Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?
The verse asks whether the Chaldeans, a furious power sweeping over lands because of wickedness, will go on emptying their net again and again to catch peoples like fishes of the sea and slay the nations without mercy or restraint. The net and its gear are the oppressor's schemes, controls, weapons and military power, which he rejoices in and worships because they bring him wealth, plenteous food and success. The same relentless taking and destroying for gain marks last-day greed, when the money power, corporations, trusts and monopolies draw cities and nations into their commercial schemes and exploit them. That oppression will not continue forever, for those who spoil nations will themselves be spoiled when the peoples rise up suddenly to bite and vex the oppressor and plunder him because he plundered many nations. God permits such triumph over His people as correction and not from approval, and the waited answer is that the vision will come at its appointed time and the just will live by faith.
Meaning and Historical Setting
The net, the drag, and the angle are the oppressor's schemes and controls for catching peoples, his weapons and military power by which he takes them all and rejoices and is glad. He glorifies and worships his net and instruments because they bring him wealth, make his portion fat and his food plenteous, and give him success in gathering nations under his control to exploit them. The peoples are pictured as the fishes of the sea and as creeping things with no ruler over them, caught like fish in a net and continually consumed. The emptying of the net again and again is the conqueror's continual taking of men and their wealth and slaying of the nations without sparing, without mercy and without restraint.
In its original setting the question asks whether the Chaldeans, a furious nation sweeping over the land on account of its wickedness, will go on conquering and killing without end. It asks whether they will keep emptying their net to catch more prey, continually overthrowing Jerusalem and other peoples and sparing no one. It looks for an answer about the limit of their triumph, as though they will never put away their net.
The prophecy belongs near the time of Nahum, during the reign of Josiah about 630 or 640 B.C. or a little later, as late as the middle of Jeremiah's work, with woes against the covetous, the cruel, and the intemperate. Those who place the prophecy about the work and fate of the Chaldeans about 604 B.C. set it during Jehoiakim's reign and the middle period of Jeremiah's career. The passage is part of a reproof against the oppressive and wealthy in Israel, warning them of the coming of the Chaldeans who empty their net and slay the nations without sparing. What was true in Habakkuk's time is a type of the present time, with chapters 1 and 2 depicting last-day conditions.
Last-Day Oppression and Judgment
The question condemns relentless taking and destruction of people for gain, picturing the oppressor continually using his schemes to capture and exploit nations without emptying his net or sparing those he ensnares. The net and drag are methods of control for catching peoples like fish, which he glorifies and exalts because they bring him wealth, plenteous food, and success. In the last days this describes greed, the money power, powerful corporations and worldwide confederations, trusts, capitalists, and monopolies that draw cities, states, and nations into commercial schemes, gather their wealth under their control, and exploit them without restraint or mercy. The same principles of oppression are reflected in dangerous, injurious, and poorly paid conditions in coal mining, where the powerful gather others into their control and continually consume them.
This is the rule of the trust that makes men as fishes of the sea and as creeping things with no ruler, taking them all with angle, net, and drag and rejoicing and being glad. It claims mastery of the world, puts governments in the back seat over war and peace, rules everything, sells only at its own price, and seals up resources to make billions, growing fat in portion by its victims. God sees the suffering of the poor under such conquering violence and holds accountable those with the power and opportunity to make things better but who fail to do so. The prophetic warning belongs to oppression of the poor and to violent upheaval between the wealthy and the poor, as the conqueror goes on destroying nations without restraint as though repeatedly emptying a net to catch more prey.
Such predatory oppression will not continue forever, for those who spoil nations will themselves be spoiled. Exploitation and swallowing up of people and nations for gain stirs hatred among the poor and oppressed and leads to their rising up against their plunderers. He who gathers to himself all nations and heaps to himself all people carries oppression so far that the peoples rebel, take up a parable and taunting proverb against him, rise up suddenly to bite and vex him, make him booty, and plunder him because he plundered many nations. God permits triumph over His people as an instrument of correction, not because He approves idolatry or conduct, while success is credited to weapons and military power as if worshiped. The question looks for an answer about the limit of that triumph, and the answer waited for is that the vision will come at its appointed time and the just will live by faith.
