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.

HABAKKUK 2:16KJV
Know the Bible

Habakkuk 2:16 (KJV)

What does Habakkuk 2:16 mean?

Habakkuk 2:16 announces that Babylon’s honor will be replaced by disgrace. God addresses Babylon as though it were a person, telling it to drink from a cup that brings exposure and shame instead of the glory it sought.

The command to uncover the foreskin pictures humiliation through exposed nakedness. After Babylon has made others drink and looked at their nakedness in verse 15, the same kind of disgrace comes back upon Babylon.

The Hebrew behind Habakkuk 2:16

  • “glory” — כָּבוֹד (kavod): This word can mean honor, splendor, or high standing. Its use here points to the reputation Babylon expected to enjoy.
  • “turned” — סָבַב (savav): This word can mean to go around or come around. The cup coming around to Babylon fits the picture of a drink being passed to another person.
  • “spewing” — קִיקָלוֹן (qiqalon): This rare word is associated with disgrace, though its precise sense is uncertain. The KJV’s “shameful spewing” gives the picture of public disgrace the added image of vomit.

Why Habakkuk 2:16 matters

  • The cup comes from God, not merely from another nation. “The cup of the LORD’S right hand” presents Babylon’s humiliation as God’s judgment.
  • Babylon’s treatment of others shapes the picture of its own punishment. Verse 15 describes exposing others, while verse 16 tells Babylon to be exposed.
  • The disgrace reaches the very thing Babylon prized. “Shameful spewing shall be on thy glory” places the dishonor over its former splendor.

Where else these words appear

“uncovered” Hebrew H6188 · used in 2 verses

  • Leviticus 19:23 And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.

“shame” Hebrew H7036 · used in 17 verses

  • Job 10:15 If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
  • Proverbs 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
  • Isaiah 22:18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house.

“cup” Hebrew H3563 · used in 29 verses

  • Genesis 40:11 And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
  • Psalms 16:5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.
  • Jeremiah 25:15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.

“filled” Hebrew H7646 · used in 92 verses

  • Exodus 16:8 And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.
  • Psalms 88:3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
  • Ecclesiastes 4:8 There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.