Habakkuk 1:14

Habakkuk 1:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
• English Standard Version (ESV)You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Why do You make men like fish of the sea, Like creeping things that have no ruler over them?
• New Living Translation (NLT)Are we only fish to be caught and killed? Are we only sea creatures that have no leader?

Context of Habakkuk 1:14

12Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. 13Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? You have made people like the fish in the sea, like the sea creatures that have no ruler. 15The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. 16Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food.

Habakkuk 1:14 word by word

וַתַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֖ם כִּדְגֵ֣י הַיָּ֑ם כְּרֶ֖מֶשׂ לֹא־מֹשֵׁ֥ל בּֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And makestעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• menאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• as the fishesדָּגdâg dâ'g · fishH1709
• of the seaיָםyâm · seaH3220
• as the creeping thingsרֶ֫מֶשׂremeώ · creepingH7431
• no rulerמָשַׁלmâshal · to ruleH4910

Cross-references for Habakkuk 1:14

• Proverbs 6:7It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,

Commentaries on Habakkuk 1:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14Makest men as the fishes of the sea - Easily are we taken and destroyed. We have no leader to guide us, and no power to defend ourselves. Nebuchadnezzar is here represented as a fisherman, who is constantly casting his nets into the sea, and enclosing multitudes of fishes; and, being always successful, he sacrifices to his own net - attributes all his conquests to his own power and prudence; not considering that he is only like a net that after having…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14And makest men as the fishes of the sea - mute, helpless, in a stormy, restless element, no cry heard, but themselves swept away in shoals, with no power to resist. As the creeping things - whether of the land (as it is mostly used), or the sea Psalm 104:25. Either way, it is a contemptuous name for the lowest of either. That have no ruler over them - none to guide, order, protect them, and so a picture of man deprived of the care and providence of God.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-17Verses 12-17 However matters may be, yet God is the Lord our God, our Holy One. We are an offending people, he is an offended God, yet we will not entertain hard thoughts of him, or of his service. It is great comfort that, whatever mischief men design, the Lord designs good, and we are sure that his counsel shall stand. Though wickedness may prosper a while, yet God is holy, and does not approve the wickedness. As he cannot do iniquity himself, so he is…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-15fish … hook … dragnet: Habakkuk describes the Babylonians as fishermen who pull conquered peoples in like fish, showing how easily they captured their enemies.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. And--that is, And so, by suffering oppressors to go unpunished, "Thou makest men as the fishes ... that have no ruler"; that is, no defender. All may fish in the sea with impunity; so the Chaldeans with impunity afflict Thy people, as these have no longer the God of the theocracy, their King, to defend them. Thou reducest men to such a state of anarchy, by wrong going unpunished, as if there were no God. He compares the world to the sea; men to…Read the comment

Topics related to Habakkuk 1:14

• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• the sea, the Great Sea, the western sea
• Possess
• Pure
• Scoff
• Wrong
• Habakkuk

Commentaries on Habakkuk 1

• 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