Discovery BoxHabakkuk 3:4
Context3:4 He is as bright as lightning; 1
a two-pronged lightning bolt flashes from his hand. 2
This is the outward display of his power. 3
Habakkuk 2:9
Context2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. 4
He does this so he can build his nest way up high
and escape the clutches of disaster. 5
Habakkuk 1:11
Context1:11 They sweep by like the wind and pass on. 6
But the one who considers himself a god will be held guilty.” 7
Habakkuk 3:9
Context3:9 Your bow is ready for action; 8
you commission your arrows. 9 Selah.
You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface. 10
Habakkuk 1:4
Context1:4 For this reason the law lacks power, 11
and justice is never carried out. 12
Indeed, 13 the wicked intimidate 14 the innocent. 15
For this reason justice is perverted. 16
Habakkuk 1:6
Context1:6 Look, I am about to empower 17 the Babylonians,
that ruthless 18 and greedy 19 nation.
They sweep across the surface 20 of the earth,
seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.
Habakkuk 3:6
Context3:6 He takes his battle position 21 and shakes 22 the earth;
with a mere look he frightens 23 the nations.
The ancient mountains disintegrate; 24
the primeval hills are flattened.
He travels on the ancient roads. 25
Habakkuk 3:2
Context3:2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; 26
I am awed, 27 Lord, by what you accomplished. 28
In our time 29 repeat those deeds; 30
in our time reveal them again. 31
But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy! 32
[3:4] 1 tn Heb “[His] radiance is like light.” Some see a reference to sunlight, but the Hebrew word אוֹר (’or) here refers to lightning, as the context indicates (see vv. 4b, 9, 11). The word also refers to lightning in Job 36:32 and 37:3, 11, 15.
[3:4] 2 tn Heb “two horns from his hand to him.” Sharp, pointed lightning bolts have a “horn-like” appearance. The weapon of “double lightning” appears often in Mesopotamian representations of gods. See Elizabeth Van Buren, Symbols of the Gods in Mesopotamian Art (AnOr), 70-73.
[3:4] 3 tn Heb “and there [is] the covering of his strength”; or “and there is his strong covering.” The meaning of this line is unclear. The point may be that the lightning bolts are merely a covering, or outward display, of God’s raw power. In Job 36:32 one reads that God “covers his hands with light [or, “lightning”].”
[2:9] 4 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:9] 5 tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”
[1:11] 7 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] 8 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.
[3:9] 10 tn Heb “[into] nakedness your bow is laid bare.”
[3:9] 11 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] 12 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.
[1:4] 13 tn Heb “the law is numb,” i.e., like a hand that has “fallen asleep” (see Ps 77:2). Cf. NAB “is benumbed”; NIV “is paralyzed.”
[1:4] 14 tn Heb “never goes out.”
[1:4] 16 tn Heb “surround” (so NASB, NRSV).
[1:4] 17 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[1:4] 18 tn Heb “comes out crooked.”
[1:6] 16 tn Heb “raise up” (so KJV, ASV).
[1:6] 17 tn Heb “bitter.” Other translation options for this word in this context include “fierce” (NASB, NRSV); “savage” (NEB); or “grim.”
[1:6] 18 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] 19 tn Heb “the open spaces.”
[3:6] 20 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] 21 tn Heb “makes [the nations] jump [in fear].”
[3:6] 22 tn Or “crumbled,” broke into pieces.”
[3:6] 23 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
[3:2] 22 tn Heb “your report,” that is, “the report concerning you.”
[3:2] 23 tn Heb “I fear.” Some prefer to read, “I saw,
[3:2] 25 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] 26 tn Heb “revive it” (i.e., “your work”).
[3:2] 27 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.
