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Habakkuk 3

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Title and Prayer for Revival 1–2

1
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to Shigionoth. ​
2
O Jehovah, I have heard the report of thee, and am afraid: O Jehovah, revive thy work in the midst of the years; In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy. ​

The Lord's Triumphant Theophany 3–15

3
God came from Teman, And the Holy One from mount Paran. [Selah His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of his praise. ​
4
Andhisbrightness was as the light; He had rayscoming forthfrom his hand; And there was the hiding of his power. ​
5
Before him went the pestilence, And fiery bolts went forth at his feet. ​
6
He stood, and measured the earth; He beheld, and drove asunder the nations; And the eternal mountains were scattered; The everlasting hills did bow; His goings were as of old. ​
7
I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
8
Was Jehovah displeased with the rivers? Was thine anger against the rivers, Or thy wrath against the sea, That thou didst ride upon thy horses, Upon thy chariots of salvation? ​
9
Thy bow was made quite bare; The oaths to the tribes were asure word. [Selah Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. ​
10
The mountains saw thee, and were afraid; The tempest of waters passed by; The deep uttered its voice, And lifted up its hands on high.
11
The sun and moon stood still in their habitation, At the light of thine arrows as they went, At the shining of thy glittering spear.
12
Thou didst march through the land in indignation; Thou didst thresh the nations in anger.
13
Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, For the salvation of thine anointed; Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked man, Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck. [Selah ​
14
Thou didst pierce with his own staves the head of his warriors: They came as a whirlwind to scatter me; Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
15
Thou didst tread the sea with thy horses, The heap of mighty waters.

The Prophet's Response of Faith 16–19

16
I heard, and my body trembled, My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entereth into my bones, and I tremble in my place; Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, For the coming up of the people that invadeth us. ​
17
For though the fig-tree shall not flourish, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labor of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no food; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: ​
18
Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation. ​
19
Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength; And he maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, And will make me to walk upon my high places. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Habakkuk 3

Verse 1

A prayer of Habakkuk — Tephillah is the word that heads Ps 86 and Ps 90 ('A Prayer of Moses the man of God'). Shigionoth is the plural of the word in the title of Ps 7, 'Shiggaion of David', apparently a kind of song. This chapter is set out as a psalm, with 'Selah' (vv.3, 9, 13) and a closing note 'To the chief singer on my stringed instruments' (v.19).

Verse 2

revive thy work — 'Heard' and 'afraid' answer the vision of 2:1–20, and 'when I heard' returns in v.16. 'Revive' is chayah, to make live, the root of 'shall live' in 2:4. The prayer is that the LORD bring his work to life 'in the midst of the years' and, even in wrath, 'remember mercy' (racham, to have compassion).

Verse 3

God came from Teman — Teman lay in Edom ('the mount of Esau', Obad 1:9). 'Paran' is the wilderness mountain of Deut 33:2, 'The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran'. The prayer recalls the LORD's coming to Israel at Sinai. 'Selah' marks a pause in the song.

Verse 4

horns coming out of his hand — Qeren is a horn, and the related verb is used of Moses' face when he came down from Sinai: 'the skin of his face shone' (Ex 34:29), which suggests rays of light flashing from the hand. 'Brightness' (nogah) is the word of Isa 60:19, 'the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light'. 'Hiding' (chebyon) occurs only here.

Verse 5

Before him went the pestilence — Deber is plague, and 'burning coals' is resheph, a live coal or burning heat, as in 'devoured with burning heat' (Deut 32:24). Plague and fire attend the LORD's steps, as when 'at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt' (Ex 12:29). 'Went forth' is the verb of v.13.

Verse 6

the everlasting mountains — The mountains called 'everlasting' (ad) are scattered, and the 'perpetual hills' (olam), the 'everlasting hills' of Jacob's blessing (Gen 49:26), bow. The same olam is in 'his ways are everlasting': what seemed lasting gives way before him whose ways last. Compare Nah 1:5, 'The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt'.

Verse 8

the rivers… the sea — The questions recall the sea and river that gave way before Israel: 'The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back' (Ps 114:3). The LORD's anger was not against the waters. His 'chariots of salvation' (yeshuah) served his people, as with 'the chariots of God', where 'the Lord is among them, as in Sinai' (Ps 68:17).

Verse 9

the oaths of the tribes — The bow is bared 'according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word': the LORD acts on what he swore. 'Oaths' (shebuoth) are sworn pledges, such as 'the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers' (Deut 7:8). 'Cleave the earth with rivers' recalls 'He clave the rocks in the wilderness' (Ps 78:15) and 'Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood' (Ps 74:15).

Verse 13

thine anointed — Mashiach, the title given to Israel's kings, 'the LORD'S anointed' (1 Sam 24:6), and the title Christ bears in Ps 2:2, 'against the LORD, and against his anointed'. 'Went forth' is the verb of v.5. 'Salvation' is named twice: for the people and with the anointed. 'Wound the head' is the verb of Ps 110:6, 'he shall wound the heads over many countries'.

Verse 16

my belly trembled — 'When I heard' answers 'I have heard' in v.2. The body shakes: the one verb ragaz is used twice, of the 'belly' (beten) and of 'I trembled'. 'Rottenness' (raqab) in the bones is the word of Prov 14:30, 'envy the rottenness of the bones'; compare 'all my bones shake' (Jer 23:9). He still means to 'rest in the day of trouble'.

Verse 17

the fig tree shall not blossom — Six losses are listed: fig, vines, olive, fields, flock and herd. These are the covenant's blessings undone, as the curses warn, 'which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep' (Deut 28:51). 'Meat' is okel, food. The verse is one long 'Although', and v.18 gives the answer.

Verse 18

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD — Two verbs of joy: alaz, to jump for joy, and gil, to be glad. 'The God of my salvation' is the title Micah also takes when he says 'I will wait for the God of my salvation' (Mic 7:7). The rejoicing is set against the empty fields of v.17 and answers the 'live by his faith' of 2:4.

Verse 19

like hinds' feet — The same line stands in David's psalm of deliverance: 'He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places' (Ps 18:33; 2 Sam 22:34). 'High places' (bamah) is also Moses' word of victory, 'thou shalt tread upon their high places' (Deut 33:29). 'Chief singer' (menatstseach) and 'stringed instruments' (neginoth) are the language of the psalm titles.