The verse asks whether the Chaldeans, a furious power sweeping over lands because of wickedness, will go on emptying their net again and again to catch peoples like fishes of the sea and slay the nations without mercy or restraint. The net and its gear are the oppressor's schemes, controls, weapons and military power, which he rejoices in and worships because they bring him wealth, plenteous food and success. The same relentless taking and destroying for gain marks last-day greed, when the money power, corporations, trusts and monopolies draw cities and nations into their commercial schemes and exploit them. That oppression will not continue forever, for those who spoil nations will themselves be spoiled when the peoples rise up suddenly to bite and vex the oppressor and plunder him because he plundered many nations. God permits such triumph over His people as correction and not from approval, and the waited answer is that the vision will come at its appointed time and the just will live by faith.
Meaning and Historical Setting
The net, the drag, and the angle are the oppressor's schemes and controls for catching peoples, his weapons and military power by which he takes them all and rejoices and is glad. He glorifies and worships his net and instruments because they bring him wealth, make his portion fat and his food plenteous, and give him success in gathering nations under his control to exploit them. The peoples are pictured as the fishes of the sea and as creeping things with no ruler over them, caught like fish in a net and continually consumed. The emptying of the net again and again is the conqueror's continual taking of men and their wealth and slaying of the nations without sparing, without mercy and without restraint.
In its original setting the question asks whether the Chaldeans, a furious nation sweeping over the land on account of its wickedness, will go on conquering and killing without end. It asks whether they will keep emptying their net to catch more prey, continually overthrowing Jerusalem and other peoples and sparing no one. It looks for an answer about the limit of their triumph, as though they will never put away their net.
The prophecy belongs near the time of Nahum, during the reign of Josiah about 630 or 640 B.C. or a little later, as late as the middle of Jeremiah's work, with woes against the covetous, the cruel, and the intemperate. Those who place the prophecy about the work and fate of the Chaldeans about 604 B.C. set it during Jehoiakim's reign and the middle period of Jeremiah's career. The passage is part of a reproof against the oppressive and wealthy in Israel, warning them of the coming of the Chaldeans who empty their net and slay the nations without sparing. What was true in Habakkuk's time is a type of the present time, with chapters 1 and 2 depicting last-day conditions.
Last-Day Oppression and Judgment
The question condemns relentless taking and destruction of people for gain, picturing the oppressor continually using his schemes to capture and exploit nations without emptying his net or sparing those he ensnares. The net and drag are methods of control for catching peoples like fish, which he glorifies and exalts because they bring him wealth, plenteous food, and success. In the last days this describes greed, the money power, powerful corporations and worldwide confederations, trusts, capitalists, and monopolies that draw cities, states, and nations into commercial schemes, gather their wealth under their control, and exploit them without restraint or mercy. The same principles of oppression are reflected in dangerous, injurious, and poorly paid conditions in coal mining, where the powerful gather others into their control and continually consume them.
This is the rule of the trust that makes men as fishes of the sea and as creeping things with no ruler, taking them all with angle, net, and drag and rejoicing and being glad. It claims mastery of the world, puts governments in the back seat over war and peace, rules everything, sells only at its own price, and seals up resources to make billions, growing fat in portion by its victims. God sees the suffering of the poor under such conquering violence and holds accountable those with the power and opportunity to make things better but who fail to do so. The prophetic warning belongs to oppression of the poor and to violent upheaval between the wealthy and the poor, as the conqueror goes on destroying nations without restraint as though repeatedly emptying a net to catch more prey.
Such predatory oppression will not continue forever, for those who spoil nations will themselves be spoiled. Exploitation and swallowing up of people and nations for gain stirs hatred among the poor and oppressed and leads to their rising up against their plunderers. He who gathers to himself all nations and heaps to himself all people carries oppression so far that the peoples rebel, take up a parable and taunting proverb against him, rise up suddenly to bite and vex him, make him booty, and plunder him because he plundered many nations. God permits triumph over His people as an instrument of correction, not because He approves idolatry or conduct, while success is credited to weapons and military power as if worshiped. The question looks for an answer about the limit of that triumph, and the answer waited for is that the vision will come at its appointed time and the just will live by faith.