Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Habakkuk 2:16 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 16. 16Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’s right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse reverses the oppressor's glory into shame through a cup returned by the LORD.
Drink given so a neighbor can be exposed
This verse is one part of that explanation in Habakkuk 2:15-17. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Habakkuk 2:15-17
Read Habakkuk 2:16 with 2:15-17. This verse reverses the oppressor's glory into shame through a cup returned by the LORD. The full unit establishes this movement: The oppressor uses intoxication to expose and humiliate neighbors, but shame replaces glory; the reversal is grounded in violence against lands, cities, people, forests, and animals.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The fourth woe brings the oppressor's coercive treatment of bodies and creation into the judgment and shows imperial glory curdling into disgrace. Within that movement, this verse reverses the oppressor's glory into shame through a cup returned by the LORD.
Read Habakkuk 2:15–17 together
Why these verses belong together: Coerced exposure, returned shame, and the because-clause about comprehensive violence form the fourth woe.
Verse 15. 15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
Verse 16. 16 Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’s right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.
Verse 17. 17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
Follow the Context
- The woe accuses one who makes neighbors drunk in order to expose them.
- The oppressor filled with glory is instead filled with shame.
- The cup from the LORD's right hand comes around in reversal.
- Violence against Lebanon, animals, lands, cities, and inhabitants returns as the stated cause.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“filled with shame for glory”
In plain language: The oppressor's claimed glory is answered by disgrace, not affirmed.
Reverses the oppressor's glory into shame through a cup returned by the LORD. Honor built through humiliation cannot remain true honor.
Why it matters: The wording carries textual, theological, ethical, or predictive risk that requires its full unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The reversal does not make sexualized humiliation a righteous human punishment.
What Remains True
Honor built through humiliation cannot remain true honor.
How It Can Shape Life
- Expose wrongdoing with evidence while protecting bodies and victims from shame.
Teach It Back
Explain Habakkuk 2:16's contribution to Habakkuk 2:15-17: Reverses the oppressor's glory into shame through a cup returned by the LORD. Include what the surrounding verses add, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Habakkuk 2:15-17 — Fourth Woe: Humiliation and Violence Return as ShameSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The KJV obscures a coarse exposure term and translators handle it differently.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and canonical verse coverage.
Exact location: Habakkuk 2:15-17, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Habakkuk
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, repeated terms, clause relationships, and base forms behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Hab.xml, 2:15-17
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Habakkuk with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, Hebrew, text-critical, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Habakkuk PDF, printed pp. 1773-1774, translation and notes on 2:15-17
Open source ↗