Habakkuk 2:5

"Yea, moreover, wine is treacherous, a haughty man that keepeth not at home; who enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and he is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples.

WOE I

Although the character of the one described in this verse was primarily a reference to the Babylonian state, in its wider application, it describes the greedy, godless states of all times. Here we have a metaphor of the approaching enemy destined to overthrow God's rebellious Judea. It is that of a proud, treacherous, haughty drunkard, Babylon, drunk with power, motivated by an insatiable desire like that of the drunkard for drink. "The drunkard can never drink enough wine ... the Chaldeans can never conquer enough land."[15] The reason for the choice of such a metaphor probably derived from the fact of, "drunkenness being a besetting sin of Babylon. It was, in the case of Belshazzar, the immediate cause of the fall of Babylon (Daniel 5:2-5,30)."[16] Throughout history, this metaphor has persisted, rapacious conquerors, never satisfied, burning with an insatiable lust for more and more, being repeatedly compared to drunkards. Kipling used it thus:

"If drunk with sight of power, we loose

Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe."[17]

"He enlargeth his soul as Sheol ..." As the parallel clause shows,

"He is as death" this means that the conquering power of Babylon would be as hungry and insatiable as the grave, there being utterly no way to fill it up, or give it enough!