Ամբակում / Habakkuk - 3 |

Text:
< PreviousԱմբակում - 3 Habakkuk - 3Next >

jg▾ kad▾ tr▾ ac▾ mh▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
1. Надписание. 2. Введение в "молитву" с указанием главного содержания ее - гнева и милости Божией, открытых пророку в изображавшем затем Богоявлении. 3-7. Грозное пришествие Бога на землю от юга. 8. Переход к следующей речи о смысле грозного Богоявления. 9-15. Дальнейшее изображение Богоявления с уяснением его значения. 16-19. Сообщенное в Откровении пророчество пророк принимает с трепетною верою и твердою уверенностью в спасении.
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
Still the correspondence is kept up between God and his prophet. In the first chapter he spoke to God, then God to him, and then he to God again; in the second chapter God spoke wholly to him by the Spirit of prophecy; now, in this chapter, he speaks wholly to God by the Spirit of prayer, for he would not let the intercourse drop on his side, like a genuine son of Abraham, who "returned not to his place until God had left communing with him." Gen. xviii. 33. The prophet's prayer, in this chapter, is in imitation of David's psalms, for it is directed "to the chief musician," and is set to musical instruments. The prayer is left upon record for the use of the church, and particularly of the Jews in their captivity, while they were waiting for their deliverance, promised by the vision in the foregoing chapter. I. He earnestly begs of God to relieve and succour his people in affliction, to hasten their deliverance, and to comfort them in the mean time, ver. 2. II. He calls to mind the experiences which the church formerly had of God's glorious and gracious appearances on her behalf, when he brought Israel out of Egypt through the wilderness to Canaan, and there many a time wrought wonderful deliverances for them, ver. 3-15. III. He affects himself with a holy concern for the present troubles of the church, but encourages himself and others to hope that the issue will be comfortable and glorious at last, though all visible means fail, ver. 16-19.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
The prophet, being apprised of the calamities which were to be brought on his country by the ministry of the Chaldeans, and the punishments which awaited the Chaldeans themselves, partly struck with terror, and partly revived with hope and confidence in the Divine mercy, beseeches God to hasten the redemption of his people, Hab 3:1, Hab 3:2. Such a petition would naturally lead his thoughts to the astonishing deliverance which God vouchsafed to the same people of old; and the inference from it was obvious, that he could with the same ease deliver their posterity now. But, hurried on by the fire and impetuosity of his spirit, he disdains to wait the process of connecting these ideas, and bounds at once into the midst of his subject: "God came from Teman," etc., Hab 3:3. He goes on to describe the majesty and might which God displayed in conducting his people to the land of promise, selecting the most remarkable circumstances, and clothing them in the most lofty language. As he goes along, his fancy becomes more glowing, till at length he is transported to the scene of action, and becomes an eyewitness of the wonders he describes. "I beheld the tents of Cushan in affliction," Hab 3:4-6. After having touched on the principal circumstances of that deliverance which he celebrates, he returns to what passed before them in Egypt; his enthusiasm having led him to begin in the midst of his subject, Hab 3:7-15. And at last he ends the hymn as he began it, with expressing his awe of the Divine judgments, and his firm trust in the mercy and goodness of God while under them; and that in terms of such singular beauty, elegance, and sublimity, as to form a to proper conclusion to this admirable piece of Divinely inspired composition, Hab 3:16-19. It would seem from the title, and the note appended at the end, that it was set to music, and sung in the service of the temple.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
Hab 3:1, Habakkuk, in his prayer, trembles at God's majesty; Hab 3:17, The confidence of his faith.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch

Prayer for Compassion in the Midst of the Judgment - Habakkuk 3
In this chapter, which is called a prayer in the heading, the prophet expresses the feelings which the divine revelation of judgment described in ch. 1 and 2 had excited in his mind, and ought to excite in the congregation of believers, so that this supplicatory psalm may be called an echo of the two answers which the prophet had received from the Lord to his complaints in Hab 1:2-4 and Hab 1:12-17 (vid., Hab 1:5-11 and 2:2-20). Deeply agitated as he was by the revelation he had received concerning the terrible judgment, which the Lord would execute first of all upon Judah, through the wild and cruel Chaldaean nation, and then upon the Chaldaean himself, because he deified his own power, the prophet prays to the Lord that He will carry out this work of His "within years," and in the revelation of His wrath still show mercy (Hab 3:2). He then proceeds in Hab 3:3-15 to depict in a majestic theophany the coming of the Lord to judge the world, and bring salvation to His people and His anointed; and secondly, in Hab 3:16-19, to describe the fruit of faith which this divine manifestation produces, namely, first of all fear and trembling at the day of tribulation (Hab 3:16, Hab 3:17), and afterwards joy and rejoicing in the God of salvation (Hab 3:18 and Hab 3:19). Consequently we may regard Hab 3:2 as the theme of the psalm, which is distributed thus between the two parts. In the first part (Hab 3:3-15) we have the prayer for the accomplishment of the work (Hab 3:2) announced by God in Hab 1:5, expressed in the form of a prophetico-lyric description of the coming of the Lord to judgment; and in the second part (Hab 3:16-19), the prayer in wrath to remember mercy (Hab 3:2), expanded still more fully in the form of a description of the feelings and state of mind excited by that prayer in the hearts of the believing church.
John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO HABAKKUK 3
The title of this chapter is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, composed after the manner of a psalm of David, and directed to the chief singer, Hab 3:1. The occasion of it is expressed, Hab 3:2 in which the prophet declares his concern for the work of the Lord, and the promotion of the kingdom and interest of Christ; and observes the various steps that were, or would be, taken for the advancement of it; for which he prays, and suggests that these would be after the manner of the Lord's dealing with the people of Israel, and settling them in the land of Canaan, Hab 3:3 and there being several things awful in this account, both with respect to the judgments of God on his enemies, and the conflicts and trials of his own people, it greatly affected the mind of the prophet, Hab 3:16 and yet, in the view of the worst, he expresses his strong faith in the Lord, as to better times and things, that would most assuredly come, Hab 3:17.
3:11:1 Աղօթք Ամբակումայ մարգարէի երգով։
1 Ամբակում մարգարէի աղօթքը՝ երգով:
3 Շիկիօնօթի* վրայ, Ամբակում մարգարէին աղօթքը։
Աղօթք Ամբակումայ մարգարէի [34]երգով:

1:1 Աղօթք Ամբակումայ մարգարէի երգով։
1 Ամբակում մարգարէի աղօթքը՝ երգով:
3 Շիկիօնօթի* վրայ, Ամբակում մարգարէին աղօթքը։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:13:1 Молитва Аввакума пророка, для пения.
3:1 προσευχὴ προσευχη prayer Αμβακουμ αμβακουμ the προφήτου προφητης prophet μετὰ μετα with; amid ᾠδῆς ωδη song
3:1 תְּפִלָּ֖ה tᵊfillˌā תְּפִלָּה prayer לַ la לְ to חֲבַקּ֣וּק ḥᵃvaqqˈûq חֲבַקּוּק Habakkuk הַ ha הַ the נָּבִ֑יא nnāvˈî נָבִיא prophet עַ֖ל ʕˌal עַל upon שִׁגְיֹנֹֽות׃ šiḡyōnˈôṯ שִׁגָּיֹון dirge
3:1. oratio Abacuc prophetae pro ignorationibusA PRAYER OF HABACUC THE PROPHET FOR IGNORANCES.
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth:

3:1 Молитва Аввакума пророка, для пения.
3:1
προσευχὴ προσευχη prayer
Αμβακουμ αμβακουμ the
προφήτου προφητης prophet
μετὰ μετα with; amid
ᾠδῆς ωδη song
3:1
תְּפִלָּ֖ה tᵊfillˌā תְּפִלָּה prayer
לַ la לְ to
חֲבַקּ֣וּק ḥᵃvaqqˈûq חֲבַקּוּק Habakkuk
הַ ha הַ the
נָּבִ֑יא nnāvˈî נָבִיא prophet
עַ֖ל ʕˌal עַל upon
שִׁגְיֹנֹֽות׃ šiḡyōnˈôṯ שִׁגָּיֹון dirge
3:1. oratio Abacuc prophetae pro ignorationibus
A PRAYER OF HABACUC THE PROPHET FOR IGNORANCES.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ mh▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
1. Наименование "молитва", евр. тефилла, греч. proseuch, лат. oratio, здесь, как и в надписании нескольких псалмов, XVI, LXXXV, LXXXIX, CI, CXII, LXXI:20), имеет значение общее: песнь, употребляемая для пения при Богослужении (в этом смысле в только что упомянутом месте Пс LXXI:20: все псалмы Давида названы "молитвами", тефиллот). Назначенная пророком при самом написании для Богослужебного употребления, песнь эта, несомненно, скоро получила такое употребление, - благодаря авторитету пророка, и имя его навсегда осталось в надписании его песни (как у LXX Пс CXXXVII надписывается именами пророков Аггея и Захарии, а Пс CXXXVIII - именем одного прор. Захарии) для отличия от других богослужебных песнопений, как отзвук богослужебного употребления III-й главы книги прор. Аввакума, является и упомянутое уже влияние этой главы на православно-христианское богослужение, именно на образование и строение четвертой песни канона, в ирмосах и тропарях которой весьма часто слышатся буквальные выражения из Аввак III в греко-славянской передаче. Значение последнего слова 1: ст. шигейонот можно определить лишь предположительно, как вообще музыкально-богослужебные термины в надписаниях псалмов очень темны по своему смыслу, и оставались загадочными уже для древних переводчиков. LXX передают рассматриваемое слово общим названием песни: meta wdhV, что по предположению блаж. Иеронима, может означать, что "пророк молится о пришествии Христа и пророчествует о Нем с веселием, псалмом и песнопением, так что, с одной стороны, в молитве он прилежно умоляет Отца, а с другой стороны, в песнопении восхваляет Отца, Который пошлет Сына, и Сына, Который имеет придти" (с. 187). Сам блаж. Иероним понимает рассматриваемое слово иначе - производит от гл. шага, погрешать, и в своем переводе Вульгате передает его pro ignorantiis, поясняя в своем комментарии: "теперь пророк приносит покаяние и оплакивает то, что он безрассудно говорил; он просит прощения в том, что он по неведению сделал это, чтобы потом получить милосердие" (с 186). Так, по свидетельству того же Иеронима (с 135), передали это слово и Акила, Симиах и Quinta. К такому производству этого слова, как и слова шиггайон в Пс VII:1, склоняются и некоторые новые комментаторы (Эвальд, Делич, Гитциг, Клейнерт), придавая, однако, ему иное значение - cantio erratica, страстная песнь, дифирамб, и утверждая, что с содержанием пророчества это название связи не имеет. Принимая это последнее положение в качестве совершенно бесспорного, также соглашаясь и с филологическим анализом рассматриваемого слова у новых ученых, а равно у блаж. Иеронима и в некоторых других древних переводах, следует однако предпочесть всем им передачу LХХ: песнь. Возможно, впрочем, как и предполагают некоторые исследователи, LХХ читали не шигейонот, а негинот, как стоит в евр. т. ст. 19: данной главы.
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. 2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
This chapter is entitled a prayer of Habakkuk. It is a meditation with himself, an intercession for the church. Prophets were praying men; this prophet was so (He is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, Gen. xx. 7); and sometimes they prayed for even those whom they prophesied against. Those that were intimately acquainted with the mind of God concerning future events knew better than others how to order their prayers, and what to pray for, and, in the foresight of troublous times, could lay up a stock of prayers that might then receive a gracious answer, and so be serving the church by their prayers when their prophesying was over. This prophet had found God ready to answer his requests and complaints before, and therefore now repeats his applications to him. Because God has inclined his ear to us, we must resolve that therefore we will call upon him as long as we live. 1. The prophet owns the receipt of God's answer to his former representation, and the impression it made upon him (v. 2): "O Lord! I have heard thy speech, thy hearing" (so some read it), "that which thou wouldst have us hear, the decree that has gone forth for the afflicting of thy people. I received thine, and it is before me." Note, Those that would rightly order their speech to God must carefully observe, and lay before them, his speech to them. He had said (ch. ii. 1), I will watch to see what he will say; and now he owns, Lord, I have heard thy speech; for, if we turn a deaf ear to God's word, we can expect no other than that he should turn a deaf ear to our prayers, Prov. xxviii. 9. I heard it, and was afraid. Messages immediately from heaven commonly struck even the best and boldest men into a consternation; Moses, Isaiah, and Daniel, did exceedingly fear and quake. But, besides that, the matter of this message made the prophet afraid, when he heard how low the people of God should be brought, under the oppressing power of the Chaldeans, and how long they should continue under it; he was afraid lest their spirits should quite fail, and lest the church should be utterly rooted out and run down, and, being kept low so long, should be lost at length. 2. He earnestly prays that for the elect's sake these days of trouble might be shortened, or the trouble of these days mitigated and moderated, or the people of God supported and comforted under it. He thinks it very long to wait till the end of the years; perhaps he refers to the seventy years fixed for the continuance of the captivity, and therefore, "Lord," says he, "do something on our behalf in the midst of the years, those years of our distress; though we be not delivered, and our oppressors destroyed, yet let us not be abandoned and cast off." (1.) "Do something for thy own cause: Revive thy work, thy church" (that is the work of God's own hand, formed by him, formed for him); "revive that, even when it walks in the midst of trouble, Ps. cxxxviii. 7, 8. Grant thy people a little reviving in their bondage, Ezra ix. 8; Ps. lxxxv. 6. Preserve alive thy work" (so some read it); "though thy church be chastened, let it not be killed; though it have not its liberty, yet continue its life, save a remnant alive, to be a seed of another generation. Revive the work of thy grace in us, by sanctifying the trouble to us and supporting us under it, though the time be not yet come, even the set time, for our deliverance out of it. Whatever becomes of us, though we be as dead and dry bones, Lord, let thy work be revived, let not that sink, and go back, and come to nothing." (2.) "Do something for thy own honour: In the midst of the years make known, make thyself known, for now verily thou art a God that hidest thyself (Isa. xlv. 15), make known thy power, thy pity, thy promise, thy providence, in the government of the world, for the safety and welfare of thy church. Though we be buried in obscurity, yet, Lord, make thyself known; whatever becomes of Israel, let not the God of Israel be forgotten in the world, but discover himself even in the midst of the dark years, before thou art expected to appear." When in the midst of the years of the captivity God miraculously owned the three children in the fiery furnace, and humbled Nebuchadnezzar, this prayer was answered, In the midst of the years make known. (3.) "Do something for thy people's comfort: In wrath remember mercy, and make that known. Show us thy mercy, O Lord!" Ps. lxxxv. 7. They see God's displeasure against them in their troubles, and that makes them grievous indeed. There is wrath in the bitter cup; that therefore they deprecate, and are earnest in begging that he is a merciful God and they are vessels of his mercy. Note, Even those that are under the tokens of God's wrath must not despair of his mercy; and mercy, mere mercy, is that which we must flee to for refuge, and rely upon as our only plea. He does not say, Remember our merit, but, Lord, remember thy own mercy.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:1: A prayer of Habakkuk - upon Shigionoth - See the note on the title of Psalm 7 (note), where the meaning of Shiggaion is given. The Vulgate has, pro ignorantiis, for ignorances, or sins committed in ignorance; and so it is understood by the Chaldee. The Syriac has nothing but merely, A prayer of Habakkuk. And the Septuagint, instead of Shigionoth, have μετα ῳδης, with a hymn, which is copied by the Arabic.
I suspect that the title here given is of a posterior date to the prophecy. It appears to interrupt the connection between this and the termination of the preceding verse. See them together: -
Hab 2:20 : "But the Lord is in his holy temple:Be silent before him, all the earth.
Hab 3:1 : O Lord, I have heard thy speech:I have feared, O Lord, thy work.As the years approach thou hast shown;As the years approach thou makest known.In wrath thou rememberest mercy."
The prophet may here refer to the speech which God had communicated to him, Hab 1:1-11, 2:4-20, and the terror with which he was struck, because of the judgments denounced against Jerusalem. I have followed the version of Apb. Newcome in this first verse. The critical reader may consult his notes, and the various readings of Kennicott and De Rossi.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:1: A prayer of Habakkuk - o. The "prayer" of the prophet, in the strictest sense of the word, is contained in the words of Hab 3:2. The rest is, in its form, praise and thanksgiving, chiefly for God's past mercies in the deliverance from Egypt and the entering into the promised land. But thanksgiving is an essential part of prayer, and Hannah is said to have "prayed," whereas the hymn which followed is throughout one thanksgiving . In that also these former deliverances were images of things to come, of every deliverance afterward, and, especially, of that complete divine deliverance which our Lord Jesus Christ performed for us from the power of Satan Co1 10:11, the whole is one prayer: "Do, O Lord, as Thou hast done of old; forsake not Thine own works. Such were Thy deeds once; fulfill them now, all which they shadowed forth." It is then a prayer for the manifestation of God's power, and therewith the destruction of His enemies, thenceforth to the Day of Judgment. Cyril: "Having completed the discourse about Babylon, and having fore-announced most clearly, that those who destroyed the holy city and carried Israel captive shall be severely punished, he passes suitably to the mystery of Christ, and from the redemption which took place partially in one nation, he carries on the discourse to that universal redemption, whereby the remnant of Israel, and no less the whole world has been saved."
Upon Shigionoth - The title, "Shiggaion," occurs only once besides Ps. 7. Upon, in the titles of the Psalms, is used with the instrument , the melody , or the first words of the hymn, whose melody has been adopted The two first are mentioned by a Jewish Commentator (Tanchum) with others, "in his delight," or "his errors," in the sense, that God will forgive them. This, which the versions and Jewish commentators mostly adopt, would be a good sense, but is hardly consistent with the Hebrew usage. "Shiggaion of David," as a title of a Psalm, must necessarily describe the Psalm itself, as "Mismor of David," "Michtam of David," "Tephillah of David," "Maschil of David." But "Shiggaion," as a "great error," is not a title: nor does it suit the character of the Psalm, which relates to calumny not to error.
It probably, then, means a psalm with music expressive of strong emotion, "erratic" or "dithyrambic." Habakkuk's title, on Shigionoth (plural) then would mean upon, or (as we should say,) "set to" music of psalms of this sort The number "three" remarkably predominates in this psalm (Hab 3:6 has 15 words, in five combinations of three words; Hab 3:3, Hab 3:10 have 12 words, in four 3's: Hab 3:4, Hab 3:9, Hab 3:19 have 9 words in three 3's: Hab 3:5, Hab 3:12, Hab 3:15, Hab 3:18 have 6 words in two 3's: Hab 3:17 is divided into 4-3-3-4-3-3; Hab 3:8 is 3-3-3-3-2; Hab 3:11 is 4-3-3; Hab 3:16 is 3-3-3-2-2-2-3. This forces itself on every reader. Delitzsch quotes the Meor. Enaim, i. 60, "The prayer of Habakkuk goeth on three's") yet so that long measures are succeeded by very short.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:1: prayer: Psa. 86:1-17 *title Psa. 90:1-17 *title
upon Shigionoth: or, according to variable songs, or tunes, called in Hebrew, Shigionoth. Psa. 7:1-17 *title
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
3:1
The song has a special heading, after the fashion of the psalms, in which the contents, the author, and the poetical character of the ode are indicated. The contents are called tephillâh, a prayer, like Ps 17:1-15; 86; 90; 102, and Ps 142:1-7, not merely with reference to the fact that it commences with a prayer to God, but because that prayer announces the contents of the ode after the manner of a theme, and the whole of the ode is simply the lyrical unfolding of that prayer. In order, however, to point at the same time to the prophetic character of the prayer, that it may not be regarded as a lyrical effusion of the subjective emotions, wishes, and hopes of a member of the congregation, but may be recognised as a production of the prophets, enlightened by the Spirit of Jehovah, the name of the author is given with the predicate "the prophet;" and to this there is added על שׁגינות, to indicate the poetico-subjective character, through which it is distinguished from prophecy in the narrower sense. The expression "upon Shigionoth" cannot refer to the contents or the object of the ode; for although shiggâyōn, according to its etymon shâgâh = shâgag, to transgress by mistake, to sin, might have the meaning transgression in a moral sense, and consequently might be referred to the sins of transgressors, either of the Judaeans or the Chaldaeans, such an assumption is opposed both to the use of shiggâyōn in the heading to Psalm 7, and also to the analogy between ‛al shigyōnōth, and such headings to the psalms as ‛al haggittı̄th, ‛al negı̄nōth, and other words introduced with ‛al. Whilst shiggâyōn in Ps 7:1 indicates the style of poetry in which the psalm is composed, all the notices in the headings to the psalms that are introduced with ‛al refer either to the melody or style in which the psalms are to be sung, or to the musical accompaniment with which they are to be introduced into the worship of God. This musico-liturgical signification is to be retained here also, since it is evident from the subscription in Hab 3:19, and the repetition of Selah three times (Hab 3:3, Hab 3:9, Hab 3:13), that our hymn was to be used with musical accompaniment. Now, as shâgâh, to err, then to reel to and fro, is applied to the giddiness both of intoxication and of love (Is 28:7; Prov 20:1; Prov 5:20), shiggâyōn signifies reeling, and in the terminology of poetry a reeling song, i.e., a song delivered in the greatest excitement, or with a rapid change of emotion, dithyrambus (see Clauss on Ps 7:1; Ewald, Delitzsch, and others); hence על שׁגינות, after dithyrambs, or "after the manner of a stormy, martial, and triumphal ode" (Schmieder).
Geneva 1599
3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet (a) upon Shigionoth.
(a) "upon Shigionoth" or "for the ignorance". The prophet instructs his people to pray to God, not only because of their great sins, but also for those they had committed in ignorance.
John Gill
3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. Of the name, character, and office of the prophet; see Gill on Hab 1:1. This chapter is entitled a "prayer" of his, a supplicatory one, put up in an humble and earnest manner, and in the exercise of faith, and under the influence of a spirit of prophecy. He before had a vision of the coming of Christ, and of what enemies would rise up, and obstruct his kingdom and interest in the world; and here lie prays that these obstructions might be removed, and that the kingdom of Christ, in its full extent and glory, might take place in the world; and is a prayer of faith, as he prayed it might be, he believed it would be; and left this prayer behind him, for the use and instruction of the church in all ages, until the whole should be accomplished. It seems to be composed after the manner of the psalms of David, to make it the more pleasant and agreeable; and that it might be the more regarded, and be more fitted for the public use and service of the sanctuary: this appears from the style of it, which is poetical, lofty, and sublime; from the frequent use of the word "Selah", peculiar to the psalms of David, Hab 3:3 and from the direction of it to the chief singer on the stringed instruments, Hab 3:19 and from the phrase "upon", or "according to Shigionoth" here, which the Septuagint version renders "with a song"; and so the Arabic version, "after the manner of a song"; for this word seems to be the plural of Shiggaion, the title of the seventh psalm Ps 7:1; which was either the name, title, or first word of some song or songs, according to which this was to be sung; or the name of the tune with which it was to be sung; or of the instrument on which was to be sung: it very probably designs, and may called, an "erratic" or "wandering" song, because of the variableness of its metre, and of its tune. The Vulgate Latin version wrongly interprets it, "for ignorances"; as if this was a prayer of the prophet's for the pardon sins of error and ignorance committed by himself, or by others, or both; which sense is favoured by the Targum,
"a prayer which Habakkuk the prophet prayed, when it was revealed unto him concerning the length (of time) which (God) gave to the wicked; that, if they would return to the law with a perfect heart, they should be forgiven all the sins which they had committed before him as ignorance:''
but there does not appear throughout the whole prayer one single petition for the pardon of any sin at all.
John Wesley
3:1 Upon Sigionoth - A musical instrument.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:1 HABAKKUK'S PRAYER TO GOD: GOD'S GLORIOUS REVELATION OF HIMSELF AT SINAI AND AT GIBEON, A PLEDGE OF HIS INTERPOSING AGAIN IN BEHALF OF ISRAEL AGAINST BABYLON, AND ALL OTHER FOES; HENCE THE PROPHET'S CONFIDENCE AMID CALAMITIES. (Hab. 3:1-19)
prayer--the only strictly called prayers are in Hab 3:2. But all devotional addresses to God are called "prayers" (Ps 72:20). The Hebrew is from a root "to apply to a judge for a favorable decision." Prayers in which praises to God for deliverance, anticipated in the sure confidence of faith, are especially calculated to enlist Jehovah on His people's side (2Chron 20:20-22, 2Chron 20:26).
upon Shigionoth--a musical phrase, "after the manner of elegies," or mournful odes, from an Arabic root [LEE]; the phrase is singular in Ps 7:1, title. More simply, from a Hebrew root to "err," "on account of sins of ignorance." Habakkuk thus teaches his countrymen to confess not only their more grievous sins, but also their errors and negligences, into which they were especially likely to fall when in exile away from the Holy Land [CALVIN]. So Vulgate and AQUILA, and SYMMACHUS. "For voluntary transgressors" [JEROME]. Probably the subject would regulate the kind of music. DELITZSCH and HENDERSON translate, "With triumphal music," from the same root "to err," implying its enthusiastic irregularity.
3:23:2: Տէր՝ զլուր քո լուա՛յ եւ երկեայ. Տէր՝ հայեցայ ՚ի գործս քո՝ եւ զարհուրեցայ։ ՚Ի մէջ երկո՛ւց գազանաց ծանիցիս. ՚ի մերձենալ ամացն յայտնեսցիս. ՚ի հասանե՛լ ժամանակին երեւեսցիս. ՚ի խռովել անձին իմոյ ՚ի բարկութեան զողորմութիւնս յիշեսցես[10728]։ [10728] Ոմանք. Ժամանակի... զողորմութիւն յիշեսցես։
2 «Տէ՛ր, քո լուրը լսեցի եւ վախեցայ, նայեցի քո գործերին եւ զարհուրեցի. դու կը ճանաչուես երկու գազանների միջեւ, երբ տարիները մօտենան՝ կը յայտնուես, երբ ժամանակը հասնի՝ կ’երեւաս, երբ իմ անձը բարկութիւնից խռովուի՝ ողորմութիւնս կը յիշես:
2 Ո՛վ Տէր, քու լուրդ լսեցի ու վախցայ։Քու գործդ տարիներու մէջ նորոգէ՛, ո՛վ Տէր, Տարիներու մէջ գիտցուր, Բարկութեան մէջ ողորմութիւն յիշէ՛։
Տէր, զլուր քո լուայ եւ երկեայ. Տէր, [35]հայեցայ ի գործս քո եւ զարհուրեցայ. ի մէջ երկուց գազանաց ծանիցիս, ի մերձենալ ամացն յայտնեսցիս, ի հասանել ժամանակին երեւեսցիս. ի խռովել անձին իմոյ`` ի բարկութեան զողորմութիւնս յիշեսցես:

