Habakkuk 1:14
in Habakkuk 1You have made men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
KJV
And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
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This verse in Habakkuk 1
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 13, 14.) Your eyes are the world's eyes, so that you may not see evil, and you cannot look upon injustice. Why do you not look upon those who commit wickedness and remain silent as the wicked devour the righteous? And you make men like the fish of the sea, and like the reptile that has no ruler? LXX: The world's eye, so that it may not see evil, and it cannot look upon grief. Why do you look upon those who despise, will you be silent when the wicked devours the righteous?
This site's exposition
as the fishes of the sea
on Habakkuk 1:14-17
The chapter closes on humanity reduced to catch, men made as the fishes of the sea, hooked, netted, dragged, with no ruler over them to answer for their capture, so that the fisherman rejoices over the very cruelty of the haul. Habakkuk's sharpest charge follows, therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag, the Chaldean's own war machine turned into an object of worship because it delivers a fat portion and plenteous meat. Pusey and Wesley read the image as idolatry of power stated plainly, a nation worshiping the instrument of its own conquest rather than the God who permitted it. The chapter ends on a question left hanging, shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations, and chapter 2 opens with the prophet climbing his watchtower to wait for the answer.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
You see, even if it is the wicked who perish, nevertheless the souls of good people are likely to show compassion when they see people being punished. And you will find each of the good people and the inspired writers making earnest supplication for them, as for example the patriarch did for the Sodomites and the inspired writers all continued to do. One, for instance, said, "Woe is me, Lord; are you wiping out the remnant of Israel?" Another said, "Will you make people like the fish of the sea, deprived of a leader?" So since without even this the good man was troubled in mind and sick at heart, the Lord, in case the sight of these things should cast Noah into deeper depression, locked him in the ark as though in a prison, lest he have a sight of these events and be terror-struck. In his care for him, therefore, the loving God does not allow him to view the torrent of water or see the disaster occurring that involved the destruction of the world.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And makest - Not infusing cruel appetites, but permitting them to act according to such appetite which was already in them. As the fishes - Of which the greater greedily devour the smaller. Creeping things - Which in the waters are food for the lesser fry; so the world, like the sea, is wholly oppression.
3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. 4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
And makest men as the fishes of the sea,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
And--that is, And so, by suffering oppressors to go unpunished, "Thou makest men as the fishes . . . that have no ruler"; that is, no defender. All may fish in the sea with impunity; so the Chaldeans with impunity afflict Thy people, as these have no longer the God of the theocracy, their King, to defend them.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Makest men as the fishes of the sea - Easily are we taken and destroyed. We have no leader to guide us, and no power to defend ourselves. Nebuchadnezzar is here represented as a fisherman, who is constantly casting his nets into the sea, and enclosing multitudes of fishes; and, being always successful, he sacrifices to his own net - attributes all his conquests to his own power and prudence; not considering that he is only like a net that after having been used for a while, shall at last be thrown by as useless, or burnt in the fire.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And makest men as the fishes of the sea - mute, helpless, in a stormy, restless element, no cry heard, but themselves swept away in shoals, with no power to resist. As the creeping things - whether of the land (as it is mostly used), or the sea Psa 104:25. Either way, it is a contemptuous name for the lowest of either. That have no ruler over them - none to guide, order, protect them, and so a picture of man deprived of the care and providence of God.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And You have made man before this wicked man - free as the fish of the sea, which anyone who wishes may catch.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה | vataaseh | and you have made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אָדָ֖ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| כִּדְגֵ֣י | kidgei | like [the] fish of | H1709 → | |
| הַיָּ֑ם | haiyam | the sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| כְּרֶ֖מֶשׂ | keremes | like creeping thing[s] | H7431 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | [which] not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מֹשֵׁ֥ל | moshel | a ruler | H4910 → | |
| בּֽוֹ׃ | bo | [is] over it |
וַתַּעֲשֶׂ֥הand you have made
vataasehH6213 →2628 times
אָדָ֖םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
כִּדְגֵ֣יlike [the] fish of
kidgeiH1709 →
הַיָּ֑םthe sea
haiyamH3220 →396 times
כְּרֶ֖מֶשׂlike creeping thing[s]
keremesH7431 →
לֹא־[which] not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
מֹשֵׁ֥לa ruler
moshelH4910 →
בּֽוֹ׃[is] over it
bo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
4 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 6:7Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler,
it leads to
- Job 38:39
Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions
- Proverbs 30:27
the locusts have no king, yet they all advance in formation;
- Job 39:26–30
Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south?
- Job 41:4–34
Will he make a covenant with you to take him as a slave for life?
- Job 38:39
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Habakkuk
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Habakkuk; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 25:12; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.