Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!
Parallel Translations
-
Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!
-
Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
-
Woe to him that gaineth evil gains for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
Cross-references (20)
Passages linked to Habakkuk 2:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 49:16 As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill, though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 22:13-19 “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and doesn’t give him his hire; who says, ‘I will build myself a wide house and spacious rooms,’ and cuts out windows for himself; with a cedar ceiling, and painted with red. “Should you reign, because you strive to excel in cedar? Didn’t your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; so it was well, then. Wasn’t this to know me?” says Yahweh. But your eyes and your heart are only for your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, for oppression, and for doing violence.” Therefore Yahweh says concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “They won’t lament for him, saying, ‘Ah my brother!’ or, ‘Ah sister!’ They won’t lament for him, saying ‘Ah lord!’ or, ‘Ah his glory!’ He will be buried with the burial of a donkey, drawn and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
- Genesis 13:10-13 Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar. So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves from one other. Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against Yahweh.
- Genesis 19:26-38 But Lot’s wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Abraham went up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahweh. He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace. When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived. Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth. Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose. It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up. Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father. The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.
- Deuteronomy 7:25-26 You shall burn the engraved images of their gods with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourself, lest you be snared in it; for it is an abomination to Yahweh your God. You shall not bring an abomination into your house and become a devoted thing like it. You shall utterly detest it. You shall utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.
- Joshua 7:21-26 When I saw among the plunder a beautiful Babylonian robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the ground in the middle of my tent, with the silver under it.” So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent. Behold, it was hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. They took them from the middle of the tent, and brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel. They laid them down before Yahweh. Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor. Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? Yahweh will trouble you today.” All Israel stoned him with stones, and they burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. They raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Yahweh turned from the fierceness of his anger. Therefore the name of that place was called “The valley of Achor” to this day.
- 1 Kings 21:2-4 Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near my house; and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.” Naboth said to Ahab, “May Yahweh forbid me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!” Ahab came into his house sullen and angry because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He laid himself down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.
- 1 Kings 21:19-24 You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “Have you killed and also taken possession?” ’ You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick your blood, even yours.” ’ ” Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in Yahweh’s sight. Behold, I will bring evil on you, and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab everyone who urinates against a wall, and him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah for the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger, and have made Israel to sin.” Yahweh also spoke of Jezebel, saying, “The dogs will eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel. The dogs will eat he who dies of Ahab in the city; and the birds of the sky will eat he who dies in the field.”
- 2 Kings 5:20-27 But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. As Yahweh lives, I will run after him, and take something from him.” So Gehazi followed after Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?” He said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, even now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’ ” Naaman said, “Be pleased to take two talents.” He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants; and they carried them before him. When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and stored them in the house. Then he let the men go, and they departed. But he went in, and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you come from, Gehazi?” He said, “Your servant went nowhere.” He said to him, “Didn’t my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive groves and vineyards, and sheep and cattle, and male servants and female servants? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and to your offspring forever.” He went out from his presence a leper, as white as snow.
- Job 20:19-28 For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has violently taken away a house, and he will not build it up. “Because he knew no quietness within him, he will not save anything of that in which he delights. There was nothing left that he didn’t devour, therefore his prosperity will not endure. In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress will overtake him. The hand of everyone who is in misery will come on him. When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating. He will flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow will strike him through. He draws it out, and it comes out of his body. Yes, the glittering point comes out of his liver. Terrors are on him. All darkness is laid up for his treasures. An unfanned fire will devour him. It will consume that which is left in his tent. The heavens will reveal his iniquity. The earth will rise up against him. The increase of his house will depart. They will rush away in the day of his wrath.
- Psalms 10:3-6 For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings. He blesses the greedy and condemns Yahweh. The wicked, in the pride of his face, has no room in his thoughts for God. His ways are prosperous at all times. He is arrogant, and your laws are far from his sight. As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them. He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken. For generations I shall have no trouble.”
- Psalms 49:11 Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves.
- Psalms 52:7 “Behold, this is the man who didn’t make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”
- Proverbs 18:11-12 The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination. Before destruction the heart of man is proud, but before honor is humility.
- Isaiah 28:15 “Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and we are in agreement with Sheol. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it won’t come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood.’ ”
- Isaiah 47:7-9 You said, ‘I will be a princess forever,’ so that you didn’t lay these things to your heart, nor did you remember the results. “Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me. I won’t sit as a widow, neither will I know the loss of children.’ But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day, the loss of children and widowhood. They will come on you in their full measure, in the multitude of your sorceries, and the great abundance of your enchantments.
- Obadiah 1:4 Though you mount on high as the eagle, and though your nest is set among the stars, I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh.
- Zechariah 5:1-4 Then again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a flying scroll. He said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.” Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side. I will cause it to go out,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it will remain in the middle of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones.”
- Acts 1:17-25 For he was counted with us, and received his portion in this ministry. Now this man obtained a field with the reward for his wickedness, and falling headlong, his body burst open, and all his intestines gushed out. It became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem that in their language that field was called ‘Akeldama,’ that is, ‘The field of blood.’ For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation be made desolate. Let no one dwell in it;’ and, ‘Let another take his office.’ “Of the men therefore who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, to the day that he was received up from us, of these one must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” They put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. They prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away, that he might go to his own place.”
- Jude 1:11 Woe to them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in Korah’s rebellion.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (19 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Habakkuk proceeds in exciting the king of Babylon by…
Habakkuk proceeds in exciting the king of Babylon by taunts; which were not scurrilous jests, but contained serious threatening; for, as it has been already said, the Prophet here introduces indeed the common people, but in that multitude we are to recognize the innumerable heralds of God’s vengeance: and hence he says, Woe to him who coveteth, etc.; or we may say, He! for it is a particle of exclamation, as it has been said: He! thou, he says, who covetest an evil covetousness to thy house, and settest on high thy nest: but what shall happen? The next verse declares the punishment.