3:2: Տէր՝ զլուր քո լուա՛յ եւ երկեայ. Տէր՝ հայեցայ ՚ի գործս քո՝ եւ զարհուրեցայ։ ՚Ի մէջ երկո՛ւց գազանաց ծանիցիս. ՚ի մերձենալ ամացն յայտնեսցիս. ՚ի հասանե՛լ ժամանակին երեւեսցիս. ՚ի խռովել անձին իմոյ ՚ի բարկութեան զողորմութիւնս յիշեսցես[10728]։
[10728] Ոմանք. Ժամանակի... զողորմութիւն յիշեսցես։
2 «Տէ՛ր, քո լուրը լսեցի եւ վախեցայ, նայեցի քո գործերին եւ զարհուրեցի. դու կը ճանաչուես երկու գազանների միջեւ, երբ տարիները մօտենան՝ կը յայտնուես, երբ ժամանակը հասնի՝ կ’երեւաս, երբ իմ անձը բարկութիւնից խռովուի՝ ողորմութիւնս կը յիշես:
2 Ո՛վ Տէր, քու լուրդ լսեցի ու վախցայ։Քու գործդ տարիներու մէջ նորոգէ՛, ո՛վ Տէր, Տարիներու մէջ գիտցուր, Բարկութեան մէջ ողորմութիւն յիշէ՛։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:23:2 Господи! услышал я слух Твой и убоялся. Господи! соверши дело Твое среди лет, среди лет яви его; во гневе вспомни о милости.
3:2 κύριε κυριος lord; master εἰσακήκοα εισακουω heed; listen to τὴν ο the ἀκοήν ακοη hearing; report σου σου of you; your καὶ και and; even ἐφοβήθην φοβεω afraid; fear κατενόησα κατανοεω take note of τὰ ο the ἔργα εργον work σου σου of you; your καὶ και and; even ἐξέστην εξιστημι astonish; beside yourself ἐν εν in μέσῳ μεσος in the midst; in the middle δύο δυο two ζῴων ζωον animal γνωσθήσῃ γινωσκω know ἐν εν in τῷ ο the ἐγγίζειν εγγιζω get close; near τὰ ο the ἔτη ετος year ἐπιγνωσθήσῃ επιγινωσκω recognize; find out ἐν εν in τῷ ο the παρεῖναι παρειμι here; present τὸν ο the καιρὸν καιρος season; opportunity ἀναδειχθήσῃ αναδεικνυμι indicate; appoint ἐν εν in τῷ ο the ταραχθῆναι ταρασσω stir up; trouble τὴν ο the ψυχήν ψυχη soul μου μου of me; mine ἐν εν in ὀργῇ οργη passion; temperament ἐλέους ελεος mercy μνησθήσῃ μιμνησκω remind; remember
3:2 יְהוָ֗ה [yᵊhwˈāh] יְהוָה YHWH שָׁמַ֣עְתִּי šāmˈaʕtî שׁמע hear שִׁמְעֲךָ֮ šimʕᵃḵˈā שֵׁמַע hearsay יָרֵאתִי֒ yārēṯˌî ירא fear יְהוָ֗ה [yᵊhwˈāh] יְהוָה YHWH פָּֽעָלְךָ֙ pˈoʕolᵊḵā פֹּעַל doing בְּ bᵊ בְּ in קֶ֤רֶב qˈerev קֶרֶב interior שָׁנִים֙ šānîm שָׁנָה year חַיֵּ֔יהוּ ḥayyˈêhû חיה be alive בְּ bᵊ בְּ in קֶ֥רֶב qˌerev קֶרֶב interior שָׁנִ֖ים šānˌîm שָׁנָה year תֹּודִ֑יעַ tôḏˈîₐʕ ידע know בְּ bᵊ בְּ in רֹ֖גֶז rˌōḡez רֹגֶז excitement רַחֵ֥ם raḥˌēm רחם have compassion תִּזְכֹּֽור׃ tizkˈôr זכר remember
3:2. Domine audivi auditionem tuam et timui Domine opus tuum in medio annorum vivifica illud in medio annorum notum facies cum iratus fueris misericordiae recordaberisO Lord, I have heard thy hearing, and was afraid. O Lord, thy work, in the midst of the years bring it to life: In the midst of the years thou shalt make it known: when thou art angry, thou wilt remember mercy.
O LORD, I have heard thy speech, [and] was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy:

3:2 Господи! услышал я слух Твой и убоялся. Господи! соверши дело Твое среди лет, среди лет яви его; во гневе вспомни о милости.
3:2
κύριε κυριος lord; master
εἰσακήκοα εισακουω heed; listen to
τὴν ο the
ἀκοήν ακοη hearing; report
σου σου of you; your
καὶ και and; even
ἐφοβήθην φοβεω afraid; fear
κατενόησα κατανοεω take note of
τὰ ο the
ἔργα εργον work
σου σου of you; your
καὶ και and; even
ἐξέστην εξιστημι astonish; beside yourself
ἐν εν in
μέσῳ μεσος in the midst; in the middle
δύο δυο two
ζῴων ζωον animal
γνωσθήσῃ γινωσκω know
ἐν εν in
τῷ ο the
ἐγγίζειν εγγιζω get close; near
τὰ ο the
ἔτη ετος year
ἐπιγνωσθήσῃ επιγινωσκω recognize; find out
ἐν εν in
τῷ ο the
παρεῖναι παρειμι here; present
τὸν ο the
καιρὸν καιρος season; opportunity
ἀναδειχθήσῃ αναδεικνυμι indicate; appoint
ἐν εν in
τῷ ο the
ταραχθῆναι ταρασσω stir up; trouble
τὴν ο the
ψυχήν ψυχη soul
μου μου of me; mine
ἐν εν in
ὀργῇ οργη passion; temperament
ἐλέους ελεος mercy
μνησθήσῃ μιμνησκω remind; remember
3:2
יְהוָ֗ה [yᵊhwˈāh] יְהוָה YHWH
שָׁמַ֣עְתִּי šāmˈaʕtî שׁמע hear
שִׁמְעֲךָ֮ šimʕᵃḵˈā שֵׁמַע hearsay
יָרֵאתִי֒ yārēṯˌî ירא fear
יְהוָ֗ה [yᵊhwˈāh] יְהוָה YHWH
פָּֽעָלְךָ֙ pˈoʕolᵊḵā פֹּעַל doing
בְּ bᵊ בְּ in
קֶ֤רֶב qˈerev קֶרֶב interior
שָׁנִים֙ šānîm שָׁנָה year
חַיֵּ֔יהוּ ḥayyˈêhû חיה be alive
בְּ bᵊ בְּ in
קֶ֥רֶב qˌerev קֶרֶב interior
שָׁנִ֖ים šānˌîm שָׁנָה year
תֹּודִ֑יעַ tôḏˈîₐʕ ידע know
בְּ bᵊ בְּ in
רֹ֖גֶז rˌōḡez רֹגֶז excitement
רַחֵ֥ם raḥˌēm רחם have compassion
תִּזְכֹּֽור׃ tizkˈôr זכר remember
3:2. Domine audivi auditionem tuam et timui Domine opus tuum in medio annorum vivifica illud in medio annorum notum facies cum iratus fueris misericordiae recordaberis
O Lord, I have heard thy hearing, and was afraid. O Lord, thy work, in the midst of the years bring it to life: In the midst of the years thou shalt make it known: when thou art angry, thou wilt remember mercy.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
2. Трудность понимания ст. 2-го заключается в неустановленности в данном месте еврейского масоретского текста и в слишком заметном отличии от него текста LXX-ти; текст Вульгаты здесь ближе к еврейскому тексту, чем к греческому. Начальные слова стиха: "Иегова! я услышал вещание Твое, и устрашился" читаются во всех текстах одинаково. Смысл слов в приложении к будущему суду над халдеями передает блаж. Федорит: "Страха исполнился я, Владыка, услышав Твои глаголы; увидев же справедливость Твоего определения, увидев, как всем, что ни делается, распоряжаешься Ты правдиво, пребываю в крайнем удивлении" (с. 32). Затем в греческом тексте и слав. перев. следуют не читаемые в других текстах слова: katenohsa ta erga Sou kai exesthn'enmesw duo za:4;wngnwsqhsh. слав.: разумев дела Твоя и ужасохся, посреди двою животну позван будеши. Первая половина выражения составляет вариацию начальных слов стиха; как плеоназм, вероятно не стоявших в первоначальном тексте, слова эти опускаются и во многих греческих кодексах (напр. 22, 36, 42, 49, 51, 62, 86, 91, 95, 97:, 130, 147:, 165, 228, 238, 240, 310, 311: у Гольмеса). Вторая же часть приведенного выражения представляет своеобразную передачу евр: поолха бекерев шаним хайэгу "оживи творение Твое в преполовение лет", ср. Vulg.: opus tuum, in medio annorurn vivifica illud. Но о каких животных здесь говорится, мнения очень различны. Блаж. Феодорит говорит: "Одни под двумя животными разумели Ангелов и человеков; другие же - те из бесплотных сил, которые приближены к Божией славе, - Херувимов и Серафимов; а некоторые - Иудеев и Вавилонян. Но мне кажется, что пророк говорит не о двух животных, но о двух жизнях, настоящей и будущей, посреди которых является праведный Судия" (с. 32). По свидетельству блаж. Иеронима, "простое толкование и обычное представление относит это место к Спасителю, потому что Он был познан во время распятия посреди двух разбойников (Мк XV; Ин XIX)" или лучше - "что в первоначальной церкви, которая была составлена из обрезания и необрезания, Спаситель был призван и стал предметом веры для двух, окружающих его оттуда и отсюда, народов. Есть и такие, которые под животными понимают два Завета, Ветхий и Новый, которые поистине одухотворены и имеют жизнь, которые дышат и через посредство которых будет познан Господь" (с. 189). Соответствующие выражения еврейского текста и Вульгаты выражают общую мысль - моление пророка об оживлении (как в Пс LXXIX:15; СХXXVII:7) или восстановлении в Израиле дела благодати Божией, т. е. - в историческом смысле о восстановлении ветхозаветной теократии после вавилонского плена, а в прообразовательном - о деле искупления людей Грядущим Мессиею. Заключительная часть стиха выражает ту, проходящую через все библейское учение о Боге, мысль, что в своих отношениях к миру и людям Бог руководится более всего Своею благостью и милостью, и что Он "остается благим и милосердым и тогда, когда наказывает людей: "Когда в наказаниях смущаешь людей, и тогда, водясь милостию, изменяешь опять бедственное их состояние" (блаж. Феодорит, с. 32). Таким образом, при всех различиях чтения ст. 2: по различным текстам, сохраняется общая мессианская мысль стиха, который, во всяком случае, содержит пророческое предощущение Грядущего Мессии. Следующее Богоявление, ст. 3: и далее изображает самое пришествие Его в будущем.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:2: In the midst of the years - בקרב שנים bekereb shanim, "As the years approach." The nearer the time, the clearer and fuller is the prediction; and the signs of the times show that the complete fulfillment is at hand. But as the judgments will be heavy, (and they are not greater than we deserve), yet, Lord, in the midst of wrath - infliction of punishment - remember mercy, and spare the souls that return unto thee with humiliation and prayer.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:2: O Lord, I have heard - i. e., with the inward ear of the heart, "Thy speech," (rather as English margin, Thy report, i. e., the report of Thee) i. e., what may he heard and known of God, or, what he had himself heard . The word contains in one both what God had lately declared to the prophet, the judgments of God upon the wicked of the people, and upon those who, with their own injustice, done upon them the righteous judgments of God, and that the work of the Lord would be performed in His time for those who in patience wait for it; and also still more largely, what might be heard of God, although, as it were, but a little whisper of His greatness and of the majesty of His workings.
And was afraid - not "fearful" but "afraid in awe," as a creature, and amazed at the surpassing wonderfulness of the work of God. Well may man stand in awe "at the incarnation of the only-begotten Son, how earth should contain Him uncontained by space, how a body was prepared for Him of the virgin by the Holy Spirit, and all the works whereby He shall work the salvation of mankind, the cross, the death, resurrection and ascension, uniting things opposite, a body with one incorporeal, death with life, resurrection with death, a body in heaven. All is full of wonder and awe." Rup.: "This is not a servile fear, but a holy fear which endureth foRev_er, not one which 'love casteth out,' but which it bringeth in, wherein angels praise, dominions adore, powers stand in awe at the majesty of the Eternal God."
O Lord, Rev_ive Thy work - God's Word seems, often, as it were, dead and "come utterly to an end for evermore" Psa 77:8, while it is holding on its own course, as all nature seems dead for a while, but all is laid up in store, and ready to shoot forth, as by a sort of resurrection Rup.: "The prophet prophesying prayeth, that it should come quickly, and praying prophesieth that it shall so come." All God's dealings with His people, His Church, each single soul, are part of one great work, perfect in itself Deu 32:4; glory and majesty Psa 140:3; all which the godly meditateth on Psa 77:3; Psa 143:5; which those busied with their own plans, do not look to Isa 5:12; it is manifested in great doings for them or with them, as in the Exodus the Psalmist says, "We have heard with our ears, yea, our fathers have told us what work Thou didst in their days, in the times of old" Psa 44:2; "They proved Me and saw My work" Psa 95:9; with it He makes His own glad Psa 92:3; after it has been withdrawn for a while, "He sheweth it to His servants" Psa 90:6; it issues in judgments on the ungodly, which people consider and declare .
The great work of God on earth, which includes all His works and is the end of all, is the salvation of man through Jesus Christ. This great work seemed, as it were, asleep, or dead, as trees in winter, all through those 4, 000 years, which gave no token of His coming. Included in this great work is the special work of the Hand of God, of which alone it is said, "God said, Let Us make man in Our image after Our Likeness" Gen 1:26; and, "we are the clay and Thou our Potter, and we are all the work of Thy Hands" Isa 64:8; and "Thy Hands have made me and fashioned me together round about" Job 10:8, man; whom, being dead as to the life of the soul through the malice of Satan, Christ Rev_ived by dying and rising again. He was "dead in trespasses and sins," and like a carcass putrefying in them, and this whole world one great charnel-house, through man's manifold corruptions, when Christ came to awaken the dead, and they who heard lived Joh 5:25.
Again, the Center of this work, the special Work of God, that wherein He made all things new, is the Human Body of our Lord, the Temple which was destroyed by death, and within three days was raised up.
The answer to Habakkuk's enquiry, "How long?" had two sides: It had given assurance as to the end. The trial-time would not be prolonged for one moment longer than the counsel of God had fore-determined. The relief would "come, come; it would not be behind-hand." But meantime? There was no comfort to be given. For God knew that deepening sin was drawing on deepening chastisement. But in that He was silent as to the intervening time and pointed to patient expectation of a lingering future, as their only comfort, He implies that the immediate future was heavy. Habakkuk then renews his prayer for the years which had to intervene and to pass away. "In the midst of the years," before that "time appointed" , when His promise should have its full fulfillment, before those years should come to their close, he prays; "Rev_ive Thy work." The years include all the long period of waiting for our Lord's first coming before He came in the Flesh; and now for His second coming and the "restitution of all things." in this long period, at times God seems to be absent, as when our Lord was asleep in the boat, while the tempest was raging; at times He bids "the storm to cease and there is a great calm."
This, in those long intervals, when God seems to be absent, and to leave all things to time and chance, and love waxes cold, and graces seem rare, is the prayer of Habakkuk, of prophets and Psalmists, of the Church Psa 80:14, "Return, we beseech Thee, O God of hosts, look down from heaven, behold and visit this vine Psa 74:1, Psa 74:11-12. O God, why hast Thou cast us off foRev_er? Why withdrawest Thou Thy hand, Thy right hand? For God is my king of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Isa 51:9-10 awake, awake, put on strength, Thou Arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not It which did smite Rahab, didst wound the dragon? Art thou not It which didst dry the sea, the waters of the great deep, which didst make the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? Psa 80:3. Stir up Thy might and come, save us Lam 5:21. Renew our days, as of old." So our Lord taught His Church to pray continually, whenever she prayed, "Thy kingdom come," longing not for His final coming only, but for the increase of His glory, and the greater dominion of His grace, and His enthronement in the hearts of people, even before its complete and final coming. "In the midst of the years Rev_ive Thy work," is the Church's continual cry.
In the midst of the years make known - literally, "Thou wilt make known: in wrath Thou wilt remember mercy;" and so (as we use the word "wilt") the prophet, at once, foretelleth, expresseth his faith, prayeth. God had made known His work and His power in the days of old. In times of trouble He seems "like a God who hideth Himself." Now, he prays Him to shine forth and help; make known Thy work, before Thou fulfill it, to Rev_ive the drooping hopes of man, and that all may see that "Thy word is truth." Make Thyself known in Thy work, that, when the time cometh to Dan 9:24 "make an end of sin" by the Death of Thy Son, Thy Awful Holiness, and the love wherewith Thou hast Joh 3:16 "so loved the world," may be the more known and adored.
In wrath Thou wilt remember mercy - So David prayed Psa 25:6, "Remember Thy tender-mercies and Thy loving-kindnesses; for they are from old." "Thou wilt remember" that counsel for man's redemption which has been from the foundation of the world: for we seem in our own minds to be forgotten of God, when He delayeth to help us. God remembereth mercy Luk 1:54, Luk 1:72 in anger, in that in this life He never chastens without purposes of mercy, and His Mercy ever softeneth His judgments. His Promise of mercy, that the Seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head, went before the sentence of displeasure Gen 3:19, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Jerome: "He Rev_eals His wrath that He may scare us from sin and so may not inflict it;" and when at last He inflicteth it, He hath mercy on the remnant who flee to His Mercy, that we be not like Sodom and Gomorrah. Rom 5:8, "while we were yet sinners," and God was angry, "Christ died for us," and, Tit 3:5, "He saved us, not for works which we had done, but out of His great Mercy," and took away sin, and restored us to life and interruption.
God had already promised by Micah Mic 7:15, "According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt, I will show him marvelous things." Isaiah had often used the great events of that deliverance as the symbols of the future. So now Habakkuk, in one vast panorama, as it were, without distinction of time or series of events, exhibits the future in pictures of the past. In the description itself which follows, he now speaks in the past, now in the future; of which times the future might be a vivid present; and the past a prophetic past. As a key to the whole, he says, "God shall come," indicating that all which follows, however spoken, was a part of that future. In no other way was it an answer to that prayer, "Rev_ive Thy work." To foretell future deliverances in plain words, had been a comfort; it would have promised a continuance of that work. The unity and Rev_ival of the work is expressed, in that the past is made, as it was, the image of the future. That future was to be wondrous, superhuman; elsewhere the past miracles had been no image of it. It was to be no mere repetition of the future; and to mark this, the images are exhibited out of their historical order.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:2: I have: Hab 3:16, Hab 1:5-10; Exo 9:20, Exo 9:21; Ch2 34:27, Ch2 34:28; Job 4:12-21; Psa 119:120; Isa 66:2; Jer 36:21-24; Dan 8:17; Heb 11:7, Heb 12:21; Rev 15:4
speech: Heb. report, or hearing, Isa 53:1; Rom 10:16
O Lord: Ezr 9:8; Psa 85:6, Psa 90:13-17, Psa 138:7, Psa 138:8; Isa 51:9-11, Isa 63:15-19, Isa 64:1-4; Hos 6:2, Hos 6:3; Joh 10:10; Phi 1:6
Rev_ive: or, preserve alive
in the: Jer 25:11, Jer 25:12, Jer 52:31-34; Dan 9:2
in wrath: Exo 32:10-12; Num 14:10-23, Num 16:46, Num 16:47; Sa2 24:10-17; Psa 6:1, Psa 6:2, Psa 38:1; Psa 78:38; Jer 10:24, Jer 29:10; Lam 3:32; Zac 1:12
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
3:2
"Jehovah, I have heard Thy tidings, am alarmed. Jehovah, Thy work, in the midst of the years call it to life, in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy." שׁמעך is the tidings (ἀκοή) of God; what the prophet has heard of God, i.e., the tidings of the judgment which God is about to inflict upon Judah through the Chaldaeans, and after that upon the Chaldaeans themselves. The prophet is alarmed at this. The word יראתי (I am alarmed) does not compel us to take what is heard as referring merely to the judgment to be inflicted upon Judah by the Chaldaeans. Even in the overthrow of the mighty Chaldaean, or of the empire of the world, the omnipotence of Jehovah is displayed in so terrible a manner, that this judgment not only inspires with joy at the destruction of the foe, but fills with alarm at the omnipotence of the Judge of the world. The prayer which follows, "Call Thy work to life," also refers to this twofold judgment which God revealed to the prophet in ch. 1 and 2. פּעלך, placed absolutely at the head for the sake of emphasis, points back to the work (pō‛al) which God was about to do (Hab 1:5); but this work of God is not limited to the raising up of the Chaldaean nation, but includes the judgment which will fall upon the Chaldaean after he has offended (Hab 1:11). This assumption is not at variance even with חיּיהוּ. For the opinion that חיּה never means to call a non-existent thing to life, but always signifies either to give life to an inorganic object (Job 33:4), or to keep a living thing alive, or (and this most frequently) to restore a dead thing to life, and that here the word must be taken in the sense of restoring to life, because in the description which follows Habakkuk looks back to Psalm 77 and the pō‛al depicted there, viz., the deliverance out of Egyptian bondage, is not correct. חיּה does not merely mean to restore to life and keep alive, but also to give life and call to life. In Job 33:4, where תּחיּני is parallel to עשׂתני, the reference is not to the impartation of life to an inorganic object, but to the giving of life in the sense of creating; and so also in Gen 7:3 and Gen 19:32, חיּה זרע means to call seed to life, or raise it up, i.e., to call a non-existent thing to life. Moreover, the resemblances in the theophany depicted in what follows to Psalm 77 do not require the assumption that Habakkuk is praying for the renewal of the former acts of God for the redemption of His people, but may be fully explained on the ground that the saving acts of God on behalf of His people are essentially the same in all ages, and that the prophets generally were accustomed to describe the divine revelations of the future under the form of imagery drawn from the acts of God in the past. There is special emphasis in the use of בּקרב שׁנים twice, and the fact that in both instances it stands at the head. It has been interpreted in very different ways; but there is an evident allusion to the divine answer in Hab 2:3, that the oracle is for an appointed time, etc. "In the midst of the years," or within years, cannot of course mean by itself "within a certain number, or a small number, of years," or "within a brief space of time" (Ges., Ros., and Maurer); nevertheless this explanation is founded upon a correct idea of the meaning. When the prophet directs his eye to the still remote object of the oracle (ch. 2), the fulfilment of which was to be delayed, but yet assuredly to come at last (Hab 2:3), the interval between the present time and the mō‛ēd appointed by God (Hab 2:3) appears to him as a long series of years, at the end only of which the judgment is to come upon the oppressors of His people, namely the Chaldaeans. He therefore prays that the Lord will not delay too long the work which He designs to do, or cause it to come to life only at the end of the appointed interval, but will bring it to life within years, i.e., within the years, which would pass by if the fulfilment were delayed, before that mō‛ēd arrived.
Grammatically considered, qerebh shânı̄m cannot be the centre of the years of the world, the boundary-line between the Old and New Testament aeons, as Bengel supposes, who takes it at the same time, according to this explanation, as the starting-point for a chronological calculation of the whole course of the world. Moreover, it may also be justly argued, in opposition to this view and application of the words, that it cannot be presupposed that the prophets had so clear a consciousness as this, embracing all history by its calculus; and still less can be expect to find in a lyrical ode, which is the outpouring of the heart of the congregation, a revelation of what God Himself had not revealed to him according to Hab 2:3. Nevertheless the view which lies at the foundation of this application of our passage, viz., that the work of God, for the manifestation of which the prophet is praying, falls in the centre of the years of the world, has this deep truth, that it exhibits the overthrow not only of the imperial power of Chaldaea, but that of the world-power generally, and the deliverance of the nation from its power, and forms the turning-point, with which the old aeon closes and the new epoch of the world commences, with the completion of which the whole of the earthly development of the universe will reach its close. The repetition of בּקרב שׁנים is expressive of the earnest longing with which the congregation of the Lord looks for the tribulation to end. The object to תּודיע, which is to be taken in an optative sense, answering to the imperative in the parallel clause, may easily be supplied from the previous clause. To the prayer for the shortening of the period of suffering there is appended, without the copula Vav, the further prayer, in wrath to remember mercy. The wrath (rōgez, like râgaz in Is 28:21 and Prov 29:9) in which God is to remember mercy, namely for His people Israel, can only be wrath over Israel, not merely the wrath manifested in the chastisement of Judah through the Chaldaeans, but also the wrath displayed in the overthrow of the Chaldaeans. In the former case God would show mercy by softening the cruelty of the Chaldaeans; in the latter, by accelerating their overthrow, and putting a speedy end to their tyranny. This prayer is followed in Hab 3:3-15 by a description of the work of God which is to be called to life, in which the prophet expresses confidence that his petition will be granted.
Geneva 1599
3:2 (b) O LORD, I have heard thy speech, [and] was afraid: O LORD, revive thy (c) work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
(b) Thus the people were afraid when they heard God's threatenings, and prayed.
(c) That is, the state of your Church which is now ready to perish, before it comes to half a perfect age, which would be under Christ.
John Gill
3:2 O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid,.... Or, "thy hearing" (p); which the Lord had caused to be heard from and of himself; the report that had been made to him, and other prophets before him, particularly Isaiah, who says, "who hath believed our report?" Is 53:1 where the same phrase is used as here: though it seems here not so much to regard the evangelical part of that report, concerning the coming of Christ, his sufferings and death, in order obtain redemption and salvation for his people; for this would have been, and was, matter of joy, and not of fear and consternation: but the truth is this, the Lord in the preceding speech, being a report he made to the prophet concerning the Messiah, had signified that Christ would have many enemies from the Jews and from the Gentiles, from Rome Pagan and Rome Papal; that the church of Christ would meet with great afflictions and persecutions, and be attended with many conflicts, temptations, and difficulties; that the interest of the Redeemer would be sometimes very low, and the work of the Lord at a stand in the world, yea, seemingly dead, quite lost and gone; this is what caused the fear and distress in the prophet's mind, and gave him that pain and uneasiness: and hence the following petition,
O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years; which refers not to the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity, which was fixed to a term of years, when, and not before, not in the midst of them it would be wrought; but to the great work of the Lord in the times of the Gospel. There is a double reading of these words in the Septuagint version of them, and both very different from the Hebrew text. The one is, "in the midst of two lives thou shalt be known"; the life that now is, and that which is to come. The other, by a change of the accent, is, "in the midst of two animals thou shall be known"; so the Arabic version. Theodoret makes mention of both, and inclines to the former;
"some (he says) by two animals understand angels and men; some the incorporeal powers near the divine Glory, the cherubim and seraphim; others the Jews and Babylonians; but to me it seems that the prophet does not say animals, but lives, the present and future, in the midst of which he was a just Judge:''
but the latter reading is followed by many of the ancients, whose different senses are given by Jerom on the place; some interpreting them of the Son and Spirit, by whom the Father is made known; others of the two cherubim in Exodus, and of the two seraphim in Isaiah; and there were some who understood them of the two Testaments, the Old and New, in the midst of which the Lord may be known; and others of Christ's being crucified between two thieves, by which be might be known: but, besides these different sentiments, many of the ancients concluded from hence that Christ lay in the manger between two animals, the ox and the ass, and to which they refer in their ancient hymns (q); but though this is a wrong version of the text, and a wrong sense which is put upon it, together with Is 1:3; yet, as Burkius observes, there is in this mistake a certain and ancient truth, that the text of Habakkuk belongs to the work of God in Christ, and especially to the nativity of our Lord Jesus; and so some later writers apply this to the wonderful work of the incarnation of Christ, that new, unheard of, and amazing thing the Lord would work in the earth; the promise of which, being delayed, might seem to be dead; and therefore it is entreated it might be revived, and the performance of it hastened; and others to the work of redemption by Christ, which the Father gave him to do, and he promised to come and perform; but, being deferred, the Old Testament saints were impatient of it. Cocceius and Van Till restrain it to the resurrection of Christ from the dead, his coming being prophesied of before; and render the words, "O Lord, thy work is his life (r), in the midst of the years"; the resurrection of Christ from the dead, or the quickening of him, is prophesied of in many places as a work that would be done, and in which the hope and expectation of the saints were placed; this being a work of great importance both to Christ, his exaltation and glory, and to his people; their quickening together with him; their regeneration, or passing from death to life; their justification of life, and resurrection from the dead, depending upon it; and this is the Lord's work, and owing to the exceeding greatness of his power, and is frequently ascribed to God the Father, who raised Christ from the dead, and gave him glory: and this was "in the midst of the years", or between the years of the Old and of the New Testament; the former was the year of God's longsuffering and forbearance, the time when the Jewish church, like children, were under governors and tutors, until the time appointed of the Father; the latter is the acceptable year of the Lord, and the year of the redeemed; and between these two years, at the end of the one, and the beginning of the other, the Messiah came, was cut off or died, and was quickened and raised again: but I should choose rather to understand this more generally of the work of the Lord in the Christian churches throughout the whole Gospel dispensation, or at least in some certain periods of it. The church itself is the work of the hands of the Lord, Is 45:11 which sometimes has seemed to have been in a very dead and lifeless state and condition, as in the dark times of Popery; and though there was a reviving of it upon the Reformation, yet there has been a decline since; and the Sardian church state, in which we now are, is described as having a "name", that it "lives", and yet is "dead"; and the interest of religion, and the church of Christ, will be lower still when the witnesses are slain, and their dead bodies lie unburied, before the Spirit of the Lord enters into them, and revives them: now the prophet having in view these various intervals, and especially the last, prays for a reviving of the interest and church of Christ, and the work of the Lord in it; and which will be done when Christ will come in a spiritual manner, and destroy antichrist; when the Spirit will be poured down plentifully from on high; when the Gospel will be purely and powerfully preached all over the world; when the ordinances of it will be administered as at the beginning; when multitudes of churches will be raised and formed, the Jews will be converted, and the fulness of the Gentiles brought in: this will be a reviving time indeed! and there never will be a thorough one till this time comes; and this will be in "the midst of the years"; between the years of the reign of antichrist, the 1260 days or years of it, which will now expire, and the thousand years of Christ's personal reign on earth; between these two will be this reviving time or spiritual reign of Christ (s). The words may to good purpose be applied to the work of grace in the hearts of true believers in Christ, which is the Lord's work, and his only; not men, not ministers, not angels, but Jehovah only is the author and finisher of it. This sometimes seems as it were to be dead, when the graces of the Spirit are not in exercise; when saints are in dead and lifeless frames of soul; when they are backward to spiritual and religious exercises; when the world, and the things of it, have got power over them, and they are unconcerned for the things of Christ, the honour of his name, and the good of their own souls; when they are under the power of some sin, and are carried captive by it, as was the case of David, Peter, and others: now this work is revived, when the graces of the Spirit are called forth again into lively exercise; when the affections go out strongly after divine objects and things; when the thoughts of the mind, and the meditations of the heart, are on spiritual subjects; when the talk and conversation turns chiefly on things of a religious and heavenly nature; when there is a forwardness to spiritual exercises, a stirring up of themselves and others to them, and a continuance in them; when there is a visible growing in grace, and a fruitfulness in every good work: this is to be prayed for, and is from the Lord; and is owing to his setting his hand a second time to the work; to his being as the dew to his people; to Christ the sun of righteousness arising on them, with healing in his wings; and to the south wind of the Spirit blowing upon them, and causing their spices to flow out; and this is desirable in the midst of their years, before the years come on in which they have no pleasure, or before they go hence, and be no more:
in the midst of the years make known; which Cocceius and Van Till restrain to the notification of Christ's resurrection from the dead by the ministry of the Gospel, for the benefit of the Lord's people, both Jews and Gentiles; as being a matter of great consequence to them, and for the confirmation of the Christian religion, as it undoubtedly was: but it seems better to understand it in a more general sense, that God would make known more of himself, as the covenant God and Father of his people, of his mind and will, of his love, grace, and mercy in Christ; that he would make known more of Christ, of his person, offices, and grace; that he would make known more clearly the work of his Spirit and grace upon their hearts, and display his power, and the efficacy of his grace, in reviving it, and carrying it on; that he would make known more largely his covenant and promises, his truth and faithfulness in the performance of them; that he would grant a larger measure of knowledge of all divine things of the Gospel, and the truths of it; such as is promised, and is expected will be in the latter day, when the earth shall be everywhere filled with the knowledge of the Lord, Hab 2:14,
in wrath remember mercy; the above interpreters refer this to the time of God's wrath and vengeance upon the Jewish nation for their rejection of the Messiah; and which the prophet does not pray might be averted, but that mercy might be remembered to his own people among them, as was; who had the Gospel first preached to them, and were called by grace and saved; and who had an opportunity given them of escaping from Jerusalem, before the destruction of that city: but it may be more agreeable to interpret this of the state of the churches of Christ and true believers; who, when under affliction and distress, or in temptation and desertion, are ready to conclude that God is dealing with them in wrath; and whom the prophet personates, and by him they are taught to pray, that at such seasons God would remember his covenant, his promises, his lovingkindness and tender mercies, the favour he bears to his own people, and smile on them again, and comfort their souls.
(p) "tuam auditionem", V. L. Burkius; "tuum auditum", Pagninus, Montanus; "rumorem", Tarnovius. (q) "Agnoscat bos et asinus Jacentem in praesepio." And again, "Cognovit bos et asinus, Quod paer erat Dominus." (r) Taking for as for in ver. 10. So Ben Melech observes it may be taken. (s) The Targum interprets these years of the time in which God will renew the world.
John Wesley
3:2 Thy speech - In answer to the inquiry made Hab 1:13-14. Was afraid - Trembled at what thou speakest. In the midst of the years - Even before the seventy years are expired. Make known - Thy truth, wisdom, power, and compassion.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:2 I have heard thy speech--Thy revelation to me concerning the coming chastisement of the Jews [CALVIN], and the destruction of their oppressors. This is Habakkuk's reply to God's communication [GROTIUS]. MAURER translates, "the report of Thy coming," literally, "Thy report."
and was afraid--reverential fear of God's judgments (Hab 3:16).
Rev_ive thy work--Perfect the work of delivering Thy people, and do not let Thy promise lie as if it were dead, but give it new life by performing it [MENOCHIUS]. CALVIN explains "thy work" to be Israel; called "the work of My hands" (Is 45:11). God's elect people are peculiarly His work (Is 43:1), pre-eminently illustrating His power, wisdom, and goodness. "Though we seem, as it were, dead nationally, revive us" (Ps 85:6). However (Ps 64:9), where "the work of God" refers to His judgment on their enemies, favors the former view (Ps 90:16-17; Is 51:9-10).
in the midst of the years--namely, of calamity in which we live. Now that our calamities are at their height; during our seventy years' captivity. CALVIN more fancifully explains it, in the midst of the years of Thy people, extending from Abraham to Messiah; if they be cut off before His coming, they will be cut off as it were in the midst of their years, before attaining their maturity. So BENGEL makes the midst of the years to be the middle point of the years of the world. There is a strikingly similar phrase (Dan 9:27), In the midst of the week. The parallel clause, "in wrath" (that is, in the midst of wrath), however, shows that "in the midst of the years" means "in the years of our present exile and calamity."
make known--Made it (Thy work) known by experimental proof; show in very deed, that this is Thy work.
3:33:3: Աստուած ՚ի Թեմանայ եկեսցէ, եւ Սուրբն ՚ի հովանաւոր եւ յանտառախիտ լեռնէ։ Հանգիստ։ Ծածկեցին զերկինս փառք նորա. օրհնութեամբ նորա լի՛ եղեւ երկիր։
3 Աստուած Թեմանից կը գայ, սուրբը՝ զով եւ անտառախիտ լեռից. նրա փառքը ծածկեց երկինքը, նրա օրհնութեամբ լցուեց երկիրը (դադար):
3 Աստուած Թեմանէն եկաւ Ու Սուրբը՝ Փառան լեռնէն (Սէլա)։Անոր փառքը երկինքը ծածկեց, Երկիր անոր գովութիւնովը լեցուեցաւ։
Աստուած ի Թեմանայ [36]եկեսցէ, եւ Սուրբն ի հովանաւոր եւ յանտառախիտ լեռնէ``: Հանգիստ: Ծածկեցին զերկինս փառք նորա, օրհնութեամբ նորա լի եղեւ երկիր:

