Shall not all these take up a proverb about him, and a taunting riddle against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? -- and to him that loadeth himself with pledges!
God's answer to Habakkuk turns to the fate of the plunderer himself, and the sentence comes as a song. The nations the Chaldeans had stripped sing woe over them — which raises two questions: why judge a nation God Himself had used, and who pronounces the sentence?
The two words in the verse carry different weight. One of them is rare, and it points to speech that hides its meaning:
The word chidah is translated 'proverb' only once, in Hab. 2:6, but it is often translated 'riddle.' It means 'problem' — a hidden way of speaking that hides the sense under figures of speech. The word usually translated 'proverb,' and used for the Book of Proverbs, is mashal, which means 'comparison, likeness.' Proverbs are short sentences meant to catch the attention and stay in the memory.
Because the song works by figure rather than by name, commentators read it as reaching past its first target:
This song against the Chaldean brings us to the last days. The king it speaks of is never named, because the traits it shows in him are not his alone. It is a proverb, a picture in symbols, that must be understood; it is a riddle that must be solved. It leads us on to the setting up of Christ's glorious reign.
Verse 6 begins a run of woes. Each one is built the same way — a sentence, then its reason. God had used this nation, yet He will not spare it:
Then we find a remarkable series of stanzas, from verse 6 to the end of the chapter — many woes one after another, with a reason attached to each case… God must judge the evil before He can bring in the blessing with power… The reason why God must deal with the Chaldean flows straight from His moral nature. He cannot support one whom He had used as His instrument, once that instrument dared to exalt itself to the dishonour of God.
The words "all these" point to the nations. God hands them the song:
The oppression and injustice of this nation cries aloud to God for judgment. As the LORD had used the Chaldeans to chastise His people, and the nations, so now He uses the nations to judge the Chaldeans. It is the nations He uses to take up a taunting proverb against these oppressors and to pronounce these woes on them.
The "how long?" in the song is not new. The prophet had already cried it himself:
The "how long" from the mouths of the singing oppressed ones seems to match what the prophet himself had said about Israel (ch. 1:2). Here the nations utter this cry.
The second half of the verse turns on a word with two senses: goods held in pledge, or heavy mud. Some older translations say "thick clay."
The first "Woe" falls on the man who collects other people's goods, things that do not belong to him. He loads himself with a burden of goods held as pledges for loans at interest… The play on words — "pledges" or "thick mud" — shows that this detestable looting could only bring the Chaldean shame. He would gain no "advantage" but contempt, because his act was so low. Such behaviour is detestable in God's eyes. How much punishment could leaders spare themselves and the nations they rule, if they saw how low such deeds are!
The song predicts no random ruin. The punishment matches the crime, and it still works that way:
Then follows a taunting song in verses 6-7. Divine retribution is coming for them. The spoiler is going to be spoiled. You can read this retribution in all history, and it still goes on. What is true of people is true of nations: "whatever one sows, that will he also reap."
This warning is not only for empires. It reaches any man who piles up wealth:
The things that will leave us cursed, if we have nothing else, cannot make us blessed… How many have pulled down their souls to build up a fortune! A ship may be so laden with gold that it sinks; many a man's gold has sunk him to hell. The rich sinner seals up money in his bag, and God seals up a curse with it. "Woe to him … that loads himself with thick clay" (Hab. 2:6).
- Riddle — the taunt is a chidah, a hidden way of speaking. It hides its sense under figures, so it never names its target.
- Reach — with no king named, the picture stretches past one Chaldean to proud powers everywhere, and on to Christ's reign.
- Reason — each woe gives its own cause. God cannot back a tool that lifts itself up to His dishonour.
- Reversal — the plundered nations become the singers, and the spoiler becomes spoil: what a man sows, he reaps.
- Weight — stolen gain is not treasure but thick clay. The load a man piles on himself is what sinks him.
Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and they awake up that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
God had used the Chaldeans of Babylon to punish His own people and other nations. Verse 7 sits in the mocking song those crushed nations now sing over him, as his victims rise and turn on him.
God does not pronounce these woes Himself. He puts them in the mouths of the peoples the Chaldean crushed.
The oppression and injustice of this nation cries out to God for judgment. The LORD had used the Chaldeans to punish His people and the nations. Now He uses the nations to judge the Chaldeans. He uses them to take up a taunting proverb against these oppressors, and to pronounce these woes on them.
The woe just before this verse falls on a man loaded with goods that are not his. The word for what he holds hides a second meaning.
The first "Woe" is pronounced over him who collects the possessions of others, goods that do not belong to him. He loads himself with a burden of goods that he pledges against interest... The play on words — "pledges" or "thick mud" — shows that this hateful looting could only lead to shame for the Chaldean. He would gain no "advantage" from it but contempt, because his act was so low.
Those who rise are his creditors, and the debt is everything he took from them. They wake up, and now he is the one who trembles.
This man laid hold of other people's goods to enrich himself. Suddenly those he had robbed would attack him. They would bite him like a thief set on by dogs, and in turn he would fall prey to them.
The word "suddenly" was not a figure of speech. Belshazzar was Babylon's last king.
Babylon did fall suddenly in the night of Belshazzar's feast. Compare Jeremiah 51:39-41.
Why does God turn on the very nation He had used? The answer lies in what God Himself is like.
