Habakkuk 2:13

“Behold, [is it] not of the Lord of hosts? etc.] That which follows; the judgments of God upon the bloody city, which they that labour to prevent labour in vain. So the Targum, “lo, strong and mighty blows or judgments come from the Lord of hosts;” the mighty God, the Lord of armies, whose hand when stretched out none can turn back; he does what he pleases, and none can hinder him; when the decree is gone forth from him, it is in vain to attempt to stop it: that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? words of the same import, and expressed in much the same language, were used of the destruction of literal Babylon by fire, and of the…”

“is it not of the Lord of hosts--JEHOVAH, who has at His command all the hosts of heaven and earth, is the righteous author of Babylon's destruction. "Shall not God have His turn, when cruel rapacious men have triumphed so long, though He seem now to be still?" [CALVIN]. people . . . labour in the . . . fire . . . weary themselves for . . . vanity--The Chaldeans labor at what is to be food for the fire, namely, their city and fortresses which shall be burnt. Jer 51:58 adopts the same phraseology to express the vanity of the Chaldean's labor on Babylon, as doomed to the flames.”

“Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that (the) people (nations) shall labor - o In (for) the very fire - literally, to suffice the fire? By God’s appointment, the end of all their labor is for the fire, what may suffice it to consume. This is the whole result of their labor; and so it is as if they had toiled for this; they built ceiled palaces and gorgeous buildings, only for the fire to consume them. And the peoples shall weary themselves for very vanity - They wearied themselves, and what was their reward? What had they to suffice and fill them? “Emptiness.” This is “from the Lord of hosts,” whom all the armies of heaven obey and all creatures stand at His command against the ungodly,…”

“Is it not of the Lord - Is it not a judgment from God? Shall labour - That men go thro' the most painful labour. For very vanity - For nothing; without any reward of their labour. Habakkuk 2:16”

“is it: Gen 11:6-9; Sa2 15:31; Job 5:13, Job 5:14; Psa 39:6, Psa 127:1, Psa 127:2; Pro 21:30; Isa 41:5-8, Isa 50:11, Isa 55:2; Jer 51:58, Jer 51:64; Mal 1:4 for very vanity: or, in vain Habakkuk 2:14”