Habakkuk 2:6

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

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 that ladeth himself with pledges!

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

הֲלוֹא־אֵ֣לֶּה כֻלָּ֗ם עָלָיו֙ מָשָׁ֣ל יִשָּׂ֔אוּ וּמְלִיצָ֖ה חִיד֣וֹת ל֑וֹ וְיֹאמַ֗ר ה֚וֹי הַמַּרְבֶּ֣ה לֹּא־ל֔וֹ עַד־מָתַ֕י וּמַכְבִּ֥יד עָלָ֖יו עַבְטִֽיט׃

Transliteration

Will not these all of them against him māšāl yiśśāʾû and mĕlîṣâ ḥîdôt for him? And it will say, 'hôy hammarbe not to him! Until when? And makbîd upon him ʿabṭîṭ.'

Grammar Details

• *māšāl*: noun, masculine, singular - proverb/taunt/parable
• *yiśśāʾû*: verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural - they will lift up/take up
• *mĕlîṣâ*: noun, feminine, singular - mocking poem/satire
• *ḥîdôt*: noun, feminine, plural construct - riddles of
• *hôy*: interjection - woe/alas
• *hammarbe*: verb, hiphil participle, masculine singular with definite article - the one increasing
• *makbîd*: verb, hiphil participle, masculine singular - loading/making heavy
• *ʿabṭîṭ*: noun, masculine, singular - pledge/debt/thick clay

Word Meanings

• *māšāl*: taunt/proverb/parable/riddle
• *mĕlîṣâ*: mocking poem/satire/taunting riddle
• *ḥîdôt*: riddles/enigmas/dark sayings
• *makbîd*: making heavy/loading/burdening
• *ʿabṭîṭ*: pledges/thick clay/debt

Referenced Verses

• Job 20:15-29 : 15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again; God will cast them out of his belly. 16 He shall suck the poison of asps: The viper's tongue shall slay him. 17 He shall not look upon the rivers, The flowing streams of honey and butter. 18 That which he labored for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down; According to the substance that he hath gotten, he shall not rejoice. 19 For he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor; He hath violently taken away a house, and he shall not build it up. 20 Because he knew no quietness within him, He shall not save aught of that wherein he delighteth. 21 There was nothing left that he devoured not; Therefore his prosperity shall not endure. 22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: The hand of every one that is in misery shall come upon him. 23 When he is about to fill his belly, [God] will cast the fierceness of his wrath upon him, And will rain it upon him while he is eating. 24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, And the bow of brass shall strike him through. 25 He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body; Yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall: Terrors are upon him. 26 All darkness is laid up for his treasures: A fire not blown [by man] shall devour him; It shall consume that which is left in his tent. 27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, And the earth shall rise up against him. 28 The increase of his house shall depart; [His goods] shall flow away in the day of his wrath. 29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, And the heritage appointed unto him by God.
• Mic 2:4 : 4 In that day shall they take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, [and] say, We are utterly ruined: he changeth the portion of my people: how doth he remove [it] from me! to the rebellious he divideth our fields.
• Num 23:7 : 7 And he took up his parable, and said, From Aram hath Balak brought me, The king of Moab from the mountains of the East: Come, curse me Jacob, And come, defy Israel.
• Jer 50:13 : 13 Because of the wrath of Jehovah she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
• Jer 51:34-35 : 34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath, like a monster, swallowed me up, he hath filled his maw with my delicacies; he hath cast me out. 35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
• Ezek 32:21 : 21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
• Num 23:18 : 18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
• Hab 1:9-9 : 9 They come all of them for violence; the set of their faces is forwards; and they gather captives as the sand. 10 Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him; he derideth every stronghold; for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.
• Hab 1:15 : 15 He taketh up all of them with the angle, he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth and is glad.
• Hab 2:13 : 13 Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?
• Luke 12:20 : 20 But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?
• 1 Cor 7:29-31 : 29 But this I say, brethren, the time is shortened, that henceforth both those that have wives may be as though they had none; 30 and those that weep, as though they wept not; and those that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and those that buy, as though they possessed not; 31 and those that use the world, as not using it to the full: for the fashion of this world passeth away.
• Jas 5:1-4 : 1 Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver are rusted; and their rust shall be for a testimony against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have laid up your treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
• 1 Pet 4:7 : 7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer:
• Job 22:6-9 : 6 For thou hast taken pledges of thy brother for nought, And stripped the naked of their clothing. 7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, And thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. 8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; And the honorable man, he dwelt in it. 9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, And the arms of the fatherless have been broken. 10 Therefore snares are round about thee, And sudden fear troubleth thee,
• Ps 94:3 : 3 Jehovah, how long shall the wicked, How long shall the wicked triumph?
• Prov 22:16 : 16 He that oppresseth the poor to increase his [gain], [And] he that giveth to the rich, [shall come] only to want.
• Isa 14:4-9 : 4 that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! 5 Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers; 6 that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained. 7 The whole earth is at rest, [and] is quiet: they break forth into singing. 8 Yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, [and] the cedars of Lebanon, [saying], Since thou art laid low, no hewer is come up against us. 9 Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10 All they shall answer and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? 11 Thy pomp is brought down to Sheol, [and] the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and worms cover thee. 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations! 13 And thou saidst in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit upon the mount of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit. 16 They that see thee shall gaze at thee, they shall consider thee, [saying], Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 that made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof; that let not loose his prisoners to their home? 18 All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, every one in his own house. 19 But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, that are thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a dead body trodden under foot.
• Isa 44:20 : 20 He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside; and he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
• Isa 55:2 : 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
• Jer 29:22 : 22 and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captives of Judah that are in Babylon, saying, Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;