This is where the fourth taunt begins. As with the first and second taunts (verses 6, 9), it starts in the third person and changes to second. Good News Translation, as in the earlier cases, treats it as second person throughout. The topic in this taunt is the misuse of liquor, which is given a figurative application. The Babylonians were fond of drinking, and their parties could easily turn into shameful orgies (compare Dan 5). In verse 15 the Babylonian treatment of conquered nations is pictured in terms of such an orgy.
Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink: the neighbors stand for the surrounding nations whom the Babylonians conquered. Their forced obedience to the Babylonians is pictured as if they were forced to drink. In some languages a literal translation of neighbors may give the wrong meaning. In such a case it will be helpful to translate explicitly and say “the neighboring countries.” For an alternative rendering of Woe (or “doomed”), see verse 6.
The next two words in Hebrew are of uncertain meaning. The first word may mean “pour” (Revised Version footnote, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible; compare New American Bible, New English Bible) or “add” (Revised Version). The second word has a basic sense of heat, which leads to figurative meanings of either “anger, wrath” (Moffatt, Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New English Bible, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or “poison, venom” (Revised Version, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant). The second word may also be taken as coming from a different root with the meaning “wineskin” (New International Version; compare King James Version). The first of these two Hebrew words ends with the same letter as the second word begins with. Some scholars think this letter appears twice by a copying error, and they have suggested that it should be dropped from the end of the first word. This suggestion is followed by Revised Standard Version and gives (drink) of the cup of his wrath, which fits the context well. Of the other possible combinations, most are used in at least one version: “addest thy venom” (Revised Version; compare Hebrew Old Testament Text Project); “pours his poison” (Jerusalem Bible); “you pour out your wrath” (New Jerusalem Bible; compare New American Bible, New English Bible); “pouring it from the wineskin” (New International Version). All make reasonable sense in the context, but none is outstanding. Whichever one is chosen, the overall thrust of the verse remains broadly similar. We are inclined to recommend the Revised Standard Version rendering as giving the best sense, and one which matches both the figure which follows in verse 16, and Old Testament usage elsewhere. As a second choice we suggest the New International Version interpretation.
The result of forcing drink upon others is that he (that is, the Babylonians) makes them drunk or “causes them to get drunk.”
The purpose of all this is to gaze on their shame. The word translated shame is literally “nakedness” (King James Version, Revised Version, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). When people are drunk, they lose control of themselves and may expose their sexual organs, as Noah did (Gen 9.20-23; compare the story of Lot in Gen 19.30-38). This was regarded as a great disgrace. The Babylonians made people drunk in order to disgrace them in this way. Good News Translation does not mention the nakedness but only the disgrace which it represents.
The Dead Sea scroll has a word meaning “festivals” instead of the one meaning “nakedness,” but this does not make much sense and is not used in any translations.
Good News Translation has completely restructured the verse so that it is difficult to see exactly how its parts match up with the more literal renderings of Revised Standard Version. In particular the clause “you made them stagger” has no clear basis in the Hebrew, and no parallel in Bible en français courant or Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. For this reason we cannot recommend Good News Translation as a model in this verse. If a restructured translation base is needed, one possibility is “You are doomed! You made neighboring nations drink from the cup of wine which represents your anger. You made them drunk, then disgraced them by gazing at their naked bodies.” Another possibility is “God will punish you! You made neighboring nations drink from the cup of wine which represents your anger. You made them drunk, then caused them to lose face by gazing at their naked bodies.” If the last part of the verse is hard to understand when the metaphor is retained, translators may prefer to follow the example of Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and state the meaning in nonfigurative language. One may say “you rejoiced to see them in a powerless and shameful condition.”
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .