Text -- Habakkuk 3:14 (NET)

3:14 You pierce the heads of his warriors with a spear. They storm forward to scatter us; they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Hab 3:14

¹ tn Some take “warriors” with the following line, in which case one should translate, “you pierce [his] head with a spear; his warriors storm forward to scatter us” (cf. NIV). The meaning of the Hebrew term פְּרָזוֹ (pÿrazo), translated here “his warriors,” is uncertain.

² tc Heb “his shafts.” Some emend to “your shafts.” The translation above assumes an emendation to מַטֶּה (matteh, “shaft, spear”), the vav-yod (ו-י) sequence being a corruption of an original he (ה).

³ tn Heb “me,” but the author speaks as a representative of God’s people.

⁴ tn Heb “their rejoicing is like devouring the poor in secret.”