Habakkuk 2:17

For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. FOR THE VIOLENCE OF LEBANON - thy "violence" against "Lebanon" - i:e., Jerusalem (Isaiah 37:24; Jeremiah 22:23. "O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars;" Ezekiel 17:3; Ezekiel 17:12, "A great eagle ... came unto Lebanon" - explained, 'the King of Babylon came to Jerusalem;' for Lebanon's cedars were used in building the temple and houses of Jerusalem, and its beauty...

We may hence easily learn, that the Prophet has not been speaking of drunkenness, but that his discourse, as we have explained, was metaphorical; for here follows a reason, why he had denounced such a punishment on the king of Babylon, and that was, because he had exercised violence, not only against all nations indiscriminately, but also against the chosen people of God. He had before only set forth in general the cruelty with which the king of Babylon had destroyed many nations; but he now speaks distinctly of the Jews, in order to show that God would in a peculiar manner be the avenger of that cruelty which the Chaldeans had employed towards the Jews, because the Lord had taken that people under his own protection. Since then the king of Babylon had assailed the children of God, who had been adopted by him, and whose defender he was, he denounces upon him here a special punishment. We...

15-20 A severe woe is pronounced against drunkenness; it is very fearful against all who are guilty of drunkenness at any time, and in any place, from the stately palace to the paltry ale-house. To give one drink who is in want, who is thirsty and poor, or a weary traveller, or ready to perish, is charity; but to give a neighbour drink, that he may expose himself, may disclose secret concerns, or be drawn into a bad bargain, or for any such purpose, this is wickedness. To be guilty of this sin, to take pleasure in it, is to do what we can towards the murder both of soul and body. There is woe to him, and punishment answering to the sin. The folly of worshipping idols is exposed. The Lord is in his holy temple in heaven, where we have access to him in the way he has appointed. May we welcome his salvation, and worship him in his earthly temples, through Christ Jesus, and by the influence...

Verse Habakkuk 2:17. _FOR THE VIOLENCE OF LEBANON_] Or, the violence done to _Lebanon_; to _men_, to _cattle_, to _Judea_, and to _Jerusalem_. See the note on the parallel place, Habakkuk 2:8. This may be a threatening against _Egypt_, as the former was against _Chaldea_....

FOR THE VIOLENCE OF LEBANON - i. e., done to Lebanon, whether the land of Israel of which it was the entrance and the beauty (See Isaiah 37:24, and, as a symbol, Jeremiah 22:6, Jeremiah 22:23; Ezekiel 17:3; but it is used as a symbol of Sennacherib’s army, Isaiah 10:34, and the king of Asshur is not indeed spoken of under the name as a symbol (in Ezekiel 21:3,) but is compared to it), or the temple (See the note at...

EXPOSITION HABAKKUK 2:1 § 5. _The prophet, waiting for an answer to his expostulation, is bidden to write the oracle in plain characters, because its fulfilment is certain._ HABAKKUK 2:1 Habakkuk speaks with himself, and, mindful of his office, waits for the communication which he confidently ex-poets (Jeremiah 33:3). I WILL STAND UPON MY WATCH (Isaiah 21:6, Isaiah 21:8). As a watchman goes to a high place to see all around and discern what is coming, so the prophet pla

FOR THE VIOLENCE OF LEBANON SHALL COVER THEE,.... Lebanon was a mountain on the borders of the land of Israel, from whence cedar wood was brought, of which the temple was built, and for that reason is sometimes so called, as in Zechariah 11:1 and so the Targum and Jarchi interpret it, "the violence of the house of the sanctuary shall cover thee;'' and this was a type of the church of Christ, the violence of which is that which is offered to it, and which it suffers; and designs all the injuries, oppressions, and persecutions of it by the Papists; who shall be surrounded with the judgments of God, and covered with his wrath and vengeance for the violence done to his people, as a man is covered with a garment: or else the sense is, that the same, or a like judgment, should come upon them, as did on Lebanon, or the material temple of Jerusalem, which with great forc

CHAPTER 2 The Ungodliness of the Chaldeans and Their Destruction _ 1. The waiting prophet and the message he received (Habakkuk 2:1) _ 2. The five-fold woe upon the Chaldeans (Habakkuk 2:5) Habakkuk 2:1. It seems there was no immediate answer to the plea of the prophet. He then speaks to himself and expresses his attitude. “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and I will wait to see what He will say to me, and what I shall answer as to my complaint.” He watches like a sentinel upon a watchtower for the answer the Lord will give him. It does not mean that the prophet actually ascended a tower, but he expresses his innermost attitude by the symbol of the watchman. He remained

WOES ON THE EVIL-DOER. Habakkuk 2:5 f. Woe on the insatiable conqueror, who treacherously gathers to himself the heritage of all the nations, only to be the victim of their bitterest maledictions. Habakkuk 2:5. As Davidson acknowledges, all efforts to educe sense must fail with the present text. A few slight changes yield the following: Ah! proud and treacherous man, haughty and never satisfied, who enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and like Death is never satisfied, etc. Habakkuk 2:6. parable: rather taunt-song (_cf._ Numbers 21:27). TAUNTING PROVERB: lit. a satire, even riddles (dark sayings, with a s

VIOLENCE OF LEBANON: i.e. violence [done to] Lebanon by felling its trees. WHICH MADE THEM AFRAID: or, shall make thee afraid....