Charles Ellicott Commentary Habakkuk 2:17

"For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of the beasts, which made them afraid; because of men`s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all that dwell therein." — Habakkuk 2:17 (ASV)

For the violence of Lebanon... —Better, For the violence done to Lebanon shall overwhelm you, and the destruction of the beasts which it frightened away. The rest of the verse is a refrain taken from the first woe, that of Habakkuk 2:8.

The “destruction of beasts” points, we think, to a raid on the cattle feeding on the sides of Lebanon. But more than this is probably included in the phrase the violence done to Lebanon. Habakkuk probably foresees how the invader will cut down the cedar forests in Lebanon to adorn the palaces of Babylon .

All these outrages will in due time be avenged on him. Some commentators, however, explain the expression as a bold synecdoche, Lebanon representing the Holy Land (of which it was the beauty), or even the Temple, both of which Nebuchadnezzar laid waste.