Habakkuk 2:12-14

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Habakkuk 2:5-14

The prophet having had orders to write the vision, and the people to wait for the accomplishment of it, the vision itself follows; and it is, as divers other prophecies we have met with, the burden of Babylon and Babylon's king, the same that was said to pass over and offend, Hab. 1:11. It reads the doom, some think, of Nebuchadnezzar, who was principally active in the destruction of Jerusalem, or of that monarchy, or of the whole kingdom of the Chaldeans, or of all such proud and oppressive... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Habakkuk 2:12

Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity! This is what the stone and beam should say, if others were silent. The town and city are the church of Rome, mystical Babylon, the great city, called spiritually Egypt and Sodom; the builder of this is the pope of Rome, the bishops of it in succession, who built it with blood: the pope of Rome received his title as head of the church from Phocas, that murdered the emperor Mauritius; the foundation of the church... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Habakkuk 2:13

Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts ?.... That which follows; the judgments of God upon the bloody city, which they that labour to prevent labour in vain. So the Targum, "lo, strong and mighty blows or judgments come from the Lord of hosts;' the mighty God, the Lord of armies, whose hand when stretched out none can turn back; he does what he pleases, and none can hinder him; when the decree is gone forth from him, it is in vain to attempt to stop it: that the people shall labour... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Habakkuk 2:14

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord ,.... Of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ; of the glory of his person, as the Son of God, and truly God; which is essential to him, and underived; the same with his Father's, and what transcends the glory of all created beings; and of the glory of his office as Mediator, which itself is glorious and honourable: and this his glory lies in his fitness for it; in his faithful performance of it, and the honour given him... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Habakkuk 2:12

Wo to him that buildeth a town with blood - At the expense of much slaughter. This is the answer of the beam to the stone. And these things will refer to the vast fortunes gained, and the buildings erected, by means of the slave-trade; where, to a considerate and humane mind, the walls appear as if composed of the bones of negroes, and cemented by their blood! But the towns or houses established by this iniquity soon come to ruin; and the fortunes made have, in most cases, become as chaff... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Habakkuk 2:13

The people shall labor in the very fire - All these superb buildings shall be burnt down. See the parallel passage, Jeremiah 51:58 ; (note), and the note there. Shall weary themselves for very vanity? - For the gratification of the wishes of ambition, and in buildings which shall be brought to naught. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Habakkuk 2:14

For the earth shall be filled - This is a singular and important verse. It may be first applied to Babylon. God's power and providence shall be widely displayed in the destruction of this city and empire, in the humiliation of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 4:37 , and in the captivity and restoration of his people. See Newcome, and see Isaiah 11:9 . Secondly. It may be applied to the glorious days of the Messiah. The land of Judea should by his preaching, and that of his disciples, be filled... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Habakkuk 2:12

Verse 12 The stone, then, from the wall shall cry, and the wood shall answer —what will it answer?—Woe to him who builds a city by blood, and who adorns his city by iniquity. By blood and by iniquity he understands the same thing; for though the avaricious do not kill innocent men, they yet suck their blood, and what else is this but to kill them by degrees, by a slow tormenting process? For it is easier at once to undergo death than to pine away in want, as it happens to helpless men when... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Habakkuk 2:13

Verse 13 Then he adds, Shall it not be, behold, from Jehovah of hosts? (38) Some give a wrong version, “Is not this,” as though הנה, ene, were put here instead of a pronoun demonstrative; but they extenuate and obscure the beauty of the expression; nay, they pervert the meaning of the Prophet: for when he says, הנה, ene, behold, he refers not to what he had said, nor specifies any particular thing, and yet he shows, as it were by the finger, the judgement of God, which he bids us to expect; as... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Habakkuk 2:14

Verse 14 The Prophet briefly teaches us here, that so remarkable would be God’s judgement on the Babylonians that his name would thereby be celebrated through the whole world. But there is in this verse an implied contrast; for God appeared not in his own glory when the Jews were led away into exile; the temple being demolished and the whole city destroyed; and also when the whole easterly region was exposed to rapine and plunder. When therefore the Babylonians were, after the Assyrians,... read more

Group of Brands