The clause, Woe to him who covets an evil covetousness to his house, may be read by itself,—that this cupidity shall be injurious to his house; as though he had said, “Thou indeed wouldest provide for thy house by accumulating great riches; but thy house shall find this to be evil and ruinous. So the word רעה, roe, evil, might be referred to the house; but the verse is best connected by reading the whole together; that is, that the Babylonians not only provided for themselves, while they with avidity plundered and collected much wealth from all quarters; but that they wished also to make provisions for their sons and grandsons: and we also see, that avarice has this object in view; for they who are anxiously bent on the accumulation of riches do not only regard what is needful for themselves to pass through life, but also wish to leave their heirs rich. Since then the avaricious are desirous of enriching for ever their houses, the prophet, deriding this madness, says, Woe to him who covets an evil covetousness to his house; that is, who wishes not only to abound and be satiated himself, but also to supply his posterity with abundance.
Read full note →
He adds another vice, which is almost ever connected with the former—that he may set, he says, his nest on high; for the avaricious have a regard to this—to fortify themselves; for as an evil conscience is always fearful, many dangers come across their minds—“This may happen to me,” and then, “My wealth will procure for me the hatred and envy of many. If then some danger be at hand, I shall be able to redeem my life many times;” and he also adds, “Were I satisfied with a moderate portion, many would become my rivals; but when my treasures surpass what is common, then I shall be as it were beyond the reach of men; and when others envy one another, I shall escape.” So the avaricious think within themselves when they are ardently bent on accumulating riches, and form for themselves a great heap like a nest; for they think that they are raised above the world, and are exempt from the common lot of men, when surrounded by their riches.
We now then see what the Prophet means: Woe, he says, to him who wickedly and intemperately covets. And why does he so do? To enrich his posterity. And then he adds, to him who covets that he may set his nest on high; that is, that he may by wealth fortify himself, that he may be able to drive away every danger, and be thus exempt from every evil and trouble. And he adds, that he may deliver himself from the power of evil; he expresses now more clearly what I have said—that the rich are inebriated with false confidence, when they surpass all others; for they think not themselves to be mortals, but imagine that they have another life, as though they had a world of their own, free from all dangers. But while the avaricious thus elevate themselves by a proud confidence, the Prophet derides their madness. He then subjoins their punishment—
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Hab 2:9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil…
Hab 2:9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
Ver. 9. Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness] For there is a good covetousness (which few are guilty of), 1Co 12:31, "Covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I unto you a more excellent way." Covet earnestly the best graces, such as are faith, hope, and charity, these are better than gifts. A shop full of barrels enrich not unless they be full of commodities. Gifts (as to heaven) are but the lumber of a Christian; it is grace makes him rich toward God, and of that he cannot be too covetous. But the covetousness of the Chaldeans here threatened and thundered against was of another nature. It is called an evil covetousness and hath its name in the original of piercing or wounding, as Joe 2:8, and fitly, both in respect of a man’s self, 1Ti 6:10, and others, Pro 1:19 Amo 9:1, and here. Woe to such, and destruction too, as Hos 7:13. The Lord, to show his just indignation against covetous persons, smiteth his fists at them, as Balak did at Balaam, Num 24:10. See Eze 22:13, "Behold, I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee." Now, lest people should object or conceive that those were but great words, and that the Lord would not do so as he said, or that they should deal well enough with him, therefore it followeth Hab 2:14, "Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken, and will do it."
Read full note →
To his house] i.e. To his family and posterity, which he intends to advance, but indeed undoes them, by leaving them a cursed hoard of ill-gotten goods, wherein they do them a greater displeasure than Joab and Gehazi did in leaving their children the leprosy for a legacy. Job speaketh, Job 15:34, as though the wicked, when they set up their houses by pilling and polling, by getting riches without right, did but make a stack of wood, and then comes a spark of God’s wrath, and makes an end of all. As in another place, "Brimstone," saith he, "shall be scattered upon his habitation," Job 18:15, so that if the fire of God’s displeasure do but light upon it, &c. Thus Dioclesian, that cruel persecutor, had his house wholly consumed with lightning and a flame of fire that fell from heaven upon it, as Eusebius tells us (De Vita Constant. lib. 5). Add hereunto that many times there comes a son that is as good with a fork as his father was with a rake; as great a spend-all as his father was a get-all.
That he may set his nest on high] And there feather it at his pleasure, {Oba 1:4} and secure his children like as the eagle builds on high, to save her young from the serpent that seeks to destroy them.
That he may be delivered from the power of evil] Which he hath cause to fear from others, to whom he hath been so injurious and oppressive. But how will he be hid or freed from the terrors of his own guilty conscience; well he may build cities with Cain, and set up high towers with Phocas, but what said the oracle to him? Though thou set up thy strongholds as high as heaven, yet sin at the foundation thereof will soon overturn all, and lay it level with the ground.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Woe! it is a general and comprehensive threat against…
Woe! it is a general and comprehensive threat against all tyrants and oppressors. To him; every one that is guilty of the sin.
That coveteth an evil covetousness; or driveth a trade of oppression, to gain by what means soever, right or wrong. This is evil of sin, and will end in evil of trouble.
Read full note →
To his house; his family, which he would enrich and greaten by raising it on the ruins of oppressed innocents.
