Habakkuk 2:6

Authorized King James Version (1611)

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!

📖 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 shall 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 see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. 18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow [it] down: according to [his] substance [shall] the restitution [be], and he shall not rejoice [therein]. 19 Because he hath oppressed [and] hath forsaken the poor; [because] he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not; 20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired. 21 There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods. 22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him. 23 ¶ [When] he is about to fill his belly, [God] shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain [it] upon him while he is eating. 24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, [and] the bow of steel shall strike him through. 25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors [are] upon him. 26 All darkness [shall be] hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle. 27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him. 28 The increase of his house shall depart, [and 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 [one] take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, [and] say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed [it] from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.
• Num 23:7 : 7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, [saying], Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
• Jer 50:13 : 13 Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it 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 swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, 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 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 hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie 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 shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up [as] the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. 10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.
• Hab 1:15 : 15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.
• Hab 2:13 : 13 Behold, [is it] not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?
• Luke 12:20 : 20 ‹But God said unto him,› [Thou] ‹fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?›
• 1 Cor 7:29-31 : 29 But this I say, brethren, the time [is] short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; 30 And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; 31 And they that use this world, as not abusing [it]: for the fashion of this world passeth away.
• Jas 5:1-4 : 1 ¶ Go to now, [ye] rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon [you]. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are 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 sober, and watch unto prayer.
• Job 22:6-9 : 6 For thou hast taken a pledge from 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 honourable man 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 LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?
• Prov 22:16 : 16 ¶ He that oppresseth the poor to increase his [riches, and] he that giveth to the rich, [shall] surely [come] to want.
• Isa 14:4-9 : 4 ¶ That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! 5 The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, [and] the sceptre of the rulers. 6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, [and] none hindereth. 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 down, no feller is come up against us. 9 Hell 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 speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? 11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, [and] the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, [and] 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 destroyed the cities thereof; [that] opened not the house of his prisoners? 18 All the kings of the nations, [even] all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. 19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, [and as] the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
• Isa 44:20 : 20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that 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 labour 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 captivity of Judah which [are] in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;