3:3: Աստուած ՚ի Թեմանայ եկեսցէ, եւ Սուրբն ՚ի հովանաւոր եւ յանտառախիտ լեռնէ։ Հանգիստ։ Ծածկեցին զերկինս փառք նորա. օրհնութեամբ նորա լի՛ եղեւ երկիր։
3 Աստուած Թեմանից կը գայ, սուրբը՝ զով եւ անտառախիտ լեռից. նրա փառքը ծածկեց երկինքը, նրա օրհնութեամբ լցուեց երկիրը (դադար):
3 Աստուած Թեմանէն եկաւ Ու Սուրբը՝ Փառան լեռնէն (Սէլա)։Անոր փառքը երկինքը ծածկեց, Երկիր անոր գովութիւնովը լեցուեցաւ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:33:3 Бог от Фемана грядет и Святый от горы Фаран. Покрыло небеса величие Его, и славою Его наполнилась земля.
3:3 ὁ ο the θεὸς θεος God ἐκ εκ from; out of Θαιμαν θαιμαν here καὶ και and; even ὁ ο the ἅγιος αγιος holy ἐξ εκ from; out of ὄρους ορος mountain; mount κατασκίου κατασκιος cover οὐρανοὺς ουρανος sky; heaven ἡ ο the ἀρετὴ αρετη valor αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him καὶ και and; even αἰνέσεως αινεσις singing praise αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him πλήρης πληρης full ἡ ο the γῆ γη earth; land
3:3 אֱלֹ֨והַ֙ ʔᵉlˈôha אֱלֹוהַּ god מִ mi מִן from תֵּימָ֣ן ttêmˈān תֵּימָן Teman יָבֹ֔וא yāvˈô בוא come וְ wᵊ וְ and קָדֹ֥ושׁ qāḏˌôš קָדֹושׁ holy מֵֽ mˈē מִן from הַר־ har- הַר mountain פָּארָ֖ן pārˌān פָּארָן Paran סֶ֑לָה sˈelā סֶלָה sela כִּסָּ֤ה kissˈā כסה cover שָׁמַ֨יִם֙ šāmˈayim שָׁמַיִם heavens הֹודֹ֔ו hôḏˈô הֹוד splendour וּ û וְ and תְהִלָּתֹ֖ו ṯᵊhillāṯˌô תְּהִלָּה praise מָלְאָ֥ה mālᵊʔˌā מלא be full הָ hā הַ the אָֽרֶץ׃ ʔˈāreṣ אֶרֶץ earth
3:3. Deus ab austro veniet et Sanctus de monte Pharan semper operuit caelos gloria eius et laudis eius plena est terraGod will come from the south, and the holy one from mount Pharan: His glory covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.
God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise:

