Habakkuk 2:16
in Habakkuk 2You will be filled with shame instead of glory. You too must drink and expose your uncircumcision! The cup in the LORD’s right hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will cover your glory.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou art filled with shame, and not glory: drink thou also, and be as one uncircumcised; the cup of Jehovah’s right hand shall come round unto thee, and foul shame shall be upon thy glory.
KJV
Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the Lord’s right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.
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This verse in Habakkuk 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verg. 15 seqq.) Woe to him who gives drink to his friend, sending forth his gall and intoxicating him, so that he may see his nakedness. He is filled with shame instead of glory. Drink also yourself, and be drunk, for the cup of the Lord's right hand will surround you, and the vomit of shame will be upon your glory. For the wickedness of Lebanon will cover you, and the destruction of animals will frighten them away, from the blood of men and the iniquity of the land, the city, and all the inhabitants therein.
This site's exposition
giveth his neighbour drink
on Habakkuk 2:15-17
The fourth woe turns from war to a uniquely ugly image, giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness, humiliation added to conquest. The woe answers in kind, thou art filled with shame for glory, and the cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee, the violence of Lebanon closing in to cover the empire that once stripped its cedar forests for its own building projects. Gill and Henry read the drunkenness imagery as deliberately reversing the humiliation Babylon inflicted on conquered kings, the cup passed back to the one who first poured it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Thou - O king of Babylon. Shall be turned - They turned the cup of pleasure about, God will carry the cup of indignation about also, and make them drink deep of it. Shameful spewing - Thou shalt be as much loathed as a shameful drunkard is in his vomit.
He shall himself be loaded with contempt: " Thou art filled with shame for glory, with shame instead of glory, or art filled now with shame more than ever thou wast with glory; and the glory thou hast been filled with shall but serve to make thy shame the more grievous to thyself, and the more ignominious in the eyes of others.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Thou art filled with shame for glory,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The cup of the Lord’s right hand - Among the ancients, all drank out of the same cup; was passed from hand to hand, and each drank as much as he chose. The Chaldeans gave to the neighboring nations the cup of idolatry and of deceitful alliance: and in return they received from the Lord the cup of his fury. So Grotius.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
art filled--now that thou art fallen. "Thou art filled" indeed (though so insatiable), but it is "with shame." shame for glory--instead of thy former glory (Ho 4:7). drink thou also--The cup of sorrow is now in thy turn to pass to thee (Jer 25:15-17; La 4:21). thy foreskin--expressing in Hebrew feeling the most utter contempt.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thou art filled with shame for glory - Oppressors think to make themselves great by bringing others down, to fill themselves with riches, by spoiling others. They loved shame Hos 4:8, because they loved that, which brought shame; they were filled with shame, in that they sated themselves with shamefulness, which was their shame within, before, in the just judgment of God, shame came on them from without Php 3:19. “Their glory was in their shame.” They shall be filled, yea, he says, they are already filled; they would satisfy, gorge themselves, with all their hearts’ desires; they are “filled to the full,” but with shame instead of glory which they sought, or which they already had. “From” and “for” a state of “glory,” they were filled with contempt. Drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered - thy shame like those whom thou puttest to shame, only the greater in being uncircumcised. “The cup of the Lord’s Right Hand shall be turned (round) unto thee (or against thee).” It had gone round the circuit of the nations whom God had employed him to chasten, and now, the circle completed, it should be brought round to himself, “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you again” Mat 7:2. […]
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׂבַ֤עְתָּ | sava'ta | you are satisfied | H7646 → | |
| קָלוֹן֙ | kalon | shame | H7036 → | |
| מִכָּב֔וֹד | mikavod | more than honor | H3519 → | 200 times |
| שְׁתֵ֥ה | sheteh | drink | H8354 → | |
| גַם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | |
| אַ֖תָּה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| וְהֵֽעָרֵ֑ל | vehearel | and be counted as uncircumcised | H6188 → | |
| תִּסּ֣וֹב | tisov | it will come round | H5437 → | |
| עָלֶ֗יךָ | ʾaleikha | to you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כּ֚וֹס | kos | [the] cup of | H3563 → | |
| יְמִ֣ין | yemin | [the] right [hand] of | H3225 → | |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְקִיקָל֖וֹן | vekikalon | and disgrace | H7022 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [will be] over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כְּבוֹדֶֽךָ׃ | kevodekha | honor your | H3519 → | 200 times |
שָׂבַ֤עְתָּyou are satisfied
sava'taH7646 →
קָלוֹן֙shame
kalonH7036 →
מִכָּב֔וֹדmore than honor
mikavodH3519 →200 times
שְׁתֵ֥הdrink
shetehH8354 →
גַם־also
gam-H1571 →
אַ֖תָּהyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
וְהֵֽעָרֵ֑לand be counted as uncircumcised
vehearelH6188 →
תִּסּ֣וֹבit will come round
tisovH5437 →
עָלֶ֗יךָto you
ʾaleikhaH5921 →5755 times
כּ֚וֹס[the] cup of
kosH3563 →
יְמִ֣ין[the] right [hand] of
yeminH3225 →
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְקִיקָל֖וֹןand disgrace
vekikalonH7022 →
עַל־[will be] over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כְּבוֹדֶֽךָ׃honor your
kevodekhaH3519 →200 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Hosea 4:7The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; they exchanged their Glory for a thing of disgrace.
it leads to
- Hosea 13:6
When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.
- Philippians 3:19
Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
- 1 Samuel 2:30
Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it…
- Hosea 10:1
Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars.
- Hosea 4:10
They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply. For they have stopped obeying the LORD.
- Hosea 13:6
Through
Isaiah 47:3Your nakedness will be uncovered and your shame will be exposed. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.”
it leads to
- Nahum 3:5
“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms.
- Jeremiah 51:20–24
“You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
- Jeremiah 50:27–28
Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time of their punishment.
- Nahum 3:5
Where this verse is studied
About Habakkuk
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Habakkuk; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.