Habakkuk 3:14

(Verse 14 and following) You have cursed his scepters, the heads of his warriors, who come like a whirlwind to scatter me. Their rejoicing is like that of someone who devours the poor in secret. You have made a path in the sea for your horses, in the mud of many waters. I heard, and my stomach trembled; at the sound my lips quivered. Let decay enter my bones, and let it rage beneath me: so that I may rest on the day of my tribulation, so that I may rise up against our encircled people. And now we are discussing only the Hebrew (as Alexander has proposed), so let us discuss separately the edition of the Septuagint, for it differs greatly from all other translations: 'You have cursed the scepters,' that is, the kingdoms of the wicked; no doubt, the impious one of whom he had spoken above: 'You have struck the head from the house of the wicked; you have laid bare the foundation to the neck.' And by the wicked one, we understand either Nebuchadnezzar or any adversary of the people of God. And not only his scepter, but also the heads of the warriors whom you had struck, they came like a whirlwind to scatter me, that is, to overthrow Israel and lead it captive in different directions. Thus they rejoiced, devouring the poor and subduing Israel, as if they were doing it in secret, and they would devour us, while you were unaware. Therefore, you came to battle for your people, and by releasing your chariots into the waters, that is, among many nations, you made a way for them in the mud of many waters, that is, to trample them down, as if they were the mud of your horses' hooves and the wheels of your chariots. But as it follows: I have heard, and my stomach is troubled: at the sound of (as it is understood, your) lips tremble, let corruption enter into my bones, and under me be filled with worms: that I may rest on the day of tribulation, that I may ascend to our girded people, here is the meaning: Now we willingly suffer hardships, and tremble with all our innards at your threat. Now my lips tremble, and the fear of a trembling mind is marked on my mouth, and not only this, but I also desire something willingly and desire it kindly: let corruption enter into my bones, and under me be filled with worms; that is, I willingly suffer what Job suffered, not only my flesh, but also the marrow of my bones I desire to waste away, and my bed to be filled with the corruption of my body and teeming with countless worms, so that after I have endured these things here for my sins, I may rest on the bitter day, on the day of tribulation, on the day of necessity and distress. And I will ascend to our girded people, indeed strong, a warrior and fighter. And beautifully, I will ascend: for it is always to the girded people that one ascends. And elegantly ours: for he who has been troubled, and willingly endured struggles, and compensated for present evils with future rewards, speaks boldly like our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and may he himself sleep in good old age, full of days, and be gathered to his ancestors. But if someone were to say, 'Look, in the exposition of history, while you are ignorant, you are enclosed by the nets of allegory, and you have mixed the tropology of history.' Let them hear that the metaphor of history does not always harmonize with allegory, because frequently history itself is woven metaphorically, and under the image of a woman, or of one man from the whole people, it is preached. And now therefore we can say from the perspective of the people: 'I willingly undergo captivity, I endure afflictions with an equal mind, and I am heavily burdened by the yoke of the Babylonians, and whatever there is of ultimate and harsh necessity, I suffer joyfully, only so that at that time I may rest when you curse the scepters of the impious, and your horses will trample the mud of many waters, so that afterwards I may return to the promised land with your saints Zerubbabel and Jesus the son of Josedech, and the priest Ezra, and Nehemiah.' Until now, in order not to seem to entirely overlook history, we have in a way directed our attention to the intellect and have brought forth inconsistent opinions into captivity. Now let us turn to the seventy translators and to the moral interpretation.