3:3 Бог от Фемана грядет и Святый от горы Фаран. Покрыло небеса величие Его, и славою Его наполнилась земля.
3:3
ὁ ο the
θεὸς θεος God
ἐκ εκ from; out of
Θαιμαν θαιμαν here
καὶ και and; even
ὁ ο the
ἅγιος αγιος holy
ἐξ εκ from; out of
ὄρους ορος mountain; mount
κατασκίου κατασκιος cover
οὐρανοὺς ουρανος sky; heaven
ἡ ο the
ἀρετὴ αρετη valor
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
καὶ και and; even
αἰνέσεως αινεσις singing praise
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
πλήρης πληρης full
ἡ ο the
γῆ γη earth; land
3:3
אֱלֹ֨והַ֙ ʔᵉlˈôha אֱלֹוהַּ god
מִ mi מִן from
תֵּימָ֣ן ttêmˈān תֵּימָן Teman
יָבֹ֔וא yāvˈô בוא come
וְ wᵊ וְ and
קָדֹ֥ושׁ qāḏˌôš קָדֹושׁ holy
מֵֽ mˈē מִן from
הַר־ har- הַר mountain
פָּארָ֖ן pārˌān פָּארָן Paran
סֶ֑לָה sˈelā סֶלָה sela
כִּסָּ֤ה kissˈā כסה cover
שָׁמַ֨יִם֙ šāmˈayim שָׁמַיִם heavens
הֹודֹ֔ו hôḏˈô הֹוד splendour
וּ û וְ and
תְהִלָּתֹ֖ו ṯᵊhillāṯˌô תְּהִלָּה praise
מָלְאָ֥ה mālᵊʔˌā מלא be full
הָ hā הַ the
אָֽרֶץ׃ ʔˈāreṣ אֶרֶץ earth
3:3. Deus ab austro veniet et Sanctus de monte Pharan semper operuit caelos gloria eius et laudis eius plena est terra
God will come from the south, and the holy one from mount Pharan: His glory covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ mh▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
3-4. Пророк изображает будущее явление Бога в образах и картинах, имевших место при явлении Бога во время Синайского законодательства (Исх XIX:18; Втор IV:1), каковое событие, в силу своей чрезвычайной важности для всей религиозно-национальной жизни Израиля и всего человечества, многократно воспоминается священными библейскими писателями. (Втор XXXIII:2; Суд V:2: сл. Пс LXVII:8-9). По пророческому изображению "Бог от Фемана грядет и Святый - от горы Фаран. Покрыло небеса величие Его, и славою Его наполнилась земля" (ст. 3). Феман, евр. теман, - область или местность в Идумее (Ам I:12; Иер ХLIX:7:, 20: и др. ), именно в северо-западной ее части (Иез XXV:13), но вместе с тем это слово имеет в евр. языке нарицательное значение: юг, и в таком смысле оно передано в переводе Феодотиона и в некоторых кодексах (LХХ-ти apo liboV hxei, код. 62, 86, 147: у Гольмеса), а также в Вульгате (ab austro). - Фаран - евр. паран, - собственное имя пустынной местности к югу от Палестины, между пустынею Сур на западе и Египетским заливом на востоке (Быт ХХI:21; Чис Х:12: и др. ); здесь, как и во Втор XXXIII:2, идет речь не о целой пустыне Фаран, а лишь о горе этого имени. В принятом тексте LXX-ти, кроме имени Фаран, стоят еще два слова, не имеющие себе соответствия в еврейском тексте, - kataskiou daseoV, во многих же кодексах греч. текста (напр. 23, 42, 49, 51, 68, 91, 97:, 158, 228, 238, 239, 240: у Гольмеса) имя Ф. вовсе опущено, так и в слав.: из горы приосененныя чащи. Блаженный Иерониим от имени одного еврея замечает к ст. 3: "Вифлеем, в котором родился Спаситель, находится на юге; вот это и значат слова: Господь от юга придет, т. е. родится в Вифлееме и оттуда поднимется. А так как родившийся в Вифлееме дал некогда закон на горе Синае, то Он и есть Святый, который приходит от горы Фаран, потому что Фаран - место, смежное с горою Сана" (с. 193). Равным образом, блаж. Феодорит говорит: "Пророк предрекает и предвозвещает вочеловечение Бога и Спасителя нашего, совершившееся в Вифлееме, который лежит к югу; или ливу, от Иерусалима. А горою приосененною называет самый Иерусалим, обиловавший древле многоразличными дарованиями, осеняемый облаком и пребывавший под кровом Бога небесного" (с. 33). - Стоящее в евр. т. в средине стиха слово села (еще ниже в ст. 9: и 13, а также употреблено 7:1: раз в псалмах), греч. diayalma, - по своей этимологии и по своему значению неясно; обыкновенно его считают музыкальным термином, обозначавшим паузу в пении и под. (см. Sommer - Biblische Abhandiungen. В d. I, Erklarung des Sela, s. 1-84). - Вторая часть стиха изображает славу, величие являющегося Господа; слава и прославление Его должны наполнить всю землю (ср. Пс VIII:1-2: сл. Ис VI:3). "Ибо единородное Божие слово, вочеловечившись, разоряло мрак неведения, просветило же человеков лучами Боговедения, и всех научило, что Бог - Творец неба, земли и всего" (блаж. Феодорит, с. 33). Ст. 4: изображает внешнюю, чрезвычайно блестящую обстановку грядущего явления Бога: и всей материальной природы только яркий свет солнца может приблизить к пониманию небесную величественность Богоявления; при этом лучи солнца, подобно разодевающие явление Бога (ср. Пс СIII:2), уподобляются, - как это обычно и в арабской поэзии, - рогам (ср. Исх XXXIV:29: сл. Пс XXI). Нечего и говорить, как приличен этот образ в предложении ко Христу - Солнцу правды. Последние слова ст. 4: - вместо евр. вешам хивион уззо, Vulg ibi abscondita est fortitudo ejus, русск. синод.: и здесь тайник Его силы, - LXX имеют: kai eqeto agaphsinkrataianiaca:3;oV autoa:3;, слав.: и положи любовь державну крепости своея, откуда видно, замечает блаж. Иероним, что по чтению LXX "даже и эти слова следует понимать в отношении к Христу, (именно) что Бог Отец для того покрыл небеса силою Своею, и землю наполнил хвалениями, и Сияние Свое сделал как бы свет, и положил царство в руке Сына Своего, чтобы побудить людей любить Возлюбленного Своего и любить не слабою любовию, но крепко и сильно" (блаж. Иероним, с. 196-197).
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. 4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power. 5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. 6 He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. 8 Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? 9 Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. 10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. 11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear. 12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger. 13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah. 14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly. 15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.
It has been the usual practice of God's people, when they have been in distress and ready to fall into despair, to help themselves by recollecting their experiences, and reviving them, considering the days of old, and the years of ancient times (Ps. lxxvii. 5), and pleading with God in prayer, as he is pleased sometimes to plead them with himself. Isa. lxiii. 11, Then he remembered the days of old. This is that which the prophet does here, and he looks as far back as the first forming of them into a people, when they were brought by miracles out of Egypt, a house of bondage, through the wilderness, a land of drought, into Canaan, then possessed by mighty nations. He that thus brought them at first into Canaan, through so much difficulty, can now bring them thither again out of Babylon, how great soever the difficulties are that lie in the way. Those works of wonder, wrought of old, are here most magnificently described, for the greater encouragement to the faith of God's people in their present straits.
I. God appeared in his glory, so as he never did before or since (v. 3, 4): He came from Teman, even the Holy One from Mount Paran. This refers to the visible display of the glory of God when he gave the law upon Mount Sinai, as appears by Deut. xxxiii. 2 whence these expressions are borrowed. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai in a cloud (Exod. xix. 20) and his glory was as the devouring fire, not only to enforce the law he then gave them, but to avow the deliverance he had wrought for them and to magnify it; for the first word he said there was, "I am the Lord thy God, that brought thee out of the land of Egypt. I that appear in this glory am the author of that work." Then his glory covered the heavens, which shone with the reflection of that glorious appearance of his; the earth also was full of his praise, or of his splendour, as some read it. People at a distance saw the cloud and fire on the top of Mount Sinai, and praised the God of Israel. Or the earth was full of those works of God which were to be praised. His brightness was as the light, as the light of the sun when he goes forth in his strength; he had horns, or bright beams (so it should be rendered), coming out of his side or hand. Rays of glory were darted forth around him; and with some rays borrowed thence it was that Moses's face shone when he came down from that mount of glory. Some by the horns, the two horns (for the word is dual), coming out of his hand, understand the two tables of the law, which perhaps, when God delivered them to Moses, though they were tables of stone, had a glory round them; those books were gilt with beams, and so it agrees with Deut. xxxiii. 2, From his right hand went a fiery law for them. It is added, And there was the hiding of his power; there was his hidden power, in the rays that came out of his hand. The operations of his power, compared with what he could have done, were rather the hiding of it than the discovery of it; the secrets of his power, as well as of his wisdom, are double to that which is, Job xi. 6.
II. God sent plagues on Egypt, for the humbling of proud Pharaoh, and the obliging of him to let the people go (v. 5): Before him went the pestilence, which slew all the first-born of Egypt in one night; and burning coals went forth at his feet, when, in the plague of hail, there was fire mingled with hail--burning diseases (so the margin reads it), some think those that wasted Egypt, others those with which the number of the Canaanites was diminished before Israel was brought in up on them. These were at his feet, that is, at his coming, for they are at his command; he says to them, Go, and they go, Come, and they come, Do this, and they do it.
III. He divided the land of Canaan to his people Israel, and expelled the heathen from before them (v. 6): He stood, and measured the earth, measured that land, to assign it for an inheritance to Israel his people, Deut. xxxii. 8, 9. He beheld, and drove asunder the nations that were in possession of it; though they combined together against Israel, God dispersed and discomfited them before Israel. Or he exerted such a mighty power as was enough to shake in pieces all the nations of the earth. Then the everlasting mountains were scattered, and the perpetual hills did bow; the mighty princes and potentates of Canaan, that seemed as high, as strong, and as firmly fixed, as the mountains and hills, were broken to pieces; they and their kingdoms were totally subdued. Or the power of God was so exerted as to shake the mountains and hills; nay, and Sinai did tremble, and the adjacent hills; see Ps. lxviii. 7, 8. To this he adds, His ways are everlasting, that is, all the motions of his providence are according to his eternal counsels; and he is the same for ever, that which he was yesterday and to-day. His covenant is unchangeable, and his mercy endures for ever. When he drove asunder the nations of Canaan one might have seen the tents of Cushan in affliction, the curtains of the land of Midian trembling, and all the inhabitants of the neighbouring countries taking the alarm; and though they were not in the commission given to Israel to destroy, nor their land within the warrant given to Israel to possess, yet they thought their own house in danger when their neighbour's house was on fire, and therefore they were in a great fright, v. 7. Balak the king of Moab was so, Num. xxii. 3, 4. Some make the tents of Cushan to be in affliction when, in the days of judge Othniel, God delivered Cushan-rishathaim into his hand (Judg. iii. 8), and the curtains of the land of Midian to tremble when, in the days of judge Gideon, a barley cake, in a dream, overthrew the tent of Midian, Judg. vii. 13.
IV. He divided the Red Sea and Jordan, when they stood in the way of Israel's progress, and yet fetched a river out of a rock when Israel wanted it, v. 8. One would have thought that God was displeased with the rivers, and that his wrath was against the sea, for he made them give way and flee before him when he rode upon his horses and chariots of salvation, as a general at the head of his forces, mighty to save. Note, God's chariots are not so much chariots of state to himself as chariots of salvation to his people; it is his glory to be Israel's Saviour. This seems to be referred to again (v. 15): "Thou didst walk through the sea, through the Red Sea, with thy horses, in the pillar of cloud and fire (that was his chariot drawn by angels); thus thou didst walk secure, and so as to accommodate thyself to the slow pace that Israel could go, as Jacob tenderly drove, in consideration of his children and cattle: Thou didst walk through the heap, or mud, of great waters; and Israel likewise was led through the deep as a horse through the wilderness," Isa. lxiii. 13, 14. When they came to enter Canaan the overflowing of the water passed by, that is, Jordan, which at that time overflowed all his banks, was divided, Jos. iii. 15. Note, When the difficulties in the way of perfecting the salvation of Israel seem most insuperable, when they rise to the height, and overflow, yet then God can put them by, break through them, and get over them. Then the deep uttered his voice, when, the Red Sea and Jordan being divided, the waters roared and made a noise, as if they were sensible of the restraint they were under from proceeding in their natural course, and complained of it. They lifted up their hands, or sides, on high (for the waters stood up on a heap, Jos. iii. 16), as if they would have made opposition to the orders given them. They lifted up their voice, lifted up their waves; but in vain. The Lord on high was mightier than they, Ps. xciii. 3, 4. With the dividing of the sea and Jordan, notice is again taken of the trembling of the mountains, as if the stop given to the waters gave a shock to the adjacent hills; they are put together, Ps. cxiv. 3, 4. When the sea saw it and fled, and Jordan was driven back, the mountains skipped like rams and the little hills like lambs. The whole creation yielded; earth and waters trembled at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the mighty God of Jacob. But (as Mr. Cowley paraphrases it)
Fly where thou wilt, thou sea; and, Jordan's current, cease.
Jordan, there is no need of thee;
For at God's word, whene'er he please,
The rocks shall weep new waters forth instead of these.
So here, Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers; channels were made in the wilderness, such as seemed to cleave the earth, for the waters to run in, which issued out of the rock, to supply the camp of Israel, and which followed them in all their removes. Note, The God of nature can alter and control the powers of nature, which way he pleases, can turn waters into crystal rocks and rocks into crystal streams.
V. He arrested the motion of the sun and moon, to befriend and complete Israel's victories (v. 11): The sun and moon stood still at the prayer of Joshua, that the Canaanites might not have the benefit of the night to favour their escape; they stood still in their habitation in the heaven (Ps. xix. 4), but with an eye to Gibeon and the valley of Ajalon, where God's work was in the doing, and of which they, though at so vast a distance, attended the motions. At the light, at the direction, of thy arrows, they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear; they followed Israel's arms, to favour them; according to the intimation of the arrows God shot (as Jonathan's arrows, 1 Sam. xx. 20), and which way soever his spear pointed (the glittering light of which they acknowledged to outshine theirs) that way they directed their influences, benign to Israel and malignant against their enemies, as when the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. Note, The heavenly bodies, as well as earth and seas, are at God's command, and, when he pleases, at Israel's service too.
VI. He carried on and completed Israel's victories over the nations of Canaan and their kings; he slew great kings and famous, Ps. cxxxvi. 17, 18. This is largely insisted upon here, as a proper plea with God to enforce the present petition, that he would restore them again to that land which they were, at the expense of so many lives, so many miracles, first put in possession of.
1. Many expressions are here used to set forth the conquest of Canaan. (1.) God's bow was made quite naked, taken out of the case, to be employed for Israel; we should say, his sword was quite unsheathed, not drawn out a little way, to frighten the enemy, and then put up again, but quite drawn out, not to be returned till they are all cut off. (2.) He marched through the land from end to end, in indignation, as scorning to let that wicked generation of Canaanites any longer possess so good a land. He marched cum fastidio--with distaste (so some), despising their confederacies. (3.) He threshed the heathen in anger, trod them down, nay, he trod them out, as corn in the floor, to give them, and what they had, to be meat to his people Israel, Mic. iv. 13. (4.) He wounded the heads out of the house of the wicked; he destroyed the families of the Canaanites, and wounded their princes, the heads of their families; nay, he cut off the heads, and so discovered the foundations of them, even to the neck. Are they a building? They are razed even to the foundation. Are they a body? They are plunged into deep mire even to the neck, so that they cannot get out, or help themselves. He broke the heads of leviathan in pieces, Ps. lxxiv. 14. Some apply this to Christ's victories over Satan and the powers of darkness, in which he wounded the heads over many countries, Ps. cx. 6. (5.) He struck through with his staves the head of the villages (v. 14); with Israel's staves God struck through the head of the villages of the enemies, whether Egypt or Canaan. Staves shall do the same execution as swords when God pleases to make use of them. The enemy came out with the utmost force and fury, as a whirlwind to scatter me (says Israel); for many a time have they thus afflicted me, thus attacked me, from my youth, Ps. cxxix. 1. Pharaoh, when he pursued Israel to the Red Sea, came out as a whirlwind; so did the kings of Canaan in their confederacies against Israel. Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly; they were as confident of success in their enterprise as ever any great man was of devouring a poor man, that was no way a match for him; and his design against him was carried on with secrecy. But God disappointed them, and their pride did but make their fall the more shameful and God's care of his poor the more illustrious. (6.) He walked to the sea with his horses (so some read it, v. 15), that is, he carried Israel's victories to the Great Sea, which was opposite to that side of Canaan at which they entered, so that they went quite through it, and made themselves masters of it all, or rather God made them so, for they got it not by their own sword, Ps. xliv. 3. Now,
2. There were three things that God had a eye to, in giving Israel so many bloody victories over the Canaanites:-- (1.) He would hereby make good his promise to the fathers; it was according to the oaths of the tribes, even his word, v. 9. He had sworn to give this land to the tribes of Israel; it was his oath to Isaac confirmed to Jacob, and repeated many a time to the tribes of Israel, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan. This word God will accomplish, though Israel be ever so unworthy (Deut. ix. 5) and their enemies ever so many and mighty. Note, What God does for his tribes is according to the oaths of the tribes, according to what he has said and sworn to them; for he is faithful that has promised. (2.) He would hereby show his kindness to his people, because of their relation to him, and his interest in them: Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, v. 13. All the powers of nature are shaken, and the course of nature changed, and every thing seems to be thrown into disorder, and all is for the salvation of God's people. There are a people in the world who are God's people, and their salvation is that which he has in his eye in all the operations of his providence. Heaven and earth shall sooner come together than any of the links in the golden chain of their salvation shall be broken; and even that which seems most unlikely shall by an overruling hand be made to work for their salvation, Phil. i. 19. (3.) He would hereby give a type and figure of the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ. It is for salvation with thy anointed, with Joshua, who led the armies of Israel and was a figure of him whose name he bore, even Jesus our Joshua. What God did for his Israel of old was done with an eye to his anointed, for the sake of the Mediator, who was both the founder and foundation of the covenant made with them. It was salvation with him, for in all the salvations wrought for them, God looked upon the face of the anointed, and did them by him.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:3: God came from Teman - Bp. Lowth observes: "This is a sudden burst of poetry, in the true spirit of the ode; the concealed connection being that God, who had formerly displayed such power in delivering the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, might succor their posterity in a like wonderful manner." Hence the prophet selects the most striking facts of that first deliverance; and to decorate and render them impressive, brings forth all the powers of his genius, in all the strength and elegance of his language. "What crowns the sublimity of this piece," says Bp. Lowth, "is the singular elegance of the close; and were it not that antiquity has here and there thrown its veil of obscurity over it, there could not be conceived a more perfect and masterly poem of its kind." See, for more particulars, his twenty-eighth Prelection.
I shall endeavor to show the facts in the deliverance from Egypt, to which the prophet refers.
Teman - This was a city, the capital of a province of Idumea, to the south of the land of Canaan. Num 20:21; Jer 49:7.
Paran - Was a city which gave its name to a province in Arabia Petraea. Gen 21:21; Deu 33:2.
Selah - This word is not well known; probably it means a pause or alteration in the music. See it in the Psalms, and its explanation there.
His glory covered the heavens - His glory when he descended on Mount Sinai, and in the pillar of fire by night.
The earth was full of his praise - All the land was astonished at the magnificence of his works in behalf of his people. Instead of praise, some translate splendor. The whole land was illuminated by his glory.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:3: God came - literally, shall come
From Teman - "God shall come," as He came of old, clothed with majesty and power; but it was not mere power. The center of the whole picture is, as Micah and Isaiah had prophesied that it was to be, a new Rev_elation Isa 2:3; Mic 4:2 : "The law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Isa 44:5, "I will give Thee for a covenant to the people (Israel), for a light of the Gentiles." So now, speaking of the new work in store, Habakkuk renews the imagery in the Song of Moses Deu 33:2, in Deborah's Song Jdg 5:5, and in David; Psa 68:7 but there the manifestation of His glory is spoken of wholly in time past, and Mount Sinai is named. Habakkuk speaks of that coming as yet to be, and omits the express mention of Mount Sinai, which was the emblem of the law . And so he directs us to another Lawgiver, whom God should raise up like unto Moses Deu 18:15-18, yet with a law of life, and tells how He who spake the law, God, shall come in likeness of our flesh. And the Holy One from Mount Paran In the earliest passage three places are mentioned, in which or from which the glory of God was manifested; with this difference however, that it is said Deu 33:2, The Lord came from Sinai, but His glory arose, as we should say "dawned" unto them from Seir, and flashed forth from Mount Paran Seir and Mount Paran are joined together by the symbol of the light which dawned or shone forth from them. In the second passage, the Song of Deborah, Seir and the field of Edom are the place whence God came forth; Sinai melted Jdg 5:4-5 at His presence.
In Ps. 68 the mention of Edom is dropped; and the march through the wilderness under the leading of God, is alone mentioned, together with the shaking of Sinai. In Habakkuk, the contrast is the same as in Moses; only Tehran stands in place of Seir . Theman and Mount Paran are named probably, as the two opposed boundaries of the journeyings of Israel through the desert. They came to Mount Sinai through the valley, now called Wady Feiran or Paran; Edom was the bound of their wanderings to their promised land Num 20:14-20; Deut. 2. God who guided, fed, protected them from the beginning, led them to the end. Between Paran also and Edom or Teman was the gift of the Spirit to the seventy, which was the shadow of the day of Pentecost; there, was the brass serpent lifted up, the picture of the healing of the Cross . If Mount Paran is near Kadesh, then Moses in the opening of his song describes the glory of God as manifested from that first Rev_elation of His Law on Mount Sinai; then in that long period of Israel's waiting there to its final departure for the promised land, when Mount Hor was consecrated and God's awful Holiness declared in the death of Aaron.
He who "shall come," is God , "the Holy One" (a proper name of gods) . Perfect in Holiness, as God, the Son of God, and as Man also all-holy, with a human will, always exactly accompanying the Divine Will, which was:
"The passion of His Heart
Those Three-and-thirty years."
On this there follows a pause denoted by "Selah" (which occurs thrice according to the mystery of that number,) that the soul may dwell on the greatness of the majesty and mercy of God.
Selah - There is no doubt as to the general purport of the word, that it is a musical direction, that there should be a pause, the music probably continuing alone, while the mind rested upon the thought, which had just been presented to it; our "interlude" . It is always placed at some pause of thought, even when not at the end of a strophe, or, as twice in this hymn , at the end of the verse.
Gregory of Nyssa modifies this thought, supposing "Selah" to express a pause made by the writer, that "while the psalmody, with which David's prophesying was accompanied, went on in its course, another illumining of the Holy Spirit, and an addition to the gift according to knowledge, came for the benefit of those who received the prophecy, he, holding in his verse, gave time for his mind to receive the knowledge of the thought, which took place in him from the divine illumining. He defines it to be "a sudden silence in the midst of the Psalmody for the reception of the illumining."
His Glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise - This is plainly no created glory, but anticipates the Angelic Hymn Luk 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men," or, as the Seraphim sing first glory to God in Heaven Isa 6:3, "Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God of Sabaoth," and then, the whole earth is full of His glory; and Uncreated Wisdom saith (Ecclesiasticus 24:5), "I alone compassed the circuit of Heaven, and walked in the bottom of the deep." Nor are they our material heavens, much less this lowest heaven over our earth nor is "His glory" any of God, which rules, encompasses, fills, penetrates the orbs of heaven and all its inhabitants, and yet is not enclosed nor bounded thereby. Those who are made as the heavens by the indwelling of God He spiritually "covers," filling them with the light of glory and splendor of grace and brightness of wisdom, as it saith, "Is there any number of His armies, and upon whom doth not His light arise? Job 25:3 and so the earth was full of His praise," i. e., the Church militant spread throughout the world, as in the Psalm Psa 112:3, "The Lord's name is praised from the rising up of the sun unto the going down of the same, and, Psa 8:1, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth, who hast set Thy glory above the heavens."
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:3: came: Jdg 5:4, Jdg 5:5; Psa 68:7, Psa 68:8; Isa 64:3
from: Gen 36:11; Jer 49:7; Amo 1:12; Oba 1:9
Teman: or, the south
Paran: Gen 21:21; Num 10:12; Deu 33:2; Sa1 25:1
Selah: Psa 3:2, Psa 3:4, Psa 4:4, Psa 9:16, Psa 9:20
His glory: Exo 19:16-20, Exo 20:18, Exo 24:15-17; Deu 5:24; Psa 68:17, Psa 114:3-7
and the earth: Isa 6:3; Co2 3:7-11; Rev 5:13, Rev 5:14
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
3:3
Coming of the Lord to judge the nations and to redeem His people. The description of this theophany rests throughout upon earlier lyrical descriptions of the revelations of God in the earlier times of Israel. Even the introduction (Hab 3:3) has its roots in the song of Moses in Deut 33:2; and in the further course of the ode we meet with various echoes of different psalms (compare Hab 3:6 with Ps 18:8; Hab 3:8 with Ps 18:10; Hab 3:19 with Ps 18:33-34; also Hab 3:5 with Ps 68:25; Hab 3:8 with Ps 68:5, Ps 68:34). The points of contact in Hab 3:10-15 with Ps. 77:17-21, are still more marked, and are of such a kind that Habakkuk evidently had the psalm in his mind, and not the writer of the psalm the hymn of the prophet, and that the prophet has reproduced in an original manner such features of the psalm as were adapted to his purpose. This is not only generally favoured by the fact that Habakkuk's prayer is composed throughout after the poetry of the Psalms, but still more decidedly by the circumstance that Habakkuk depicts a coming redemption under figures borrowed from that of the past, to which the singer of this psalm looks back from his own mournful times, comforting himself with the picture of the miraculous deliverance of his people out of Egypt (see Hengstenberg and Delitzsch on Psalm 77). For it is very evident that Habakkuk does not describe the mighty acts of the Lord in the olden time, in order to assign a motive for his prayer for the deliverance of Israel out of the affliction of exile which awaits it in the future, as many of the earlier commentators supposed, but that he is predicting a future appearance of the Lord to judge the nations, from the simple fact that he places the future יבוא (Hab 3:3) at the head of the whole description, so as to determine all that follows; whilst it is placed beyond the reach of doubt by the impossibility of interpreting the theophany historically, i.e., as relating to an earlier manifestation of God.
Hab 3:3
"Eloah comes from Teman, and the Holy One from the mountains of Paran. Selah. His splendour covers the sky, and the earth is full of His glory. Hab 3:4. And brightness appears like sunlight, rays are at His hand, and there His power is concealed. Hab 3:5. Before Him goes the plague, and pestilence follows His feet." As the Lord God once came down to His people at Sinai, when they had been redeemed out of Egypt, to establish the covenant of His grace with them, and make them into a kingdom of God, so will He appear in the time to come in the terrible glory of His omnipotence, to liberate them from the bondage of the power of the world, and dash to pieces the wicked who seek to destroy the poor. The introduction to this description is closely connected with Deut 33:2. As Moses depicts the appearance of the Lord at Sinai as a light shining from Seir and Paran, so does Habakkuk also make the Holy One appears thence in His glory; but apart from other differences, he changes the preterite בּא (Jehovah came from Sinai) into the future יבוא, He will come, or comes, to indicate at the very outset that he is about to describe not a past, but a future revelation of the glory of the Lord. This he sees in the form of a theophany, which is fulfilled before his mental eye; hence יבוא does not describe what is future, as being absolutely so, but is something progressively unfolding itself from the present onwards, which we should express by the present tense. The coming one is called Eloah (not Jehovah, as in Deut 33:2, and the imitation in Judg 5:4), a form of the name Elohim which only occurs in poetry in the earlier Hebrew writings, which we find for the first time in Deut 32:15, where it is used of God as the Creator of Israel, and which is also used here to designate God as the Lord and Governor of the whole world. Eloah, however, comes as the Holy One (qâdōsh), who cannot tolerate sin (Hab 1:13), and who will judge the world and destroy the sinners (Hab 3:12-14). As Eloah and Qâdōsh are names of one God; so "from Teman" and "from the mountain of Paran" are expressions denoting, not two starting-points, but simply two localities of one single starting-point for His appearance, like Seir and the mountains of Paran in Deut 33:2. Instead of Seir, the poetical name of the mountainous country of the Edomites, Teman, the southern district of Edomitish land, is used per synecdochen for Idumaea generally, as in Obad 1:9 and Amos 1:12 (see p. 168). The mountains of Paran are not the Et-Tih mountains, which bounded the desert of Paran towards the south, but the high mountain-land which formed the eastern half of that desert, and the northern portion of which is now called, after its present inhabitants, the mountains of the Azazimeh (see comm. on Num 10:12). The two localities lie opposite to one another, and are only separated by the Arabah (or deep valley of the Ghor). We are not to understand the naming of these two, however, as suggesting the idea that God was coming from the Arabah, but, according to the original passage in Deut 33:2, as indicating that the splendour of the divine appearance spread over Teman and the mountains of Paran, so that the rays were reflected from the two mountainous regions. The word Selâh does not form part of the subject-matter of the text, but shows that the music strikes in here when the song is used in the temple, taking up the lofty thought that God is coming, and carrying it out in a manner befitting the majestic appearance, in the prospect of the speedy help of the Lord. The word probably signified elevatio, from sâlâh = sâlal, and was intended to indicate the strengthening of the musical accompaniment, by the introduction, as is supposed, of a blast from the trumpets blown by the priests, corresponding therefore to the musical forte. (For further remarks, see Hvernick's Introduction to the Old Testament, iii. p. 120ff., and Delitzsch on Ps 3:1-8.) In Hab 3:3 the glory of the coming of God is depicted with reference to its extent, and in Hab 3:4 with reference to its intensive power. The whole creation is covered with its splendour. Heaven and earth reflect the glory of the coming one. הודו, His splendour or majesty, spreads over the whole heaven, and His glory over the earth. Tehillâh does not mean the praise of the earth, i.e., of its inhabitants, where (Chald., Ab. Ezr., Ros., and others); for there is no allusion to the manner in which the coming of God is received, and according to Hab 3:6 it fills the earth with trembling; but it denotes the object of the praise or fame, the glory, ἡ δόξα, like hâdâr in Job 40:10, or kâbhōd in Is 6:3; Is 42:8, and Num 14:21. Grammatically considered, תּהלּתו is the accusative governed by מלאה, and הארץ is the subject.
Geneva 1599
3:3 God came from (d) Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
(d) Teman and Paran were near Sinai, where the Law was given: by which is signified that his deliverance was as present now as it was then.
John Gill
3:3 God came from Teman,.... Or, "may God come from Teman" (t); since it is part of the prayer of Habakkuk: or, as "from Teman" (u); as he of old came from thence, a city in the land of Edom, Jer 49:7 it was five miles from Petra, in Idumea, where was Mount Seir, from whence the Lord arose, and shone forth from Mount Paran, at the giving of the law, Deut 33:2 to which the allusion is here. So the Targum,
"at the giving of the law to his people, God was revealed from the south;''
for so Teman signifies. The prophet, to encourage his own faith, and the faith of others, takes notice, in this and the following verses, of the instances of the grace, goodness, and power of God to his people Israel, in appearing to them at Mount Sinai, going before them in the wilderness, destroying their enemies, casting them out before them, and introducing them into the land of Canaan, and settling them there; suggesting, that he that had done these great and wonderful things would support and maintain, carry on and promote, his own kingdom and interest in the world; in order to which the prophet prays to God the Father for the coming of his Son, either in the flesh, that the incarnate God would appear in the world, and set up his kingdom in it; or, in prayer, he prophesies of it, and expresses his faith in it: "God cometh from the south"; or, "he shall come" (w), as it may be rendered: he knew, from the prophecy of Micah, that he that was to be ruler in Israel was to come from Bethlehem, Mic 5:2 which lay to the south of Jerusalem; and from hence he expected him, and believed he would come, and prayed for it as being most desirable and welcome: or else this respects the coming of the Messiah, in the ministration of the word to Jews and Gentiles, after his resurrection from the dead, and ascension to heaven, and the pouring forth of his Spirit on the day of Pentecost; that as the Lord came from the places here mentioned, when he gave the law on Mount Sinai, so he would send forth his Gospel out of Zion and Jerusalem, and go forth himself along with it, riding in his glory, and in his majesty, conquering and to conquer; causing his ministers to triumph in him, and by them subdue multitudes of souls to him, both in Judea, and in the Gentile world, whereby his kingdom might appear in it:
and the Holy One from Mount Paran; or, "even the Holy One" (x); that came or shined forth "from Mount Paran" formerly; for it was Christ then that appeared on Mount Sinai, and gave to Moses the lively oracles of God; see Ps 68:17 he, as he is truly God, God manifest in the flesh, "Immanuel", God with us; so he is the holy One of God, infinitely and essentially holy, as a divine Person; and holy, and harmless, and without sin in his human nature and life; and is the sanctifier and sanctification of his people. Mount Paran was situated to the south of the land of Canaan, as well as Teman, which so signifies, as before observed. It is called by Ptolemy, Pomponius Mela, and others, Strobilus, from its likeness to a pineapple. It had its name from the city Paran, which lay between Egypt and Arabia (y); see 3Kings 11:18 which Jerom says (z) was three days' journey from Aila to the east; mention is made of Ail, or Elparan in Gen 14:6 near to which was the wilderness of Paran, frequently spoken of in Scripture, Gen 21:21 the same which Josephus (a) calls the valley or plain of Pharan, where Simon of Gerasa made caves and dens, and hid the treasure he plundered from the people: according to Adrichomius (b), it was a most dreadful barren desert, where nothing grew, or was to be had, through which the children of Israel journeyed; and was sometimes taken for the first part of the desert of Arabia, near Mount Sinai, and sometimes for the last part of it, towards the land of promise; sometimes it was called the desert of Sin, and sometimes the desert of Sinai, from that mountain; but its most general name was that of Paran, and contained eleven days' journey from Mount Sinai to Kadeshbarnea. Mount Paran (he says (c)) is thick and shady, near to Mount Sinai, and even "contiguous", as it should seem to be from Deut 33:2 to which the reference is here. So Hillerus (d) interprets it, "full of boughs", or "branches"; or else he would have it to signify "the corner of Aran", the son of Dishan, a son of Seir the Horite, who inhabited this country; see Gen 36:20 and both Teman and Paran being to the south, may point to the place of the Redeemer, by whom the great work was to be done, referred unto. Jerom says he heard a Hebrew man discourse on this passage, thus,
"that Bethlehem lies to the south, where the Lord and Saviour was born: and that he it is of whom it is here said, "the Lord shall come from the south"; that is, shall be born in Bethlehem, and thence arise; and because he who is born in Bethlehem formerly gave the law on Mount Sinai, he is "the Holy One" that came from "Mount Paran"; seeing Paran is a place near to Mount Sinai; and the word "Selah" signifies "always"; and the sense is, he who is born in Bethlehem, and who on Mount Sinai, that is, on Mount Paran, gave the law, always is the author and giver of all blessings, past, present, and to come.''
The word
Selah stands here in the middle of the verse. It is interpreted, by several of the Jewish writers, "for ever", as by the aforementioned Hebrew; and by others as an affirmation, and render it, "verily, truly", as answering to "Amen". Some understand it as a pause or full stop, denoting attention to something said that is remarkable; and others take it to be a note, directing the singer to the elevation of his voice, where it stands; and so it is no other than a musical note; hence the Septuagint render it A very learned man (e) has wrote a dissertation upon it, showing that it is one of the names of God; and used differently, as the sense requires, either in the vocative case, as "Selah", that is, O God; or in the other cases, of God, to God, &c.:
his glory covered the heavens; that is, the glory of God, the Holy One, when he came, or should come: this was true of him when he descended on Mount Sinai, and his glory abode upon it; and the sight of his glory was like devouring fire; and the elders saw the God of Israel, under whose feet was as a paved work of sapphire, and as the body of heaven in its clearness; yea, so great as to make the light and glory of the celestial bodies useless, even to cover and hide the shining of them; see Ex 24:10 and may respect the glorious appearances at the birth of Christ, when the heavenly host descended, and sung Glory to God in the highest, and when the glory of the Lord shone round about the shepherds, Lk 2:9 and at his baptism, when the heavens were opened, the Father's voice was heard, and the Spirit descended on Christ, as a dove; and at his transfiguration, when his face shone as the sun; and Moses and Elias appeared in glorious forms, and a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice was heard from the excellent Glory, Mt 3:16 or rather it may be, this may respect Christ as the brightness of his Father's glory, and the glory of God in the face of Christ, as set forth in the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, when carried throughout the world by his apostles; whereby his glory was so spread in it, that the heavens were covered with it, and declared it; yea, it was set above the heavens, and the name of the Lord became excellent in all the earth, as follows; see Ps 19:1,
and the earth was full of his praise; with the words of his praise, as the Targum; so the fame of the mighty things done by the Lord in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, for his people, reached the nations of the world, and especially those of the land of Canaan, and struck them with awe and dread, Josh 2:9 and the fame of Christ, his miracles and doctrines, went through the land of Israel, and all Syria; and multitudes glorified God, and praised him for what was done by him, Mt 4:23 and more especially the earth was filled with his glory and praise when his Gospel was carried into all the parts of it by his apostles; which occasioned universal joy to all sensible sinners, and filled their hearts and mouths with praise to God for such a Saviour, and for such blessings of grace and good things that came by him: or, "the earth was full of his light" (f); of the light of his Gospel, and of the knowledge of himself by it.
(t) "veniet", so some in Calvin, Van Till. (u) "sicuti olim ex Theman", Van Till. (w) Venit, Grotius; "veniet", Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Gussetius. (x) (y) Hiller. Onomastic. p. 585, 908. (z) De locis Hebr. fol. 91. F. G. (a) De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 9. sect. 4. (b) Theatrum Terrae Sanctae, p. 116. (c) Ibid. p. 123. (d) Ut supra, (Hiller. Onomastic.) p. 431, 477, 908. (e) Paschii Dissertatio de Selah, p. 670. in Thesaur. Theolog. Philolog. par. 1. (f) "et lux ejus implevit terram", Junius & Tremellius; "et splendoris, vel fulgoris ejus plena terra", Vatablus, Drusius; so Kimchi, Ben Melech, and R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 3. 1.
John Wesley
3:3 God - The God of our fathers, discovered himself from Teman, a mountain not far from mount Sinai, where the law was given. Paran - Near Sinai. His glory - This the prophet mentions as a support of his faith, that God so gloriously appeared among their fathers. Full of his praise - Of works which were worthy of all praise.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:3 God--singular in the Hebrew, "Eloah," instead of "Elohim," plural, usually employed. The singular is not found in any other of the minor prophets, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel; but it is in Isaiah, Daniel, Job, and Deuteronomy.
from Teman--the country south of Judea and near Edom, in which latter country Mount Paran was situated [HENDERSON]. "Paran" is the desert region, extending from the south of Judah to Sinai. Seir, Sinai, and Paran are adjacent to one another, and are hence associated together, in respect to God's giving of the law (Deut 33:2). Teman is so identified with Seir or Edom, as here to be substituted for it. Habakkuk appeals to God's glorious manifestations to His people at Sinai, as the ground for praying that God will "revive His work" (Hab 3:2) now. For He is the same God now as ever.
Selah--a musical sign, put at the close of sections and strophes, always at the end of a verse, except thrice; namely, here, and Hab 3:9, and Ps 55:19; Ps 57:3, where, however, it closes the hemistich. It implies a change of the modulation. It comes from a root to "rest" or "pause" [GESENIUS]; implying a cessation of the chant, during an instrumental interlude. The solemn pause here prepares the mind for contemplating the glorious description of Jehovah's manifestation which follows.
earth . . . full of his praise--that is, of His glories which were calculated to call forth universal praise; the parallelism to "glory" proves this to be the sense.
3:43:4: Ճառագայթք նորա իբրեւ զլոյս եղիցին, եւ եղջեւրք ՚ի ձեռին նորա.
4 Նրա ճառագայթները լոյսի պէս կը լինեն, եւ եղջիւրներ կային նրա ձեռքում: Նա ուժգին սէր հաստատեց իր զօրութեան նկատմամբ:
4 Եւ անոր պայծառութիւնը լոյսի պէս էր. Անոր ձեռքէն ճառագայթներ կ’ելլէին, Անոր զօրութեանը ծածկոյթը հոն էր։
[37]Ճառագայթք նորա իբրեւ զլոյս եղիցին, եւ եղջեւրք ի ձեռին նորա. եւ հաստատեաց զսէր սաստիկ զօրութեան իւրոյ:

