Discovery BoxHabakkuk 1:11
Context1:11 They sweep by like the wind and pass on. 1
But the one who considers himself a god will be held guilty.” 2
Habakkuk 3:2
Context3:2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; 3
I am awed, 4 Lord, by what you accomplished. 5
In our time 6 repeat those deeds; 7
in our time reveal them again. 8
But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy! 9
[1:11] 1 tn The precise meaning of v. 11a is uncertain. The present translation assumes the first line further describes the Babylonian hordes, comparing them to a destructive wind. Another option is to understand רוּחַ (ruakh) as “spirit,” rather than “wind,” and take the form וְאָשֵׁם (vÿ’ashem) with what precedes (as suggested by the scribal punctuation). Repointing this form as a geminate verb from שָׁמַם (shamam, “be astonished”), one could then translate the line, “The spirit passed on and departed, and I was astonished.” In this case the line would describe the cessation of the divine revelation which began in v. 5. For a detailed defense of this view, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 97-100.
[1:11] 2 tn Heb “and guilty is the one whose strength is his god.” This assumes that אָשֵׁם (’ashem) is a predicate adjective meaning “guilty” and that it relates to what follows.
[3:2] 3 tn Heb “your report,” that is, “the report concerning you.”
[3:2] 4 tn Heb “I fear.” Some prefer to read, “I saw,
[3:2] 6 tn Heb “in the midst of years.” The meaning of the phrase, which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain (cf. NIV “in our day”; NEB, NASB “in the midst of the years”).
[3:2] 7 tn Heb “revive it” (i.e., “your work”).
[3:2] 8 tn Heb “make known.” The implied object is “your deeds”; the pronoun “them,” referring to “deeds” in the previous line, was employed in the translation to avoid redundancy. The suffix on the form חַיֵּיהוּ (khayyehu, “revive it”) does double duty in the parallelism.