That he may set his nest on high; a proverbial speech, in allusion to birds of prey, which build their nests in the greatest heights, Ob 4. Greatness and an advanced estate gotten by rapine and prey may seem, but never can be, a security to any monarch.
On high; higher than God and justice set him.
That he may be delivered; kept secure, and out of danger from all below him.
From the power of evil, Heb. from the palm of the hand of evil, that no evil may fasten on, though it may attempt against them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to…
Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house,.... The bishops of Rome, being enriched by the donations of Constantine, were not satisfied, but coveted more; these are the greedy dogs Isaiah speaks of, that could never have enough, Isa 56:11 but were still seeking and gaping after more for themselves and families, and for their own house or church; which, from the time of their apostasy, became their own house, in distinction from, and in opposition to, the house or true church of God; and of those covetous bishops, or Rome Papal, are these and the following words to Hab 2:9 to be understood:
that he may set his nest on high: in allusion to birds, especially the eagle, which builds its nest in high places, that it may be secure from any that would otherwise disturb it, or take it away: so these covetous and ambitious bishops, getting great wealth and riches, and large dominions into their hands, secular power and authority, as well as ecclesiastical, set themselves up, and advanced their see and seat, not only above all other bishops, but even above the kings and princes of the earth, above all that are called gods, Th2 2:4 and by such means endeavoured to gain their point, the main thing they had in view:
Read full note →
that he may be delivered from the power of evil; that they might be safe and secure against all worldly power, and be out of the jurisdiction of the princes of the earth, and in no danger of being dispossessed or crushed by them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain To his house - His family which he would…
To his house - His family which he would enrich, and raise high. Delivered - Kept secure and out of danger from all below him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. An evil covetousness to his house] Nebuchadnezzar…
Verse 9. An evil covetousness to his house] Nebuchadnezzar wished to aggrandize his family, and make his empire permanent: but both family and empire were soon cut off by the death of his son Belshazzar, and the consequent destruction of the Chaldean empire.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Hab 2:9-11. Wo to him that coveteth an evil…
Hab 2:9-11. Wo to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house —
“Which Nebuchadnezzar strove to aggrandize, and which Cyrus cut off.” — Newcome. The translation of the LXX. accords exactly with ours: but the Hebrew, בצע בצע רע, seems to be more exactly rendered by Dr. Wheeler, “Wo unto him that procureth wicked gain for his family:” that is, who endeavours to raise it to a state of wealth and pre-eminence by sinful means. That he may set his nest on high — May exalt himself and his family to such power and greatness, that they shall be out of the reach of all their enemies; that he may be delivered from the power of evil — May be kept secure and out of danger from all below him. This is spoken of Nebuchadnezzar, his family and kingdom; that as birds, guided by instinct, build their nests on the top of rocks and trees, or other places; so the king of Babylon thought, by getting possession of many places strong by their situation, on lofty eminences difficult to come at, as well as by their fortifications, that he, his family, and kingdom, should always be safe and out of danger from any enemy; or, as it is expressed in the text, from the hand of evil. Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, &c. — Thy cruelty toward others will turn at last to thy own confusion, and utter extirpation. And hast sinned against thy own soul — Hast done that which will bring destruction on thyself. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, &c. — The walls of so many cities thrown down, and the ruins of a multitude of houses, will bear witness of thy injustice and cruelty.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to…
Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house - (or, with accents, “that coveteth covetousness or unjust gain, an evil to his house.”) What man coveteth seems gain, but is evil “to his house” after him, destroying both himself and his whole family or race with him . “That he may set his nest on high,” as an eagle, to which he had likened the Chaldee (Hab 1:8. Compare Jer 20:16). A pagan called “strongholds, the nests of tyrants.” The nest was placed “on high” which means also “heaven,” as it is said, Oba 1:4, “though thou set thy nest among the stars;” and the tower of Babel was to “reach unto heaven” Gen 11:4; and the antichrist, whose symbol the King of Babylon is, Isa 14:13 says, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.” Babylon lying in a large plain, on the sides of the Euphrates, the image of its eagle’s-nest on high must be taken, not from any natural eminence, but wholly from the works of man.
Its walls, and its hanging gardens were among “the seven wonders of the world.” Eye-witnesses speak of its walls, encompassing at least 100 square miles , “and as large as the land-graviat of Hesse Homberg;” those walls, 335, or 330 feet high, and 85 feet broad ; a fortified palace, nearly 7 miles in circumference; gardens, 400 Greek feet square, supporting at an artificial height arch upon arch, of “at least 75 feet,” forest trees; a temple to its god, said to have been at least 600 feet high.
Read full note →
If we, creatures of a day, had no one above us, Nebuchadnezzars boast had been true Dan 4:30, “Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the Kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?” He had built an eagle’s nest, which no human arm could reach, encircled by walls which laughed its invaders to scorn, which, at that time, no skill could scale or shatter or mine. Even as one sees in a picture the vast mounds which still remain , one can hardly imagine that they were, brick upon brick, wholly the work of man.
To be delivered from the hand (grasp) of evil - that it should not be able to reach him. Evil is spoken of as a living power , which would seize him, whose grasp he would defy. It was indeed a living power, since it was the will of Almighty God, whose servant and instrument Cyrus was, to chasten Babylon, when its sins were full. Such was the counsel, what the result? The evil covetousness which he worked, brought upon him the evil, from which, in that nest built by the hard toil of his captives, he thought to deliver himself.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Wo. This is commonly understood of Nabuchodonosor; but it…
Wo. This is commonly understood of Nabuchodonosor; but it seems rather to designate Joakim, (Jeremias xxii. 13.) whose injustice scandalized the prophet. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain coveteth an evil covetousness--that is, a covetousness so surpassingly…
coveteth an evil covetousness--that is, a covetousness so surpassingly evil as to be fatal to himself.
to his house--greedily seizing enormous wealth, not merely for himself, but for his family, to which it is destined to be fatal. The very same "evil covetousness" that was the cause of Jehoiakim's being given up to the Chaldean oppressor (Jer 22:13) shall be the cause of the Chaldean's own destruction.
