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Wednesday, October 30th, 2024
the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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New Living Translation

Habakkuk 1:10

They scoff at kings and princes and scorn all their fortresses. They simply pile ramps of earth against their walls and capture them!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Babylon;   Israel, Prophecies Concerning;   Prophecy;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Chaldeans;   Habakkuk;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Hold;   Scoffer;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Habakkuk;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Babylon;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Heap;   Prince;   Scorn;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Aquila (Βλώμβσ);  

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
"The Babylonian soldiers will laugh at the kings of other nations. Foreign rulers will be like jokes to them. The Babylonian soldiers will laugh at the cities with tall, strong walls. They will simply build dirt roads up to the top of the walls and easily defeat the cities.
New American Standard Bible
"They make fun of kings, And dignitaries are an object of laughter to them. They laugh at every fortress, Then heap up dirt and capture it.
New Century Version
They laugh at kings and make fun of rulers. They laugh at all the strong, walled cities and build dirt piles to the top of the walls to capture them.
Update Bible Version
Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him; he derides every stronghold; for he heaps up dust, and takes it.
Webster's Bible Translation
And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn to them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.
Amplified Bible
"They make fun of kings And rulers are a laughing matter to them. They ridicule every stronghold And heap up rubble [for earth mounds] and capture it.
English Standard Version
At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it.
World English Bible
Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him. He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen ramp, and takes it.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and he schal haue victorie of kyngis, and tirauntis schulen be of his scornyng. He schal leiye on al strengthe, and schal bere togidere heep of erthe, and schal take it.
English Revised Version
Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him: he derideth every strong hold; for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.
Berean Standard Bible
They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn. They laugh at every fortress and build up siege ramps to seize it.
Contemporary English Version
They make fun of rulers and laugh at fortresses, while building dirt mounds so they can capture cities.
American Standard Version
Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him; he derideth every stronghold; for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.
Bible in Basic English
He makes little of kings, rulers are a sport to him; all the strong places are to be laughed at; for he makes earthworks and takes them.
Complete Jewish Bible
They scoff at kings; princes they deride. They laugh at any fortress; they pile up earth and take it.
Darby Translation
Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a scorn unto him; he derideth every stronghold: for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And they scoff at kings, and princes are a derision unto them; they deride every stronghold, for they heap up earth, and take it.
King James Version (1611)
And they shal scoffe at the Kings, and the Princes shall bee a scorne vnto them: they shall deride euery strong holde, for they shall heape dust & take it.
New Life Bible
They make fun of kings and laugh at rulers. They laugh at every strong city and build a battle-wall to take it.
New Revised Standard
At kings they scoff, and of rulers they make sport. They laugh at every fortress, and heap up earth to take it.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And they shall mocke the Kings, and the princes shalbe a skorne vnto them: they shall deride euery strong holde: for they shall gather dust, and take it.
George Lamsa Translation
They scoff at kings, and princes they mock; and they laugh at every stronghold; for they heap up earth and capture it.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, he, over kings, will make merry, and, nobles, will be a scorn to him: he, at any fortress, will laugh, once he hath heaped up dust, he hath captured it!
Douay-Rheims Bible
And their prince shall triumph over kings, and princes shall be his laughingstock: and he shall laugh at every strong hold, and shall cast up a mount, and shall take it.
Revised Standard Version
At kings they scoff, and of rulers they make sport. They laugh at every fortress, for they heap up earth and take it.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And they shall mocke the kinges, and the princes shalbe a scorne vnto them: they shall deride euery stronghold, for they shall gather dust, and take it.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he shall be at his ease with kings, and princes are his toys, and he shall mock at every strong-hold, and shall cast a mound, and take possession of it.
Good News Translation
They treat kings with contempt and laugh at high officials. No fortress can stop them—they pile up earth against it and capture it.
Christian Standard Bible®
They mock kings,and rulers are a joke to them.They laugh at every fortressand build siege ramps to capture it.
Hebrew Names Version
Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him. He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen ramp, and takes it.
King James Version
And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.
Lexham English Bible
And they themselves scoff at kings and rulers are a joke to them. They laugh at every fortification, and they heap up earth and take it.
Literal Translation
And he shall scoff against the kings, and officials shall be a scorn to him. He shall scorn every fortress, and he shall heap up dirt and capture it.
Young's Literal Translation
And at kings it doth scoff, And princes [are] a laughter to it, At every fenced place it doth laugh, And it heapeth up dust, and captureth it.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
They shall mocke the kinges, and laugh the prynces to scorne. They shal not set by eny stronge holde, for they shal laye ordinaunce agaynst it, and take it.
New English Translation
They mock kings and laugh at rulers. They laugh at every fortified city; they build siege ramps and capture them.
New King James Version
They scoff at kings, And princes are scorned by them. They deride every stronghold, For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"They mock at kings And rulers are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every fortress And heap up rubble to capture it.
Legacy Standard Bible
And they mock at kings,And rulers are a laughing matter to them.They laugh at every fortressAnd heap up dirt and capture it.

