Habakkuk 2:6

Will not all of these take up a taunt against him, speaking with mockery and derision: ‘Woe to him who amasses what is not his and makes himself rich with many loans! How long will this go on?’

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The prophet declares that the nations the arrogant oppressor gathered will turn against him, demanding a taunt of mockery. This pronouncement bridges the description of his insatiable greed in verse 5 and the warning of his creditors rising in verse 7.

The words — The text employs מָשָׁל (ma.Shal), literally “a saying” or taunt, and חִיד֣וֹת (chi.Dot), meaning “riddles,” to describe the mocking songs directed at him. These terms frame his impending collapse as a public proverb of judgment.

The thread — This taunt motif recurs in Isaiah 14:4, where a song of contempt is lifted against the king of Babylon, and in Job 20:15, which describes God forcing the oppressor to vomit his hoarded wealth. The pattern consistently links unearned accumulation to sudden, publicly mocked reversal.

Why it lands — The text reports that the oppressor’s own loans and gathered wealth will become the instrument of his ruin, asking how long his exploitation will continue. It demands recognition that wealth extracted beyond rightful bounds inevitably produces its own creditors and public shame.

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

הֲלוֹא־ha./lo'-¿/ not אֵ֣לֶּה'E.lehthese [nations]כֻלָּ֗םkhu.La/mall of/ them עָלָיו֙'a.La/von/ him מָשָׁ֣לma.Shala saying יִשָּׂ֔אוּyi.Sa.'uwill they lift up וּמְלִיצָ֖הu./me.li.Tzahand/ a mocking song חִיד֣וֹתchi.Dotriddlesל֑וֹl/oto/ himוְיֹאמַ֗רve./yo.Marso/ may someone say?ה֚וֹיHowoe to!הַמַּרְבֶּ֣הha./mar.Behthe/ [one who] increases לֹּא־lo'-[that which] notל֔וֹl/o[belongs] to/ himעַד־'ad-until מָתַ֕יma.Taiwhen?וּמַכְבִּ֥ידu./makh.Bidand/ [one who] makes heavy עָלָ֖יו'a.La/von/ himself עַבְטִֽיט׃'av.Titpledge[s]

King James Version

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!

Cross-references

Numbers 23:7 And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and denounce Israel!’
Job 20:15 He swallows wealth but vomits it out; God will force it from his stomach.
Isaiah 14:4 you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!
Jeremiah 29:22 Because of them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!’
Jeremiah 50:13 Because of the wrath of the LORD, she will not be inhabited; she will become completely desolate. All who pass through Babylon will be horrified and will hiss at all her wounds.
Micah 2:4 In that day they will take up a proverb against you and taunt you with this bitter lamentation: ‘We are utterly ruined! He has changed the portion of my people. How He has removed it from me! He has allotted our fields to traitors.’”
Numbers 23:18 Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Arise, O Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O son of Zippor.
Job 22:6 For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.
Psalms 94:3 How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult?
Proverbs 22:16 Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty.