The Meaning of Habakkuk 2:12 Explained

Habakkuk 2:12

KJV: Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!

YLT: Woe to him who is building a city by blood, And establishing a city by iniquity.

Darby: Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by unrighteousness!

ASV: Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity!

Discover Habakkuk 2:12

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Habakkuk 2:12?

MEANING: What does Habakkuk 2:12 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Habakkuk 2:12 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Habakkuk 2:12?

What is the context of Habakkuk 2:12?

Judgment on the Lawless (Habakkuk 2:12-14)
The Five Woe Oracles (Habakkuk 2:6-20)
Woe to the Chaldeans (Habakkuk 2:6-20)
Woe to the Wicked (Habakkuk 2:5-20)
The Lord’s Second Reply (Habakkuk 2:2-20)
The Lord’s Answer (Habakkuk 2:2-20)
The Righteous Will Live by Faith (Habakkuk 2:1-20)
God Answers the Prophet (Habakkuk 2:1-20)

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!

What does Habakkuk 2:12 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Babylonians could expect distress because they had built their cities at the expense of the lives of their enemies. We speak of "blood money" as money obtained by making others suffer, even shedding their blood. Babylon was built with "blood money" and the blood, sweat, and tears of enslaved people. It was a town founded on injustice; without injustice it could not have become what it had become.

Context Summary

Habakkuk 2:1-20 - "the Just Shall Live By Faith"

Having prayed, the prophet expected an answer and looked out for it. When it came, there would be no mistaking it. But until we see eye to eye, we must live by simple faith in God. Note that wonderful clause in Habakkuk 2:4, which is referred to so often afterward. See Romans 1:17; Galatians 2:16; Galatians 3:11. Life in this age, as in that, may be obtained and maintained by faith in the ever-living God. Through long waiting-times the only source of continued life is the faith which draws all from God. From Habakkuk 2:5 onwards, the prophet enumerates Babylon's sins: her pride, love of strong drink, rapacity, and violence. It could not be God's will that the mighty city should flourish on the anguish of the world.

From scenes of anarchy and riot which foretell Chaldea's doom, we pass into Jehovah's temple, where peaceful silence reigns! Let us live in that secret place! "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him!" [source]

Chapter Summary: Habakkuk 2

¹ Unto Habakkuk, waiting for an answer, is shown that he must wait by faith
⁵ The judgment upon the Chaldean for unsatiableness,
⁹ for covetousness,
¹² for cruelty,
¹⁵ for drunkenness,
¹⁸ and for idolatry

What do the individual words in Habakkuk 2:12 mean?

Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed and who establishes a city by iniquity

ה֛וֹי בֹּנֶ֥ה עִ֖יר בְּדָמִ֑ים וְכוֹנֵ֥ן קִרְיָ֖ה ! בְּעַוְלָֽה

ה֛וֹי	Woe
Parse: Interjection Root: הֹוי Sense: ah!, alas!, ha!, ho!, O!, woe!.
בֹּנֶ֥ה	to him who builds
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular Root: בָּנָה Sense: to build, rebuild, establish, cause to continue.
עִ֖יר	a town
Parse: Noun, feminine singular Root: עִיר Sense: excitement, anguish.
בְּדָמִ֑ים	with bloodshed
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine plural Root: דָּם Sense: blood.
וְכוֹנֵ֥ן	and who establishes
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular Root: כּוּן Sense: to be firm, be stable, be established.
קִרְיָ֖ה	a city
Parse: Noun, feminine singular Root: קִרְיָה Sense: city, town.
! בְּעַוְלָֽה	by iniquity
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular Root: עָוֶל Sense: injustice, unrighteousness, wrong.

What are the major concepts related to Habakkuk 2:12?

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Similar Scriptures for Habakkuk 2:12

		Micah 3:10 [6]
		Nahum 3:1 [3]
		Revelation 17:6 [2]
		Genesis 4:11-17 [2]
		Joshua 6:26 [2]
		1 Kings 16:34 [2]
		John 11:47-50 [2]
		Daniel 4:27-31 [2]
		Jeremiah 22:13-17 [2]
		Ezekiel 24:9 [2]
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