Habakuk 2:5

Biblia Karoli Gaspar

És bizony, a bor is megcsal: felgerjed a férfiú és nincsen nyugalma; õ, a ki tátja száját, mint a Seol, és olyan õ, mint a halál: telhetetlen, és magához ragad minden népet és magához csatol minden nemzetet.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Yea also: or, How much more

he transgresseth: Proverbs 20:1, Proverbs 23:29-33, Proverbs 31:4, Proverbs 31:5, Isaiah 5:11, Isaiah 5:12, Isaiah 5:22, Isaiah 5:23, Isaiah 21:5, Jeremiah 51:39, Daniel 5:1-4, Daniel 5:23, Nahum 1:9, Nahum 1:10

a proud man: Habakkuk 2:4, Psalms 138:6, Proverbs 30:13, Proverbs 30:14, Isaiah 2:11, Isaiah 2:12, Isaiah 2:17, Isaiah 16:6, Jeremiah 50:29, Daniel 5:20-23, James 4:6

keepeth: 2 Kings 14:10, 1 Thessalonians 4:11,*Gr.

who: Isaiah 5:8, Isaiah 10:7-13

as hell: Proverbs 27:20, Proverbs 30:15, Proverbs 30:16, Ecclesiastes 5:10

gathereth: Habakkuk 2:8-10, Isaiah 14:16, Isaiah 14:17, Jeremiah 25:9, Jeremiah 25:17-29

Reciprocal: Ecclesiastes 4:8 - is his Isaiah 5:14 - hell Isaiah 10:14 - And my Isaiah 33:1 - thee that Isaiah 47:8 - I am Jeremiah 43:2 - all the Jeremiah 50:1 - against Babylon Jeremiah 50:31 - O thou Jeremiah 51:13 - abundant Daniel 4:30 - Is not Daniel 5:19 - that he Daniel 7:4 - lifted Hosea 12:8 - I have Amos 1:13 - ripped up the women with child Micah 2:2 - they covet Micah 6:10 - the treasures Habakkuk 1:9 - for Habakkuk 1:17 - and 2 Corinthians 6:11 - our heart James 4:2 - lust Revelation 6:8 - was Death

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine,.... Or rather, "how much less" or "more o, wine dealing treacherously": or "a man of wine", as Aben Ezra supplies it; that is, a winebibber, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it: and the sense in connection with the preceding verse Habakkuk 2:4 is, if a Jew, elated with his works of righteousness, his soul is not right in him, "how much less" a drunken, treacherous, proud, and ambitious heathen? if the Scribes and Pharisees, who expected the coming of the Messiah, yet withdrew from him, and opposed themselves unto him when come, "how much more" will such persons set themselves against him and his interest, thus described? by whom are meant, not the Babylonian monarchs, Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar and the Chaldeans, as usually interpreted, though there are many things in the account applicable to them; but this is breaking the thread of the prophecy, which carries on the account of the enemies of Christ, and of his kingdom, from his first to his second coming; whereas to interpret this prophecy of the Chaldeans is to go back to times before the first coming of Christ; nor does it seem necessary to say anything more concerning them, since the people of God might be satisfied that these would be in their turn destroyed, and they delivered from them; and that they, the Jews, could not be cut off as a people, since the promise of the Messiah, as springing from them, is firmly established; and it is so strongly asserted, that he should come at the appointed time, and not tarry: after which the prophet goes on to observe two different sorts of people among the Jews; one sort proud and vain glorious, who opposed themselves to Christ when he came; the other sort true believers in him, who lived by faith upon him: so things would stand among the Jews when Christ came, and so they did; there was a separation among them on his account: next the prophet proceeds to observe another sort of enemies to Christ and his interest among the heathens, which was not to be wondered at, and therefore introduced by a comparative particle, "how much more" or "less"; and who must be removed to make way for his kingdom and glory in the latter day, manifestly pointed at in Habakkuk 2:14 now who can these be but the Romans, both Pagan and Papal in succession? and with these and their rulers, civil and ecclesiastical, do the characters given as well agree as with the Babylonian monarchy, and the Chaldeans, or better and therefore, after Cocceius and Van Till I shall choose to interpret the whole of them; and it is well known that several of the Roman emperors were greatly given to luxury and intemperance, the first character they stand described by in the text. Tiberius was greatly addicted to this vice; and, because of his greediness after wine p, used to be called Biberius Caldius Mero, instead of Tiberius Claudius Nero; his successor Caligula spent the immense riches Tiberius had gathered together in less than a year's time in luxury and intemperance q; and Claudius, that succeeded him, scarce ever went out of his doors but he was drunk r; and Nero, who came after him to the empire, was of unusual luxury and sumptuousness, as the historian says s; he used to keep on his banquets from the middle of the day to the middle of the night t; to say nothing of Domitian, Commodus, and other emperors that followed after them: and these men were deceitful and treacherous, both to their friends and enemies; and it is no wonder that such as these should oppose themselves to the kingdom and interest of Christ, as they did. Kimchi interprets this of Nebuchadnezzar; and Jarchi of Belshazzar; and most interpreters think it refers to his drinking in the vessels of the temple, Daniel 5:2:

[he is] a proud man; the Roman emperors were excessively proud, like the unjust judge, neither feared God, nor regarded man; nay, set up themselves for gods, and required divine worship to be given them. Caius Caligula claimed divine majesty to himself, and set himself up to be worshipped among his brother gods; he built a temple to his own deity, and appointed priests and sacrifices; and placed a golden image of himself in it, and clothed it every day with such a garment as he himself wore u; he also set up his own image in the temple at Jerusalem. Nero suffered himself to be called lord and god by Tiridates king of the Armenians, with bended knees, and hands lift up to heaven. Domitian and Aurelianus took the same titles as Nero did; and Dioclesian would be worshipped as a god, and called himself the brother of the sun and moon; and no marvel that such men as these should be enemies to Christ, and persecutors of his people:

neither keepeth at home; or "dwells not in the fold" w; in the sheepfold of Christ, in his church, being none of his sheep, an alien from the commonwealth of Israel; and so it denotes a infidel, an heathen; a fit character for the Pagan emperors, who had no habitation in the house of God. Kimchi interprets it of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom not being continued; or of his being driven from his habitation, his palace, from among men, to live with beasts; but it is the character, and not the punishment, of the person that is here pointed at:

who enlargeth his desire as hell, and [is] as death, and cannot be satisfied; death and the grave, though such vast numbers are continually slain by the one, and laid in the other, yet are never satisfied; see Proverbs 27:20. This describes the insatiable thirst of the Roman emperors after honour, riches, and universal monarchy; who were never satisfied with what they obtained:

but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people; that is, subdued them, and made them provinces of the Roman empire, and tributary to it, even almost all the then known world; hence the Roman empire is called the whole world, Luke 2:1 so Agrippa, in his orations to the Jews, mentions all nations as subject to the Romans x.

o ואף כי "quanto magis", Calvin, Drusius, Tarnovius, Cocceius, Van Till, Burkius. p Suetonius in Vita Tiberii, c. 42. q Ib. Vita Caligulae, c. 37. r Ib. Vita Claudii, c. 33. s Eutrop. Hist. Rom. l. 7. t Suetonius in Vita Neronis, c. 27. u Suetonius in Vita Caligulae, c. 22. w ולא ינוה "qui non habitat; quod de mansionibus ovium imprimius dicitur", Cocceius; "qui non inhabitat grata", Van Till. x Apud Joseph de Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 16. sect. 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This general rule the prophet goes on to apply in words which belong in part to all oppressors and in the first instance to the Chaldaean, in part yet more fully to the end and to antichrist. “Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine” (or better, “Yea, how much more, since wine is a deceiver , as Solomon says, Proverbs 20:1, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever erreth thereby shall not be wise;” and Proverbs 23:32, “In the end it biteth like a serpent and pierceth like an adder;” and Hosea Hosea 4:11, “Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.” As wine at first gladdens, then deprives of all reason, and lays a man open to any deceit, so also pride. And whereas all pride deceives, how much more , when people are either heated and excited by the abuse of God’s natural gifts, or drunken with prosperity and hurried away, as conquerors are, to all excess of cruelty or lust to fulfill their own will, and neglect the laws of God and man.

Literal drunkenness was a sin of the Babylonians under the Persian rule, so that even a pagan says of Babylon, “Nothing can be more corrupt than the manners of that city, and more provided with all to rouse and entice immoderate pleasures;” and “the Babylonians give themselves wholly to wine, and the things which follow upon drunkenness.” It was when flushed with wine, that Belshazzar, with his princes his wives and his concubines, desecrated the sacred vessels, insulted God in honor of his idols, and in the night of his excess “was slain.” Pride blinded, deceived, destroyed him. It was the general drunkenness of the inhabitants, at that same feast, which enabled Cyrus, with a handful of men, to penetrate, by means of its river, the city which, with its provisions for many years and its impregnable walls, mocked at his siege. He calculated beforehand on its feast and the consequent dissolution of its inhabitants; but for this, in the language of the pagan historian, he would have been caught “as in a trap,” his soldiery drowned.

