Bible Strands
Habakkuk 2:15
Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin until they are drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness!
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Habakkuk pronounces a woe against a powerful oppressor who uses intoxication to exploit his neighbors. This judgment is delivered within a sequence of oracles warning that the arrogant will be repaid with the very shame they inflicted on others.
The words — The Hebrew מַשְׁקֵה (mashkeh) literally means "one who makes drink," paired with the verb שָׁכַר (shakhar) for "making drunk." These terms emphasize the deliberate, calculated act of intoxicating others to expose their vulnerability.
The thread — This cup imagery reappears in Jeremiah 51:7, where Babylon is called a gold cup that makes the nations drunk. It also parallels the motif of shameful exposure in Genesis 9:22 and the political mockery described in Hosea 7:5.
Why it lands — The text plainly states that those who manipulate others into drunkenness to gaze at nakedness will themselves be filled with shame and exposed. It demands readers reject coercive power and recognize that worldly glory will be overturned by divine justice.
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
Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 51:7 Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
- Genesis 9:22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside.
- Hosea 7:5 The princes are inflamed with wine on the day of our king; so he joins hands with those who mock him.
- Revelation 17:2 The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”
- Revelation 17:6 I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.
- Revelation 18:3 All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury.”
- Genesis 19:32 Come, let us get our father drunk with wine so we can sleep with him and preserve his line.”
- Exodus 32:25 Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them run wild and become a laughingstock to their enemies.
- 2 Samuel 11:13 Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.
- 2 Samuel 13:26 “If not,” said Absalom, “please let my brother Amnon go with us.” “Why should he go with you?” the king asked.