3:4: Ճառագայթք նորա իբրեւ զլոյս եղիցին, եւ եղջեւրք ՚ի ձեռին նորա.
4 Նրա ճառագայթները լոյսի պէս կը լինեն, եւ եղջիւրներ կային նրա ձեռքում: Նա ուժգին սէր հաստատեց իր զօրութեան նկատմամբ:
4 Եւ անոր պայծառութիւնը լոյսի պէս էր. Անոր ձեռքէն ճառագայթներ կ’ելլէին, Անոր զօրութեանը ծածկոյթը հոն էր։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:43:4 Блеск ее как солнечный свет; от руки Его лучи, и здесь тайник Его силы!
3:4 καὶ και and; even φέγγος φεγγος brilliance αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him ὡς ως.1 as; how φῶς φως light ἔσται ειμι be κέρατα κερας horn ἐν εν in χερσὶν χειρ hand αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him καὶ και and; even ἔθετο τιθημι put; make ἀγάπησιν αγαπησις dominant ἰσχύος ισχυς force αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
3:4 וְ wᵊ וְ and נֹ֨גַהּ֙ nˈōḡah נֹגַהּ brightness כָּ kā כְּ as † הַ the אֹ֣ור ʔˈôr אֹור light תִּֽהְיֶ֔ה tˈihyˈeh היה be קַרְנַ֥יִם qarnˌayim קֶרֶן horn מִ mi מִן from יָּדֹ֖ו yyāḏˌô יָד hand לֹ֑ו lˈô לְ to וְ wᵊ וְ and שָׁ֖ם šˌām שָׁם there חֶבְיֹ֥ון ḥevyˌôn חֶבְיֹון veil עֻזֹּֽועזה *ʕuzzˈô עֹז power
3:4. splendor eius ut lux erit cornua in manibus eius ibi abscondita est fortitudo eiusHis brightness shall be as the light: horns are in his hands: There is his strength hid:
And [his] brightness was as the light; he had horns [coming] out of his hand: and there [was] the hiding of his power:

3:4 Блеск ее как солнечный свет; от руки Его лучи, и здесь тайник Его силы!
3:4
καὶ και and; even
φέγγος φεγγος brilliance
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
ὡς ως.1 as; how
φῶς φως light
ἔσται ειμι be
κέρατα κερας horn
ἐν εν in
χερσὶν χειρ hand
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
καὶ και and; even
ἔθετο τιθημι put; make
ἀγάπησιν αγαπησις dominant
ἰσχύος ισχυς force
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
3:4
וְ wᵊ וְ and
נֹ֨גַהּ֙ nˈōḡah נֹגַהּ brightness
כָּ kā כְּ as
† הַ the
אֹ֣ור ʔˈôr אֹור light
תִּֽהְיֶ֔ה tˈihyˈeh היה be
קַרְנַ֥יִם qarnˌayim קֶרֶן horn
מִ mi מִן from
יָּדֹ֖ו yyāḏˌô יָד hand
לֹ֑ו lˈô לְ to
וְ wᵊ וְ and
שָׁ֖ם šˌām שָׁם there
חֶבְיֹ֥ון ḥevyˌôn חֶבְיֹון veil
עֻזֹּֽועזה
*ʕuzzˈô עֹז power
3:4. splendor eius ut lux erit cornua in manibus eius ibi abscondita est fortitudo eius
His brightness shall be as the light: horns are in his hands: There is his strength hid:
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:4: He had horns coming out of his hand - קרנים karnayim, rays. His hand - his power - was manifested in a particular place, by the sudden issuing out of pencils of rays, which diverged in coruscations of light, so as to illuminate the whole hemisphere. Yet "there was the hiding of his power." His Majesty could not be seen, nor any kind of image, because of the insufferable splendor. This may either refer to the lightnings on Mount Sinai or to the brightness which occasionally proceeded from the shechinah or glory of God between the cherubim, over the mercy-seat. See Capellus and Newcome. If lightnings are intended, the dense cloud from which they proceeded may be meant by the "hiding of his power;" for when the lightnings burst forth, his power and energy became manifest.
Probably from this the Jupiter Keraunos or Jupiter Brontes of the heathens was borrowed; who is always represented with forked or zigzag lightnings in his hand.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:4: and His brightness - that wherein God dwelleth Eze 10:4, "the brightness of the Lord's glory," before which darkness fleeth Psa 18:12, "was as the light," or as the sun. Out of the midst of the darkness, wherewith God, as it were Exo 19:9, Exo 19:16; Exo 20:21, hid Himself, the brightness of the "inapproachable Light" wherein "He dwelleth," gleams forth Exo 24:10, bright as the brightest "light" gathered into one, which man knows of and whereon he cannot gaze. So amid the darkness of the humiliation of His presence in the flesh, Joh 1:14 : "We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father;" and, Isa 9:2, "the people that walked in darkness see a great light," not dim. Theoph.: "nor weak, nor shadowed, like that of Moses, but pure unimaginable light of the knowledge of God." The brightness too of His flesh was like the light of the Godhead on Mount Tabor; for the Godhead flashed through. Rup.: "As often as He did His marvelous works, He put forth His "brightness" (tempered for His creatures, since they could not approach the depth of His light, yet) as "light" to enlighten people to know Him. Yet the brightness issues from the Light, co-existing with it, and in it, while issuing from it. And so the words aptly express, how He who is the, Heb 1:3, "brightness of the Father's Glory and the express Image of His Person." Wisdom Heb 7:25, "brightness of the eternal light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of His goodness," is as the Light from whom He is. Nicene Creed: "Light of Light," Equal to the Father by whom He was begotten. As John says in Joh 1:9 : "That was the true Light, which lighteneth every man that cometh into the world." As He prayeth in Joh 17:5, "Glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was."
He had horns coming out of His Hand - Jerome Dion: "Horns are everywhere in Holy Scripture the emblem of strength." It may be, that here "rays" are likened to horns, as the face of Moses is said, with the same image, to have "sent forth rays" after he had long been in the presence of God. So it may be a mingled image of the Glory and might; Light, which was also might. But "horns," though they may be a symbol of "light," are not of "lightning;" and the Hand of God is used as an emblem of His power, His protection, His bounty, His constraining force on His prophets. It is nowhere used of the side or sides. We have two images combined here; "horns" which in every other place in which they are used as a metaphor, is an emblem of power; and "from the hand of" which, wheRev_er it is used of a person, means that the thing spoken of had been in his hand or power really or virtually. Both then combine in the meaning that the might came forth from the directing agency of God who wielded it.
When then did light or might, which lay, as it were, before in the hand of God, go forth from it? For "the hand of God" is always symbolic of His might, whether put forth, or for the time laid up in it. The form of the words remarkably corresponds to those of Moses, in the preface to the blessing on the tribes, which Habakkuk had in mind Deu 33:2, "From His right hand was a fiery law for them," and Paul says that the glory of Moses' face which he received from the Presence of God, was a symbol of the glory of the law. Co2 3:7 says, "The ministration of death written and engraven on stone was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance." The law, being given by God, had a majesty of its own. The Psalms bear witness to its power in converting, enwisening, rejoicing, enlightening the soul Psa 19:8. They in whose heart it was, none of their steps slipped Psa 37:31. The whole 119th Psalm is one varied testimony of its greatness and its power. It was a guide on the way; it was a schoolmaster unto Christ Gal 3:24, by whom it was fulfilled. But itself bare witness of the greater glory which should come forth from the Hand of God. Co2 3:11 states, "If that which is done away were glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious." Cyril: "The horn signifieth power, when it is spoken of God the Father exhibiting to us God the Son, Luke 2:69, 'He hath raised up a horn of salvation for us,' and again, Psa 111:9, 'His horn shall be exalted in honor.' For all things which were marvelously done were glorious. The only-begotten One then came in our form, and, in regard to the flesh and the manhood, enduring the appearance of our weakness, but, as God, invisible in might and easily subduing whom He willed."
And what has been the weapon of His warfare, whereby He has subdued the might of Satan and the hearts of people, but "the horns" of His cross, whereto His sacred hands were once fastened by the sharp nails, where was the "hiding of His Power," when His almightiness lay hid in His passion Isa 53:3, and He was Psa 22:6 "a worm and no man; a reproach of men and the despised of the people?" Now it is the scepter laid upon His shoulder Isa 9:6, the ensign and trophy of His rule, the rod of His strength Psa 110:2, terrible to devils, salvation to mankind. In it lay His might, although concealed, as He said, "The words, horns are in His hands, show the insignia of His kingdom, by which horns, pushing and thrusting the invisible and opposing powers, He drove them away." Eusebius Dem. Evang. vi. 15. Add Cyprian Test. ad Quirin. ii. 21. p. 57. Oxford Translation: "The horns in His hands, what are they but the trophy of the cross?"
Augustine, de Civ. Dei xviii. 32), "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me" Joh 12:32. His Might was lodged there, although hidden. It was "the hiding-place of His power." The cross was, Co1 1:23-24, "to the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ crucified was the Power of God and the Wisdom of God." Through the Cross was, Mat 28:18, "all power given to Him both in Heaven and earth." Dan 7:14 : "there was given Him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him." From Him shall go forth all power in earth; by His hands shall be given the vacant thrones in Heaven, as He says in Rev 3:21, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My Throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with My Father in His Throne." There too was the hiding of His Power, in that there, in His Cross, is our shelter , and in His pierced Side our hiding place, where we may take refuge from Satan and our sins; for therein is power.
Consider Joh 10:28, "Neither shall any pluck them out of My Hand." Light and darkness always meet in God. His inapproachable light is darkness to eyes which would gaze on it. Psa 104:2, "he covereth Himself with Light as with a garmemt." His light is the very veil which hideth Him. His Light is darkness to those who pry into Him and His Nature; His darkness is light to those who by faith behold Him. He "emptied Himself" Phi 2:8 and hid Himself; He hid the power of His Godhead in the weakness of the Manhood, and so, Co2 4:6, "He who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the Face of Jesus Christ." Jerome: "In the Cross was for a while His might hidden, when He said to His Father, Mat 26:38-39, 'My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death, and, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me,' and on the Cross itself, Luk 23:13, 'Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit. '"
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:4: brightness: Exo 13:21, Exo 14:20; Neh 9:12; Psa 104:2; Isa 60:19, Isa 60:20; Mat 17:2; Ti1 6:16; Rev 21:23, Rev 22:5
horns coming out of his hand: or, bright beams out of his side
the hiding: Job 26:14; Pro 18:10
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
3:4
A splendour shines or arises like the light. תּהיה does not point back to תּהלּתו, "splendour like the sun will His glory be" (Hitzig); but it is the predicate to nōgah in the sense of to become, or to arise. האור is the light of the sun. Like this light, or like the rising sun, when the Lord comes, there arises (spreads) a brilliant light, from which the rays emanate on its two sides. קרנים, according to קרן in Ex 34:29-30, is to be taken in the sense of rays; and this meaning has developed itself from a comparison of the first rays of the rising sun, which shoot out above the horizon, to the horns or antlers of the gazelle, which is met with in the Arabian poets. מיּדו, from His hand, i.e., since the hand is by the side, "at His side" (after the analogy of מימינו and משּׂמאלו), and indeed "His hand" in a general sense, as signifying the hand generally, and not one single hand, equivalent therefore to "on both sides" (Delitzsch). As the disc of the sun is surrounded by a splendid radiance, so the coming of God is enclosed by rays on both sides. לו refers to God. "Such a radiant splendour (קרנים) surrounding God is presupposed when it is affirmed of Moses, that on coming from the presence of Jehovah his face was radiant, or emitted rays" (קרן, Ex 34:29-30). This interpretation of the words is established beyond all doubt, not only by the מימינו of the original passage in Deut 33:2, but also by the expressions which follow in Hab 3:5, viz., לפניו (before him) and לרגלויו (behind him); and consequently the interpretation "rays (emanating) from His hand are to Him," with the idea that we are to think of flashes of lightning darting out of God's hand (Schnur., Ros., Hitzig, Maurer, etc.), is proved to be untenable. According to Hebrew notions, flashes of lightning do not proceed from the hand of God (in Ps 18:9, which has been appealed to in support of this explanation, we have ממּנּוּ); and קרנים does not occur either in Arabic or the later Hebrew in the sense of flashes of lightning, but only in the sense of the sun's rays. ושׁם חביון עזּה, and there - namely, in the sun-like splendour, with the rays emanating from it - is the hiding of His omnipotence, i.e., the place where His omnipotence hides itself; in actual fact, the splendour forms the covering of the Almighty God at His coming, the manifestation of the essentially invisible God. The cloudy darkness is generally represented as the covering of the glory of God (Ex 20:21; 3Kings 8:12), not merely when His coming is depicted under the earthly substratum of a storm (Ps 18:12-13), but also when God was manifested in the pillar of cloud and fire (Ex 13:21) on the journey of the Israelites through the desert, where it was only by night that the cloud had the appearance of fire (Num 9:15-16). Here, on the contrary, the idea of the splendour of the rising sun predominates, according to which light is the garment in which God clothes Himself (Ps 104:2, cf. Ti1 6:16), answering to His coming as the Holy One (Hab 3:3). For the sun-light, in its self-illumining splendour, is the most suitable earthly element to serve as a symbol of the spotless purity of the Holy One, in whom there is no variation of light and darkness (Jas 1:17; see at Ex 19:6). The alteration of ושׁם into ושׂם (he provides or contrives the concealment of His power), which Hitzig proposes after the lxx (Aq., Symm., and Syr.), must be rejected, inasmuch as in that case the object, which he makes into the covering (cf. Ps 18:12), could not be omitted; and this thought is by no means suitable here, and has merely been brought into the text on the assumption that God appears in a storm. As the Holy One, God comes to judgment upon the unholy world (Hab 3:5). Before Him goes debher, plague, and after His feet, i.e., behind Him, resheph, lit., burning heat, or a blaze (Song 8:6), here the burning heat of the pestilence, fever-heat, as in Deut 32:24. Plague and pestilence, as proceeding from God, are personified and represented as satellites; the former going before Him, as it were, as a shield-bearer (1Kings 17:7), or courier (2Kings 15:1); the latter coming after Him as a servant (1Kings 25:42). This verse prepares the way for the description, which commences with Hab 3:6, of the impression produced by the coming of God upon the world and its inhabitants.
Geneva 1599
3:4 And [his] brightness was as the light; (e) he had horns [coming] out of his hand: and there [was] the hiding of his power.
(e) By which is meant a power that was joined with his brightness, which was hidden to the rest of the world, but was revealed at Mount Sinai to his people; (Ps 31:16).
John Gill
3:4 And his brightness was as the light,.... Of fire, of devouring fire on the top of the mount, to which the sight of his glory was like, Ex 24:16 to which Kimchi refers it. Aben Ezra thinks the pillar of fire is intended, in which the Lord went before his people in the wilderness, Ex 13:21 or as the light and splendour of Bereshith, as the Targum, of that primogenital light which was produced on the first day of the creation; or as the light of the seven days of the creation, as Jarchi; see Is 30:26 or rather as the light of the sun shining in its full strength, Christ being the light of the world, and the sun of righteousness; and so may describe him as the brightness of his Father's glory; or his glory, as the only begotten of the Father, seen by his own disciples in the days of his flesh, shining through his works and miracles; or as exhibited in the light of his glorious Gospel, which is the great light that shined on men; and in and by which they that sat in darkness saw light, and who were darkness itself were made light in the Lord: what a glory, lustre, brightness, and light, did the Gospel spread in the world at the first publication of it!
he had horns coming out of his hand; which the Jewish interpreters understand of Moses having horns or beams of light and glory from the hand and power of God, when he conversed with him on the mount, and the skin of his face shone, where the same word is used as here, Ex 34:29 though some of them interpret it of the two tables of the law, which came from the hand of the Lord, edged with glory and brightness, and looked like fire; hence called a "fiery law", Deut 33:2. The words may be rendered, as in the margin, "he had beams" coming "out of his side" (g); and be understood of Christ, who has beams and rays of glory on all sides of him, all around him; he is all glory (h); he is crowned with glory and honour, and highly exalted at his Father's right hand, above all principalities and powers: and "horns" being an emblem of power and might, authority and dominion, the phrase may denote that power and authority in heaven and in earth are given to him as Mediator, and exercised by him. Van Till observes, that the word "horn" is a military term, and is used for the wings of armies, the right and left; and as Christ is here described as a General of an army, marching forth in a warlike manner; these may denote the armies or companies under him, at his hand, and under his command, accoutred, and ready to obey his orders; and particularly may have respect to the division made among the apostles, whom he sent forth to subdue men to him; committing the Gospel of the circumcision to Peter, and of the uncircumcision to Paul, Gal 2:7 whose ministrations were made successful to the pulling down of the strong holds of sin and Satan, and reducing many to the obedience of Christ:
and there was the hiding of his power; that is, in his hand; there his power, which before was hidden, was made manifest; and yet so little displayed, in comparison of what it is in itself, that it may be rather said to be hid than revealed; or there, in his hand, lies his power, with which he hides and covers his people in the day of battle; especially his ministering servants, whom he holds in his right hand, and preserves them amidst a thousand dangers and difficulties, and keeps them for further usefulness; see Acts 18:10. The Targum is,
"sparks went out from the chariot of his glory; there he revealed his majesty, which was hid from the children of men, with sublime power.''
Aben Ezra thinks the ark is meant by "the hiding of his power", called "the ark of his strength", Ps 132:8.
(g) "e lateribus utrinque emicabant cornua", i. e. "radii", Drusius. (h) So R. Joseph Albo interprets them of sparks of spiritual light, which come from God himself, and not another. Vid. Sepher Ikkarim, l. 2. c. 29.
John Wesley
3:4 As the light - Pure, clear as the sun, but much more dazzling. His hand - The face of Moses shined; the face, yea, hands of our God, shine with glorious light. There - In that light wherewith he appeared. The hiding - Which discovered much of it, but hid much more; it was light inaccessible.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:4 as the light--namely, of the sun (Job 37:21; Prov 4:18).
horns--the emblem of power wielded by "His hand" [LUDOVICUS DE DIEU]. "Rays" emanating from "His hand," compared by the Arabs to the horns of the gazelle (compare "hind of the morning," Ps 22:1, title, Margin). The Hebrew verb for to "emit rays," is from the root meaning "horns" (Ex 34:29-30, Ex 34:35) [GROTIUS]. The rays are His lightnings (Ps 18:8), [MAURER].
there--in that "brightness." In it, notwithstanding its brilliancy, there was but the veil "(the hiding) of His power." Even "light," God's "garment," covers, instead of revealing fully, His surpassing glory (Ps 104:2) [HENDERSON]. Or, on Mount Sinai [DRUSIUS]. (Compare Ex 24:17). The Septuagint and Syriac versions read for "there," He made a hiding, &c.; He hid Himself with clouds. English Version is better, which CALVIN explains, there is said to be "a hiding of God's power," because God did not reveal it indiscriminately to all, but specially to His people (Ps 31:20). The contrast seems to me to be between the "horns" or emanations out of His power ("hand"), and that "power" itself. The latter was hidden, whereas the "horns" or emanations alone were manifested. If the mere scintillations were so awfully overwhelming, how much more so the hidden power itself! This was especially true of His manifestation at Sinai (Ps 18:11; compare Is 45:15, Is 45:17).
3:53:5: եւ հաստատեաց զսէր սաստիկ զօրութեան իւրոյ։ Առաջի երեսաց նորա գնասցէ բան. եւ ելցէ ՚ի դաշտս զկնի նորա[10729]։ [10729] Ոսկան. Եւ անդ հաստատեաց զսէր։
5 Նրա առջեւից լուրը կը գնայ եւ դաշտ դուրս կը գայ նրանից յետոյ:
5 Անոր առջեւէն ժանտախտը կ’երթար Եւ անոր ոտքերուն ետեւէն՝ հրատագնապ տենդը* կ’ելլէր։
Առաջի երեսաց նորա գնասցէ բան, եւ ելցէ ի դաշտս զկնի նորա:

3:5: եւ հաստատեաց զսէր սաստիկ զօրութեան իւրոյ։ Առաջի երեսաց նորա գնասցէ բան. եւ ելցէ ՚ի դաշտս զկնի նորա[10729]։
[10729] Ոսկան. Եւ անդ հաստատեաց զսէր։
5 Նրա առջեւից լուրը կը գնայ եւ դաշտ դուրս կը գայ նրանից յետոյ:
5 Անոր առջեւէն ժանտախտը կ’երթար Եւ անոր ոտքերուն ետեւէն՝ հրատագնապ տենդը* կ’ելլէր։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:53:5 Пред лицем Его идет язва, а по стопам Его жгучий ветер.
3:5 πρὸ προ before; ahead of προσώπου προσωπον face; ahead of αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him πορεύσεται πορευομαι travel; go λόγος λογος word; log καὶ και and; even ἐξελεύσεται εξερχομαι come out; go out ἐν εν in πεδίλοις πεδιλον the πόδες πους foot; pace αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
3:5 לְ lᵊ לְ to פָנָ֖יו fānˌāʸw פָּנֶה face יֵ֣לֶךְ yˈēleḵ הלך walk דָּ֑בֶר dˈāver דֶּבֶר pest וְ wᵊ וְ and יֵצֵ֥א yēṣˌē יצא go out רֶ֖שֶׁף rˌešef רֶשֶׁף flame לְ lᵊ לְ to רַגְלָֽיו׃ raḡlˈāʸw רֶגֶל foot
3:5. ante faciem eius ibit mors et egredietur diabolus ante pedes eiusDeath shall go before his face. And the devil shall go forth before his feet.
Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet:

3:5 Пред лицем Его идет язва, а по стопам Его жгучий ветер.
3:5
πρὸ προ before; ahead of
προσώπου προσωπον face; ahead of
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
πορεύσεται πορευομαι travel; go
λόγος λογος word; log
καὶ και and; even
ἐξελεύσεται εξερχομαι come out; go out
ἐν εν in
πεδίλοις πεδιλον the
πόδες πους foot; pace
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
3:5
לְ lᵊ לְ to
פָנָ֖יו fānˌāʸw פָּנֶה face
יֵ֣לֶךְ yˈēleḵ הלך walk
דָּ֑בֶר dˈāver דֶּבֶר pest
וְ wᵊ וְ and
יֵצֵ֥א yēṣˌē יצא go out
רֶ֖שֶׁף rˌešef רֶשֶׁף flame
לְ lᵊ לְ to
רַגְלָֽיו׃ raḡlˈāʸw רֶגֶל foot
3:5. ante faciem eius ibit mors et egredietur diabolus ante pedes eius
Death shall go before his face. And the devil shall go forth before his feet.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
5-7. Ст. 5-7: указывают разные грозные явления, сопутствующие явлению Бога в мире, причем образы этих явлений очень употребительны в других священных писаниях. Так, для ст. 5, говорящего о язве т. евр. дебер, и убийственном зное, евр. решав, параллелями служат Исх IX:3: и Втор ХХХII:24. В тексте LХХ слово дебер, прочитанное, очевидно, как дабар, слово (что всегда было возможно при отсутствии вокализации) передано через logoV, слово; иначе передается в греко-слав. тексте и вторая половина ст. 5. Блаж. Иероним замечает: "если согласно LXX мы прочитаем: Пред лицем его предидет слово, и по стопам его выйдет на поля, то это значит, что слово Божие пред пришествием Его, которое иносказательно теперь называется лицом, будет предшествовать Ему и уготовлять сердца верующих, чтобы исправить неправое и уравнять неровное, и чтобы душа слушателя, как бы подобная возделанному полю, могла воспринимать духовное семя" (с. 198). Сам же блаж. Иероним относительно решев принимает мнение современных ему евреев, почитавших Резеф именем князя демонов (как Веельзевул Мф XII:25), который в образе змия соблазнил Еву в раю и самое имя получил от проклятия, изреченного Богом (как ползающий на чреве), и в Вульгате передает вторую половину ст. 5-го так: et egredietur diabolus ante pedes ejus, усматривая здесь предуказание на сорокадневное искушение Господа диаволом в пустыне (с. 197:-198). Но лучше, кажется, остаться при непосредственном, буквальном смысле евр. масоретского текста. - "Всем, сказанным (в ст. 3-7), Пророк показал нам неизреченное Божие могущество; потому что за преднамерением Божиим следует и самое дело; восхотев только (сие выразил пророк словами: ста и призре) колеблет Он землю, сокрушает род человеческий, расторгает горы, делает, что холмы тают, как воск. Сие же и подобное сему соделывает Бог на пользу людям. Ибо шествиями называет пророк дела; означает же сказанным и источившим всем людям спасение крест. На нем стал Владыка Христос, и поколебал землю, привел в движение и расторг горы, поразил ужасом демонов, разрушил капища на горах и холмах, определив сие из начала и до скончания мира, исполнив же на последок дней" (блаж. Феодорит, с. 34). Замечание ст. 7: о Мадиаме и Хушане (вероятно, близкое и родственное Мадианитянам племя) имеет историческую основу в фактах поражения Мадианитян при Моисее (Чис XXXI:7: след. ) и Гедеоне (Суд VII:21).
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:5: Before him went the pestilence - This plague was several times inflicted on the disobedient Israelites in the wilderness; see Num 11:33; Num 14:37; Num 16:46; and was always the proof that the just God was then manifesting his power among them.
Burning coals event forth at his feet - Newcome translates, "And flashes of fire went forth after him." The disobedient Israelites were consumed by a fire that went out from Jehovah; see Lev 10:2; Num 11:1; Num 16:35. And the burnt-offering was consumed by a fire which came out from before Jehovah, Lev 11:24.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:5: Before Him went (goeth) the pestilence - then to consume His enemies. Exo 23:27 : "I will send My fear before thee, and will destroy all the people, to whom thou shalt come," and the lightnings are a token that, Psa 68:1-2, "they which hate Him, flee before Him, and the wicked perish at the Presence of God." So, on His Ascension, Herod and Pilate were smitten by Him, and Elymas and Simon Magus before His apostles, and whatsoever hath lifted itself up against Him hath perished, and antichrist shall perish, Psa 11:4, "at the breath of His mouth," and all the ungodly on the Day of Judgment.
And burning coals - rather, as English, "burning fever", Deu 32:2. (where also it is singular, as only beside in רשׁף בני benē y resheph Job 5:7.) So A. E., "burning coals" is from Kimchi, Tanchum gives as different opinions "sparks" or "arrows" or "pestilence;" but the meanings "sparks, arrows," are ascribed only to the plural. Psa 76:4; 88:48; Sol 8:6. The central meaning is probably "burning heat."
Went forth at his feet - i. e., followed Him. Messengers of death went as it were before Him, as the front of His army, and the rear thereof was other forms of death Death and destruction of all sorts are a great army at His command, going before Him as heralds of His Coming (such as are judgments in this world) or attendants upon Him, at the judgment when He appeareth 2 Tim. 6:1. in His kingdom, when, Mat 13:51, Mat 13:42, "they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire."
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:5: went: Exo 12:29, Exo 12:30; Num 14:12, Num 16:46-49; Psa 78:50, Psa 78:51; Nah 1:2, Nah 1:3
and: Psa 18:7-13
burning coals: or, burning diseases, Deu 32:24
John Gill
3:5 Before him went the pestilence,.... Either in the land of Egypt, when he marched through that, and slew all their firstborn, Ps 78:50 or rather which he sent before him, and Israel his people among the nations of the land of Canaan, with other diseases and judgments, and destroyed them to make way for his people, which may be here alluded to, Ex 23:27 and may point at the judgments of God, and those pestilential diseases which seized upon the persecutors of the Christians, both among the Jews, as Herod, Acts 12:23 and among the Gentiles, as many of the Roman emperors, who died violent and grievous deaths; and particularly it may regard the pestilence, famine, and other sore judgments preceding the destruction of Jerusalem, and the inhabitants of it, for their rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah:
and burning coals went forth at his feet; which some understand of hailstones mingled with fire, to which the allusion may be, being one of the plagues of Egypt, Ex 9:23. Some interpret it of hot diseases, burning fevers, so Kimchi; which are at the command of God, and sent forth by him when he pleases, to do his will. The ancient fathers expound all this of the destruction of death, and the devil, and his principalities, by Christ upon the cross; and the Targum is,
"from before him was sent forth the angel of death, and his word went forth in a flame of fire;''
but this seems to have respect to the burning of the city and temple of Jerusalem, which was done by the Romans as instruments, but according to the direction, order, and will of Christ, Mt 22:7 see Ps 18:12.
John Wesley
3:5 Before him - When God was leading the Israelites out of Egypt, he made the pestilence go before him, so preparing room for his people.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:5 pestilence--to destroy His people's foes (1Kings 5:9, 1Kings 5:11). As Jehovah's advent is glorious to His people, so it is terrible to His foes.
burning coals-- Ps 18:8 favors English Version. But the parallelism requires, as the Margin translates, "burning disease" (compare Deut 32:24; Ps 91:6).
went . . . at his feet--that is, after Him, as His attendants (Judg 4:10).
3:63:6: Եկաց՝ եւ շարժեցաւ երկիր, հայեցաւ՝ եւ հալեցան ազգք. լերինք խորտակեցան բռնութեամբ, եւ բլուրք յաւիտենականք հալեցան։ Զգնացս նորա յաւիտենական[10730] [10730] Ոմանք. Եւ եկաց եւ շարժե՛՛... զգնացս նորա յաւիտենականս. փո՛՛։
6 Նա կանգնեց, եւ շարժուեց երկիրը. նայեց, եւ հալուեցին ազգերը, լեռները բռնութեամբ խորտակուեցին, եւ հալուեցին յաւերժական բլուրներ:
6 Անիկա կայնեցաւ ու երկիրը չափեց, Նայեցաւ ու ազգերը դողացուց։Յաւիտենական լեռները փշրուեցան Եւ վաղեմի բլուրները խոնարհեցան։Անիկա յաւիտենական ճամբաներ ունի։
Եկաց, եւ շարժեցաւ երկիր, հայեցաւ, եւ հալեցան ազգք. լերինք խորտակեցան բռնութեամբ, եւ բլուրք յաւիտենականք հալեցան. զգնացս նորա յաւիտենական փոխանակ աշխատութեանց տեսի:

3:6: Եկաց՝ եւ շարժեցաւ երկիր, հայեցաւ՝ եւ հալեցան ազգք. լերինք խորտակեցան բռնութեամբ, եւ բլուրք յաւիտենականք հալեցան։ Զգնացս նորա յաւիտենական[10730]
[10730] Ոմանք. Եւ եկաց եւ շարժե՛՛... զգնացս նորա յաւիտենականս. փո՛՛։
6 Նա կանգնեց, եւ շարժուեց երկիրը. նայեց, եւ հալուեցին ազգերը, լեռները բռնութեամբ խորտակուեցին, եւ հալուեցին յաւերժական բլուրներ:
6 Անիկա կայնեցաւ ու երկիրը չափեց, Նայեցաւ ու ազգերը դողացուց։Յաւիտենական լեռները փշրուեցան Եւ վաղեմի բլուրները խոնարհեցան։Անիկա յաւիտենական ճամբաներ ունի։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:63:6 Он стал и поколебал землю; воззрел, и в трепет привел народы; вековые горы распались, первобытные холмы опали; пути Его вечные.
3:6 ἔστη ιστημι stand; establish καὶ και and; even ἐσαλεύθη σαλευω sway; rock ἡ ο the γῆ γη earth; land ἐπέβλεψεν επιβλεπω look on καὶ και and; even διετάκη διατηκω nation; caste διεθρύβη διαθρυπτω the ὄρη ορος mountain; mount βίᾳ βια violence ἐτάκησαν τηκω melt βουνοὶ βουνος mound αἰώνιοι αιωνιος eternal; of ages
3:6 עָמַ֣ד׀ ʕāmˈaḏ עמד stand וַ wa וְ and יְמֹ֣דֶד yᵊmˈōḏeḏ מדד measure אֶ֗רֶץ ʔˈereṣ אֶרֶץ earth רָאָה֙ rāʔˌā ראה see וַ wa וְ and יַּתֵּ֣ר yyattˈēr נתר run גֹּויִ֔ם gôyˈim גֹּוי people וַ wa וְ and יִּתְפֹּֽצְצוּ֙ yyiṯpˈōṣᵊṣû פצץ shatter הַרְרֵי־ harrê- הַר mountain עַ֔ד ʕˈaḏ עַד future שַׁח֖וּ šaḥˌû שׁחח bow down גִּבְעֹ֣ות givʕˈôṯ גִּבְעָה hill עֹולָ֑ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity הֲלִיכֹ֥ות hᵃlîḵˌôṯ הֲלִיכָה walk עֹולָ֖ם ʕôlˌām עֹולָם eternity לֹֽו׃ lˈô לְ to
3:6. stetit et mensus est terram aspexit et dissolvit gentes et contriti sunt montes saeculi incurvati sunt colles mundi ab itineribus aeternitatis eiusHe stood and measured the earth. He beheld, and melted the nations: and the ancient mountains were crushed to pieces. The hills of the world were bowed down by the journeys of his eternity.
He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways [are] everlasting:

3:6 Он стал и поколебал землю; воззрел, и в трепет привел народы; вековые горы распались, первобытные холмы опали; пути Его вечные.
3:6
ἔστη ιστημι stand; establish
καὶ και and; even
ἐσαλεύθη σαλευω sway; rock
ἡ ο the
γῆ γη earth; land
ἐπέβλεψεν επιβλεπω look on
καὶ και and; even
διετάκη διατηκω nation; caste
διεθρύβη διαθρυπτω the
ὄρη ορος mountain; mount
βίᾳ βια violence
ἐτάκησαν τηκω melt
βουνοὶ βουνος mound
αἰώνιοι αιωνιος eternal; of ages
3:6
עָמַ֣ד׀ ʕāmˈaḏ עמד stand
וַ wa וְ and
יְמֹ֣דֶד yᵊmˈōḏeḏ מדד measure
אֶ֗רֶץ ʔˈereṣ אֶרֶץ earth
רָאָה֙ rāʔˌā ראה see
וַ wa וְ and
יַּתֵּ֣ר yyattˈēr נתר run
גֹּויִ֔ם gôyˈim גֹּוי people
וַ wa וְ and
יִּתְפֹּֽצְצוּ֙ yyiṯpˈōṣᵊṣû פצץ shatter
הַרְרֵי־ harrê- הַר mountain
עַ֔ד ʕˈaḏ עַד future
שַׁח֖וּ šaḥˌû שׁחח bow down
גִּבְעֹ֣ות givʕˈôṯ גִּבְעָה hill
עֹולָ֑ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity
הֲלִיכֹ֥ות hᵃlîḵˌôṯ הֲלִיכָה walk
עֹולָ֖ם ʕôlˌām עֹולָם eternity
לֹֽו׃ lˈô לְ to
3:6. stetit et mensus est terram aspexit et dissolvit gentes et contriti sunt montes saeculi incurvati sunt colles mundi ab itineribus aeternitatis eius
He stood and measured the earth. He beheld, and melted the nations: and the ancient mountains were crushed to pieces. The hills of the world were bowed down by the journeys of his eternity.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:6: He stood, and measured the earth - ארץ erets, the land; he divided the promised land among the twelve tribes. This is the allusion; and this the prophet had in his eye. God not only made a general assignment of the land to the Hebrews; but he even divided it into such portions as the different families required. Here were both power and condescension. When a conqueror had subdued a country, he divided it among his soldiers. Among the Romans, those among whom the conquered lands were divided were termed beneficiary; and the lands beneficia, as being held on the beneficence of the sovereign.
He beheld, and drove asunder the nations - The nations of Canaan, the Hittites, Hivites, Jebusites, etc., and all who opposed his people. Even his look dispersed them.
The everlasting mountains were scattered - Or, broken asunder. This may refer to the convulsions on Mount Sinai; and to the earth quake which announced the descent of the Most High. See Exo 19:18. "God occupied the summit of the eternal Mount Sinai; and led his people over the eternal mountains of Arabia Petraea; and this sense is preferable to the figurative one, that his ways or doings are predetermined front everlasting." - Newcome.
The epithets עד ad, and עולם olam, eternal, and everlasting, are applied to mountains and immense rocks, because no other parts of nature are less subject to decay or change, than these immense masses of earth and stone, and that almost indestructible stone, granite, out of which Sinai appears to be formed. A piece of the beautiful granite of this mountain now lies before me. This is a figurative description of the passage of the Israelites through the deserts of Arabia, over mountains, rocks, and through the trackless wilderness; over and through which God, by his power and providence, gave them a safe passage.
The following beautiful piece from the Fragments of Aeschylus will illustrate the preceding description, and please the learned reader.
Χωριζε θνητων τον Θεον, και μη δοκει
Ομοιον αυτῳ σαρκινον καθεσταναι·
Ουκ οισθα δ' αυτον· ποτε μεν ὡς πυρ φαινεται
Απλαστον ὁρμῃ ποτε δ' ὑδωρ, ποτε δε γνοφος.
Και θηρσιν αυτος γινεται παρεμφερης,
Ανεμῳ, νεφει τε, κᾳστραπῃ, βροντῃ, βροχῃ.
Ὑπηρετει δ' αυτῳ θαλασσα, και πετραι,
Και πασα πηγη, χ' ὑδατος συστηματα·
Τρεμει δ' ορη και γαια και πελωριος
Βυθος θαλασσης, κωρεων ὑψος μεγα,
Οταν επιβλεψῃ γοργον ομμα δεσποτου.
Aeschyli Fragm.
Confound not God with man; nor madly deem
His form is mortal, and of flesh like thine.
Thou know'st him not. Sometimes like fire he glows
In wrath severe; sometimes as water flows;
In brooding darkness now his power conceals
And then in brutes that mighty power reveals.
In clouds tempestuous we the Godhead find;
He mounts the storm, and rides the winged wind;
In vivid lightnings flashes from on high;
In rattling thunders rends the lowering sky;
Fountains and rivers, seas and floods obey,
And ocean's deep abyss yields to his sway;
The mountains tremble, and the hills sink down,
Crumbled to dust by the Almighty's frown.
When God unfolds the terrors of his eye,
All things with horror quake, and in confusion lie.
J. B. B. Clarke.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:6: He stood - It is "a metaphor of his giving victory to Israel" Tanchum.
And measured - So Kimchi, A. E., Rashi, Tanchum, Vulgate. It is borne out by Hithpolel. "extended himself," Kg1 17:21. By an interchange of dentals; מוד might be = מוט, and so the Aramaic and the Septuagint but in no other case do the two forms co-exist in Hebrew.
The earth - Joshua, after he had conquered the land, meted it out and divided it among the people. He who should come, should measure out the earth in its length and breadth, that earth which His glory filleth. "He stood," as Stephen saw Him, Act 7:56, "standing at the right hand of God." Isaiah saith, Isa 3:13 : "The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people." He had not need to go forth, but, in the abode of His glory, "He stood" and beheld and with His eye "measured the earth," as His own, whereas, before the cross, it lay under Co1 2:5, "the Prince of this world," and he had said, Luk 4:6, "it is delivered unto me, and unto whomsoever I will, I give it." "He measureth it," and gave it to His apostles. Mat 28:18; Mar 16:15 : "all power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," and, Psa 19:4, "their sound is gone out into all lands, and their words into the ends of the world." He measureth it also, surveying and weighing all who dwell therein, their persons, qualities, deeds, good or bad, to requite them, as "Judge of quick and dead;" as David cast down Moab and measured them with a line, Sa2 8:2, "to put to death and to keep alive."
He beheld, and drove asunder the nations - or, "made the nations to tremble." When Israel came out of Egypt and God divided the Red Sea before them, they sang: Exo 15:15-16 "The people shall hear and be afraid; terror shall take hold of the inhabitants of Palestine; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold of them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away; fear and dread shall fall on them; by the greatness of Thy power they shall be still as a stone." Fear and awe were to be renewed. All nearness of God brings terror to sinful man. When the news came through the wise men, that they had, Mat 2:1-3, "seen in the East the star of Him who was born, King of the Jews," not only was Herod the King troubled, but "all Jerusalem with him." Pilate Joh 19:8 "was afraid" when he condemned Jesus; the high priests wondered "whereunto this should grow," and expostulated, Act 5:24, Act 5:28, "ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man's blood upon us." Pagandom was as a beleaguered city, mastered by an ubiquitous Presence, which they knew not how to meet . "The state is beset: the Christians are in their fields. in their forts, in their islands. Every sex, age, condition, and now even rank is going over to this sect." The fierceness of the persecutions was the measure of their fear. They put forth all human might to stamp out the spark, lest their gods, and the greatness of the empire which they ascribed to their gods, should fall before this unknown Power.
And the everlasting mountains were scattered; the perpetual hills did bow - all power, great or small, gave way before Him. All which withstood was scattered asunder, all which in pride lifted itself up was brought low, although before the coming of the Saviour it had ever gone with neck erect, and none could humble its pride. There is something so marvelous about those ancient mountains. There they stood before man was on the earth; they are so solid, man so slight; they have survived so many generations of man; they will long survive us; they seem as if they would stand foRev_er; nothing could stand before the might of God. What symbol could be more apt? To the greater pride the heavier lot is assigned; the mountains lifted on high above the earth and, as it were, looking down upon it, are scattered or dispersed, as when a stone flieth in pieces under the stroke of the hammer. The "hills" are bowed down only; and this may be the pride of man humbled under the yoke of Christ.
His ways are everlasting - "Everlasting" is set over against "everlasting." The "everlasting" of the creature, that which had been as long as creation had been, co-existing with its whole duration, its most enduring parts, are as things past and gone; "the everlasting mountains, the hills of eternity," have been scattered in pieces and bowed, and are no more. Over against these stands the everpresent eternity of God. "His ways are everlasting," ordered everlastingly, existing everlastingly in the Divine Mind, and, when in act among us, without change in Him. The prophet blends in these great words, things seemingly contrary, ways which imply progress, eternity which is unchangeable "God ever worketh, and ever resteth; unchangeable, yet changing all; He changeth His works, His purpose unchanged" . "For Thou art Most High, and art not changed, neither in Thee doth today come to a close; yet in Thee it doth come to a close; because all such things also are in Thee. For they had no way to pass away, unless Thou heldest them together. 'And since Thy years fail not,' Thy years are one Today. How many of our's and our fathers' years have flowed away through Thy today; and from it received the measure and the mould of such being as they had; and still others shall flow away, and so receive the mould of their degree of being. But Thou art still the Same; and all things of tomorrow, and all beyond, and all of yesterday, and all behind it, Thou wilt do in this today, Thou hast done in this today"
To these His goings, a highway is made by the breaking down of all which exalted itself, as Isaiah had said, "The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low and the Lord Alone shall be exalted in that day" Isa 2:17; and "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low" Isa 40:3.
Bernard in Ps. Qui habitat. Serra. xi. 8: "The Everlasting ways of the Everlasting God are Mercy and Truth, by these Ways are the hills of the world and the proud demons, the princes of the darkness of this world, bowed down, who knew not the way of mercy and truth nor remembered its paths. What hath he to do with truth, who is a liar and the father of it, and of whom it is written, 'he abode not in the Truth?' But how far he is from Mercy, our misery witnesseth, inflicted on us by him. When was he ever merciful, 'who was a murderer from the beginning?' So then those swelling hills were bowed down from the Everlasting Ways, when through their own crookedness they sunk away from the straight ways of the Lord, and became not so much ways as precipices. How much more prudently and wisely are other hills bowed down and humbled by these ways to salvation! For they were not bowed from them, as parting from their straightness, but the Everlasting Ways themselves bowed down. May we not now see the hills of the world bowed down, when those who are high and mighty with devoted submission bow themselves before the Lord. and worship at His Feet? Are they not bowed down, when from their own destructive loftiness of vanity and cruelty, they are turned to the humble way of mercy and truth?"
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:6: and measured: Exo 15:17, Exo 21:31; Num. 34:1-29; Deu 32:8; Act 17:26
and drove: Jos 10:42, Jos 11:18-23; Neh 9:22-24; Psa 135:8-12
the everlasting: Hab 3:10; Gen 49:26; Deu 33:15; Jdg 5:5; Psa 68:16, Psa 114:4-7; Isa 64:1-3; Nah 1:5; Zac 14:4, Zac 14:5
his: Psa 90:2, Psa 103:17; Isa 51:6, Isa 51:8; Mic 5:8; Mat 24:35; Luk 1:50; Heb 13:8
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
3:6
"He stands, and sets the earth reeling: He looks, and makes nations tremble; primeval mountains burst in pieces, the early hills sink down: His are ways of the olden time. Hab 3:7. I saw the tents of Cushan under affliction: the curtains of the land of Midian tremble." God coming from afar has now drawn near and taken His stand, to smite the nations as a warlike hero (cf. Hab 3:8, Hab 3:9, and Hab 3:11, Hab 3:12). This is affirmed in עמד, He has stationed Himself, not "He steps forth or appears." This standing of Jehovah throws the earth and the nations into trembling. ימדד cannot mean to measure here, for there is no thought of any measuring of the earth, and it cannot be shown that mâdad is used in the sense of measuring with the eye (Ros. and Hitzig). Moreover, the choice of the poel, instead of the piel, would still remain unexplained, and the parallelism of the clauses would be disregarded. We must therefore follow the Chaldee, Ges., Delitzsch, and others, who take מדד as the poel of מוּד = טוּט, to set in a reeling motion. It is only with this interpretation that the two parallel clauses correspond, in which יתּר, the hiphil of נתר, to cause to shake or tremble, answers to ימדד. This explanation is also required by what follows. For just as Hab 3:7 unquestionably gives a further expansion of יתּר גּוים, so does לולם ... יתפּצצוּ contain the explanation of ימדד ארץ. The everlasting hills crumble (יתפּצצוּ from פּוּץ), i.e., burst and resolve themselves into dust, and the hills sink down, pass away, and vanish (compare the similar description in Nahum 1:5 and Mic 1:4). הררי־עד (= הררי קדם, Deut 33:15) in parallelism with נּבעות עולם are the primeval mountains, as being the oldest and firmest constituents of the globe, which have existed from the beginning (מנּי עד, Job 20:4), and were formed at the creation of the earth (Ps 90:2; Job 15:7; Prov 8:25). הליכות עולם לו is not to be taken relatively, and connected with what precedes, "which are the old paths," according to which the hills of God are called everlasting ways (Hitzig); because this does not yield a sense in harmony with the context. It is a substantive clause, and to be taken by itself: everlasting courses or goings are to Him, i.e., He now goes along, as He went along in the olden time. הליכה, the going, advancing, or ways of God, analogous to the דּרך עפולם, the course of the primitive world (Job 22:15). The prophet had Ps 68:25 floating before his mind, in which hălı̄khōth 'ĕlōhı̄m denote the goings of God with His people, or the ways which God had taken from time immemorial in His guidance of them. As He once came down upon Sinai in the cloudy darkness, the thunder, lightning, and fire, to raise Israel up to be His covenant nation, so that the mountains shook (cf. Judg 5:5); so do the mountains and hills tremble and melt away at His coming now. And as He once went before His people, and the tidings of His wondrous acts at the Red Sea threw the neighbouring nations into fear and despair (Ex 15:14-16); so now, when the course of God moves from Teman to the Red Sea, the nations on both sides of it are filled with terror. Of these, two are individualized in Hab 3:7, viz., Cushan and Midian. By Cushan we are not to understand the Mesopotamian king named Cushan Rishathaim, who subjugated Israel for eight years after the death of Joshua (Judg 3:8.); for this neither agrees with אהלי, nor with the introduction of Midian in the parallel clause. The word is a lengthened form for Such, and the name of the African Ethiopians. The Midianites are mentioned along with them, as being inhabitants of the Arabian coast of the Red Sea, which was opposite to them (see at Ex 2:15). אהלי כ, the tents with their inhabitants, the latter being principally intended. The same remark applies to יריעות, lit., the tent-curtains of the land of Midian, i.e., of the tents pitched in the land of Midian.
Geneva 1599
3:6 He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his (f) ways [are] everlasting.
(f) Signifying that God has wonderful means, and always has a marvellous power when he will deliver his Church.
John Gill
3:6 He stood and measured the earth,.... This alludes to the ark of the Lord, the symbol of his presence, standing and abiding at Gilgal for the space of fourteen years, while the land of Canaan was subdued by Joshua; and then measured out by him, and divided by lot, as an inheritance to the children of Israel, according to the direction and appointment of the Lord, Josh 13:1 &c.: here it may have respect to the mission of the apostles into the various parts of the world, and the distribution of it among them; some being sent into one part, and some into another, called their particular line and measure, 2Cor 10:14 some into India, others into Ethiopia; some into Asia, and others into Europe; by which means the Gospel was preached everywhere, and great part of the world became Christians:
he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; with a look of his he made them give way; he drove the Canaanites out of the land, and separated them from one another, and scattered them about, to make room for his people Israel, Ps 78:55,
and the everlasting mountains were scattered; or, "were broken" (i):
the perpetual hills did bow; the mountains and hills that were from the beginning of the creation, that were settled upon their bases, and never moved, now trembled, shook, and bowed, as Sinai and others did, at the presence of the God of Israel; see Judg 5:5 or rather, figuratively, these may design the kingdoms and states, kings and princes, greater and lesser, belonging to the land of Canaan, which were shaken, moved, and taken by the Israelites, and brought into subjection to them; and in like manner kings and kingdoms, comparable to mountains and hills, through the preaching of the Gospel, and the power of Christ attending it, were brought to yield unto him, at the downfall of Paganism in the Roman empire: this is signified by every mountain and island being moved out of their places, and kings and great men calling to the rocks and mountains to fall on them, and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb, Rev_ 6:14,
his ways are everlasting; and what he has done in ages past he can do again; his power, his wisdom, and his grace, are unchangeably the same; and all he does in time, every step he takes, is according to his counsels, purposes, and decrees in eternity, which infallibly come to pass; nor can he be hindered and frustrated in the execution of them; as he has begun, he will go on; as he has set up his kingdom in the world, he will support and maintain it; and though there are many obstructions and remoras in the way of it, he will go on, and remove them, until he has thoroughly established it, and brought it to its highest glory, which he has designed; all mountains and hills are nothing before him; he can soon make them a plain; see Rev_ 11:15, or, "the ways of the world (k) are his"; the world is under his government, and all things in it subject to his providence; he can rule and overrule all things for his own glory, and the good of his interest, and he will do it; everything is subject to his control, and under his direction; not a step can be taken without his will. This the prophet observes along with the above things, to encourage the faith and expectation of the saints, that the work of the Lord will be revived, and his kingdom and interest promoted and established in the world; though there may, and will, be many difficulties and distresses previous to it.
(i) "contriti sunt", Pagninus, Montanus; so R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 95. 1. (k) "itinera mundi", Vatablus, Tigurine version.
John Wesley
3:6 He stood - Gave his presence with Joshua, as one that stood by while the work was done. The land - The promised land. He beheld - Looked with a frowning countenance. Drove asunder - Cast them out, his eye did this, for he looked on them, and did this. His ways - The wisdom, goodness, justice, holiness, and power of God, which he shews in governing his people.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:6 He stood, and measured the earth--Jehovah, in His advance, is represented as stopping suddenly, and measuring the earth with His all-seeing glance, whereat there is universal consternation. MAURER, from a different root, translates, "rocked the earth"; which answers better to the parallel "drove asunder"; the Hebrew for which latter, however, may be better translated, "made to tremble."
everlasting mountains--which have ever been remembered as retaining the same place and form from the foundation of the world.
did bow--as it were, in reverent submission.
his ways are everlasting--His marvellous ways of working for the salvation of His people mark His everlasting character: such as He was in His workings for them formerly, such shall He be now.
3:73:7: փոխանակ աշխատութեանց տեսի։ Խորանք Եթւովպացւոց զարհուրեցան. եւ խորանք երկրին Մադիամու։
7 Նրա ընթացքը յաւիտենական տեսայ, զարհուրեցին եթովպացիների վրանները եւ Մադիամի երկրի վրանները:
7 Քուշանին վրանները նեղութեան տակ տեսայ, Մադիամի երկրին վրանները դողացին։
Խորանք`` Եթէովպացւոց, զարհուրեցան եւ խորանք երկրին Մադիամու:

3:7: փոխանակ աշխատութեանց տեսի։ Խորանք Եթւովպացւոց զարհուրեցան. եւ խորանք երկրին Մադիամու։
7 Նրա ընթացքը յաւիտենական տեսայ, զարհուրեցին եթովպացիների վրանները եւ Մադիամի երկրի վրանները:
7 Քուշանին վրանները նեղութեան տակ տեսայ, Մադիամի երկրին վրանները դողացին։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:73:7 Грустными видел я шатры Ефиопские; сотряслись палатки земли Мадиамской.
3:7 πορείας πορεια travel; journey αἰωνίας αιωνιος eternal; of ages αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him ἀντὶ αντι against; instead of κόπων κοπος labor; weariness εἶδον οραω view; see σκηνώματα σκηνωμα camp; tent Αἰθιόπων αιθιοψ Aithiops; Ethiops πτοηθήσονται πτοεω frighten καὶ και and; even αἱ ο the σκηναὶ σκηνη tent γῆς γη earth; land Μαδιαμ μαδιαν Madian; Mathian
3:7 תַּ֣חַת tˈaḥaṯ תַּחַת under part אָ֔וֶן ʔˈāwen אָוֶן wickedness רָאִ֖יתִי rāʔˌîṯî ראה see אָהֳלֵ֣י ʔohᵒlˈê אֹהֶל tent כוּשָׁ֑ן ḵûšˈān כּוּשָׁן Cushan יִרְגְּז֕וּן yirgᵊzˈûn רגז quake יְרִיעֹ֖ות yᵊrîʕˌôṯ יְרִיעָה curtain אֶ֥רֶץ ʔˌereṣ אֶרֶץ earth מִדְיָֽן׃ ס miḏyˈān . s מִדְיָן Midian
3:7. pro iniquitate vidi tentoria Aethiopiae turbabuntur pelles terrae MadianI saw the tents of Ethiopia for their iniquity, the curtains of the land of Madian shall be troubled.
I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: [and] the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble:

