Bible Strands
Habakkuk 2:8
Because you have plundered many nations, the remnant of the people will plunder you—because of your bloodshed against man and your violence against the land, the city, and all their dwellers.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Habakkuk delivers a divine oracle against a specific oppressor, following the warning in 2:7 that creditors will suddenly arise and make him prey. The speech occurs during a prophetic vision where God answers Habakkuk’s complaint by pronouncing judgment on the arrogant conqueror.
The words — The Hebrew verb שַׁלּ֙וֹתָ֙ (sha.Lo.ta) means "you have plundered," paired with יְשָׁלּ֖וּ/ךָ (ye.sha.Lu./kha) "they will plunder you," establishing a direct lexical reversal. The noun יֶ֣תֶר (Ye.ter) translates literally as "the rest of" or "remnant," specifying that survivors will execute the judgment.
The thread — The pattern of reciprocal plundering appears in Isaiah 33:1, which addresses the "destroyer" with the promise that finishing destruction leads to being destroyed. Habakkuk 2:17 similarly ties violence against a specific land and its inhabitants to overwhelming retribution, while Jeremiah 27:7 notes the temporary nature of national service until the appointed time of judgment.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that systemic violence against nations and cities inevitably produces the very forces that will dismantle the perpetrator. It requires the reader to recognize that plunder and bloodshed create a self-executing judicial mechanism rather than a temporary advantage.
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
Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 33:1 Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.
- 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.
- Jeremiah 27:7 All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.
- Psalms 137:8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
- Isaiah 33:4 Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts; like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.
- Isaiah 47:6 I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.
- Jeremiah 30:16 Nevertheless, all who devour you will be devoured, and all your adversaries—every one of them—will go off into exile. Those who plundered you will be plundered, and all who raided you will be raided.
- Jeremiah 50:10 Chaldea will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 50:17 Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
- Jeremiah 50:28 Listen to the fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon, declaring in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance for His temple.