Habakkuk 2:5

Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine,.... Or rather, "how much less" or "more (o), wine dealing treacherously": or "a man of wine", as Aben Ezra supplies it; that is, a winebibber, as Kimchi

Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations,

Behold; note it: there are two sorts of persons who concern themselves in this puzzling question of the Divine providence; some object. and quarrel contest with God, proudly, discontentedly, and impatiently; others inquire humbly, submitting themselves to God, and waiting for him. His soul, the heart and mind of every such one, which is lifted up; that proudly contests with the justice and wisdom of the Divine Providence, that slights promises of deliverance at so great a distance, and provides for his own safety by his own wit; is not upright; is very corrupt and wicked, full of (not only distrusts, but) positive conclusions against God’ s future punishing the wicked: such a one is so wicked that he thinks God will not punish the violent and bloody, the superstitious and idolatrous Babylonian. The just; the humble, upright, and comparatively righteous one, who adores the depth of Divine providence, and is persuaded of the truth of Divine promises, and doth approve the season God chooseth. Shall live; supports himself, and quiets his own heart, whilst he foreseeth the approaching deliverance of Zion. By his faith; his well-grounded dependence on a persuasion of the truth of God’ s promises touching the relief of the faithful servants of God, whose deliverance he believes to be certain, and so waits for the performance of promises made to him and them. Yea also, or moreover, furthermore, because he, the king of Babylon, or every one of them, transgresseth by wine; which vice destroys kings and kingdoms, and in the excesses of luxury the Babylonian king Belshazzar, his city and kingdom of Babylon, fell a prey to Darius and Cyrus. A proud man; insolent in his behaviour towards all, both retainers, subjects, strangers, and conquered enemies: such pride shall have a fall. Neither keepeth at home; is ever abroad warring upon some or other, which though it enlarge his countries, it weakeneth his kingdom and gives advantage to malcontents and conspirators, besides that it exposeth him to imminent and continual dangers. Enlargeth his desire as hell; is most insatiably greedy to devour all, as far from saying It is enough as the grave is. Is as death; as pernicious and ravenous. Cannot be satisfied; all is too little for him, and there is no possibility to satiate his appetite. Gathereth, addeth one after another, unto him, to his kingdom, all nations, that are round about him; all he knows are designed upon, and he purposeth to engross them. Heapeth unto him all people; another expression of the same import. Now all this, foretold of the future temper of the Babylonish kings and kingdoms, is a sure presage of their no long continuance in grandeur, but that shortly Divine vengeance will overtake them. This might be an answer to disputers. Yea also, or Heapeth unto him all people; another expression of the same import.

Habakkuk 2:5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, [he is] a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and [is] as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:Ver. 5. Yea, also because he transgresseth by wine] Or, How much more because he is a wine bibber, perfidious, proud, neither keepeth at home. These four faults the prophet here layeth to the charge of the Babylonian, and therehence inferreth for the comfort of the distressed captives, that his destruction cannot be far off; and therefore the just should meanwhile live by faith, and bear up under affliction. For if those that believe not the promises, but shift and shark for help and comfort elsewhere, shall smart for their unbelief, as Habakkuk 2:4, where shall those appear that are here described? shall these bipedum nequissimi, worst of men, escape by iniquity? Never think it. First, their drunkenness alone would undo them; as it did Amnon, Elah, Nabal, Belshazzar, Bonosus, &c. Aristotle saith, that double punishments are due to drunkards (Tοιςμεθυουσιδιπλαταεπιτιμια): first for their drunkenness, and then for other sins committed in and by their drunkenness. Nebuchadnezzar (or, as some will have it, Belshazzar) is here called, wine, or (by an ordinary elipsis) a man of wine; not only Meribibulus, but a deep and desperate drunkard, a very tundish (as Diotimus of Athens was called), a hogshead, as young Cicero. No wonder therefore though he were all the rest that followeth. 1. Perfidious, to those that committed themselves to his trust, or made leagues with him, which he kept no longer than stood with his profit. 2. Proud, or arrogant, Proverbs 21:24. See Daniel 4:30, how he spreads his peacock’ s tail, and prides himself in it: his great wealth tumoured him up with great swealth. 3. He keepeth not at home] Non habitabit, his own country will not contain him, but he encloseth all nations in his dragnet, Habakkuk 1:15. 4. He enlargeth his desire as hell] Which hath its name (Sheol) in Hebrew, from its unsatiableness, Proverbs 30:15-16, and in Latin it is called Inferuus ab inferendo, say some, from the devil’ s continual carrying in souls thither, and yet it is not filled. And is as death] Which is the end of all men, Ecclesiastes 7:2; the way of all flesh, 1 Kings 2:2; of all the earth, Joshua 23:14; the house appointed for all living, the great congregation house, Job 30:23. And cannot be satisfied] Lust is unsatisfiable, and whatsoever it getteth is but as fuel to the fire. Ambition groweth as the crocodile doth, as long as he liveth. It rideth without reins, and there is no ho with it. But gathereth unto him all nations, &c.] All that he could come at; all Asia, and a great part of Africa; and could never have enough, till his mouth was filled with a spade full of mould.

