Habakkuk 2:9

The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. ¹  He does this so he can build his nest way up high and escape the clutches of disaster. ² 

Ge 13:10-13; Ge 19:26-38; De 7:25,26; Jos 7:21-26; 1Ki 21:2-4,19-24; 2Ki 5:20-27; Job 20:19-28; Ps 10:3-6; Ps 49:11; Ps 52:7; Pr 18:11,12; Isa 28:15; Isa 47:7-9; Jer 22:13-19; Jer 49:16; Ob 1:4; Zec 5:1-4; Ac 1:17-25; Jude 1:11

¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.

² tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”

sn Here the Babylonians are compared to a bird, perhaps an eagle, that builds its nest in an inaccessible high place where predators cannot reach it.