Read full note →
set his nest on high-- (Num 24:21; Jer 49:16; Oba 1:4). The image is from an eagle (Job 39:27). The royal citadel is meant. The Chaldean built high towers, like the Babel founders, to "be delivered from the power of evil" (Gen 11:4).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain Woe upon rapacity, Hab_2:9-11.
Woe upon rapacity, Hab_2:9-11.
In this stanza the Chaldeans are represented as a covetous man who builds his house with blood and violence, and seeks to store there all kinds of treasures, that he may be “delivered from the power of the evil,” and be safe as a bird in his nest on high. But he cannot escape judgment; the very stones and beams of the house cry to heaven for vengeance.
Read full note →
9. Coveteth an evil covetousness — Better R.V., “getteth an evil gain.” The vast spoil taken from the nations by evil and illegitimate means.
To his house — Not the palace, but the entire land and nation (see on Hos_8:1). It was for the purpose of enriching and exalting the nation that the conquests were undertaken.
Set his nest on high — A figure expressing the purpose of establishing his power forever (Num_24:21; Oba_1:4). As the eagle sets his nest on high to protect himself and his young against attacks, so the Chaldean seeks to fortify his position, that he may escape harm forever.
From the power of evil — Not the “evil one,” but any possible attack or calamity (Psa_49:6; Isa_31:2).
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9–11. Second woe: the Chaldean’s rapacity and self-aggrandisement
9–11. Second woe: the Chaldean’s rapacity and self-aggrandisement
9. coveteth an evil covetousness] gaineth evil gains for his house. His “house” is his family or dynasty, or, if the Chaldean represent the nation, his people.
Read full note →
set his nest on high] A figure from the eagle or other birds that build in inaccessible places. He sought evil gains for the purpose of fortifying his abode and making it unassailable. Num_24:21; Jer_49:16; Oba_1:4.
power of evil] lit. hand of evil, i.e. calamity from assailants. The “evil” is not present but eventual and possible.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) Woe to him that coveteth . . .—Better,…
(9) Woe to him that coveteth . . .—Better, Woe to him who accumulates wicked gain for his house, who sets his nest on high to save himself from the hand of evil—i.e., who gathers spoil from the nations, and stows it away in an impregnable treasure- house. The expression sets his nest on high finds more than sufficient illustration in the exaggerated accounts of Babylon given by Herodotus and Ctesias. The former gives 337½ feet, the latter 300 feet, as the height of its walls. The height of the towers was, according to Ctesias, 420 feet. There were 250 of these towers, irregularly disposed, to guard the weaker parts of the wall. The space included by these colossal outworks was, according to Herodotus, about 200 square miles.
The language of this verse recalls Jeremiah’s rebuke of Jehoiakim (Jer_22:13 seq.). There, however, the sentence is on individual sin, here it is on that of a nation personified.
Read full note →
(9-11) Woe on the aggrandisement of the new dynasty by force and cunning.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 9-119. The second woe: for their avarice, violence,…
Vers. 9-119. The second woe: for their avarice, violence, and cunning.
That coveteth an evil covetousness to his house; better, gaineth evil gains for his house. The "house" is the royal family or dynasty, as in ver. 10; and the Chaldean is denounced for thinking to secure its stability and permanence by amassing godless gains. That he may set his nest on high. This is a figurative expression, denoting security as well as pride and self-confidence. (comp. Num_24:21; Job_39:27, etc.; Jer_49:16; Oba_1:4) and denotes the various means which the Chaldeans employed to establish and secure their power. (Isa_14:14) Some see in the words an allusion to the formidable fortifications raised by Nebuchadnezzar for the protection of Babylon, and the wonderful palace erected by him as a royal residence (see Rawlinson, "Ant. Men.," 3:340, etc., edit. 1865). It is certain that Nebuchadnezzar and other monarchs, after successful expeditions, turned their attention to building and enriching towns, temples, and palaces (see Josephus, "Cont. Ap.," 1:19, 7, etc.). From the power of evil; from the hand of evil; i.e. from all calamity.
Read full note →
Vers. 9-11A parable of woes: 2. Woe to the covetous!
I THEIR AIM.
1. Personal comfort. Suggested by the term "nest," which for the Chaldean meant Babylon with its palaces, and for the individual signifies his mansion or dwelling place. (Job_29:18) Josephus ("Ant.," 10:11, 1) states that Nebuchadnezzar built for himself a palace "to describe the vast height and immense riches of which would be too much fur him (Josephus) to attempt;" and Nebuchadnezzar himself tells us in his inscription that he constructed "a great temple, a house of admiration for men, a lofty pile, a palace of his royalty for the land of Babylon," "a large edifice for the residence of his royalty," and that within it were collected as an adornment "trophies, abundance, royal treasures" ("Records of the Past," 5:130, etc.). Men who set their hearts on riches mostly do so under the impression that these will add in their comfort and increase their happiness to them comfort and happiness being synonymous with large, beautiful, and well plenished houses. (Psa_49:11)
2. Social distinction. Pointed at by the word "high," in which notions of elevation and visibility are involved. For one rich man that covets wealth to augment his bodily comfort or mental gratification, then seek it for the lustre in others" eyes it is supposed to give. The upper classes in society are the wealthy; the under or lower classes are the poor. None notice the wise man who is poor; (Ecc_9:16) the rich fool stands upon a pedestal and receives the homage of admiring crowds. (Pro_14:20) The same delusive standard is employed in estimating the greatness of nations. Wealth is commonly accepted by the world as the true criterion of rank. Rich nations take precedence of poor ones. In God"s sight money is the smallest distinction that either country or person can wear.
