Habakkuk 2:9

Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house,.... The bishops of Rome, being enriched by the donations of Constantine, were not satisfied, but coveted more; these are the greedy dogs

Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!

Woe! it is a general and comprehensive threat against all tyrants and oppressors. To him; every one that is guilty of the sin. That coveteth an evil covetousness; or driveth a trade of oppression, to gain by what means soever, right or wrong. This is evil of sin, and will end in evil of trouble. To his house; his family, which he would enrich and greaten by raising it on the ruins of oppressed innocents. That he may set his nest on high; a proverbial speech, in allusion to birds of prey, which build their nests in the greatest heights, Obadiah 4. Greatness and an advanced estate gotten by rapine and prey may seem, but never can be, a security to any monarch. On high; higher than God and justice set him. That he may be delivered; kept secure, and out of danger from all below him. From the power of evil, Heb. from the palm of the hand of evil, that no evil may fasten on, though it may attempt against them.

Habakkuk 2:9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!Ver. 9. Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness] For there is a good covetousness (which few are guilty of), 1 Corinthians 12:31, "Covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I unto you a more excellent way." Covet earnestly the best graces, such as are faith, hope, and charity, these are better than gifts. A shop full of barrels enrich not unless they be full of commodities. Gifts (as to heaven) are but the lumber of a Christian; it is grace makes him rich toward God, and of that he cannot be too covetous. But the covetousness of the Chaldeans here threatened and thundered against was of another nature. It is called an evil covetousness and hath its name in the original of piercing or wounding, as Joe 2:8, and fitly, both in respect of a man’ s self, 1 Timothy 6:10, and others, Proverbs 1:19 Amos 9:1, and here. Woe to such, and destruction too, as Hosea 7:13. The Lord, to show his just indignation against covetous persons, smiteth his fists at them, as Balak did at Balaam, Numbers 24:10. See Ezekiel 22:13, "Behold, I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee." Now, lest people should object or conceive that those were but great words, and that the Lord would not do so as he said, or that they should deal well enough with him, therefore it followeth Habakkuk 2:14, "Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken, and will do it." To his house] i.e. To his family and posterity, which he intends to advance, but indeed undoes them, by leaving them a cursed hoard of ill-gotten goods, wherein they do them a greater displeasure than Joab and Gehazi did in leaving their children the leprosy for a legacy. Job speaketh, Job 15:34, as though the wicked, when they set up their houses by pilling and polling, by getting riches without right, did but make a stack of wood, and then comes a spark of God’ s wrath, and makes an end of all. As in another place, "Brimstone," saith he, "shall be scattered upon his habitation," Job 18:15, so that if the fire of God’ s displeasure do but light upon it, &c. Thus Dioclesian, that cruel persecutor, had his house wholly consumed with lightning and a flame of fire that fell from heaven upon it, as Eusebius tells us (De Vita Constant. lib. 5). Add hereunto that many times there comes a son that is as good with a fork as his father was with a rake; as great a spend-all as his father was a get-all.

(6-20) The destruction of the Chaldæans has hitherto been only implied. It is now plainly foretold in a denunciatory song, put into the mouths of the invader’s victims. In this song there are five strophes, of three verses each, 6-8; 9-11; 12-14; 15-17; 18-20.

Verse 9. An evil covetousness to his house] Nebuchadnezzar wished to aggrandize his family, and make his empire permanent: but both family and empire were soon cut off by the death of his son Belshazzar, and the consequent destruction of the Chaldean empire.

9–11. Second woe: the Chaldean’s rapacity and self-aggrandisement 9. coveteth an evil covetousness] gaineth evil gains for his house. His “house” is his family or dynasty, or, if the Chaldean represent the nation, his people. set his nest on high] A figure from the eagle or other birds that build in inaccessible places. He sought evil gains for the purpose of fortifying his abode and making it unassailable. Numbers 24:21; Jeremiah 49:16; Obadiah 1:4. power of evil] lit. hand of evil, i.e. calamity from assailants. The “evil” is not present but eventual and possible.

Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house - (or, with accents, “that coveteth covetousness or unjust gain, an evil to his house.”) What man coveteth seems gain, but is evil “to his

9. Coveteth an evil covetousness — Better R.V., “getteth an evil gain.” The vast spoil taken from the nations by evil and illegitimate means. To his house — Not the palace, but the entire land and nation (see on Hosea 8:1).