Hab 2:9 | NETfull | STEP | The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. He does this so he can build his nest way up high and escape the clutches of disaster.

Habakkuk 2:9

9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. ^{▼▼ 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.}
He does this so he can build his nest way up high
and escape the clutches of disaster. ^{▼▼ Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”} ^{▼▼ 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.}