Habakkuk 3:8

Context

3:8 Is the Lord mad at the rivers?

Are you angry with the rivers?

Are you enraged at the sea?¹

Is this why² you climb into your horse-drawn chariots,³

your victorious chariots?⁴

[3:8] ¹sn The following context suggests these questions should be answered, “Yes.” The rivers and the sea, symbolizing here the hostile nations (v. 12), are objects of the Lord’s anger (vv. 10, 15).

[3:8] ²tn Heb “so that.” Here כִּי (ki) is resultative. See the note on the phrase “make it” in 2:18.

[3:8] ³tn Heb “you mount your horses.” As the next line makes clear, the Lord is pictured here as a charioteer, not a cavalryman. Note NRSV here, “when you drove your horses, // your chariots to victory.”

[3:8] ⁴tn Or “chariots of deliverance.”