Habakkuk 1:10

10 They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture them.

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Habakkuk 1:10 in Other Translations

KJV

10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.

ESV

10 At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it.

NLT

10 They scoff at kings and princes and scorn all their fortresses. They simply pile ramps of earth against their walls and capture them!

MSG

10 They mock kings, poke fun at generals, Spit on forts, and leave them in the dust.

CSB

10 They mock kings, and rulers are a joke to them. They laugh at every fortress and build siege ramps to capture it.

Habakkuk 1:10 Meaning and Commentary

Habakkuk 1:10

And they shall scoff at the kings
Or, "he shall" ^F21, Nebuchadnezzar king of the Chaldeans, and the army with him; who would make a jest of kings and their armies that should oppose them, as being not at all a match for them; as the kings of Judah, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, they carried captive, and all others confederate with them, in whom they trusted, as the king of Egypt particularly; and which is observed to show the vanity of trusting in princes for safety; though it may also include all other kings the Chaldeans fought against, and the kingdoms they invaded and subdued: and the princes shall be a scorn unto them;
the nobles, counsellors, and ministers of state; or leaders and commanders of armies, and general officers, in whom great confidence is often put; but these the king of Babylon and his forces would mock and laugh at, as being nothing in their hands, and who would fall an easy prey to them: they shall deride every strong hold;
in Jerusalem, in the whole land of Judea, and in every other country they invade, or pass through, none being able to stand out against them: for they shall heap dust, and take it;
easily, as it were in sport, only by raising a dust heap, or a heap of dirt; by which is meant a mount raised up to give them a little rise, to throw in their darts or stones, or use their engines and battering rams to more advantage, and to scale the walls, and get possession. There are two other senses mentioned by Kimchi; as that they shall gather a great number of people as dust, and take it; or they shall gather dust to till up the trenches and ditches about the wall, that so they may come at it, and take it.

FOOTNOTES:

F21 (awhw) "et ipse", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Tarnovius, Grotius, Cocceius.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Habakkuk 1:10 In-Context

8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;

9 they all come intent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand.

10 They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture them.

11 Then they sweep past like the wind and go on— guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”

12 LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, LORD, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.