on it Babylon will be uninhabited. It will be totally desolate. All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn because of all the disasters that have happened to it.
- Ezekiel 32:21The bravest of the warriors will speak to him from the midst of Sheol along with his allies, saying: ‘The uncircumcised have come down; they lie still, killed by the sword.’
- Micah 2:4In that day people will sing this taunt song to you – they will mock you with this lament: ‘We are completely destroyed; they sell off the property of my people. How they remove it from me! They assign our fields to the conqueror.’
- Habakkuk 1:9All of them intend to do violence; every face is determined. They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand.
- Job 20:15The wealth that he consumed he vomits up, God will make him throw it out of his stomach.
- Job 22:6“For you took pledges from your brothers for no reason, and you stripped the clothing from the naked.
- Proverbs 22:16The one who oppresses the poor to increase his own gain and the one who gives to the rich – both end up only in poverty.
- Jeremiah 51:34“King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon devoured me and drove my people out. Like a monster from the deep he swallowed me. He filled his belly with my riches. He made me an empty dish. He completely cleaned me out.”
- James 5:1Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud over the miseries that are coming on you.
- Psalms 94:3O Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked celebrate?
- Luke 12:20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
- 1 Corinthians 7:29And I say this, brothers and sisters: The time is short. So then those who have wives should be as those who have none,
- 1 Peter 4:7For the culmination of all things is near. So be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of prayer.
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
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
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