Discovery BoxHabakkuk 3:14-19
Context3:14 You pierce the heads of his warriors 1 with a spear. 2
They storm forward to scatter us; 3
they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition. 4
3:15 But you trample on the sea with your horses,
on the surging, raging waters. 5
3:16 I listened and my stomach churned; 6
the sound made my lips quiver.
My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying, 7
and I shook as I tried to walk. 8
I long 9 for the day of distress
to come upon 10 the people who attack us.
3:17 When 11 the fig tree does not bud,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
when the olive trees do not produce, 12
and the fields yield no crops; 13
when the sheep disappear 14 from the pen,
and there are no cattle in the stalls,
3:18 I will rejoice because of 15 the Lord;
I will be happy because of the God who delivers me!
3:19 The sovereign Lord is my source of strength. 16
He gives me the agility of a deer; 17
he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. 18
(This prayer is for the song leader. It is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.) 19
[3:14] 1 tn Some take “warriors” with the following line, in which case one should translate, “you pierce [his] head with a spear; his warriors storm forward to scatter us” (cf. NIV). The meaning of the Hebrew term פְּרָזוֹ (pÿrazo), translated here “his warriors,” is uncertain.
[3:14] 2 tc Heb “his shafts.” Some emend to “your shafts.” The translation above assumes an emendation to מַטֶּה (matteh, “shaft, spear”), the vav-yod (ו-י) sequence being a corruption of an original he (ה).
[3:14] 3 tn Heb “me,” but the author speaks as a representative of God’s people.
[3:14] 4 tn Heb “their rejoicing is like devouring the poor in secret.”
[3:15] 5 tn Heb “the foaming of the mighty [or “many”] waters.”
[3:16] 9 tn Heb “my insides trembled.”
[3:16] 10 tn Heb “decay entered my bones.”
[3:16] 11 tc Heb “beneath me I shook, which….” The Hebrew term אֲשֶׁר (’asher) appears to be a relative pronoun, but a relative pronoun does not fit here. The translation assumes a reading אֲשֻׁרָי (’ashuray, “my steps”) as well as an emendation of the preceding verb to a third plural form.
[3:16] 12 tn The translation assumes that אָנוּחַ (’anuakh) is from the otherwise unattested verb נָוָח (navakh, “sigh”; see HALOT 680 s.v. II נוח; so also NEB). Most take this verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”) and translate, “I wait patiently” (cf. NIV).
[3:16] 13 tn Heb “to come up toward.”
[3:17] 14 tn Heb “the produce of the olive disappoints.”
[3:17] 16 tn Or “are cut off.”
[3:19] 21 tn Or perhaps, “is my wall,” that is, “my protector.”
[3:19] 22 tn Heb “he makes my feet like those of deer.”
[3:19] 23 tn Heb “he makes me walk on my high places.”
[3:19] 24 tn Heb “For the leader, on my stringed instruments.”
