Habakkuk 3:12

3:12 You furiously stomp on the earth,

you angrily trample down the nations.

Habakkuk 2:20

2:20 But the Lord is in his majestic palace. ¹ 

The whole earth is speechless in his presence!” ² 

Habakkuk 2:14

2:14 For recognition of the Lord’s sovereign majesty will fill the earth

just as the waters fill up the sea. ³ 

Habakkuk 3:7

3:7 I see the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by trouble; ⁴ 

the tent curtains of the land of Midian are shaking. ⁵ 

Habakkuk 3:9

3:9 Your bow is ready for action; ⁶ 

you commission your arrows. ⁷  Selah.

You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface. ⁸ 

Habakkuk 1:6

1:6 Look, I am about to empower ⁹  the Babylonians,

that ruthless ¹⁰  and greedy ¹¹  nation.

They sweep across the surface ¹²  of the earth,

seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.

Habakkuk 2:8

2:8 Because you robbed many countries, ¹³ 

all who are left among the nations ¹⁴  will rob you.

You have shed human blood

and committed violent acts against lands, cities, ¹⁵  and those who live in them.

Habakkuk 2:17

2:17 For you will pay in full for your violent acts against Lebanon; ¹⁶ 

terrifying judgment will come upon you because of the way you destroyed the wild animals living there. ¹⁷ 

You have shed human blood

and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.

Habakkuk 3:3

3:3 God comes ¹⁸  from Teman, ¹⁹ 

the sovereign ²⁰  one from Mount Paran. ²¹  Selah. ²² 

His splendor covers the skies, ²³ 

his glory ²⁴  fills the earth.

Habakkuk 3:6

3:6 He takes his battle position ²⁵  and shakes ²⁶  the earth;

with a mere look he frightens ²⁷  the nations.

The ancient mountains disintegrate; ²⁸ 

the primeval hills are flattened.

He travels on the ancient roads. ²⁹ 

[2:20]  ¹ tn Or “holy temple.” The Lord’s heavenly palace, rather than the earthly temple, is probably in view here (see Ps 11:4; Mic 1:2-3). The Hebrew word ֹקדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holy”) here refers to the sovereign transcendence associated with his palace.

[2:20]  ² tn Or “Be quiet before him, all the earth!”

[2:14]  ¹ tn Heb “for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, just as the waters cover over the sea.”

[3:7]  ¹ tn Heb “under trouble I saw the tents of Cushan.”

[3:7]  ² tn R. D. Patterson takes תַּחַת אֲוֶן (takhat ’aven) in the first line as a place name, “Tahath-Aven.” (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah [WEC], 237.) In this case one may translate the verse as a tricolon: “I look at Tahath-Aven. The tents of Cushan are shaking, the tent curtains of the land of Midian.”

[3:9]  ¹ tn Heb “[into] nakedness your bow is laid bare.”

[3:9]  ² 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 Lord’s arrows are personified and viewed as having received a commission which they have vowed to uphold. In Jer 47:6-7 the Lord’s sword is given such a charge. In the Ugaritic myths Baal’s weapons are formally assigned the task of killing the sea god Yam.

[3:9]  ³ 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.

[1:6]  ¹ tn Heb “raise up” (so KJV, ASV).

[1:6]  ² tn Heb “bitter.” Other translation options for this word in this context include “fierce” (NASB, NRSV); “savage” (NEB); or “grim.”

[1:6]  ³ tn Heb “hasty, quick.” Some translate here “impetuous” (so NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “rash,” but in this context greed may very well be the idea. The Babylonians move quickly and recklessly ahead in their greedy quest to expand their empire.

[1:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “the open spaces.”

[2:8]  ¹ tn Or “nations.”

[2:8]  ² tn Or “peoples.”

[2:8]  ³ tn Heb “because of the shed blood of humankind and violence against land, city.” The singular forms אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”) and קִרְיָה (qiryah, “city”) are collective, referring to all the lands and cities terrorized by the Babylonians.

[2:17]  ¹ tn Heb “for the violence against Lebanon will cover you.”

[2:17]  ² tc The Hebrew appears to read literally, “and the violence against the animals [which] he terrified.” The verb form יְחִיתַן (yÿkhitan) appears to be a Hiphil imperfect third masculine singular with third feminine plural suffix (the antecedent being the animals) from חָתַת (khatat, “be terrified”). The translation above follows the LXX and assumes a reading יְחִתֶּךָ (yÿkhittekha, “[the violence against the animals] will terrify you”; cf. NRSV “the destruction of the animals will terrify you”; NIV “and your destruction of animals will terrify you”). In this case the verb is a Hiphil imperfect third masculine singular with second masculine singular suffix (the antecedent being Babylon). This provides better symmetry with the preceding line, where Babylon’s violence is the subject of the verb “cover.”

[3:3]  ¹ 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.

[3:3]  ² sn Teman was a city or region in southern Edom.

[3:3]  ³ tn Or traditionally, “holy one.” The term קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy [one]”) here refers to God’s sovereignty. See v. 3b.

[3:3]  ⁴ 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.

[3:3]  ⁵ tn Selah. The meaning of this musical term (which also appears in vv. 9, 13, and in the Psalms as well) is unknown.

[3:3]  ⁶ tn Or “heavens.”

[3:3]  ⁷ 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).

[3:6]  ¹ tn Heb “he stands.”

[3:6]  ² tn This verb has been traditionally understood as “measure” (from מוּד, mud), but the immediately following context (vv. 6b-7) favors the meaning “shake” from מָוד (mavd; see HALOT 555 s.v.).

[3:6]  ³ tn Heb “makes [the nations] jump [in fear].”

[3:6]  ⁴ tn Or “crumbled,” broke into pieces.”

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “ancient ways [or, “doings”] are his.” The meaning of this line is unclear. Traditionally it has been translated, “his ways are eternal.” However, in this context (see vv. 3, 7) it is more likely that the line speaks of the Lord taking the same route as in the days of Moses and Deborah (see Deut 33:2; Judg 5:4). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 154.