Habakkuk 1:14-15

1:14 You made people like fish in the sea,

like animals in the sea ¹  that have no ruler.

1:15 The Babylonian tyrant ²  pulls them all up with a fishhook;

he hauls them in with his throw net. ³ 

When he catches ⁴  them in his dragnet,

he is very happy. ⁵ 

[1:14]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word רֶמֶשׂ (remesh) usually refers to animals that creep, but here the referent seems to be marine animals that glide through the water (note the parallelism in the previous line). See also Ps 104:25.

[1:15]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Babylonian tyrant) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NASB “The Chaldeans”; NIV “The wicked foe”; NRSV “The enemy”). Babylonian imperialism is here compared to a professional fisherman who repeatedly brings in his catch and has plenty to eat.

[1:15]  ³ tn Apparently two different types of fishing nets are referred to here. The חֵרֶם (kherem, “throw net”) was used by fishermen standing on the shore (see Ezek 47:10), while the מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret, “dragnet”) was used by men in a boat. See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 165.

[1:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he gathers.”

[1:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “Therefore he is happy and rejoices.” Here two synonyms are joined for emphasis.