He is a proud man, neither keepeth at home. - It is difficult to limit the force of the rare Hebrew word rendered “keep at home;” for one may cease to dwell or abide at home either with his will or without it; and, as in the case of invaders, the one may he the result of the other. He who would take away the home of others becomes, by God’s Providence, himself homeless. The context implies that the primary meaning is the restlessness of ambition; which abides not at home, for his whole pleasure is to go forth to destroy. Yet there sounds, as it were, an undertone, “he would not abide in his home and he shall not.” We could scarcely avoid the further thought, could we translate by a word which does not determine the sense, “he will not home,” “he will not continue at home.” The words have seemed to different minds to mean either; as they may . Such fullness of meaning is the contrary of the ambiguity of pagan oracles; they are not alternative meanings, which might be justified in either case, but cumlative, the one on the other. The ambitious part with present rest for future loss. Nebuchadnezzar lost his kingdom and his reason through pride, received them back when he humbled himself; Belshazzar, being proud and impenitent, lost both his kingdom and life.

Who enlargeth his desire - literally, his soul. The soul becomes like what it loves. The ambitious man is, as we say, “all ambition;” the greedy man, “all appetite;” the cruel man, “all savagery;” the vain-glorious, “all vain glory.” The ruling passion absorbs the whole being. It is his end, the one object of his thoughts, hopes, fears. So, as we speak of “largeness of heart,” which can embrace in its affections all varieties of human interests, whatever affects man, and “largeness of mind” uncramped by narrowing prejudices, the prophet speaks of this “ambitious man widening his soul,” or, as we should speak, “appetite,” so that the whole world is not too large for him to long to grasp or to devour. So the Psalmist prays not to be delivered into the murderous desire of his enemies (Psalms 27:12; Compare Psalms 41:3 (Psalms 41:2 in English); Ezek. 26:27) (literally their soul,) and Isaiah, with a metaphor almost too bold for our language Isaiah 5:14, “Hell hath enlarged her soul, and opened her mouth beyond measure.” It devours, as it were, first in its cravings, then in act.

As hell - which is insatiable Proverbs 30:15. He saith, “enlargeth”; for as hell and the grave are year by year fuller, yet there is no end, the desire “enlargeth” and becometh wider, the more is given to it to satisfy it.

And (he) is (himself) as death - ^o, sparing none. Our poetry would speak of a destroyer as being “like the angel of death;” his presence, as the presence of death itself. Where he is, there is death. He is as terrible and as destroying as the death which follows him.

And cannot be satisfied - Even human proverbs say (Juv. Sat. xiv. 139): “The love of money groweth as much as the money itself groweth.” “The avaricious is ever needy.” Ecclesiastes 5:10 : “he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver.” For these fleeting things cannot satisfy the undying soul. It must hunger still; for it has not found what will allay its cravings .

But gathereth - literally, “And hath gathered” - He describes it, for the rapidity with which he completes what he longs for, as though it were already done.

Unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people - One is still the subject of the prophecy, rising up at successive times, fulfilling it and passing away, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, Attila, Timur, Genghizchan, Hunneric, scourges of God, all deceived by pride, all sweeping the earth, all in their ambition and wickedness the unknowing agents and images of the evil One, who seeks to bring the whole world under his rule. But shall it prosper?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 5. Because he transgresseth by wine — From the present translation, it is not easy to see either reason or meaning in the first clause of this verse. Newcome translates, "Moreover, as a mighty man transgresseth through wine, he is proud, and remaineth not at rest." Houbigant thus: "For he, though he be a despiser, and powerful, and proud, yet shall he not have rest."

Nebuchadnezzar is here represented in his usual character, proud, haughty, and ambitious; inebriated with his successes, and determined on more extensive conquests; and, like the grave, can never have enough: yet, after the subjugation of many peoples and nations, he shall be brought down, and become so despicable that he shall be a proverb of reproach, and be taunted and scorned by all those whom he had before enslaved.

And cannot be satisfied — When he has obtained all that is within his reach, he wishes for more; and becomes miserable, because any limits are opposed to his insatiable ambition. It is said of Alexander: -

Unus Pellaeo juveni non sufficit orbis;

AEstuat infelix angusto limite mundi.

Juv. Sat. x. 168.

One world sufficed not Alexander's mind;

Coop'd up, he seem'd on earth and seas confined.

And the poet justly ridicules him, because at last the sarcophagus was found too large for his body!