Contextual Overview

5 The Lord replied, "Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it. 6 I am raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and violent people. They will march across the world and conquer other lands. 7 They are notorious for their cruelty and do whatever they like. 8 Their horses are swifter than cheetahs and fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their charioteers charge from far away. Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey. 9 "On they come, all bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind, sweeping captives ahead of them like sand. 10 They scoff at kings and princes and scorn all their fortresses. They simply pile ramps of earth against their walls and capture them! 11 They sweep past like the wind and are gone. But they are deeply guilty, for their own strength is their god."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

scoff: 2 Kings 24:12, 2 Kings 25:6, 2 Kings 25:7, 2 Chronicles 36:6, 2 Chronicles 36:10

they shall deride: Isaiah 14:16, Jeremiah 32:24, Jeremiah 33:4, Jeremiah 52:4-7

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 2:21 - but the Lord Job 41:28 - slingstones Hosea 10:14 - and all Nahum 3:12 - General Habakkuk 1:17 - and Habakkuk 2:6 - that increaseth

Cross-References

Genesis 1:4
And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.
Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!
Psalms 104:31
May the glory of the Lord continue forever! The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they shall scoff at the kings,.... Or, "he shall" u, Nebuchadnezzar king of the Chaldeans, and the army with him; who would make a jest of kings and their armies that should oppose them, as being not at all a match for them; as the kings of Judah, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, they carried captive, and all others confederate with them, in whom they trusted, as the king of Egypt particularly; and which is observed to show the vanity of trusting in princes for safety; though it may also include all other kings the Chaldeans fought against, and the kingdoms they invaded and subdued:

and the princes shall be a scorn unto them; the nobles, counsellors, and ministers of state; or leaders and commanders of armies, and general officers, in whom great confidence is often put; but these the king of Babylon and his forces would mock and laugh at, as being nothing in their hands, and who would fall an easy prey to them:

they shall deride every strong hold; in Jerusalem, in the whole land of Judea, and in every other country they invade, or pass through, none being able to stand out against them:

for they shall heap dust, and take it; easily, as it were in sport, only by raising a dust heap, or a heap of dirt; by which is meant a mount raised up to give them a little rise, to throw in their darts or stones, or use their engines and battering rams to more advantage, and to scale the walls, and get possession. There are two other senses mentioned by Kimchi; as that they shall gather a great number of people as dust, and take it; or they shall gather dust to till up the trenches and ditches about the wall, that so they may come at it, and take it.

u והוא "et ipse", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Tarnovius, Grotius, Cocceius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And they - literally, “he,” the word stands emphatically, he, alone against all the kings of the earth

Shall scoff at the kings - and all their might taking them away or setting them up at his pleasure and caprice, subduing them as though in sport

And princes - literally, grave and majestic

Shall be a scorn unto them - i. e. him. Compare Job 41:29. So Nebuchadnezzar bound Jehoiakim 2 Chronicles 36:6; Daniel 1:2 “in fetters to carry him to Babylon;” then, on his submission made him for three years a tributary king 2 Kings 24:1, then on his rebellion sent bands of Chaldees and other tributaries against him 2 Kings 24:2; and then, or when Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin, Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled, that he should “be buried with the burial of an ass, dragged and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem Jeremiah 22:19, his dead body cast out in the day to the heat and in the night to the frost” Jeremiah 36:30. On the one hand, the expression “slept with his fathers” does not necessarily imply that Jehoiakim died a peaceful death, since it is used of Ahab 1 Kings 22:40 and Amaziah 2 Kings 14:20, 2 Kings 14:22 (in the other, Jeremiah’s prophecy was equally fulfilled, if the insult to his corpse took place when Nebuchadnezzar took away Jehoiachin three months after his father’s death. See Daniel. Josephus attributes both the death and disgrace to Nebuchadnezzar: Ant. x. 6. 3), then Nebuchadnezzar took away Jehoiachin; then Zedekiah. He had also many kings captive with him in Babylon. For on his decease Evil-Merodach brought Jehoiachin out of his prison after 27 years of imprisonment, “and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon” 2 Kings 25:27-28. Daniel says also to Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 2:37-38; Daniel 4:22, “Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power and strength and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven hath He given into thine hand and hath made thee ruler over all.”

They (he) shall deride every strong hold - as, aforetime, when God helped her, Jerusalem laughed the Assyrian to scorn Isaiah 38:22.

For they (he) shall heap dust, and take it - as Nebuchadnezzar did Tyre, whose very name (Rock) betokened its strength. Jerome: “He shall come to Tyre, and, casting a mound in the sea, shall make an island a peninsula, and, amid the waves of the sea, land shall give an entrance to the city.”

The mount, or heaped-up earth, by which the besiegers fought on a level with the besieged, or planted their engines at advantage, was an old and simple form of siege, especially adapted to the great masses of the Eastern armies. It was used in David’s time 2 Samuel 20:15; and by the Assyrians 2 Kings 19:32, Egyptians Ezra 17:17, Babylonians (Jeremiah 6:6; Jeremiah 32:24; Jeremiah 33:4; Ezekiel 4:2; Ezekiel 21:22 (Ezekiel 21:27 in Hebrew), Ezekiel 26:8), and afterward, the Persians (Herodotus i. 162). Here he describes the rapidity of the siege. To heap up dust and to capture were one and the same thing.

It needed no great means; things slight as the dust sufficed in the hands of those employed by God. Portion by portion 2 Kings 24:7, “the King of Babylon took; all that pertained to the king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Habakkuk 1:10. They shall scoff at the kings — No power shall be able to stand before them. It will be only as pastime to them to take the strongest places. They will have no need to build formidable ramparts: by sweeping the dust together they shall make mounts sufficient to pass over the walls and take the city.


 
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