Bible Strands
Habakkuk 2:7
Will not your creditors suddenly arise and those who disturb you awaken? Then you will become their prey.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Habakkuk pronounces a taunt against a wealthy oppressor who accumulated riches through exploitative loans. The declaration addresses the oppressor directly, forecasting his imminent downfall.
The words — The Hebrew פֶּתַע (petá‘) means "suddenly," marking the unexpected timing of the creditors' response. נֹשְׁכֶיךָ (noshékhêkā) translates to "those who pay interest to you," identifying the financial agents who will turn against him.
The thread — The text states that sudden reversal awaits the violent accumulator, a pattern that runs in Proverbs 29:1 regarding the stiff-necked facing sudden shattering, and Ecclesiastes 10:8 regarding the digger of a pit falling into it.
Why it lands — The text explicitly declares that creditors will awaken and seize the oppressor as prey. It demands recognition that exploitative wealth accumulation inevitably breeds immediate, inescapable destruction.
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 not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
Cross-references
- Proverbs 29:1 A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.
- Ecclesiastes 10:8 He who digs a pit may fall into it, and he who breaches a wall may be bitten by a snake.
- Isaiah 13:1 This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
- Isaiah 13:16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.
- Isaiah 21:2 A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.”
- Isaiah 41:25 I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who treads the clay.
- Isaiah 45:1 This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:
- Isaiah 46:11 I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, and I will surely do it.
- Isaiah 47:11 But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.
- Isaiah 48:14 Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out His desire against Babylon, and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.