Bible Strands
Habakkuk 1:10
They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn. They laugh at every fortress and build up siege ramps to seize it.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Habakkuk addresses God while recording a vision of the Chaldean army He is raising up to execute judgment. The prophet writes during a crisis when divine delay prompts questions about justice and the sudden appearance of a violent foreign power.
The words — The Hebrew יִתְקַלָּ֔ס (yit.kal.las) means "it derides" or "scoffs," and מִבְצָ֣ר (miv.tzar) translates to "fortress." These terms describe the conquerors' active contempt for both political authority and defensive structures.
The thread — The motif of arrogant military power meeting historical reversal runs through 2 Chronicles 36:6 and 2 Chronicles 36:10, where Babylonian kings bind Judah's monarchs and strip the temple. Isaiah 14:16 later shows the fallen conqueror becoming an object of stunned observation for those he once dominated.
Why it lands — The text states that human strength and fortified security are temporary and ultimately subject to sovereign judgment. Readers are asked to observe that contempt for authority and reliance on military might carry inherent historical consequences.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 36:6 Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jehoiakim and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.
- 2 Chronicles 36:10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar summoned Jehoiachin and brought him to Babylon, along with the articles of value from the house of the LORD. And he made Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 14:16 Those who see you will stare; they will ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made the kingdoms tremble,
- Jeremiah 32:24 See how the siege ramps are mounted against the city to capture it. And by sword and famine and plague, the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened, as You now see!
- 2 Kings 24:12 Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.
- 2 Kings 25:6 The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him.
- Jeremiah 33:4 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah that have been torn down for defense against the siege ramps and the sword:
- Jeremiah 52:4 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it.