3. Permanent safety. Stated by the clause, "that he may be delivered from the power or, "the hand of evil" The Babylonian sovereigns as individuals and as rulers held the delusion that the best defence against personal or national calamity was accumulated treasure. (Pro_10:15 Pro_18:11) Nebuchadnezzar in particular used his "evil gain" for the fortification of his metropolis, building around it "the great walls" which his father Nabopolassar had begun but not completed, furnishing these with great gates of ikki and pine woods and coverings of copper, to keep off enemies from the front, and rearing up a tall tower like a mountain, so rendering it, as he supposed, "invincible" ("Records of the Past," 5:126, etc.). In a like spirit men imagine that "money is a defense", (Ecc_7:12) and that he who has a large balance at his banker"s need fear no evil. But "riches profit not in the day of wrath"; (Pro_11:4) and just as certainly as Nebuchadnezzar"s "eagle"s nest" was not beyond the reach of the Persian falconer, so neither will the wicked man"s silver and gold be able to deliver him when his end is come. (Eze_7:19; Zep_1:18)
II THEIR SIN.
1. Against God. This evident from the nature of the offence, which God"s Law condemns, (Exo_20:17) as well as from the evils to which it leads oppression, pride, self-sufficiency, and self-destruction.
2. Against others. In carrying out its wicked schemes covetousness usually involves others in ruin. It impelled the Chaldean to cut off many peoples. It drives those whom it inspires to deeds of violence, robbery, oppression, and murder. (Pro_1:19; 1Ti_6:10)
3. Against themselves. The covetous burden their own souls with guilt; and so, while professing to seek their own happiness and safety, are in reality accelerating their own misery and destruction.
III THEIR FATE.
1. Disappointment. Whereas the covetous man expects to set his house on high, he usually ends by involving it in shame; (Pro_15:27) instead of promoting its stability, as the result of all his scheming he commonly accomplishes its overthrow. (Pro_11:28)
2. Vengeance. Likening the covetous nation or man to a house builder, the prophet says that "the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it," as it were uniting their voices in a solemn cry to Heaven for vengeance on the avaricious despoiler. Almost literally fulfilled in the history of Belshazzar, (Dan_6:24-28) the words are often verified in the experiences of communities and individuals who are destroyed by that very prosperity in which they have trusted. (Pro_1:32)
LESSON, "Take heed, and beware of covetousness". (Luk_12:15)
Vers. 9-11Corrupt ambition.
Ambition may be pure and lofty, and when this is the case it cannot be too highly commended. It is "the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds." "It is to the human heart what spring is to the earth, making every root and bud and bough desire to be more." Headway cannot be made in life apart from it, and destitute of this spirit a man must be outstripped in the race. Ambition, however, may take the opposite form, and it is to ambition corrupt and low in its nature that these verses refer. Observe indicated here concerning such unworthy ambition.
I ITS AIM. The concern of the rulers of Babylon was to secure unlimited supremacy, to reach an eminence where, secure from peril and in the enjoyment of ease and luxury, they might, without restraint, exercise despotic control over the nations. "That he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil" (ver. 9). False ambition, whether in individuals or nations, is directed to the attainment of worldly distinction, authority, and power, and has its foundation in pride and selfesteem.
II ITS UNSCRUPULOUSNESS. "They coveted an evil covetousness to their house" (ver. 9), totally disregarding the sacredness of property and the rights of man. Their acts were marked by oppression, plunder, and cruelty; they impoverished feebler nations and even "cut off many people" (ver. 10) in seeking the accomplishment of their selfish purposes. So is it ever that such ambition breaks the ties of blood and forgets the obligations of manhood.
III ITS ISSUE. The prophet indicates that all this self-seeking and self-glorying must end in disgrace and dishonour.
1. The very monuments reared thus in the spirit of pride should bearadverse testimony. In the language of poetry he represents the materials which they had obtained by plunder and which they had brought from other lands into Chaldea, to be used in the construction of their stately edifices, as protesting against the way in which they had been obtained and the purposes to which they had been applied (ver. 11).
2. Shame and ruin should overtake the schemers and plotters Themselves."thou hast sinned against thy soul" (ver. 10). Whatever their material gain, they had become spiritually impoverished by their course of action. They had degraded their higher nature and had incurred guilt and condemnation.
3. All connected with them should share in the disgrace and Dishonour."thou hast consulted shame to thy house" (ver.10); "God visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him"; (Exo_20:5) "He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house". (Pro_15:27) Men who have sought, by grasping and extortion, or by war and conquest, to establish and.perpetuate a high reputation, have, through their unrighteous deeds, passed away in ignominy, leaving to their posterity a tarnished and dishonoured name. "The house of the wicked shall be overthrown; but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish". S.D.H. (Pro_14:11)
Vers. 9-11National wrongs ending in national woes. No. 2.
"Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it." Notice
I THE NATIONAL WRONGS HERE INDICATED.
1. Coveting the possessions of others. "Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house!" "An evil covetousness!" There is a good covetousness. We are commanded to "covet earnestly the best gifts". (1Co_12:31) But to hunger for those things which are not our own, but the property of others, and that for our own gratification and aggrandizement, is the sin which is prohibited in the Decalogue, which is denounced in the Gospel as a cardinal sin, and which is represented as excluding from the kingdom of heaven. The covetous man is a thief in spirit and in reality.
