Habakkuk 2:6

Shall not all these take up a parable against him,.... A proverbial expression, a short sentence, a laconic speech, delivered in a few words, which contains much in them concerning the vices of these

Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!

Shall not? the prediction is moulded thus in a question, to give it emphasis, and make it more affective. All these, who have been oppressed, contumeliously used, and perfidiously deceived; all the people who have feared the power and policy of Babylon. Take up a parable; turn him and his state into a by-word and scorn. Against him; the king of Babylon, awhile since the terror, now the scorn of nations. Taunting; short, but smart, wounding scoffs; and whereas men usually bewail and condole the mishaps of great, brave, and just kings or kingdoms, all people shall exult and triumph in the miseries of this oppressive, luxurious, and base kingdom. Woe! either it is a threat of like vengeance on all such transgressors, or it may be a publishing the miseries come upon Babylon. To him that increaseth; by rapine, frauds, and injurious dealings multiplieth his treasures, as the king of Babylon did. Not his; it was not his though he had it; it was not his right though it was in his possession. Or else thus, one misery of the Babylonians shall be, they increase wealth, but not for themselves, but for the Medes and Persians. How long? this seems to be the sigh of the oppressed, who think it long ere the oppressor fall. To him that ladeth himself; woe to him that is a burden to others, while he burdens himself with amassed treasures gathered by extortion and grievous, unjust taxes! With thick clay; gold and silver, so called to lower the over-value of them, and perhaps to mind the tyrant of a clay-bed.

Habakkuk 2:6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth [that which is] not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!Ver. 6. Shall not all these take up a parable against him?] Shall not the Babylonian, who is now a terror, be ere long a scorn? shall he not inherit with ignominy, reproach? And a taunting proverb against him] Heb. An interpretation, and riddles. For example, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his, that is both a proverb (because in many men’ s mouths) and an interpretation, because it is plain and perspicuous. But that which followeth is a riddle. "That ladeth himself with thick clay!" This nut must be broken up ere the kernel can be come at. See Judges 7:15. Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his!] Heb. Lo, lo. Some render it he, he that multiplieth not for himself but for another, sc. for the Medes and Persians, not woe, but he, a note of insulting and upbraiding, answerable to the Latin Vah, Vah, tunc ille es, &c. Ah sirrah, are you he that increaseth that which is not yours, &c. Eugo, ευριθεοςτοναλιτρον. How long?] This is the common complaint of the oppressed nations, groaning out their grievances, and longing for deliverance from those troublers of the world. Neither is this usque quo in vain; for God is gracious, and may better style himself, than the Great Turk, Awlem Penawh, that is, The world’ s refuge: the poor man’ s king, as James IV of Scotland was called. And to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!] With gold and silver, that guts and garbage of the earth, fitly called clay, because of the clogging and polluting property, and said to load people as a sumpter horse laden with treasure all day, but at night turned into a stinking stable, with his back full of galls and bruises. He that first called riches bona, goods, was mistaken; the Scripture calleth them thorns, snares, thick clay, &c., a great burden to the owner, according to the proverb, Magna navis, magna cura, a great ship is a great care, and the lading oft proves no better than that which Captain Frobisher brought back with him after his voyage to discover the Straits, viz. a great quantity of stones, which he thought to be minerals, from which, when there could be drawn neither gold nor silver, nor any other metal, they were cast forth to repair the highways. This was labour in vain, pressure to no purpose; and no less is theirs that heap up riches without right, Jeremiah 17:11, or, if by right means, yet set their hearts upon them, Psalms 62:10, still striving (as they say the toad doth) to die with as much earth in their mouths as may be, till at length their never enough be requited with fire enough in the bottom of hell.

(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 6. Shall not all these take up a parable against him] His ambition, derangement, and the final destruction of his mighty empire by the Persians, shall form the foundation of many sententious sayings among the people. "He who towered so high, behold how low he is fallen!" "He made himself a god; behold, he herds with the beasts of the field!" "The disturber of the peace of the world is now a handful of dust!"

6–20. Five woes pronounced against the Chaldean From the mouth of the nations whom he has desolated Habakkuk 2:5 does not belong to the vision Habakkuk 2:4, but forms the transition to the taunting proverb taken up against the Chaldean by the nations. This proverb is in the form of a prophecy in which woes are pronounced on the lust of conquest, rapacity, selfish pride and idolatry of the people, and their ruin is predicted, for their vices carry in them their own recompense. The woes are five in number, beginning with Habakkuk 2:6; Habakkuk 2:9; Habakkuk 2:12; Habakkuk 2:15; Habakkuk 2:18. Though the nations take up the woes, as the passage proceeds the prophet himself appears to speak.

Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him?

First woe — upon lust of conquest and plunder, Habakkuk 2:6-8.Habakkuk 2:6 a introduces the oppressed who will pronounce the woes. The utterances begin with “woe” in 6b.