Habakkuk 3:10-11

3:10 When the mountains see you, they shake.

The torrential downpour sweeps through. ¹ 

The great deep ²  shouts out;

it lifts its hands high. ³ 

3:11 The sun and moon stand still in their courses; ⁴ 

the flash of your arrows drives them away, ⁵ 

the bright light of your lightning-quick spear. ⁶ 

[3:10]  ¹ tn Heb “a heavy rain of waters passes by.” Perhaps the flash floods produced by the downpour are in view here.

[3:10]  ² sn The great deep, which is to be equated with the sea (vv. 8, 15), is a symbol of chaos and represents the Lord’s enemies.

[3:10]  ³ sn Lifting the hands here suggests panic and is accompanied by a cry for mercy (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19). The forces of chaos cannot withstand the Lord’s power revealed in the storm.

[3:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “in their lofty dwelling places.”

[3:11]  ⁵ tn Or “at the light of your arrows they vanish.”

[3:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “at the brightness of the lightning of your spear.”