Habakkuk 3
3
Hymn About God’s Reign
1Prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet. According to Shigyonot.#Shigyonot: a Hebrew technical term no longer understood, but probably a musical notation regarding the following hymn. This term, the references to the leader and stringed instruments at the end of the hymn (v. 19), and the use of the term selah in vv. 3, 9, and 13 are found elsewhere in the Bible only in the Psalter, and they indicate that, like the psalms, this poem was once used in worship.
2O Lord, I have heard your renown,
and am in awe, O Lord, of your work.
In the course of years revive it,#In the course of years revive it: a plea for God to renew the works of the past.
in the course of years make yourself known;
in your wrath remember compassion!
3#Cf. the theophanies in Dt 33:2–3; Jgs 5:4–5; Ps 18:8–16; 68:8–9; 77:17–21; 97:1–5; Na 1:3–6, etc. Conventional language is employed to describe the appearance of the Lord, as in Ex 19:16–19. God came from Teman,#Teman: a region in Edom. Mount Paran: in the territory of Edom, or the northern part of the Sinai peninsula.
the Holy One from Mount Paran.#Dt 33:2.
Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
and his praise filled the earth;
4his splendor spread like the light.
He raised his horns high,#Ps 18:3.
he rejoiced on the day of his strength.
5Before him went pestilence,
and plague#Pestilence…plague: these may be figures who are part of the heavenly armies God leads into battle. followed in his steps.
6He stood and shook the earth;
he looked and made the nations tremble.
Ancient mountains were shattered,
the age-old hills bowed low,
age-old orbits#Age-old orbits: the regular paths through the skies of heavenly bodies are disrupted at the appearance of the divine warrior, as are the ancient mountains on earth. Such cosmic disruption is typical of divine appearances (Ps 18:8; Na 1:5). collapsed.
7The tents of Cushan trembled,
the pavilions of the land of Midian.#Cushan…Midian: the inhabitants of the area southeast of Judah where the divine march originates (Teman, Mount Paran), who are shaken, together with the cosmos, at God’s appearance.
8Was your anger against the rivers, O Lord?
your wrath against the rivers,
your rage against the sea,#Rivers…sea: the forces of chaos personified as yam (Sea) and nahar (River) try to destroy the order God imposed at creation by sweeping past their boundaries and covering the earth. Their mention here and in v. 15 emphasizes that God is both creator and deliverer, subduing historical enemies and cosmic forces. #Ps 74:13; 89:11; Is 51:9; Na 1:4.
That you mounted your steeds,
your victorious chariot?
9You readied your bow,
you filled your bowstring with arrows.
Selah
You split the earth with rivers;
10at the sight of you the mountains writhed.
The clouds poured down water;
the deep roared loudly.
The sun#Sun…moon: heavenly figures who, like pestilence and plague (v. 5), serve in God’s army, or are startled at God’s appearance, as are the ancient constellations (v. 6). forgot to rise,
11the moon left its lofty station,#Jos 10:12–13.
At the light of your flying arrows,
at the gleam of your flashing spear.
12In wrath you marched on the earth,
in fury you trampled the nations.
13You came forth to save your people,
to save your anointed one.#Your anointed one: the theocratic king, the head of God’s people. The back of the wicked: this may refer both to God’s cosmic enemy, River/Sea, and to the leader of Israel’s historical enemy.
You crushed the back of the wicked,
you laid him bare, bottom to neck.
Selah
14#The last two lines of this verse are obscure in Hebrew and difficult to translate. You pierced his head with your shafts;
his princes you scattered with your stormwind,
as food for the poor in unknown places.
15You trampled the sea with your horses
amid the churning of the deep waters.
16I hear, and my body trembles;
at the sound, my lips quiver.
Decay invades my bones,
my legs tremble beneath me.
I await the day of distress
that will come upon the people who attack us.
17For though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit appears on the vine,
Though the yield of the olive fails
and the terraces produce no nourishment,
Though the flocks disappear from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,
18Yet I will rejoice in the Lord
and exult in my saving God.
19God, my Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet swift as those of deer
and enables me to tread upon the heights.#The heights: this term can also mean “backs” and may be an image of conquest over the poet’s foes. #Ps 18:32–34.
For the leader; with stringed instruments.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Habukkuk 3
3
1A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet concerning erring ones:
2O Jehovah, I heard thy report, I have been afraid, O Jehovah, Thy work! in midst of years revive it, In the midst of years Thou makest known In anger Thou dost remember mercy.
3God from Teman doth come, The Holy One from mount Paran. Pause! Covered the heavens hath His majesty, And His praise hath filled the earth.
4And the brightness is as the light, He hath rays out of His hand, And there — the hiding of His strength.
5Before Him goeth pestilence, And a burning flame goeth forth at His feet.
6He hath stood, and He measureth earth, He hath seen, and He shaketh off nations, And scatter themselves do mountains of antiquity, Bowed have the hills of old, The ways of old [are] His.
7Under sorrow I have seen tents of Cushan, Tremble do curtains of the land of Midian.
8Against rivers hath Jehovah been wroth? Against rivers [is] Thine anger? Against the sea [is] Thy wrath? For Thou dost ride on Thy horses — Thy chariots of salvation?
9Utterly naked Thou dost make Thy bow, Sworn are the tribes — saying, ‘Pause!’ [With] rivers Thou dost cleave the earth.
10Seen thee — pained are mountains, An inundation of waters hath passed over, Given forth hath the deep its voice, High its hands it hath lifted up.
11Sun — moon — hath stood — a habitation, At the light thine arrows go on, At the brightness, the glittering of thy spear.
12In indignation Thou dost tread earth, In anger Thou dost thresh nations.
13Thou hast gone forth for the salvation of Thy people, For salvation with Thine anointed, Thou hast smitten the head of the house of the wicked, Laying bare the foundation unto the neck. Pause!
14Thou hast pierced with his staves the head of his leaders, They are tempestuous to scatter me, Their exultation [is] as to consume the poor in secret.
15Thou hast proceeded through the sea with Thy horses — the clay of many waters.
16I have heard, and my belly trembleth, At the noise have my lips quivered, Rottenness doth come into my bones, And in my place I do tremble, That I rest for a day of distress, At the coming up of the people, he overcometh it.
17Though the fig-tree doth not flourish, And there is no produce among vines, Failed hath the work of the olive, And fields have not yielded food, Cut off from the fold hath been the flock, And there is no herd in the stalls.
18Yet I, in Jehovah I exult, I do joy in the God of my salvation.
19 Jehovah the Lord [is] my strength, And He doth make my feet like hinds, And on my high-places causeth me to tread. To the overseer with my stringed instruments!
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