2. Trusting in false securities. So "that he may set his nest on high, that he maybe delivered from the power of evil." The image is from an eagle. (Job_39:27) The royal citadel is meant. The Chaldeans built high towers like the Babel founders, to be delivered from the power of evil. They sought protection, not in the Creator but in the creature, not in moral means but in material. Thus foolishly nations have always acted and are still acting; they trust to armies and to navies, not to righteousness, truth, and God. A moral character built on justice, purity, and universal benevolence is the only right and safe defence of nations. "Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest against the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord". (Oba_1:4)
3. Sinning against the soul. "And hast sinned against thy soul," or against thyself. Indeed, all wrong is a sin against one"s self a sin against the laws of reason, conscience, and happiness. "He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul." Such are some of the wrongs implied by these verses. Alas! they are not confined to Babylon or to any of the ancient kingdoms. They are too rife amongst all the modern kingdoms of the earth.
II THE NATIONAL WOES HERE INDICATED. "Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house!" etc. What is the woe connected with these evils? It is contained in these words, "The stone shall cry out of the wail, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it." Their guilty conscience will endow the dead materials of their own dwellings with the tongue to denounce in thunder their deeds of rapacity and blood. Startling personification this! The very stones of thy palace and the beams out of the timber shall testify. "Note," says Matthew Henry, "those that do wrong to their neighbour do a much greater wrong to their own souls. But if the sinner pleads, "Not guilty," and thinks he has managed his frauds and violence with so much art and contrivance that they cannot be proved upon him, let him know that if there be no other witnesses against him, the stone shall cry out of the wall against him, and the beam out of the timber in the roof shall answer it, shall second it, shall witness it, that the money and materials wherewith he built the house were unjustly gotten (ver. 11). The stones and timber shall cry to Heaven for vengeance, as the whole creation groans under the sin of man, and waits to be delivered from that bondage of corruption. " Observe:
1. That mind gives to all the objects that once impressed it a mystic power of suggestion. Who has not felt this? Who does not feel it every day? The tree, the house, the street, the lane, the stream, the meadow, the mountain, that once touched our consciousness, seldom fail to start thoughts in us whenever we are brought into contact with them again. It seems as if the mind gave part of itself to all the objects that once impressed it. When we revisit, after years of absence, the scenes of childhood, all the objects which impressed us in those early days seem to beat out and revive the thoughts and feelings of our young hearts. Hence, when we leave a place which in person we may never revisit, we are still tied to it by an indissoluble bond. Nay, we carry it with us and reproduce it in memory.
2. That mind gives to those objects that impressed us when in the commission of any sin a terrible power to start remorseful memories. This is a fact of which, alas! all are conscious. And hence those stones and timbers, stolen from other people, that went to build the palaces, temples, and mansions in Babylon, would not fail to speak in thunder to the guilty consciences of those who obtained them by violence or fraud. No intelligent personal witness is required to prove a sinner"s guilt. All the scenes of his conscious life vocalize his guilt. D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to…
Hab_2:9-11
Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house.
Read full note →
Covetousness and self-trust
I. The national wrongs here indicated.
1. Coveting the possessions of others. Woe to him that coveteth an evil coveteousness to his house. An evil covetousness? There is a good covetousness. We are commanded to covet earnestly the best gifts. But to hunger for those things which are not our own, but the property of others, and that for our own gratification and aggrandisement, is that which is prohibited in the Decalogue.
2. Trusting in false securities. So that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil. The image is from an eagle (Job_39:27). The royal citadel is meant. The Chaldeans built high towers like the Babel founders, to be delivered from the power of evil. They sought protection, not in the Creator but in the creature, not in moral means but in material. Thus foolishly nations have always acted, and are still acting; they trust to armies and to navies, not to righteousness, truth, and God. A moral character built on justice, purity, and universal benevolence is the only right and safe defence of nations.
3. Sinning against the soul. And hast sinned against thy soul, or against thyself. Indeed, all wrong is a sin against oneself--a sin against the laws of reason, conscience, and happiness.
II. The national woes here indicated. Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, etc. What is the woe connected with these evils? It is contained in these words: The stone shall cry out Of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Their guilty conscience will endow the dead materials of their own dwelling with the tongue to denounce in thunder their deeds of rapacity and blood. Startling personification this! Note, says Matthew Henry, those that do wrong to their neighbour do a much greater wrong to their own souls. But if the sinner pleads Not guilty, and thinks he has managed his frauds and violence with so much art and contrivance that they cannot be proved upon him, let him know that if there be no other witnesses against him the stone shall cry out of the wall against him, and the beam out of the timber in the roof shall answer it, shall second it, shall witness it, that the money and materials wherewith he built the house were unjustly gotten (verse 11). The stones and timber cry to heaven for vengeance, as the whole creation groans under the sin of man, and waits to be delivered from that bondage of corruption.
(1) That mind gives to all the objects that once impressed it a mystic power of suggestion. Who has not felt this? Who does not feel it every day? The tree, the house, the street, the lane, the stream, the meadow, the mountain, that once touched our consciousness, seldom fail to start thoughts in us whenever we are brought into contact with them again. It seems as if the mind gave part of itself to all the objects that once impressed it. Hence, when we leave a place which in person we may never revisit we are still tied to it by an indissoluble bond. Nay, we carry it with us and reproduce it in memory.
(2) That mind gives to those objects that impressed us when in the commission of any sin a terrible power to start remorseful memories. No intelligent personal witness is required to prove a sinners guilt. All the scenes of his conscious life vocalise his guilt. (Homilist.)