3:7 Грустными видел я шатры Ефиопские; сотряслись палатки земли Мадиамской.
3:7
πορείας πορεια travel; journey
αἰωνίας αιωνιος eternal; of ages
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
ἀντὶ αντι against; instead of
κόπων κοπος labor; weariness
εἶδον οραω view; see
σκηνώματα σκηνωμα camp; tent
Αἰθιόπων αιθιοψ Aithiops; Ethiops
πτοηθήσονται πτοεω frighten
καὶ και and; even
αἱ ο the
σκηναὶ σκηνη tent
γῆς γη earth; land
Μαδιαμ μαδιαν Madian; Mathian
3:7
תַּ֣חַת tˈaḥaṯ תַּחַת under part
אָ֔וֶן ʔˈāwen אָוֶן wickedness
רָאִ֖יתִי rāʔˌîṯî ראה see
אָהֳלֵ֣י ʔohᵒlˈê אֹהֶל tent
כוּשָׁ֑ן ḵûšˈān כּוּשָׁן Cushan
יִרְגְּז֕וּן yirgᵊzˈûn רגז quake
יְרִיעֹ֖ות yᵊrîʕˌôṯ יְרִיעָה curtain
אֶ֥רֶץ ʔˌereṣ אֶרֶץ earth
מִדְיָֽן׃ ס miḏyˈān . s מִדְיָן Midian
3:7. pro iniquitate vidi tentoria Aethiopiae turbabuntur pelles terrae Madian
I saw the tents of Ethiopia for their iniquity, the curtains of the land of Madian shall be troubled.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:7: I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction - Cush is Arabia. The Arabians dwelt in tents, hence they were called Scenitae. When the Lord appeared on Mount Sinai, the Arabs of the Red Sea abandoned their tents, being terror-struck; and the Midianites also were seized with fear. See the desolation wrought among this people by Phinehas, Num 31:1, etc., on account of their having enticed the Israelites to idolatry, Num 25:1, etc. Either Cush and Midian lay contiguous to each other; or, these names are poetically used to express the same place.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:7: I saw - in prophetic vision Kg1 22:17.
The tents of Cushan in (under) affliction - Upon the coming of the Lord there follows the visitation of those alien from Him. . Cushan-Rishathaim was the first, whose ambition God overruled to chasten His people Jdg 3:8-10.. It has been remarked that as "king of Aram-Naharaim" or North Mesopotamia, he was probably sovereign of the Aram, from which Balak king of Moab, allied with Midian, sent for Balaam to curse Israel. Midian was the last enemy who, at the very entrance of the promised land, seduced God's people into idolatry and foul sin and lusts. Midian became then the object of the wrath of God Num 25:17. They were also among the early oppressors of Israel, leaving Jdg 6:4, Jdg 6:11. "no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor ass," driving them for refuge to dwell in the "dens and the mountains, caves and fastnesses," consuming the produce of their land like locusts, so that he whom God raised up as their subduer, was threshing even in a wine-press to hide it from them.
Both the kingdom of Aram-Naharaim and Midian disappear from history after those great defeats. Midian, beside its princes Jdg 8:10. "lost," by mutual slaughter, "one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew sword." It left its name as a proverb for the utter destruction of these who sought to exterminate the people of God. Psa 83:9, Psa 83:11-12. "Do unto them as unto the Midianites; make them and their princes like Oreb and Zeeb; all their princes us Zebah and as Zalmunnah, who said, let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession." It was an exterminating warfare, which rolled back on those who waged it. So Isaiah sums up an utter breaking-off of the yoke and the rod of the oppressor, as being Isa 9:4 "as in the day of Midian." The same word, aven, is nothingness, iniquity, and the fruit of iniquity, trouble (Job 5:6; Job 26:14; Jer 4:15; Hos 9:4; not in Psa 55:4; nor (as Gesenius) in Job 4:8; Psa 22:8; Isa 59:4.) (since iniquity is emptiness and opposed to that which is, God and His Goodness, and ends in sorrow); so then Cushan is seen as lying as all sinners do, weighed down by and under what is very "emptiness."
Tents and curtains are emblems of what shall pass away, under which the wicked shelter themselves from the troubles of this present life, as from heat and rain, "but which in themselves decay, and are consumed by fire." "The curtains of Midian tremble." The prophet uses the present to shew that he was not speaking of any mere past terror, but of that terror, which should still seize those opposed to God. The word "wrath" (רגז rô gez) echoes through the hymns; Hab 3:2. here the wicked tremble, רגז râ gaz, under it, to perish; afterward the prophet Hab 3:16. to live.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:7: saw the: Exo 15:14-16; Num 22:3, Num 22:4; Jos 2:10, Jos 9:24
Cushan: or, Ethiopia, Gen 10:6, Gen 10:7
in affliction: or, under affliction, or vanity
Midian: Gen 25:1-4; Num 31:2-12; Psa 83:5-10
Geneva 1599
3:7 (g) I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: [and] the curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
(g) The iniquity of the king of Syria in vexing your people was made manifest by your judgment, to the comfort of your Church, (Judg 5:10), and also of the Midianites, who destroyed themselves, (Judg 7:22).
John Gill
3:7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction,.... The same with Cush or Ethiopia; hence the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it, "the tents of the Ethiopians"; and these are the same with "the curtains of Midian" in the next clause, tents being made of curtains, and the Ethiopians and Midianites the same people; so the daughter of the priest of Midian, whom Moses married, is called an Ethiopian woman, Ex 2:21. This seems to have respect to that panic which seized the neighbouring nations by whom the Israelites passed, as well as the Canaanites, into whose land they were marching, when they heard what wonderful things were done for them in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, which was predicted by Moses in Ex 15:14 and not only fulfilled in the Canaanites, as appears from what Rahab says, Josh 2:9 but particularly in the Moabites and Midianites, who sent to each other, and consulted together against Israel; and, by the advice of Balaam, found ways and means to draw them into fornication, and so to idolatry; for which the Israelites having suffered, were stirred up to avenge themselves on them, and slew five of their kings, and a great multitude of their people; and so the words may be rendered, "for iniquity" (l); and the word is often used for idolatry; that is, for the sin they drew the Israelites into, they were brought into trembling and great distress, which the prophet saw, perceived, and understood by reading the history of those times; see Num 22:3 though the Jewish commentators, and others, generally refer this to the case of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia, who carried Israel into captivity, from whence they were delivered by Othniel, who prevailed against Cushan, and into whose hands he fell; and so then he and his people were seen in affliction, Judg 3:7 but Cushan here is not the name of a man, but of a country: and whereas it follows,
the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble; this is thought to refer to the times of Gideon, when the Midianites were overcome by him with three hundred men, and in their fright fell upon and destroyed each other; signified by a barley cake tumbling into the host of Midian, and overturning a tent, as represented in a dream to one of Gideon's men, Judg 7:13 but the former reference seems best; and it should be observed, that Cush or Ethiopia, and Midian, were parts of Arabia; for not only the Arabians are said to be near the Ethiopians, or at the hand of the Cushites, 2Chron 21:16 but Sinai, a part of Horeb, where Moses fed the flock of his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, is expressly said to be in Arabia; compare Ex 3:1 and with those Arabians called Scenitae, from their dwelling in tents, agree the characters in the text: now the people inhabiting those places, the prophet foresaw by a spirit of prophecy "under vanity" (m), as it may be rendered; that is, "subject" to it, as the whole Gentile world was, Rom 8:20 or under the power of idolatry; but it was foretold that these should be converted in Gospel times, Ps 68:31 which was brought about, partly by the Apostles Matthew and Matthias, said to be sent into Ethiopia; and partly by the Ethiopian eunuch, converted and baptized by Philip, who doubtless was the means of spreading the Gospel in his own country, when returned to it, Acts 8:27 and chiefly by the Apostle Paul, who went into Arabia, and preached there, quickly after his conversion; and here were churches in the first times of Christianity; See Gill on Gal 1:17 and at this time Cushan or Ethiopia was in affliction; and the Midianites trembled, such of them to whom the word came in power, and they were made sensible of their danger and misery, as the apostle did, the instrument of their conversion, Acts 9:6 once more, as an Ethiopian is an emblem of a man in a state of nature, and describes very aptly wicked and profligate persons, apostates from religion, and such as are persecutors of good men, Jer 13:23 it may design such here; and be expressive of their distress and trouble, the fear and dread they would be seized with on seeing Christianity prevail, and Paganism falling in the Roman empire; which distress and trembling are in a very lively manner set forth in Rev_ 6:15.
(l) "propter iniquitatem", V. L. Calvin, Tigurine version. (m) "Subjecta vanitati", Heb.; "sub vanitate", Piscator, Cocceius, Van Till.
John Wesley
3:7 The tents - The people that dwelt in them. Arabia - Near whose borders Israel marched. In affliction - In fear and pain, lest that mighty people should fall on them. The curtains - Those that dwelt within them; these people dwelt in tents, which were made up on the sides with curtains.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:7 the tents--that is, the dwellers.
Cushan--the same as Cush; made "Cush-an" to harmonize with "Midi-an" in the parallel clause. So Lotan is found in the Hebrew of Genesis for Lot. BOCHART therefore considers it equivalent to Midian, or a part of Arabia. So in Num 12:1, Moses' Midianite wife is called an Ethiopian (Hebrew, Cushite). MAURER thinks the dwellers on both sides of the Arabian Gulf, or Red Sea, are meant; for in Hab 3:6 God's everlasting or ancient ways of delivering His people are mentioned; and in Hab 3:8, the dividing of the Red Sea for them. Compare Miriam's song as to the fear of Israel's foes far and near caused thereby (Ex 15:14-16). Hebrew expositors refer it to Chushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, or Syria, the first oppressor of Israel (Judg 3:8, Judg 3:10), from whom Othniel delivered them. Thus the second hemistich of the verse will refer to the deliverance of Israel from Midian by Gideon (Jdg. 6:1-7:25) to which Hab 3:11 plainly refers. Whichever of these views be correct, the general reference is to God's interpositions against Israel's foes of old.
in affliction--rather, "under affliction" (regarded) as a heavy burden. Literally, "vanity" or "iniquity," hence the punishment of it (compare Num 25:17-18).
curtains--the coverings of their tents; the shifting habitations of the nomad tribes, which resembled the modern Bedouins.
tremble--namely, at Jehovah's terrible interposition for Israel against them.
3:83:8: Միթէ գետոց բարկասցի՛ս Տէր. կամ սրտմտութիւն քո ՚ի վերայ գետոց, կամ ասպատակ քո ՚ի վերայ ծովու. զի ելցե՛ս յերիվարս քո, եւ հեծելութիւն քո փրկութիւն է[10731]։ [10731] Ոմանք. Կամ ասպատակք քո։
8 Մի՞թէ գետերի դէմ ես բարկանում, Տէ՛ր, քո բարկութիւնը գետերի՞ վրայ է ընկնում, կամ քո ասպատակութիւնը՝ ծովերի՞ վրայ, որպէսզի բարձրանաս քո ձիու վրայ, իսկ քո հեծնելը փրկութիւն է:
8 Միթէ գետերուն բարկացա՞ւ Տէրը, Քու սրտմտութիւնդ գետերուն վրա՞յ էր, Բարկութիւնդ ծովուն վրա՞յ էր, Որ քու ձիերդ ու փրկութեան կառքերդ հեծար։
Միթէ գետոց բարկասցի՞ Տէր, կամ սրտմտութիւն քո ի վերայ գետո՞ց, կամ [38]ասպատակ քո ի վերայ ծովո՞ւ, զի ելցես յերիվարս քո, եւ [39]հեծելութիւն քո փրկութիւն է:

3:8: Միթէ գետոց բարկասցի՛ս Տէր. կամ սրտմտութիւն քո ՚ի վերայ գետոց, կամ ասպատակ քո ՚ի վերայ ծովու. զի ելցե՛ս յերիվարս քո, եւ հեծելութիւն քո փրկութիւն է[10731]։
[10731] Ոմանք. Կամ ասպատակք քո։
8 Մի՞թէ գետերի դէմ ես բարկանում, Տէ՛ր, քո բարկութիւնը գետերի՞ վրայ է ընկնում, կամ քո ասպատակութիւնը՝ ծովերի՞ վրայ, որպէսզի բարձրանաս քո ձիու վրայ, իսկ քո հեծնելը փրկութիւն է:
8 Միթէ գետերուն բարկացա՞ւ Տէրը, Քու սրտմտութիւնդ գետերուն վրա՞յ էր, Բարկութիւնդ ծովուն վրա՞յ էր, Որ քու ձիերդ ու փրկութեան կառքերդ հեծար։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:83:8 Разве на реки воспылал, Господи, гнев Твой? разве на реки негодование Твое, или на море ярость Твоя, что Ты восшел на коней Твоих, на колесницы Твои спасительные?
3:8 μὴ μη not ἐν εν in ποταμοῖς ποταμος river ὠργίσθης οργιζω impassioned; anger κύριε κυριος lord; master ἢ η or; than ἐν εν in ποταμοῖς ποταμος river ὁ ο the θυμός θυμος provocation; temper σου σου of you; your ἢ η or; than ἐν εν in θαλάσσῃ θαλασσα sea τὸ ο the ὅρμημά ορμημα impulse; indignation σου σου of you; your ὅτι οτι since; that ἐπιβήσῃ επιβαινω mount; step on ἐπὶ επι in; on τοὺς ο the ἵππους ιππος horse σου σου of you; your καὶ και and; even ἡ ο the ἱππασία ιππασια of you; your σωτηρία σωτηρια safety
3:8 הֲ hᵃ הֲ [interrogative] בִ vi בְּ in נְהָרִים֙ nᵊhārîm נָהָר stream חָרָ֣ה ḥārˈā חרה be hot יְהוָ֔ה [yᵊhwˈāh] יְהוָה YHWH אִ֤ם ʔˈim אִם if בַּ ba בְּ in † הַ the נְּהָרִים֙ nnᵊhārîm נָהָר stream אַפֶּ֔ךָ ʔappˈeḵā אַף nose אִם־ ʔim- אִם if בַּ ba בְּ in † הַ the יָּ֖ם yyˌom יָם sea עֶבְרָתֶ֑ךָ ʕevrāṯˈeḵā עֶבְרָה anger כִּ֤י kˈî כִּי that תִרְכַּב֙ ṯirkˌav רכב ride עַל־ ʕal- עַל upon סוּסֶ֔יךָ sûsˈeʸḵā סוּס horse מַרְכְּבֹתֶ֖יךָ markᵊvōṯˌeʸḵā מֶרְכָּבָה chariot יְשׁוּעָֽה׃ yᵊšûʕˈā יְשׁוּעָה salvation
3:8. numquid in fluminibus iratus es Domine aut in fluminibus furor tuus vel in mari indignatio tua quia ascendes super equos tuos et quadrigae tuae salvatioWast thou angry, O Lord, with the rivers? or was thy wrath upon the rivers? or thy indignation in the sea? Who will ride upon thy horses: and thy chariots are salvation.
Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? [was] thine anger against the rivers? [was] thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses [and] thy chariots of salvation:

3:8 Разве на реки воспылал, Господи, гнев Твой? разве на реки негодование Твое, или на море ярость Твоя, что Ты восшел на коней Твоих, на колесницы Твои спасительные?
3:8
μὴ μη not
ἐν εν in
ποταμοῖς ποταμος river
ὠργίσθης οργιζω impassioned; anger
κύριε κυριος lord; master
ἢ η or; than
ἐν εν in
ποταμοῖς ποταμος river
ὁ ο the
θυμός θυμος provocation; temper
σου σου of you; your
ἢ η or; than
ἐν εν in
θαλάσσῃ θαλασσα sea
τὸ ο the
ὅρμημά ορμημα impulse; indignation
σου σου of you; your
ὅτι οτι since; that
ἐπιβήσῃ επιβαινω mount; step on
ἐπὶ επι in; on
τοὺς ο the
ἵππους ιππος horse
σου σου of you; your
καὶ και and; even
ἡ ο the
ἱππασία ιππασια of you; your
σωτηρία σωτηρια safety
3:8
הֲ hᵃ הֲ [interrogative]
בִ vi בְּ in
נְהָרִים֙ nᵊhārîm נָהָר stream
חָרָ֣ה ḥārˈā חרה be hot
יְהוָ֔ה [yᵊhwˈāh] יְהוָה YHWH
אִ֤ם ʔˈim אִם if
בַּ ba בְּ in
† הַ the
נְּהָרִים֙ nnᵊhārîm נָהָר stream
אַפֶּ֔ךָ ʔappˈeḵā אַף nose
אִם־ ʔim- אִם if
בַּ ba בְּ in
† הַ the
יָּ֖ם yyˌom יָם sea
עֶבְרָתֶ֑ךָ ʕevrāṯˈeḵā עֶבְרָה anger
כִּ֤י kˈî כִּי that
תִרְכַּב֙ ṯirkˌav רכב ride
עַל־ ʕal- עַל upon
סוּסֶ֔יךָ sûsˈeʸḵā סוּס horse
מַרְכְּבֹתֶ֖יךָ markᵊvōṯˌeʸḵā מֶרְכָּבָה chariot
יְשׁוּעָֽה׃ yᵊšûʕˈā יְשׁוּעָה salvation
3:8. numquid in fluminibus iratus es Domine aut in fluminibus furor tuus vel in mari indignatio tua quia ascendes super equos tuos et quadrigae tuae salvatio
Wast thou angry, O Lord, with the rivers? or was thy wrath upon the rivers? or thy indignation in the sea? Who will ride upon thy horses: and thy chariots are salvation.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
8. Заключающийся здесь вопрос в смысле описаннных ранее грозных феномен имеет значение недействительного вопроса, требующего соответствующего ответа, а скорее есть поэтический прием - обычная в библейско-поэтических произведениях пауза (ср. Быт XLIX:14; Суд V:12; Пс LXVII:20: сл. ; XVII:21), служащая переходом к изображению новой теофании. Общий смысл стиха и особенно второй половины его тот, что, по библейскому воззрению, стихии природы и все отдельные явления ее служат целям Божественного мироправления (ср. Пс CIII:4; XVII:11), самый же образ колесниц и коней пророком заимствован из истории чудесного перехода евреев через Красное море (Исх XIV:25-26; XV:3-4). "Как Иордан и Красное море иссушил Ты, сражаясь за нас, не потому, что гневался на реки и море, и не потому, что неодушевленные предметы могли навлечь чем-либо гнев (Твой); так и теперь, восходя на колесницы Свои, схватывая лук, Ты дашь спасение народу Твоему, и навеки исполнишь клятвы, которыми Ты клялся отцам нашим и народам" (блаж. Иероним, с. 202). Напротив (вопреки мнению библеистов рационалистического направления, как: Гункел, Марти), никакого намека на мифологическую борьбу стихий, напр. на миф ассириологии о Тиамате (бездна, хаос) в словах пророка не замечается.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:8: Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? - Floods; here is a reference to the passage of the Red Sea. The Lord is represented as heading his troops, riding in his chariot, and commanding the sea to divide, that a free passage might be left for his army to pass over.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:8: Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? - The prophet asks the question thrice, as to the two miracles of the dividing of the Red Sea and the Jordan River, thereby the more earnestly declaring, that God meant somewhat by these acts and beyond them. He asks, as Daniel Dan 7:16. and Zechariah asked, what was the truth of the things which they saw. God's defilings with His former people were as much ensamples of what should be with us Co1 10:11. as the visions shown to the prophets. Hereafter too, there shall be Luk 21:25; Rev 8:6 "signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;" there shall be deepening plagues upon the sea and the rivers and fountains of waters; and every living soul in the sea shall die Rev 16:3. But God's purpose therein aforetime was not as to the sea or the rivers, but for the salvation of His elect; so shall it be to the end. Mighty as may be the "mighty waves of the sea" which lift themselves up against the Lord, "mightier on high is the Lord" Psa 93:4. Jerome: "As Thou didst dry up the Jordan and the Red Sea, fighting for us; for Thou wert not wroth with the rivers or the sea, nor could things without sense offend Thee; so now mounting Thy chariots, and taking Thy bow, Thou wilt give salvation to Thy people; and the oaths which Thou swarest to our fathers and the tribes, Thou wilt fulfill foRev_er."
Thou didst ride upon Thy horses - as though God set His army Psa 103:12. "the Hosts which do His pleasure," against the armies of earth, as the prophet's servant had his eyes opened to see Kg2 6:15. "the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." Jerome: "Yet amidst so many thousands of horses and chariots, there was no rider; He was the Rider and Ruler of those horses, of whom the Psalmist says Psa 80:1. 'Thou that sittest above the Cherubim, shew Thyself.' With such horses and such chariots was Elijah also taken up into Heaven."
And Thy chariots of salvation - literally "Thy chariots are salvation." Not, as in human armies, except as far as they are the armies of God, to destruction. The end of God's armies, His visitations and judgments, is the salvation of His elect, even while they who are inwardly dead, perish outwardly also. Nor, again, do they prepare for the deliverance for which He intends them. With God, to will is to do. His chariots are salvation. His help is present help. His chariots are the tokens and channels of His Presence to aid. And so, they who bore His "Name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel, chosen vessels" to bear it, are, in a yet fuller sense, His chariots, which are salvation. Jerome said that they "are holy souls, upon which the word of God cometh, to save them and others by them Sol 1:9.. 'I have compared thee,' saith the Spouse, 'to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.' However holy the soul, yet compared to God, it is like the chariot of Pharaoh; and a beast, yet still a beast, before Thee." Psa 73:23.. Yet such an one, as endowed with might and ready obedience, and swiftness and nobleness to bear the Word of God, and through His might whom they bore, not their own, nor making it their own, bearing down everything which opposed itself.
Cyril: "The object of the prophet, is to show that the second dispensation is better and more glorious, and of incomparably better things than the old. For of old He led Israel forth, through the bodily service of Moses, changing into blood the rivers of Egypt, and doing signs and wonders; then dividing the Red Sea, and carrying over the redeemed, and choking in the waters the most warlike of the Egyptians. But when the only-begotten Word of God became Man, He withdrew the whole human race under heaven from the tyranny of Satan, not changing rivers into blood, nor pouring forth His anger upon waters, nor dividing waves of the sea, nor bringing destruction upon people, but rather destroying the murderous Serpent himself, and taking away the sin which had been invented by him and for him, and loosing the unconquered might of death, and calling all to the knowledge of God, through the holy apostles, who, running forth their course under the whole heaven and bearing about the name of Christ, were very rightly had in admiration.
He saith then, O Lord, most worthy to be heard are those things, of which Thou hast Thyself been the Doer, and what Thou hast done anew is far better than what Thou didst through Moses. For Thou wilt not inflict wrath on rivers, nor show Thy might on the sea; not in these things will Thy divine and marvelous power gleam forth, but 'Thou wilt ride upon Thy horses,' and 'Thy chariots are Salvation.' What may these horses be? The blessed disciples, apostles and evangelists, they who took on them wholly the yoke of all His divine will, they, the noble, the obedient, ready for all things, whatsoever should please Him; who had Christ to sit upon them, whereof one is the blessed Paul, of whom Himself saith, Act 9:15 : 'He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My Name before the Gentiles.' Of fiery speed were these Horses, encompassing the whole earth; so then the chariots of God are said to be 'ten thousand times ten thousand' Psa 68:17. For countless, each in their times, and after them, became leaders of the people, and subjected the neck of the understanding to the yoke of the Saviour, and bare about His glory throughout the whole earth, and rightly divided the word of truth, and subdued the whole earth, as with the speed of horsemen."
His chariots are salvation - Cyril: "for they ran not in vain, but to save cities and countries and nations together, Christ overthrowing the empires of devils, who, so to speak, divided among themselves the whole earth, subduing its dwellers to their own will."
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:8: the Lord: Exo 14:21, Exo 14:22; Jos 3:16, Jos 3:17; Psa 114:3, Psa 114:5; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4; Mar 4:39; Rev 16:12
ride: Hab 3:15; Deu 33:26, Deu 33:27; Psa 18:10, Psa 45:4, Psa 68:4, Psa 68:17, Psa 104:3; Isa 19:1; Rev 6:2; Rev 19:11, Rev 19:14
of salvation: or, were salvation
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
3:8
To the impression produced upon the nations by the coming of the Lord to judge the world, there is now appended in Hab 3:8. a description of the execution of the judgment. Hab 3:8. "Was it against rivers, O Jehovah, against the rivers that Thy wrath was kindled? that Thou ridest hither upon Thy horses, Thy chariots of salvation. Hab 3:9. Thy bow lays itself bare; rods are sworn by word. Selah. Thou splittest the earth into rivers." The ode, taking a new turn, now passes from the description of the coming of God, to an address to God Himself. To the mental eye of the prophet, God presents Himself as Judge of the world, in the threatening attitude of a warlike hero equipped for conflict, so that he asks Him what is the object of His wrath. The question is merely a poetical turn given to a lively composition, which expects no answer, and is simply introduced to set forth the greatness of the wrath of God, so that in substance it is an affirmation. The wrath of God is kindled over the rivers, His fury over the sea. The first clause of the question is imperfect; Jehovah is not the subject, but a vocative, or an appeal, since chârâh, when predicated of God, is construed with ל. The subject follows in the double clause, into which the question divides itself, in אפּך and עברתך. Here the indefinite בּנהרים is defined by בּנּהרים. Hannehârı̄m, the rivers, are not any particular rivers, such as the arms of the Nile in Lower Egypt, or the rivers of Ethiopia, the Nile and Astaboras, the nahărē Khūsh (Is 18:1; Zeph 3:10 : see Delitzsch), but the rivers of the earth generally; and "the sea" (hayyâm) is not the Red Sea, but the world-sea, as in Nahum 1:4 (cf. Ps 89:10; Job 38:8). It is true that this description rests upon the two facts of the miraculous dividing of the Red Sea and of the Jordan (Ex 15:18; Ps 114:3, Ps 114:5); but it rises far above these to a description of God as the Judge of the world, who can smite in His wrath not only the sea of the world, but all the rivers of the earth. עברה is stronger than אף, the wrath which passes over, or breaks through every barrier. Kı̄, quod, explaining and assigning the reason for the previous question. The riding upon horses is not actual riding, but driving in chariots with horses harnessed to them, as the explanatory words "thy chariots" (מרכּבתיך) clearly shows, and as râkhabh (to ride) always signifies when predicated of God (cf. Deut 33:26; Ps 68:34; Ps 104:3). Yeshū‛âh is governed by markebhōthekhâ, with the freedom of construction allowed in poetry, as in 2Kings 22:33; Ps 71:7, whereas in prose the noun is generally repeated in the construct state (vid., Gen 37:23, and Ewald, 291, b). Yeshū‛âh signifies salvation, even in this case, and not victory, - a meaning which it never has, and which is all the more inapplicable here, because yeshū‛âh is interpreted in Hab 3:13 by לישׁע. By describing the chariots of God as chariots of salvation, the prophet points at the outset to the fact, that the riding of God has for its object the salvation or deliverance of His people.
Geneva 1599
3:8 Was the LORD displeased against the (h) rivers? [was] thy anger against the rivers? [was] thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride (i) upon thy horses [and] thy chariots of salvation?
(h) Meaning that God was not angry with the waters, but that by this means he would destroy his enemies, and deliver his Church.
(i) And so did use all the elements as instruments for the destruction of your enemies.
John Gill
3:8 Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers?.... Referring, as is commonly thought, either to the rivers in Egypt turned into blood, which was one of the plagues of that land, Ex 7:20 when the resentment of the Lord was not so much against them as against the Egyptians; and as a punishment of them for drowning the infants of the Israelites in them, and in order to obtain the dismissal of his people from that land: or else to the river Jordan, called "rivers", because of the largeness of it, and the abundance of water in it; against which the Lord was not angry, when he divided the waters of it, which was done only to make a passage through it for his people into the land of Canaan, Josh 3:16,
was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? the Red sea, when a strong east wind was sent, and divided the waters of it, which was no mark of displeasure against that; but for the benefit of the people of Israel, that they might pass through it as on dry land; and for the destruction of Pharaoh and his hosts, who, entering into it with his horses and chariots, were drowned; the Lord coming forth against him, riding on his horses and chariots, the pillar of fire and cloud, by which he defended Israel, and through which he looked, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians, and wrought salvation for his people; see Ex 14:19 with which compare Ps 114:3. The clouds are the chariots of the Lord, Ps 104:3 so angels, who are sometimes signified by horses and chariots, Ps 18:10 Zech 1:8 and here they may design the angels of Michael, or Christ, Rev_ 12:7 the Christian emperors, Constantine and Theodosius, whom the Lord raised up, and made use of as instruments to demolish Paganism, establish Christianity, and deliver and save his people from their persecutors, who came in like a flood upon them; and who, for their number and force, were comparable to rivers, yea, to the sea; and upon whom the Lord showed some manifest tokens of his wrath and displeasure; so people, tongues, and nations, are compared to many waters, Rev_ 17:15 and monarchs and their armies, Is 8:7 and the Targum here interprets the rivers of kings and their armies: and it may be observed that some parts of the Roman empire are signified by the sea, and rivers and fountains of waters, on which the blowing of the second and third trumpets brought desolation; as the antichristian states are described by the same, on which the second and third vials of God's wrath will be poured, when he will indeed be displeased and angry with the rivers and the sea, figuratively understood, Rev_ 8:8.
John Wesley
3:8 The sea - The Red Sea. Ride - As a general in the head of his army. Upon thine horses - Alluding to the manner of men. Salvation - No; but he came to save his people.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:8 Was the Lord displeased against the rivers?--"Was the cause of His dividing the Red Sea and Jordan His displeasure against these waters?" The answer to this is tacitly implied in "Thy chariots of salvation." "Nay; it was not displeasure against the waters, but His pleasure in interposing for His people's salvation" (compare Hab 3:10).
thy chariots--in antithesis to Thy foe, Pharaoh's chariots," which, notwithstanding their power and numbers, were engulfed in the waters of destruction. God can make the most unlikely means work for His people's salvation (Ex 14:7, Ex 14:9, Ex 14:23, Ex 14:25-28; Ex 15:3-8, Ex 15:19). Jehovah's chariots are His angels (Ps 68:17), or the cherubim, or the ark (Josh 3:13; Josh 4:7; compare Song 1:9).
3:93:9: Լարելո՛վ լարեսցես զաղեղն քո ՚ի վերայ իշխանութեան ասէ Տէր. գետո՛ց պատառեցաւ երկիր[10732]. [10732] Ոմանք. Գետոց պատառեսցէ։
9 Շատ ձիգ կը լարես քո աղեղը իշխանութեան դէմ, - ասում է Տէրը, - երկիրը գետերով պատռուեց:
9 Քու աղեղդ բոլորովին մերկացաւ, Իսրայէլի ցեղերուն ըրած երդումներուդ ու քու խօսքիդ պէս (Սէլա).Երկիրը գետերով պատռեցիր։
Լարելով լարեսցես զաղեղն քո ի վերայ իշխանութեան, ասէ Տէր. գետոց պատառեցաւ երկիր:

