Habakkuk 2:15-16
15 “Woe to you who force your neighbor to drink wine ▼
▼tn No direct object is present after “drink” in the Hebrew text. “Wine” is implied, however, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
— you who make others intoxicated
by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger ▼
▼tc Heb “pouring out your anger and also making drunk”; or “pouring out your anger and [by] rage making drunk.” The present translation assumes that the final khet (ח) on מְסַפֵּחַ (mesappeakh, “pouring”) is dittographic and that the form should actually be read מִסַּף (missaf, “from a bowl”).
▼ so you can look at their naked bodies. ▼
▼sn Metaphor and reality are probably blended here. This may refer to the practice of publicly humiliating prisoners of war by stripping them naked. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 124.
16 But you will become drunk ▼
▼tn Heb “are filled.” The translation assumes the verbal form is a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of Babylon’s coming judgment, which will reduce the majestic empire to shame and humiliation.
with shame, not majesty. ▼▼tn Or “glory.”
Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised foreskin! ▼
▼tc Heb “drink, even you, and show the foreskin.” Instead of הֵעָרֵל (heʿarel, “show the foreskin”) one of the Dead Sea scrolls has הֵרָעֵל (heraʿel, “stumble”). This reading also has support from several ancient versions and is followed by the NEB (“you too shall drink until you stagger”) and NRSV (“Drink, you yourself, and stagger”). For a defense of the Hebrew text, see P. D. Miller, Jr., Sin and Judgment in the Prophets, 63-64.
The cup of wine in the Lord’s right hand ▼
▼sn The Lord’s right hand represents his military power. He will force the Babylonians to experience the same humiliating defeat they inflicted on others.
is coming to you, and disgrace will replace your majestic glory!
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