(5) Yea, also. . . .—Better, Add, too, that wine is treacherous (and that) he is a braggart and cannot be quiet, whose appetite is large as (that of) Hades. The rest of the verse illustrates this last-named characteristic—restless, rapacious ambition. Two more charges are thus added to the gravamen of Hab 2:4. Not only are the Chaldæans arrogant, but drunkards, and insatiably covetous. The former charge is expressed in a kind of proverb, “(It is a known fact that) wine is treacherous.” Perhaps the aphorisms of Pro 20:1 are in Habakkuk’s mind: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is noisy.” The other charge, that of rapacity, also recalls the Book of Proverbs, where the insatiable appetite of death and Hades is twice described. (See Proverbs 27:20; Proverbs 30:16.) The charge of drunkenness is illustrated in Rawlinson, Ancient Monarchies, vol. 2, 504-507.

Verse 5. Because he transgresseth by wine] From the present translation, it is not easy to see either reason or meaning in the first clause of this verse. Newcome translates, "Moreover, as a mighty man transgresseth through wine, he is proud, and remaineth not at rest." Houbigant thus: "For he, though he be a despiser, and powerful, and proud, yet shall he not have rest." Nebuchadnezzar is here represented in his usual character, proud, haughty, and ambitious; inebriated with his successes, and determined on more extensive conquests; and, like the grave, can never have enough: yet, after the subjugation of many peoples and nations, he shall be brought down, and become so despicable that he shall be a proverb of reproach, and be taunted and scorned by all those whom he had before enslaved. And cannot be satisfied] When he has obtained all that is within his reach, he wishes for more; and becomes miserable, because any limits are opposed to his insatiable ambition. It is said of Alexander: - Unus Pellaeo juveni non sufficit orbis; AEstuat infelix angusto limite mundi. Juv. Sat. x. 168. One world sufficed not Alexander's mind; Coop'd up, he seem'd on earth and seas confined. And the poet justly ridicules him, because at last the sarcophagus was found too large for his body!

5. Yea also … transgresseth by wine] A.V. is hardly a rendering of the text. R.V. renders: yea, moreover, wine is a treacherous dealer, a haughty man, and that keepeth not at home; who enlargeth his desire as hell. Such phraseology has little meaning. Any reference to Chaldean debaucheries, openly expressed by A.V. and apparently insinuated by R.V., is farfetched in the extreme and has no probability. The text cannot be right; the word “wine” does not appear either in Sept. or Syr., and the word rendered “keepeth at home” is unknown. The term rendered by R.V. “treacherous (barbarous) dealer” is that applied to the Chaldean, ch. Habakkuk 1:13, and it would be more natural to take the “ruthless dealer” as the subject of the statement here, and to suppose that what is said of him is that he is insatiable, in agreement with the second half of the verse. The Syr. contents itself with expressing this general sense: an arrogant and greedy man is not satiated (insatiable). There is some corruption in the word “wine,” which should express the predicate; yea, moreover … is the treacherous dealer. He is a proud man, neither keepeth at home] The term “proud” occurs Proverbs 21:24, “The proud and haughty man, scorner is his name.” The verb “keepeth at home” is found nowhere else; a noun in the sense of pasture, homestead, is not uncommon, and the verb if it existed might (after Arab.) mean to find a home, or resting-place—possibly even to be quiet or rest (Job 20:20). The whole would then read: yea, moreover … is the treacherous dealer, a man that is proud and resteth not; who enlargeth. For “resteth not” (yinweh) Wellh. suggests “is not satisfied” (yirweh). The latter word properly means to drink to satiety, as the thirsty does water, and as the sword does blood (Jeremiah 46:10). When Ibn Aḥ ?mar sings of his camel: “She says, when I have raised the saddle upon her, Will Ibn Aḥ ?mar be supplied with drink and never satisfy his thirst (yarwa) from me?” the beast refers to her sweat. If the word “wine” were retained a slight change in the Heb. text might produce a comparison: Moreover, like wine is the treacherous dealer, a man that is proud and restless (insatiable); who enlargeth:—the comparison “like wine” indicating the conduct and demeanour that wine produces. But all efforts to educe sense must fail with the present text. enlargeth his desire as hell] who openeth wide his maw like Sheòl. Sheòl, the place of the dead, is insatiable. Isaiah 5:14; Proverbs 27:20, “Sheòl and Abaddon are never satisfied,” cf. Proverbs 30:16. “Death” like Sheòl is personified. heapeth unto him all people] all peoples. He swalloweth down all nations like Sheòl.

This general rule the prophet goes on to apply in words which belong in part to all oppressors and in the first instance to the Chaldaean, in part yet more fully to the end and to antichrist.

Habakkuk 2:5 seems to be an oracle by itself, though in thought it is an expansion of Hab 2:4 a, describing, as it does, the character of the Chaldean.