Deceitful riches
Usually, when a worldling is dead, we ask how rich he died. Oh, say many, he died rich; he hath left a great estate. Alas! the poor man has slept his sleep, lost his dream, and now he awakes he finds nothing in his hand. Where lies his golden heap? Only the rust of that heap is gone to witness against him; his mansion fails him; only the unrighteousness of it follows him; others have the use of it; only the abuse of it he carries to judgment with him; he hath made his friends (as we say), but he hath undone himself; so that I may justly write this motto upon every bag: This is the price of blood. Shall I then treasure up the price of blood
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Hab_2:9. Woe] the second, against establishing a permanent settlement…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Hab_2:9. Woe] the second, against establishing a permanent settlement by godless gain. Evil] Covetousness surpassingly evil and fatal to itself. House] Not the palace but the dynasty (Hab_2:10). High] As eagles build nests on high to protect from harm (cf. Job_39:27); “so does the Chaldean seek to elevate and strengthen his rule by robbery and plunder, that it may never be wrested from his family again.”
Read full note →
Hab_2:10. Shame] the result instead of glory.
Hab_2:11.] Personification. Cry] For the injustice they had suffered (cf. Luk_19:40). Answer] the stone, i.e. join in its crying.
HOMILETICS
THE EVIL COVETOUSNESS.—Hab_2:9-11
The second woe is now pronounced against coveting still more, and aiming still higher. The desire to build stately palaces, to be exempt from common misfortunes, and to perpetuate human greatness, is condemned. It is an evil covetousness or gain.
I. The design of this covetousness. “That he may set his nest on high,” &c.
1. To enjoy the comforts of life. The covetous seek ease and comfort, make their nest in their acquisitions, and feather it for their offspring, as the eagle builds on high to save its young from destruction. They think their prosperity can never change, and believe they have enough to secure perpetual comfort. “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease,” &c.
2. To escape the calamities of life. “That he may be delivered from the power of evil.” He fears evil from those whom he has injured, and builds on high, and fortifies himself against dangers. But what avails the height, when sin is in the foundation? Babylon was built on high, encircled by walls which no invader could scale or shatter. But it was levelled to the dust, and its proud king ranked with the brutes. God can overthrow the strongest tower, and terror invade the proudest conscience. “Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down” (Oba_1:4 : Jer_49:16).
II. The proofs of this covetousness. The very buildings which they rear cry out against their conduct. God’s works speak of his wisdom, power, and glory. So man’s works declare his skill and his guilt. Works of mercy are memorials before God, and plead there; works of cruelty and wrong cry out for vengeance upon the oppressor.
1. The stones in the wall cry out.
2. The beam out of the timber responds to the cry. Here are strange witnesses, woeful antiphonies in sin. If everything else is silent, their houses built by oppression and blood shall testify against them. The whole creation groans beneath the bondage of their corruption. “Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work.”
III. The results of this covetousness. The covetous man takes a wrong course for his wealth, his family, and his posterity. With all his pains and schemes he cannot preserve himself from utter ignominy and ruin.
1. He inflicts personal injury. “And hast sinned against thy soul.” Men neglect their souls in pursuit of the world, and find their gain in the end to be a poor bargain. “The covetous man heaps up riches not to enjoy them, but to have them; and starves himself in the midst of plenty, and most unnaturally cheats and robs himself of that which is his own; and makes a hard shift to be as poor and miserable with a great estate as any man can be without it” [Tillotson]. In the present world he disquiets himself, pierces himself through with many sorrows; and in the world to come he will lose what the whole world cannot redeem—
“Some, o’er-enamour’d of their bags, run mad,
Groan under gold, yet weep for want of bread” [Young].
2. He brings social disgrace. “Thou hast consulted shame to thy house.” By cutting off many people, he gained disgrace not safety. Mighty conquerors who destroy others do not secure their own throne. Those who scandalise, undermine, or impoverish their neighbours to make room for themselves, turn their own glory and that of their posterity into shame (Pro_15:25-27; Pro_14:11). “He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Hab_2:9. Evil covetousness not a good covetousness. “Covet earnestly the best gifts,” &c. The desire itself was evil in its nature. Its results were evil, from which he sought to deliver himself. Covetousness is always evil when joined with ambition, infidelity, and confidence in earthly wealth. On high.
1. The foundation of the building: pride, ambition, and earthly power.
2. The fate of the building. Overthrown by Divine power. “He who builds his house with other people’s property, collects stones for his grave” [Cramer]. What the world calls protection, cannot protect against God’s judgments; death mounts over all rocks [Diedrich]. A nest imports two things: first, warmth, or a fence against cold: secondly, safety, or a fence against danger. Nests are builded close, and so they are warm, and they are built either on high, or out of the way in some secret place, and so they are safe [Caryl].
Hab_2:10. Thou hast consulted. Holy Scripture overlooks the means, and places us at the end of all. Whatever the wicked had in view, to satisfy ambition, avarice, passion, love of pleasure, or the rest of man’s immediate ends, all he was doing was leading on to a further end—shame and death. He was bringing about not only these short-lived ends, but the lasting ends beyond, and these far more than the others, since that is the real end of a thing which abides, in which it at last ends [Pusey].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Hab_2:9-10. House. How few houses have you that those that are now in them can say, “My ancestor dwelt here, and these were his lands?” Go over the whole country, few can say so. Men when they build have conceits. Now I build for my child, and for my child’s child. God crosses them. Either they have no posterity, or by a thousand things that fall out in the world, it falls out otherwise [Rd. Sibbes]. Consulted shame—
“Sin and shame are ever tied together
With Gordian knots, of such a strong thread spun,
They cannot without violence be undone.” [Webster.]