LXX: You have divided the heads of the mighty in astonishment. Just as Christ is the head of the Church and of all men (I Cor. XI), so Beelzebub, the prince of demons, is the head of all the demons who roam about in this world, and each of their groups has its own head and leaders. For example, the spirits of fornication have their own supervisor, the spirits of greed have their own ruler, the spirits of vain glory, the spirits of lies, and the spirits of unfaithfulness have their own leaders of wickedness. And so, God, most merciful, who sent death upon the heads of the wicked, who loosened the bonds even to the neck, divides the heads of the powerful in their astonishment, so that he may first separate the rulers from their subjects, and as if beheading the body from the head, and where the worst head was, there the best head may be placed. Let us give an example, so that what we say may be made clearer: whenever a tyrant is slain, his images and statues are also taken down, and with only the face changed and the head removed, the face of the victor is placed over it, so that while the body remains, and the heads have been severed, a different head is substituted. I want to understand about the councils of heretics, which, with the heads of heresies separated from other nations, begin with Christ as their head. Also, consider the significance of the Holy Scriptures, that it does not say 'you have cut off' or 'you have cut down the heads of the mighty,' but 'you have divided.' For what is divided is not so much cut off and lost as it is separated into parts. Just as in the building of the tower (Genesis 11), the language which had been improperly united was separated, and the wicked pact was torn apart by a beneficial division: so also, these heads, which seemed to have agreement among their bodies, for there are many heads of heretics which have different eyes, yet bark in one common language of blasphemy against the Church, were divided into parts and separated from the deceived bodies, making room for the good head. We can use this verse whenever we see kings and their leaders shed Christian blood, and afterwards witness the vengeance of the Lord. We have seen this recently in the case of Julian, and before him in Maximian, Valerian, Decius, Domitian, and Nero; and we can say to the Lord with joy and prayer in the Song: You have struck the heads of the mighty in astonishment, that is, in the astonishment of the believers, or in the astonishment of all nations, which did not think they could fall so quickly. While I was still a boy, and was exercising in the game of grammar, and all the cities were being polluted with the blood of victims, and suddenly it was announced in the midst of the very heat of Julian's persecution that he had died, one of the pagans wittily said, 'How, he said, do the Christians say that their God is patient and without malice? Nothing is more irritable, nothing is more present with this fury: he could not even delay his indignation for a little bit.' He said this jokingly. Nevertheless, the Church of Christ sang with joy: You have divided in astonishment the heads of the mighty. I will also say something similar: Divide, Lord, in astonishment all of them, Ahab, and Jezebel (III Kings 21 and 18). I am not Elijah, but nevertheless, they Ahab and Jezebel killed Naboth and took his vineyard, and made their garden for indulgence (IV Kings 9 and 10). Let one of your servants, Obadiah, be found, who will feed your poor and beggar, let the blood of fornicators be given to the dogs; let the impious and greedy Ahab be killed by the spear of the Lord.


LXX: They will be moved in it (or in that), they will open their mouths like a poor person eating in hiding (or in a hidden place). When their heads are divided from their bodies, and divided only in a state of stupor, which in Greek is called ἐν ἐκστάσει: hence according to that, it is declined and said, ἐν αὐτῇ, which means in it, they will also open their mouths, or of them (both can be understood), so that that authority by which they previously ruled over their subjected bodies, giving way to a better horseman, and a better charioteer. And let them do this as if they are eating in secret, not having freedom, nor an abundance of food, but rather small portions of food, with which they eat secretly, not wanting anyone to see what they are doing. It can also be interpreted differently: When their heads are divided in astonishment, as if separated from the rest of the body, they will open their mouths, which had been unrestrained like a muzzle of condemnation, and, resembling those who are eating, they will gnash their teeth against themselves, desiring to eat again but lacking the power to devour. Understand how after the coming of Christ the heads of demons from the nations, which had previously been subjugated to them, desire to exercise their ancient power again. But because they have been separated from their bodies, they do not have full freedom to feed: they eat like the poor, and not only are they poor, but they are poor in hiding. They are poor because they have lost their former riches: they eat in hiding, because they always lie in wait, intending to kill the innocent in secret. These headings have the same teeth as arrows. And although he may have said before, I will ascend above the stars of heaven, I will place my nest on high, and I will hold the whole world like eggs in my hand, yet they will be taken down from the heights and will lose their former furnishings, and all the substance of their house, so that they will scarcely try to eat and bite like beggars. I know that the Hebrew text differs greatly from what has been said, but what can I do, to whom it has once been proposed to interpret both the Hebrew and the commonly known scriptures throughout the whole world?


70: And you led your horses into the sea, disturbing the many waters. After God sent death upon the heads of the unjust, and the heads of the mighty were brought down in astonishment, and you broke them in the sea (for it is written in the Psalms: You have broken the heads of the dragons (Psalm 73:4)), with the princes slain, or broken, and the strong one overcome, they came to his house and all his possessions were plundered (Mark 13). But the vase and the strong house and the prince's belongings, what else can be interpreted except the sea of this world, in which the dragon dwells? Therefore, God, the outstanding knight and chief charioteer, adds his horses, namely angels, and sublime powers above the sea of this world, to disturb the many waters, demons and contrary powers. But if we want to interpret it as the coming of Christ, according to what is written in the Apocalypse (Chapter 19), that the word of God sits on a white horse and the whole army follows him on white horses, we will see how Christ ascended among his apostles, saying to them: Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world; and: Go, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them, and the rest (Matthew 28). And later he mounted a white horse, which I believe to be none other than the apostle Paul, upon which he rode and traveled around the whole world. Now, the word of God ascended upon his horses, so that many waters, that is, many people who were previously in the sea and held captive by the dragon, were troubled. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13), and they were troubled, abandoning their initial error: then they were disturbed and received the approaching rider. Certainly, the hordes of demons we have spoken of above should not rule over the sea in such a way; rather, they should be disturbed and retreat, fearing the wounds of a fighting knight. And I hope that the word of God will also rise in me and kill, through the spear of my mouth, the one who reigns in the waters, so that the waters that were subjected to them will be disturbed unto the destruction of the king, and offer their necks to my knight, and when brought together in one chariot, we may become the Cherubim of the Lord, which is interpreted as a multitude of knowledge. For never before has a charioteer been so well composed and so adorned, as in those who are connected by the multitude of knowledge and the reins of wisdom among themselves.

