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.
For the violence of Lebanon - thy "violence" against "Lebanon" - i:e., Jerusalem (Isaiah 37:24; Jeremiah 22:23. "O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars;" Ezekiel 17:3; Ezekiel 17:12, "A great eagle ... came unto Lebanon" - explained, 'the King of Babylon came to Jerusalem;' for Lebanon's cedars were used in building the temple and houses of Jerusalem, and its beauty made it a fit type of the metropolis), shall fall on thine own head.
Shall cover thee - i:e., shall completely overwhelm thee.
And the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid. "Which" is not in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the English version. Maurer explains, 'the spoiling inflicted on the beasts of Lebanon (i:e., on the people of Jerusalem, of which city "Lebanon" is the type), which made them afraid' (shall cover thee). But it seems inappropriate to compare the elect people to "beasts." I therefore prefer explaining 'the spoiling of beasts' - i:e., such as is inflicted on beasts caught in a net, and 'which makes them afraid' (shall cover thee). Thus the Babylonians are compared to wild beasts terrified at being caught suddenly in a net. In cruel rapacity they resembled wild beasts. The ancients read, 'the spoiling of wild beasts (the Medes and Persians, who were cruel warriors) shall make THEE afraid' х yªchiyteek (H2865), instead of yªchiytan (H2865)]. Or else retaining, 'them,' instead of 'thee,' and understanding 'which,' as the English version) explain, 'the spoiling of beasts (the Medes and Persians), which (inflicted on others by thee) made them afraid' (shall in turn cover thyself-revert on thyself from them). This accords better with the parallel clause, "the violence of Lebanon" - i e., inflicted by thee on Lebanon. As thou didst hunt men as wild beasts, so shalt thou be hunted thyself as a wild beast, which thou resemblest in cruelty.
Because of men's blood - shed by thee, repeated from Habakkuk 2:8. But here the "land" and "city" are used of Judea and Jerusalem; not of the earth and cities generally, as in Habakkuk 2:8.
And for the violence of the land ... - i:e., inflicted on the land by thee.