Habakkuk 1:10

10 and he shall have victory of kings, and tyrants shall be of his scorning. He shall laugh on all stronghold, and shall bear together [an] heap of earth, and shall take it. (and they shall have victory over kings, and only scorn, or mocking, for any tyrant. They shall laugh at every stronghold, or every fortress, and shall bear together heaps of earth, and then shall take, or shall capture, them.)

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.

Habakkuk 1:10 In-Context

8 His horses be lighter than leopards, and swifter than eventide wolves, and his horsemen shall be scattered abroad; for why his horsemen shall come from far, they shall fly as an eagle hasting to eat. (Their horses be lighter than leopards, and swifter than wolves in the night, and their horsemen shall be spread abroad everywhere; yea, their horsemen shall come from afar, and they shall fly like eagles hastening to eat.)

9 All (these) men shall come to prey, the faces of them is as a burning wind; and he shall gather as gravel (the) captivity, (All these men shall come for prey, their faces be like the burning wind; and they shall gather up captives like the sand,)

10 and he shall have victory of kings, and tyrants shall be of his scorning. He shall laugh on all stronghold, and shall bear together [an] heap of earth, and shall take it. (and they shall have victory over kings, and only scorn, or mocking, for any tyrant. They shall laugh at every stronghold, or every fortress, and shall bear together heaps of earth, and then shall take, or shall capture, them.)

11 Then the spirit [of him] shall be changed, and he shall pass forth, and fall down; this is the strength of him, of his god. (Then their spirit shall be changed, and they shall pass forth, and shall fall down/Then they shall pass forth like the changing wind, and shall fall down; for their own strength was their god.)

12 Whether thou art not from the beginning, thou, Lord my God, mine holy, and we shall not die? Lord, into doom thou hast set him, and thou groundedest him strong, that thou shouldest chastise. (Lord, art thou not God from the beginning? yea, my God, my Holy One, and so we shall not die. Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgement, and thou hast used them, O strong God, to chastise, or to discipline, us.)