Habakkuk 2:8
in Habakkuk 2Because 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder thee, because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all that dwell therein.
KJV
Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
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This verse in Habakkuk 2
Commentary
12 notes on this verse(Verse 5 and following) And just as wine deceives a drinker, so too will the proud man be, and he will not be adorned, who has expanded his soul like Sheol and is like death, and he will not be satisfied. And he will gather all nations to himself, and he will heap all peoples to himself. Will not all these take up a proverb against him and a taunting riddle about him, and say: Woe to him who multiplies what is not his own! How long will he heap up thick clay against himself?
This site's exposition
Will not your creditors suddenly arise
on Habakkuk 2:7-8
The woe becomes a sentence, for "your creditors" will rise suddenly and "you will become their prey" in turn. The reason is measure for measure: the nations Babylon plundered "will plunder you" in return. The charge "your bloodshed against man and your violence against the land" returns at verse 17.
This site's exposition
the remnant of the people will plunder you
The plunderer is repaid in his own coin. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain that those left of the plundered peoples will be enough to take vengeance. The last clause returns word for word at verse 17, and Adam Clarke reads the land as Judea and the city as Jerusalem.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
"There shall be those that will bite thee and vex thee; those from whom thou didst not fear any danger, that seemed asleep, shall rise up and awake to be a plague to thee. They shall rise up suddenly when thou are most secure, and least prepared to receive the shock and ward off the blow.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee,....
The promoters of drunkenness stand here impeached and condemned. Belshazzar was one of those; he was so, remarkably that very night that the prophecy of this chapter was fulfilled in the period of his life and kingdom, when he drank wine before a thousand of his lords ( Dan. v. 1 ), began the healths, and forced them to pledge him.
That not they only, but all other sinners like them, should perish under a divine woe. Those that are covetous, are greedy of wealth and honours,
He increases that which is not his, but other people's. Note, No more of what we have is to be reckoned ours than what we came honestly by; nor will it long be ours, for wealth gotten by vanity will be diminished. Let not those that thrive in the world be too forward to bless themselves in it, for, if they do not thrive lawfully, they are under a woe.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Note, The violence done by proud men to advance and enrich themselves will be called over again (and must be accounted for) another day, by him to whom vengeance belongs. (2.) Here is a woe against him for coveting still more, and aiming to be still higher,
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Because (or For). The prophet assigns the reason of the woes he had just pronounced. “Thou (emphatic), thou hast spoiled many nations, all the resonant of the people shall spoil thee.” So Isaiah Isa 33:1, “When thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.” Boundless as his conquests were, each remaining people, tribe, or family shall be his foe.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the remnant of the people--Those remaining of the peoples spoiled by thee, though but a remnant, will suffice to inflict vengeance on thee. the violence of the land . . . city--that is, on account of thy violent oppression of the lands and cities of the earth [GROTIUS] (compare Hab 2:5, 6, 12).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
For the violence of the land - Or, for the violence done to the land of Judea, and to the city of Jerusalem.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אַתָּ֤ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| שַׁלּ֙וֹתָ֙ | shalota | you have plundered | H7997 → | |
| גּוֹיִ֣ם | goyim | nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| רַבִּ֔ים | rabim | many | H7227 → | 454 times |
| יְשָׁלּ֖וּךָ | yeshalukha | they will plunder you | H7997 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יֶ֣תֶר | yeter | [the] rest of | H3499 → | |
| עַמִּ֑ים | ʾamim | [the] peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| מִדְּמֵ֤י | midemei | from [the] blood<s> of | H1818 → | 360 times |
| אָדָם֙ | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| וַחֲמַס־ | vachamas- | and [the] violence of | H2555 → | 60 times |
| אֶ֔רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| קִרְיָ֖ה | kiryah | [the] town | H7151 → | 29 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יֹ֥שְׁבֵי | yoshevei | [those who] dwell | H3427 → | |
| בָֽהּ׃ פ | vah | in it |
כִּֽיfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אַתָּ֤הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
שַׁלּ֙וֹתָ֙you have plundered
shalotaH7997 →
גּוֹיִ֣םnations
goyimH1471 →561 times
רַבִּ֔יםmany
rabimH7227 →454 times
יְשָׁלּ֖וּךָthey will plunder you
yeshalukhaH7997 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
יֶ֣תֶר[the] rest of
yeterH3499 →
עַמִּ֑ים[the] peoples
ʾamimH5971 →1873 times
מִדְּמֵ֤יfrom [the] blood<s> of
midemeiH1818 →360 times
אָדָם֙humankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
וַחֲמַס־and [the] violence of
vachamas-H2555 →60 times
אֶ֔רֶץ[the] land of
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
קִרְיָ֖ה[the] town
kiryahH7151 →29 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
יֹ֥שְׁבֵי[those who] dwell
yosheveiH3427 →
בָֽהּ׃ פin it
vah
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
Isaiah 33:1Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.
it leads to
- Matthew 7:2
For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- Matthew 7:2
Through
Jeremiah 51:44I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him spew out what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him; even the wall of Babylon will fall.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:34
“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies…
- Jeremiah 51:58
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates consumed by fire. So the labor of the people will be for nothing; the nations will…
- Jeremiah 50:2
“Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced,…
- Jeremiah 51:34
Through
Jeremiah 50:28Listen to the fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon, declaring in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance for His temple.
it leads to
- Lamentations 1:10
The adversary has seized all her treasures. For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary—those You had forbidden to enter Your assembly.
- Isaiah 48:20
Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare it with a shout of joy, proclaim it, let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”
- Jeremiah 50:15
Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD,…
- Lamentations 1:10
Through
Habakkuk 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.
it leads to
- 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.
- Psalms 55:23
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); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Habakkuk; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.