13:26 They came back 3 to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. 4 They reported 5 to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land.
1:1 This is what 8 Moses said to the assembly of Israel 9 in the Transjordanian 10 wastelands, the arid country opposite 11 Suph, 12 between 13 Paran 14 and Tophel, 15 Laban, 16 Hazeroth, 17 and Di Zahab 18
The Lord came from Sinai
and revealed himself 19 to Israel 20 from Seir.
He appeared in splendor 21 from Mount Paran,
and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. 22
With his right hand he gave a fiery law 23 to them.
33:1 This is the blessing Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.
25:1 If controversy arises between people, 24 they should go to court for judgment. When the judges 25 hear the case, they shall exonerate 26 the innocent but condemn 27 the guilty.
3:3 God comes 28 from Teman, 29
the sovereign 30 one from Mount Paran. 31 Selah. 32
His splendor covers the skies, 33
his glory 34 fills the earth.
1 tn Heb “mouth.”
2 tn Heb “heads.”
3 tn The construction literally has “and they went and they entered,” which may be smoothed out as a verbal hendiadys, the one verb modifying the other.
4 sn Kadesh is Ain Qadeis, about 50 miles (83 km) south of Beer Sheba. It is called Kadesh-barnea in Num 32:8.
5 tn Heb “They brought back word”; the verb is the Hiphil preterite of שׁוּב (shuv).
6 sn The wilderness of Paran is an area in the east central region of the Sinai peninsula, northeast from the traditional site of Mt. Sinai and with the Arabah and the Gulf of Aqaba as its eastern border.
7 tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”
8 tn Heb “These are the words.”
9 tn Heb “to all Israel.”
10 tn Heb “on the other side of the Jordan.” This would appear to favor authorship by someone living on the west side of the Jordan, that is, in Canaan, whereas the biblical tradition locates Moses on the east side (cf. v. 5). However the Hebrew phrase בְּעֵבֶר הַיּרְדֵּן (bÿ’ever hayyrÿden) is a frozen form meaning “Transjordan,” a name appropriate from any geographical vantage point. To this day, one standing east of the Jordan can describe himself as being in Transjordan.
11 tn The Hebrew term מוֹל (mol) may also mean “in front of” or “near” (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
12 sn This place is otherwise unattested and its location is unknown. Perhaps it is Khirbet Sufah, 4 mi (6 km) SSE of Madaba, Jordan.
13 tn The Hebrew term בֵּין (ben) may suggest “in the area of.”
14 sn Paran is the well-known desert area between Mount Sinai and Kadesh Barnea (cf. Num 10:12; 12:16).
15 sn Tophel refers possibly to et£-T£afîleh, 15 mi (25 km) SE of the Dead Sea, or to Da‚bîlu, another name for Paran. See H. Cazelles, “Tophel (Deut. 1:1),” VT 9 (1959): 412-15.
16 sn Laban. Perhaps this refers to Libnah (Num 33:20).
17 sn Hazeroth. This probably refers to àAin Khadra. See Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 199-200.
18 sn Di Zahab. Perhaps this refers to Mina al-Dhahab on the eastern Sinai coast.
19 tn Or “rose like the sun” (NCV, TEV).
20 tc Heb “to him.” The LXX reads “to us” (לָנוּ [lanu] for לָמוֹ [lamo]), the reading of the MT is acceptable since it no doubt has in mind Israel as a collective singular.
21 tn Or “he shone forth” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
22 tc With slight alteration (מִמְרִבַת קָדֵשׁ [mimrivat qadesh] for the MT’s מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ [merivvot qodesh]) the translation would be “from Meribah Kadesh” (cf. NAB, NLT; see Deut 32:51). However, the language of holy war in the immediate context favors the reading of the MT, which views the Lord as accompanied by angelic hosts.
23 tc The mispointed Hebrew term אֵשְׁדָּת (’eshdat) should perhaps be construed as אֵשְׁהַת (’eshhat) with Smr.
24 tn Heb “men.”
25 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”
27 tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”
28 tn In vv. 3-15 there is a mixture of eleven prefixed verbal forms (without vav [ו] consecutive or with vav conjunctive), sixteen suffixed forms, and three prefixed forms with vav consecutive. All of the forms are best taken as indicating completed action from the speaker’s standpoint (all of the prefixed forms being regarded as preterites). The forms could be translated with the past tense, but this would be misleading, for this is not a mere recital of God’s deeds in Israel’s past history. Habakkuk here describes, in terms reminiscent of past theophanies, his prophetic vision of a future theophany (see v. 7, “I saw”). From the prophet’s visionary standpoint the theophany is “as good as done.” This translation uses the English present tense throughout these verses to avoid misunderstanding. A similar strategy is followed by the NEB; in contrast note the NIV and NRSV, which consistently use past tenses throughout the section, and the NASB, which employs present tenses in vv. 3-5 and mostly past tenses in vv. 6-15.
29 sn Teman was a city or region in southern Edom.
30 tn Or traditionally, “holy one.” The term קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy [one]”) here refers to God’s sovereignty. See v. 3b.
31 sn The precise location of Mount Paran is unknown, but like Teman it was located to the southeast of Israel. Habakkuk saw God marching from the direction of Sinai.
32 tn Selah. The meaning of this musical term (which also appears in vv. 9, 13, and in the Psalms as well) is unknown.
33 tn Or “heavens.”
34 tn Heb “praise.” This could mean that the earth responds in praise as God’s splendor is observed in the skies. However, the Hebrew term תְּהִלָּה (tÿhillah, “praise”) can stand by metonymy for what prompts it (i.e., fame, glory, deeds).