Habakkuk 3:9

3:9 Your bow is ready for action; ¹ 

you commission your arrows. ²  Selah.

You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface. ³ 

Habakkuk 3:14

3:14 You pierce the heads of his warriors ⁴  with a spear. ⁵ 

They storm forward to scatter us; ⁶ 

they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition. ⁷ 

[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.

[3:14]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “me,” but the author speaks as a representative of God’s people.

[3:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “their rejoicing is like devouring the poor in secret.”