Bible Strands
Habakkuk 1:17
Will he, therefore, empty his net and continue to slay nations without mercy?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Habakkuk addresses God regarding the Babylonian empire's brutal expansion, directly following his observation of the conqueror's idolatrous reliance on military force (Habakkuk 1:16). The prophet frames his inquiry as a rhetorical challenge to divine justice.
The words — The Hebrew יָרִיק (ya.Rik) means "will he empty" and חֶרְמ֑וֹ (cher.mo) means "his net." These terms describe the military apparatus being completely drained of its human prey.
The thread — The motif of relentless conquest and unceasing violence against peoples runs through Isaiah 14:6 and Isaiah 19:8, which describe unrelenting strikes and the lament of those who cast nets on waters.
Why it lands — The verse forces a reader to examine the boundary between God's sovereign use of judgment and the moral limits of human cruelty. It demands a clear-eyed assessment of whether divine purposes ever authorize endless slaughter.
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
Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 14:6 It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows; it subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution.
- 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,
- Isaiah 19:8 Then the fishermen will mourn, all who cast a hook into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.
- Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
- Jeremiah 46:1 This is the word of the LORD about the nations—the word that came to Jeremiah the prophet
- Jeremiah 52:1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.
- Ezekiel 25:1 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Habakkuk 1:9 All of them come bent on violence; their hordes advance like the east wind; they gather prisoners like sand.
- Habakkuk 2:5 and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own.
- Habakkuk 2:17 For your violence against Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of animals will terrify you, because of your bloodshed against men and your violence against the land, the city, and all their dwellers.