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Four Remaining Woes
The Four Remaining Woes
v. 9. Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, who accumulates the gain of wickedness for his house, seeking to establish his house by unrighteous, wicked methods, that he may set his nest on high, secure against every form of attack, as the Chaldean did, that he may be delivered from the power of evil, considering himself safe against every form of misfortune.
Read full note →
v. 10. Thou hast consulted shame to thy house, for the Chaldean’s counsel, as outlined in the preceding verse, was bound to bring disgrace upon him, by cutting off many people, the plan to bring about the destruction of many nations being the reason for the Lord’s judgment upon Babylonia, and hast sinned against thy soul, transgressing in such a way as to forfeit his life.
v. 11. For the stone shall cry out of the wall and the beam out of the timber, the spar out of the woodwork, shall answer it, agreeing with the stone in its charge against the builder on account of the crimes committed in building the city.
v. 12. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood! with blood-bought spoils, as Babylon was built, and stablisheth a city by iniquity, by violence and oppression.
v. 13. Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire, for it was due to His dispensation that men strained themselves to the utmost, only, however, to have their buildings consumed by fire in the burning of their cities, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? For all the proud buildings erected by them would eventually be destroyed.
v. 14. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, the destruction of the world-power being a necessary condition to this end, in order that the honor of Jehovah, the almighty Ruler of the heavenly armies, might be known throughout the world, as the waters cover the sea. Cf Isa 11:9. The enemies who refuse to accept the Lord in the beauty of his mercy will he obliged to acknowledge Him in the majesty of His almighty power.
v. 15. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, as the Babylonians did, figuratively speaking, that puttest thy bottle to him, or, "while thou addest thy wrath,". and makest him drunken also that thou mayest look on their nakedness! The picture of one lying in a drunken, shameful stupor well emphasizes the entire subjection of a conquered people.
v. 16. Thou art filled with shame for glory, or, "so, then, shalt thou be satisfied with shame instead of glory," satiated with disgracefulness; drink thou also, draining the cup of the Lord’s wrath, and let thy foreskin be uncovered, showing Chaldea to be uncircumcised, heathenish. The cup of the Lord’s right hand, offered in a manner that it could not be refused, shall be turned unto thee, so that it would eventually be Chaldea’s turn to empty it to the last dregs, and shameful spewing, the vomiting of drunkenness and shame, shall be on thy glory.
v. 17. For the violence of Lebanon, the outrage committed in ruining its cedar forests, shall cover thee and the spoil of beasts, the dispersion of the animals of Lebanon, which made them afraid because of men’s blood, shed by the conquerors, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. Cf v. 8.
v. 18. What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it, such trust is utterly useless, the molten image and a teacher of lies, the idol itself, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? All this is vain and foolish. It follows, therefore,
v. 19. Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake! expecting help from a carved idol; to the dumb stone, the hewn idol, Arise, it shall teach! rather, "Can it teach?. Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it, whence it follows that idolatry is a most foolish undertaking.
v. 20. But the Lord, the contrast being sharply emphasized, is in His holy temple, the Ruler in His mighty kingdom; let all the earth keep silence before Him, awaiting His judgment in silent and humble submission. If the whole earth is obliged to acknowledge His majesty and authority, then the glory and power of the Chaldean state cannot maintain itself in His sight.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues to answer Habakkuk and to speak of the Chaldeans as if they were one man. (See: Metaphor)
Read full note →
the one who carves out evil gains
A person making a profit by violent means is spoken of as if he were "carving out" gains from something. (See: Metaphor)
the one who carves out evil gains for his house
Possible meanings are 1) the word "house" is a metaphor in which the Babylonian empire is spoken of as if it were a house that the man builds by means of profits that he gained through violence. AT: "the one who builds his house with riches that he gained through violence" or 2) the word "house" is a metonym for "family" and the man has made his family rich through violence. AT: "the one who makes his family rich by violent means" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
so he can set his nest on high to keep himself safe from the hand of evil
The person who builds his house is spoken of as if he were a bird that builds its nest in a high place. The man thinks that his house is secure and free from danger, just as predators are unable to reach the nest. (See: Metaphor)
safe from the hand of evil
Here the word "hand" is a metonym for power, and the word "evil" is a metonym for people who do evil things. AT: "safe from the power of evil" or "safe from people who will harm him" (See: Metonymy)
You have devised shame for your house
Here to "devise shame" means that the plans that the man devised have resulted in shame. One possible meaning is that the word "house" is a metaphor in which the Babylonian empire is spoken of as if it were a house that the man has built. AT: "By your plans, you have brought shame on the house that you have built" Another possibility is that the word "house" is a metonym for "family." AT: "By your plans, you have brought shame on your family" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
cutting off many people
Killing many people is spoken of as if it were cutting those people off, like one would cut a branch from a tree. AT: "killing many people" (See: Metaphor)
have sinned against yourself
The idiom "to sin against oneself" means that the person has done things that will result in his own death or destruction. AT: "have caused your own ruin" or "have brought about your own death" (See: Idiom)
For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the rafters of timber will answer them
Here the materials with which the man has built his house are personified as witnesses of the crimes that he has committed. If your culture uses different materials to build houses, you can consider using those materials here. (See: Personification)
cry out
"cry out against you" or "cry out to accuse you"
will answer them
"will agree with the stones"
translationWords
woe
evil
house
hand
shame
people group
sin
stone
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:9-11 In the second taunt song, the Babylonians are…
2:9-11 In the second taunt song, the Babylonians are condemned for their dishonest dealings. Since the Babylonians obtained the means to build big houses through deceit and dishonesty, they forfeited their lives.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.