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Habakkuk 1:17

in Habakkuk 1

Will he, therefore, empty his net and continue to slay nations without mercy?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Shall he therefore empty his net, and spare not to slay the nations continually?

KJV

Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

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This verse in Habakkuk 1

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Habakkuk · Written before 420.

(Verses 15 and following) He lifted the whole thing on his hook, he pulled it into his net, and gathered it into his seine: over this he will rejoice and exult. Therefore he sacrifices to his seine, and offers to his net, for in them his portion has become fat, and his food is choice: because of this he spreads out his seine, and never stops killing nations.

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 Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Must the numbers and wealth of nations be sacrificed to their net? As if it were a small thing to rob men of their estates, shall they rob God of his glory? Is not God the king of nations, and will he not assert their injured rights?

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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

Shall they therefore empty their net,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations? - The prophet, like Isaiah Isa 18:4-5, stands at the very last point, before the fury and desire of the enemy was fulfilled. People, like fish, were gathered together for a prey; he who had taken them was rejoicing and exulting beforehand in his booty; his portion and meat were the choice of the earth; the prophet leeks on, as it were, and beholds the net full; there is but one step more; “Shall he empty it?

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

And not spare continually to slay the nation? - They are running from conquest to conquest; burning, slaying, sacking, and slaughtering. Like the fishermen, who throw cast after cast while any fish are to be caught, so Nebuchadnezzar is destroying one nation after another. This last sentence explains the allegory of the net.

The words behind it

9 Hebrew words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

10 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Habakkuk 2:5–8and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own.2 worksEzekiel 25:1–17Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,2 worksHabakkuk 2:17For your violence against Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of animals will terrify you, because of your bloodshed against men and your violence against the land, the city, and all their dwellers.2 worksJeremiah 52:1–34Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.2 worksIsaiah 14:16–17Those who see you will stare; they will ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made the kingdoms tremble,2 worksJeremiah 46:1–28This is the word of the LORD about the nations—the word that came to Jeremiah the prophet2 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 19:8Then the fishermen will mourn, all who cast a hook into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.2 worksIsaiah 14:6It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows; it subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution.2 worksHabakkuk 1:9–10All of them come bent on violence; their hordes advance like the east wind; they gather prisoners like sand.2 worksJeremiah 25:9–26behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    Habakkuk 2:17

    For your violence against Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of animals will terrify you, because of your bloodshed against men and your violence against the land, the city, and all their dwellers.

    it leads to

    • Habakkuk 2:8

      Because you have plundered many nations, the remnant of the people will plunder you—because of your bloodshed against man and your violence against the land, the city, and all their dwellers.

    • Psalms 55:23

      But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.

    • Zechariah 11:1

      Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may consume your cedars!

    • Proverbs 28:17

      A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.

    • Jeremiah 51:24

      Before your very eyes I will repay Babylon and all the dwellers of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion,” declares the LORD.

Where this verse is studied

About Habakkuk

Habakkuk: the study guide →Read Habakkuk 1 →

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; Jerome, Commentary on Habakkuk; 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.

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