Habakkuk 1:15

15 Then this evil Babylonian arrives and goes fishing. He pulls in a good catch. He catches his limit and fills his creel - a good day of fishing! He's happy!

Habakkuk 1:15 Meaning and Commentary

Habakkuk 1:15

They take up all of them with the angle
The prophet continues the metaphor of fishing, and observes the different ways of taking fish; which is to be applied to the case he is speaking of: as fishermen take all they can with their angles, so "they" or "he", for it is in the singular number, Nebuchadnezzar and his army, take up all out of the sea of the world; are ambitious of getting all kingdoms and nations of the world under their power and dominion; particularly all Judea, and all the inhabitants of it, good and bad, without any distinction; for all were fish which came to their net: this may design the artful and alluring methods they first made use of to get the people into their hands, by making covenants with them, and drawing them into making of presents, and paying of tribute:

they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag;
with the angle the fisherman catches fish one by one, but with the net great numbers; and what he misses by throwing the net, he gets by using the drag; all which may be expressive of the ways and methods used by the king of Babylon and his army, both in the times of Jeconiah, and of Zedekiah; under the former he used the net, and carried off large numbers, and with them the royal family and great substance, but left many behind; under the latter he came and swept away all, drained the land of its riches and its inhabitants:

therefore they rejoice and are glad;
as fishermen do when they have good sport; so these people rejoiced in their own success, and in the calamities of their neighbours.

Habakkuk 1:15 In-Context

13 But you can't be serious! You can't condone evil! So why don't you do something about this? Why are you silent now? This outrage! Evil men swallow up the righteous and you stand around and watch!
14 You're treating men and women as so many fish in the ocean, Swimming without direction, swimming but not getting anywhere.
15 Then this evil Babylonian arrives and goes fishing. He pulls in a good catch. He catches his limit and fills his creel - a good day of fishing! He's happy!
16 He praises his rod and reel, piles his fishing gear on an altar and worships it! It's made his day, and he's going to eat well tonight!
17 Are you going to let this go on and on? Will you let this Babylonian fisherman Fish like a weekend angler, killing people as if they're nothing but fish?
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.