LXX: I kept watch, and my belly was afraid at the voice of my mouth's prayer: and trembling entered into my bones, and under me my strength was troubled. Or as it is found written elsewhere ἡ ἕξις μου, which we can say means my condition: for indeed various readings are found. But these things can also be said from the perspective of the prophet, consistent with what came before: Because you, O Lord, have sent death upon the heads of the wicked, and have raised up the chains even to the neck, and have divided in astonishment the heads of the mighty, and have brought in your horses into the sea, disturbing the many waters: therefore I have kept my heart in all vigilance, and my bowels trembled, and my whole strength or condition, is troubled, lest I should endure similar things. And he can also have, as it were, his own beginning, as the prophet narrates his fear and how he was afraid of sinning in any way, and when he was warned by the voice of his lips in prayer, he feared God so much that trembling entered his bones. And being placed under the mighty hand of the Lord, he was troubled with all the strength or disposition of his soul. But what he says, 'Trembling entered my bones,' should be understood emphatically, so that we may see the magnitude of the fear of God penetrating the entirety of the soul, and moving the whole person so as not to do anything that would displease God. And since Scripture also mentions the members of the soul allegorically, let us understand the hungry belly as representing the power of the soul, which receives spiritual food; the lips as representing the mind's inner dialogue; and the strong and solid bones as representing the firm doctrines on which the whole soul is strengthened. These things have been briefly stated by me. But if anyone discovers something wiser and truer, give your agreement to that person's explanation.


LXX: I will rest in the day of my trouble, that I may ascend to the people of my pilgrimage. For with all watchfulness I have kept my heart, and my belly trembled at the voice of my prayer. And trembling came upon me, and darkness covered me: and my bones were affrighted. And under me death began to beget: and I was reproved by the multitude. And what do I long for? II will rest in the day of tribulation: that I may go up to the people of my pilgrimage, for there is my staff. But I will ascend downwards, and, like one striving from a valley to higher things, I will eagerly strive with all my might, so that in the time when others are in distress and anguish, my concern will be about the ascent, and how I will find rest in higher places with the people of my own journey. But I consider the day of tribulation to be the end of the world, about which Isaiah also says: The day of the Lord, incurable, full of fury and anger, to make the whole world a desert and to destroy sinners (Isaiah 14).

You cut off the heads of the mighty in their alienation; the nations will be moved in it. In the Greek, it is written "in ecstasy," which some have interpreted as "in stupor," others "in mental excess." Whether it is called stupor, alienation, or mental excess, it all means the same thing: when someone, astonished and bewildered by a sudden miracle, is rendered alien from their own mind, something the Evangelical history frequently recounts as having happened to the Jews, saying they were astounded and marveled at the teachings and virtues of Jesus, saying: "Where did this man get all these things, whose father and mother we know?" (John 6:42). And in the Acts of the Apostles, when the lame man was healed by Peter and John at the temple gate, it says: "They were filled with astonishment and ecstasy" (Acts 3:10), in which ecstasy, that is, admiration or mental alienation, many people were moved to believe in the Lord; but the heads of the mighty, that is, the chief priests and elders, were cut off by not believing, from the lot of the faithful. Nations were also moved in it, when, hearing or seeing the virtues of the Lord and his apostles, they were so astonished and amazed that, anathemaing and rejecting the gods they had worshipped, they devoutly received the new faith of Christ. Regarding them, aptly it is added:

“They will open their mouths like a pauper eating in secret.” Just as a pauper who has remained fasting for some time, if he happens to find food somewhere, hastens to refresh himself with it in secret, and does not want to bring it out in public, lest it be snatched away by another, and he perishes from hunger: similarly, the peoples of the nations, having been offered by the apostles the bread of the word, from which they had long remained fasting, immediately opened the mouths of their hearts and began to taste it with all avidity, dedicating themselves more to hearing or reading the Scriptures, the more they remembered they had long subjected their ears and minds to superfluous, even harmful, teachings in the most miserable kind of poverty. The order in which the poverty of the nations came to perceive the delicacies of the word is hinted at when it is added: