Discovery BoxHabakkuk 1:14
Context1:14 You made people like fish in the sea,
like animals in the sea 1 that have no ruler.
Habakkuk 1:11
Context1:11 They sweep by like the wind and pass on. 2
But the one who considers himself a god will be held guilty.” 3
Habakkuk 2:19
Context2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead 4 –
he who says 5 to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’
Can it give reliable guidance? 6
It is overlaid with gold and silver;
it has no life’s breath inside it.
Habakkuk 3:9
Context3:9 Your bow is ready for action; 7
you commission your arrows. 8 Selah.
You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface. 9
Habakkuk 2:15
Context2:15 “You who force your neighbor to drink wine 10 are as good as dead 11 –
you who make others intoxicated by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger, 12
so you can look at their genitals. 13
Habakkuk 3:19
Context3:19 The sovereign Lord is my source of strength. 14
He gives me the agility of a deer; 15
he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. 16
(This prayer is for the song leader. It is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.) 17
[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.
[1:11] 2 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] 3 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.
[2:19] 3 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who says.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:19] 4 tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.
[2:19] 5 tn Though the Hebrew text has no formal interrogative marker here, the context indicates that the statement should be taken as a rhetorical question anticipating the answer, “Of course not!” (so also NIV, NRSV).
[3:9] 4 tn Heb “[into] nakedness your bow is laid bare.”
[3:9] 5 tn Heb “sworn in are the arrow-shafts with a word.” The passive participle of שָׁבַע (shava’), “swear an oath,” also occurs in Ezek 21:23 ET (21:28 HT) referencing those who have sworn allegiance. Here the
[3:9] 6 tn Heb “[with] rivers you split open the earth.” A literal rendering like “You split the earth with rivers” (so NIV, NRSV) suggests geological activity to the modern reader, but in the present context of a violent thunderstorm, the idea of streams swollen to torrents by downpours better fits the imagery.
[2:15] 5 tn No direct object is present after “drink” in the Hebrew text. “Wine” is implied, however, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[2:15] 6 tn On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:15] 7 tc Heb “pouring out your anger and also making drunk”; or “pouring out your anger and [by] rage making drunk.” The present translation assumes that the final khet (ח) on מְסַפֵּחַ (misapeakh, “pouring”) is dittographic and that the form should actually be read מִסַּף (missaf, “from a bowl”).
[2:15] 8 tn Heb “their nakedness,” a euphemism.
[3:19] 6 tn Or perhaps, “is my wall,” that is, “my protector.”
[3:19] 7 tn Heb “he makes my feet like those of deer.”
[3:19] 8 tn Heb “he makes me walk on my high places.”
[3:19] 9 tn Heb “For the leader, on my stringed instruments.”