God must deal with the Chaldean. The reason flows simply and necessarily from the moral nature of God. He could not keep supporting an instrument He Himself had used, once it dared to exalt itself and dishonour Him.
What happens to the Chaldean is not a one-off act of revenge. Writers read it as the ordinary way God governs nations.
Divine retribution is coming for them. The spoiler is going to be spoiled. This is the retribution you can read all through history, and it still goes on. What is true of people is true of nations: "whatever one sows, that will he also reap."
The pattern is older than Babylon. God had done the same with Assyria long before.
God may use the Assyrian as "the rod of my anger" to punish His people. But the proud Assyrian did not know God's ways. He never realised that he was only God's instrument. His pride, his evil thoughts and his evil deeds brought God's just judgment down on him (Isaiah 10). It was the same with the Babylonians!
Verse 7 belongs to the first of five woes in this chapter. Their reach does not stop with Babylon.
From chapter 2:3 we see that this revelation with its five woes (Hab. 2:6-20) not only refers to the coming invasion of the Chaldeans but that it applies also to a future day.
- Loaded — the woe falls on a man buried under goods that are not his. The play on words ties his "pledges" to thick mud, so his gain is his shame.
- Bitten — his creditors are the nations he stripped. They rise like dogs on a thief, and the plunderer becomes the plunder.
- Suddenly — the timing is the point. Babylon fell in the night of Belshazzar's feast, unwarned and unready.
- Broken — God had used the Chaldean as His rod. But He will not keep backing an instrument that exalts itself against Him.
- Repeated — this is how God rules history, and a day still to come will show it again. Whatever a power sows among the nations, it reaps.
Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the rest of the peoples shall plunder thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence [done] to the land, to the city, and all that dwell therein.
Habakkuk 2:8 gives the reason behind the first "woe" in the taunting song against Babylon. The nation that stripped others will be stripped itself, and the charge is bloodshed and violence — which raises two questions: why does God turn on the power He used, and who carries out the sentence?
God had raised up the Chaldeans (the Babylonians) to punish His own people. That did not make them safe. One writer traces the judgment back to God's own character:
God must deal with the Chaldean, and the reason flows straight from His moral nature. He cannot go on supporting someone He had used as His instrument once that instrument dares to exalt itself and dishonour Him.
Notice who carries out the sentence. The nations that suffered are the ones who now judge:
The oppression and injustice of this nation cries aloud to God for judgment. As the LORD had used the Chaldeans to chastise His people, and the nations, so now He uses the nations to judge the Chaldeans. It is the nations who take up a taunting proverb against these oppressors and pronounce these woes on them.
What happens to Babylon is not a one-off. It follows a rule that holds for nations as much as for people:
Divine retribution is coming for them. The spoiler is going to be spoiled. You can read this retribution in all history, and it still goes on. What is true of people is true of nations: "Whatever one sows, that will he also reap."
The verse calls the plunderers a remnant: what is left of the nations Babylon devoured. One writer reads Babylon's fall as a picture of something still future:
Verse 8 follows on from the verse before it and confirms it. This man had plundered. The remnant of the nations will be spared to see Christ take the throne, and they will in turn rob the plunderer. Let us not forget that Babel's fall is only a symbol of what will take place in the last days.
The word "peoples" is a wide one. Another writer explains what it covers:
Am-mim (peoples) are the mass of the people, the populations. So it does not matter who these are — they might be Jews or Gentiles.
The second half of the verse states the grounds. A close look at the Hebrew shows who is who. The land, the city and the people are not doing the violence. They suffer it:
So we have "because of bloods of Adam," that is, of man, and "violence of land, of city, and dwellers in it." At first I found this difficult, because the Assyrian shall not touch Zion. But this is character and conduct, not place — there is no "the." In Hebrew the word khamas (violence) is followed by the object of the violence. It is the violence done to land, city, and inhabitants. This is the character of the invader — the transgressor — the proud man.
Commentators differ on how far to pin down the place. Darby reads the phrase as the invader's character, not one location. Another writer ties it to Israel, and finds comfort there:
God had answered him that the Chaldean would punish Israel for this violence. So the moment would come when the nations would avenge the Chaldean's violence against Israel. In God's governmental ways, one revenge follows the other… God had to set His people aside for a time. But He will renew His relationship with them as soon as the judgments are over. He never forgets those who truly belong to Him. When it pleases Him to chasten them, then woe to those who, in doing so, pursue their own advantage.
The address is Babylon, but the portrait is not finished with Babylon:
While all this applies primarily to the Chaldean, it is likewise a prophecy concerning the future. The world powers remain the same to the end of the times of the Gentiles… We can expect no improvement among the world powers… So these verses describe the world's condition down to its very end.
- Instrument. God used the Chaldean to chastise His people. His own nature stops Him backing an instrument that exalts itself against Him.
- Reversal. The hand that struck is struck. God used Babylon against the nations; now He uses the nations against Babylon.
- Rule. The spoiler is spoiled. You can read this retribution across all history: nations reap what they sow, just as people do.
- Reason. The charge is the blood of men, and the violence done to land, city and people. They suffered that violence; they did not do it.
- Reach. The picture runs past Babylon to the world powers at the end. And God never forgets His own — so woe to any who exploit His chastening of them.