3:9: Լարելո՛վ լարեսցես զաղեղն քո ՚ի վերայ իշխանութեան ասէ Տէր. գետո՛ց պատառեցաւ երկիր[10732].
[10732] Ոմանք. Գետոց պատառեսցէ։
9 Շատ ձիգ կը լարես քո աղեղը իշխանութեան դէմ, - ասում է Տէրը, - երկիրը գետերով պատռուեց:
9 Քու աղեղդ բոլորովին մերկացաւ, Իսրայէլի ցեղերուն ըրած երդումներուդ ու քու խօսքիդ պէս (Սէլա).Երկիրը գետերով պատռեցիր։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:93:9 Ты обнажил лук Твой по клятвенному обетованию, данному коленам. Ты потоками рассек землю.
3:9 ἐντείνων εντεινω the τόξον τοξον bow σου σου of you; your ἐπὶ επι in; on τὰ ο the σκῆπτρα σκηπτρον tell; declare κύριος κυριος lord; master διάψαλμα διαψαλμα river ῥαγήσεται ρηγνυμι gore; burst γῆ γη earth; land
3:9 עֶרְיָ֤ה ʕeryˈā עֶרְיָה nakedness תֵעֹור֙ ṯēʕôr עור be naked קַשְׁתֶּ֔ךָ qaštˈeḵā קֶשֶׁת bow שְׁבֻעֹ֥ות šᵊvuʕˌôṯ שְׁבוּעָה oath מַטֹּ֖ות maṭṭˌôṯ מַטֶּה staff אֹ֣מֶר ʔˈōmer אֹמֶר saying סֶ֑לָה sˈelā סֶלָה sela נְהָרֹ֖ות nᵊhārˌôṯ נָהָר stream תְּבַקַּע־ tᵊvaqqaʕ- בקע split אָֽרֶץ׃ ʔˈāreṣ אֶרֶץ earth
3:9. suscitans suscitabis arcum tuum iuramenta tribubus quae locutus es semper fluvios scindes terraeThou wilt surely take up thy bow: according to the oaths which thou hast spoken to the tribes. Thou wilt divide the rivers of the earth.
Thy bow was made quite naked, [according] to the oaths of the tribes, [even thy] word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers:

3:9 Ты обнажил лук Твой по клятвенному обетованию, данному коленам. Ты потоками рассек землю.
3:9
ἐντείνων εντεινω the
τόξον τοξον bow
σου σου of you; your
ἐπὶ επι in; on
τὰ ο the
σκῆπτρα σκηπτρον tell; declare
κύριος κυριος lord; master
διάψαλμα διαψαλμα river
ῥαγήσεται ρηγνυμι gore; burst
γῆ γη earth; land
3:9
עֶרְיָ֤ה ʕeryˈā עֶרְיָה nakedness
תֵעֹור֙ ṯēʕôr עור be naked
קַשְׁתֶּ֔ךָ qaštˈeḵā קֶשֶׁת bow
שְׁבֻעֹ֥ות šᵊvuʕˌôṯ שְׁבוּעָה oath
מַטֹּ֖ות maṭṭˌôṯ מַטֶּה staff
אֹ֣מֶר ʔˈōmer אֹמֶר saying
סֶ֑לָה sˈelā סֶלָה sela
נְהָרֹ֖ות nᵊhārˌôṯ נָהָר stream
תְּבַקַּע־ tᵊvaqqaʕ- בקע split
אָֽרֶץ׃ ʔˈāreṣ אֶרֶץ earth
3:9. suscitans suscitabis arcum tuum iuramenta tribubus quae locutus es semper fluvios scindes terrae
Thou wilt surely take up thy bow: according to the oaths which thou hast spoken to the tribes. Thou wilt divide the rivers of the earth.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
9-15. Общий смысл этого отдела понятен: как видно из ст. 12-го, здесь дается ответ на вопрос (ст. 8) о смысле и основании стихийных феноменов, величественных и разрушительных, которыми сопутствуется явление Бога в мире: гнев Божий обращен не на море и реки (ст. 8), а на людей, именно против халдеев и подобных им, прогневавших Бога своим нечестием, народов. Но понимание частностей встречает затруднение в разности текстов еврейского и греческого. Не вдаваясь в подробное сличение и примирение обоих текстов, ограничимся кратким анализом и пояснением содержания речи пророка в данном отделе. Ст. 9-11, судя по заключающимся здесь образам, напоминают историю чудесного перехода евреев через Чермное море при Моисее (ст. 9: см. Исх XIV:21) и через Иордан пред занятием Палестины при Иисусе Навине (Нав III:16), а также чудесное солнцестояние при нем же (ст. 11: см. Нав X:13). Напоминание это имеет целью оживить в слушателях или читателях пророка сознание беспредельного всемогущества Божия, непреоборимой силы Иеговы в борьбе с народами, враждебными избранному народу Божию (ст. 12), и отдельных разных времен провозвестников Божественной истины из среды его. "И при восстаниях на посланных Тобою к народам проповедников, Ты, говорит пророк, имея неизреченное могущество, изобилуя всякими карательными орудиями, хотя одним крещением можешь растлить всю землю с ее обитателями, однако же пребудешь долготерпеливым" (блаж. Феодорит, с. 36-37). В стихе 18-м, наконец, ясно и определенно указывается цель всего Богоявления: спасение помазанника или помазанников Божиих. Под именем помазанника, евр. машиах по библейскому словоупотреблению здесь, как и в весьма многих других местах, можно разуметь царя иудейского, так как цари иудейские, как поставляемые Богом, обычно именовались этим названием (1: Цар II:10-35; XII:3, 5; XVI:6; XXIV:7, 11; XXVI:9, 1; Пс II:2; ХVII:51; XIX:7; Плач IV:20: и др. ). Но так как последние Иудейские цари были люди недостойные своего теократического призвания, то под этим почетным и священным именем естественнее разуметь весь народ Божий, притом более в его идее, чем в конкретной действительности. Такой обширный смысл рассматриваемого термина был вообще известен Ветхому Завету, где помазанными, кроме царей, именовались еще патриархи - родоначальники еврейского народа (Пс CIV:15), позднее первосвященники (Лев IV:3, 5, 16), еще позже и в одном лишь месте Персидский царь Кир (Ис XLV:1). О всем еврейском народе это имя употреблено, по-видимому, в _Пс LXXXVIII:39, 52: (ср. Пс LXXXIII:10), а также, вероятно, и в рассматриваемом месте. Наконец, в перспективе пророческого созерцания именем Машках, Мессия, Христос, не раз имеется в виду грядущий Христос Спаситель (см. Пс II:2; см. Ин I:42; IV:25), а также и все Его последователи, как соучастники Его помазания. В этом смысле блаж. Феодорит замечает к ст. 13: "помазанными пророк называет удостоившихся призвания, с верою принявших проповедь, и сподобившихся благодати Божественного Духа" (с. 37). Вторая половина ст. 13: выражает мысль о покровительстве Промысла Божия Своим избранникам через наказание нечестивых врагов их, - ближе всего Халдеев. Мысль о неизбежности кары Божией для врагов и поработителей народа Божия господствует и в следующих, 14: и 15, стихах. Смысл ст. 14: блаж. Феодорит перифразирует следующим образом: "Когда могущество Твое сделается явным для всех людей; тогда облеченные высокою властью придут в такой страх, что не с дерзновением, но в скрытности и тайно станут выражать свое противление, так что справедливо иной уподобит их нищему, который не смеет вкушать пищу явно, но жует ее, не разверзая уст своих" (с. 37). Содержание ст. 15: близко напоминает вторую половину ст. 8.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:9: Thy bow was made quite naked - That is, it was drawn out of its case; as the arrows had their quiver, so the bows had their cases. A fine oriental bow and bow-case, with quiver and arrows, are now before me; they show with what propriety Jehovah is represented as taking his bow out of its case, in order to set his arrow upon the cord, to shoot at his enemies. It is not the drawing out, or making bare the arrow, that is mentioned here; but the taking the bow out of its case to prepare to shoot.
This verse appears to be an answer to the questions in the preceding: "Was the Lord displeased," etc. The answer is, All this was done "according to the oaths of the tribes;" the covenant of God, frequently repeated and renewed, which he made with the tribes, to give them the land of the Canaanites for their inheritance.
Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers - Or, "Thou didst cleave the streams of the land." Or, "Thou cleavedst the dry land into rivers." This may be a reference to the passage of Jordan, and transactions at Arnon and the brook Jabbok. See Num 21:13-15.
In this verse we have Selah again, which, as before, may signify a pause, or some alteration in the music.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:9: Thy bow was made quite naked - The word is repeated for emphasis. Literally, (In) "nakedness, it was laid naked;" the sheath being laid aside and cast away, as Isaiah says, Isa 22:6. "Kir laid bare the shield." Gregory, Mor. xix. 9. n. 54, Compare Augustine in Ps. 59, n. 6.: The bow represents the threat of the vengeance of Almighty God, from which it is at length discharged, if not turned aside; the longer the string is drawn, the sharper issueth the arrow. So then the more the coming of the day of judgment is delayed, the stricter is the severity of the judgment then issuing. So long as judgment is delayed, the bow seems laid up in its sheath. God's judgments mostly strike suddenly. Psa 64:7, "as with a swift arrow," because men regard them not, coming from a bow at a distance which they see not. His more signal judgments He makes bare in sight of all.
According to the oath of (to) the tribes - "the oath which He swore unto our father Abraham," which oath He often renewed to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and again to David This oath, the word and promise of God, was the pledge of the deliverance of His people, that they "should be saved from their enemies, and from the hand of all that hate them." It lay, as it were, covered and hid, so long as God completed it not. Selah. A pause followeth, wherein to meditate on all which is contained in the word or promise of God, which is all time and eternity.
Thou didst cleave the earth with (into) rivers - Sea and river had become dry land for the passing through of God's people; again, the rock, struck by Moses' rod, was split, so that "rivers ran in the dry places." Until that Rock, which was Christ, was stricken, and "out of His side came blood and water" Joh 19:24, the whole world was desert and barren; then it was turned into streams of water, and "now not four but twelve streams went forth from the Paradise of Scriptures" (Jerome) For from the One Fountain which is Christ, there issue many streams, even as many as convey the waters of His teaching, to water the earth.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:9: bow: Deu 32:23; Psa 7:12, Psa 7:13, Psa 35:1-3; Isa 51:9, Isa 51:10, Isa 52:10; Lam 2:4
according: Gen 15:18-21, Gen 17:7, Gen 17:8, Gen 22:16-18, Gen 26:3, Gen 26:4, Gen 28:13, Gen 28:14; Psa 105:8-11; Luk 1:72-75; Heb 6:13-18
Selah: Hab 3:9; Psa 143:6
Thou: Exo 17:6; Num 20:11; Psa 78:15, Psa 78:16, Psa 105:41; Co1 10:4
the earth with rivers: or, the rivers of the earth
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
3:9
God has already made bare the bow, to shoot His arrows at the foe. תּעור, third pers. imperf. niph. of עוּר, equivalent to ערר (Is 32:11), and the more usual ערה, to be naked. To strengthen the thought, the noun עריה is written before the verb instead of the inf. abs. (cf. Mic 1:11). The bow is made bare, not by the shooting of the arrows, but by its covering (γωρυτός, corytus) being removed, in order to use it as a weapon. The reference is to the bow used in war, which God carries as a warrior; so that we are not to think of the rainbow, even if the chariots might be understood as signifying the clouds, as in Is 19:1 and Ps 104:3, since the rainbow is a sign of peace and of the covenant, whereas God is represented as attacking His enemies. The next clause, שׁבעות מטּות אמר, is very obscure, and has not yet been satisfactorily explained. Of the two meanings which may be given to mattōth, viz., branches, rods, or staffs, and tribes of the people of Israel, the latter can hardly be thought of here, since mattōth would certainly have been defined by either a suffix or some determining clause, if the tribes of Israel were intended. On the other hand, the meaning staffs or sticks is very naturally suggested both by the context - viz. the allusion to the war-bow - and also by Hab 3:14, where mattı̄m unquestionably signifies staves or lances. At the same time, the meaning spears or darts cannot be deduced from either Hab 3:14 or 2Kings 18:14. In both passages the meaning staves, used as lances or weapons, is quite sufficient. Matteh, a stick or staff with which blows were struck, might stand, as an instrument of chastisement, for the punishment or chastisement itself (cf. Is 9:3; Is 10:5), and in Mic 6:9 it denotes the rod. שׁבעות may be either the plural construct of שׁבוּע, the seventh, the heptad, or the plural of שׁבוּעה, an oath, or the passive participle of שׁבע, to be sworn, like שׁבעי שׁבעות in Ezek 21:23. There is no material difference in the meaning obtained from the last two; and the view we take of the word אמר must decide between them and the first explanation. This word, which is peculiar to poetry, denotes a discourse or a word, and in Job 22:28 the affair, or the occasion, like דּבר. Here, at any rate, it signifies the address or word of God, as in Ps 68:12; Ps 77:9, and is either a genitive dependent upon mattōth or an adverbial accusative. The Masoretic pointing, according to which mattōth is separated from 'ōmer by tiphchah, and the latter joined to selâh by munach, is connected with the evidently false rabbinical rendering of selah as eternity (in sempiternum), and being decidedly erroneous, cannot be taken into consideration at all. But the interpretation of שׁבעות as the seventh, does not suit either of these two possible views of 'ōmer. We therefore prefer the second meaning, chastising rods or chastisements. אמר, however, cannot be a genitive dependent upon mattōth; since chastisements of speech would hardly stand for chastisements which God had spoken, but, according to the analogy of שׁבט פּיו in Is 11:4, would point to chastisements consisting in words, and this does not agree with the present train of thought. 'Omer is rather an adverbial accusative, and belongs to שׁבעות, indicating the instrument or media employed in the swearing: sworn with the word or through the word, like חרבּך in Ps 17:13 (for the use of the accusative to describe the substance or the instrumental medium of an action, see Ewald, 282, c).
Hence שׁבעות cannot be a noun, but must be a passive participle, sworn. The expression, "chastising rods (chastisements) are sworn through the word," points to the solemn oath with which God promised in Deut 32:40-42 to take vengeance upon His enemies, and avenge the blood of His servants: "For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, As I live for ever, when I have sharpened my glittering sword, and my hand grasps for judgment, I will render vengeance to mine adversaries, and repay them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword will eat flesh; from the blood of the slain and the captives, from the hairy head of the enemy." That Habakkuk had in his mind this promise of the vengeance of God upon His enemies, which is strengthened by a solemn oath, is unmistakeably evident, if we compare בּרק חניתך in Hab 3:11 with בּרק חרבּי in Deut 32:41, and observe the allusion in ראשׁ מבּית רשׁע and ראשׁ פּרזו in Hab 3:13 and Hab 3:14 to ראשׁ פּרעות אויב in Deut 32:42. From this promise the words of the prophet, which are so enigmatical in themselves, obtain the requisite light to render them intelligible. Gesenius (Thes. p. 877) has explained the prophet's words in a similar manner, jurejurando firmatae sunt castigationes promissae (the threatened rods, i.e., chastisements, are sworn), even without noticing the allusion to Deut 32:40. upon which these words are founded. Delitzsch was the first to call attention to the allusion to Deut 32:40.; but in his explanation, "the darts are sworn through his word of power (jurejurando adstricta sunt tela verbo tuo)," the swearing is taken in a sense which is foreign to Deuteronomy, and therefore conceals the connection with the original passage. Of the other explanations not one can be vindicated. The rabbinical view which we find in the Vulgate, juramenta tribubus quae locutus es, is overthrown by the fact that שׁבעות without a preposition cannot mean per, or ob, or juxta juramenta, as we should have to render it, and as Luther actually has rendered it in his version ("as Thou hadst sworn to the tribes"). Ewald's rendering, "sevenfold darts of the word," is precluded by the combination of ideas, "darts of the word," which is quite foreign to the context. According to our explanation, the passage does indeed form simply a parenthesis in the description of the judicial interposition of God, but it contains a very fitting thought, through which the description gains in emphasis. In the last clause of the verse the description is continued in the manner already begun, and the effect indicated, which is produced upon the world of nature by the judicial interposition of God: "Thou splittest the earth into rivers." בּקּע is construed with a double accusative, as in Zech 14:4. This may be understood either as signifying that the earth trembles at the wrath of the Judge, and rents arise in consequence, through which rivers of water burst forth from the deep, or so that at the quaking of the earth the sea pours its waves over the land and splits it into rivers. The following verses point to an earthquake through which the form of the earth's surface is changed.
Geneva 1599
3:9 Thy (k) bow was made quite naked, [according] to the (l) oaths of the tribes, [even thy] word. Selah. Thou (m) didst cleave the earth with rivers.
(k) That is, your power.
(l) For he had not only made a covenant with Abraham, but renewed it with his posterity.
(m) Read (Num 20:11).
John Gill
3:9 Thy bow was made quite naked,.... It was took out of its case, and arrows out of their quiver, and these made use of against the enemies of his people: this is put for all weapons of war; the sword was unsheathed, and all military weapons employed, and the power of the Lord was exerted; or, as the Targum,
"the Lord was revealed in his power;''
fighting the battles of his people, as in the times of Joshua:
according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. That is, to fulfil his word of promise, to which he had annexed his oaths, he at several times swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to the fathers of the Israelites, that he would put them in possession of the land of Canaan; and which being worthy of notice, and to be remarked, the word "Selah" is added. So the Targum,
"in revealing thou art revealed in thy power, because of thy covenant which thy word made with the tribes for ever.''
The "bow" here is an emblem of the Gospel, with which Christ the Captain of our salvation, the antitype of Joshua, went forth, more especially in the first ages of Christianity, conquering and to conquer, Rev_ 6:2. The arrows of this bow are the doctrines of the Gospel, which are sharp in the heart of Christ's enemies, his elect; who are so in a state of nature, whereby they are brought into subjection to him, Ps 45:5 and hereby the promises of God confirmed by his oaths are accomplished, that the spiritual seed of Christ shall endure for ever; or he shall never want a seed to serve him, Ps 89:35,
Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers; which is generally supposed to allude to the smiting of the rock, from whence waters gushed out, and ran in dry places like a river; for which channels or canals were made in the earth, in which they flowed and followed the Israelites wherever they went, and supplied man and beast with water. So the Targum,
"for thou didst break strong rocks, rivers came forth overflowing the earth;''
see Ps 105:41 but this seems to be going back in the history; rather therefore this refers to the rivers formed in the land of Canaan, whereby it became fertile; hence it is called a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, that spring out of valleys and hills, Deut 8:7. This may respect, in futurity, either the provisions of grace, and the large abundance of the blessings of it, made for the supply and satisfaction of the children of God in times of distress and difficulty, Is 41:17 or that help and assistance against, protection and deliverance from, the flood of persecution, cast out after the church by Satan, in order to overwhelm her, by the earth opening its mouth, and swallowing up the flood, Rev_ 12:15.
John Wesley
3:9 Thy bow - One part of armour is put for the whole. The Lord is represented as armed, in readiness to smite through all his enemies. According to the oaths - In pursuance of his oath made to our fathers, and their posterity. Cleave the earth - When they were to march through a dry and thirsty land.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:9 bow . . . made . . . naked--that is, was drawn forth from its cover, in which bows usually were cased when not in use. Compare Is 22:6, "Kir uncovered the shield."
according to the oaths of the tribes even thy word--that is, Thy oaths of promise to the tribes of Israel (Ps 77:8; Lk 1:73-74). Habakkuk shows that God's miraculous interpositions for His people were not limited to one time, but that God's oaths to His people are sure ground for their always expecting them. The mention of the tribes, rather than Abraham or Moses, is in order that they may not doubt that to them belongs this grace of which Abraham was the depository [CALVIN and JEROME]. MAURER translates, "The spears were glutted with blood, the triumphal song!" that is, no sooner did Jehovah begin the battle by baring His bow, than the spears were glutted with blood and the triumphal song sung.
Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers--the result of the earthquake caused by God's approach [MAURER]. GROTIUS refers it to the bringing forth water from the rock (Ex 17:6; Num 20:10-11; Ps 78:15-16; Ps 105:4). But the context implies not the giving of water to His people to drink, but the fearful physical phenomena attending Jehovah's attack on Israel's foes.
3:103:10: տեսցեն զքեզ ազգք՝ եւ երկնեսցեն. որ ցանես զջուրս գնացից։ Ետո՛ւն անդունդք զձայնս իւրեանց, զբարձրութիւն սաստկութեան իւրեանց։
10 Քեզ կը տեսնեն ժողովուրդները եւ երկունքի ցաւեր կ’ունենան. դու ես հաստատում ջրերի ընթացքը: Անդունդները ձայն տուեցին սաստիկ բարձրութեամբ:
10 Լեռները քեզ տեսան ու դողացին, Հեղեղը անցաւ, Անդունդը իր ձայնը տուաւ Ու ձեռքերը վեր վերցուց։
Տեսցեն զքեզ ազգք, եւ երկնեսցեն. որ ցանես զջուրս գնացից``. ետուն անդունդք զձայնս իւրեանց, [40]զբարձրութիւն սաստկութեան իւրեանց:

3:10: տեսցեն զքեզ ազգք՝ եւ երկնեսցեն. որ ցանես զջուրս գնացից։ Ետո՛ւն անդունդք զձայնս իւրեանց, զբարձրութիւն սաստկութեան իւրեանց։
10 Քեզ կը տեսնեն ժողովուրդները եւ երկունքի ցաւեր կ’ունենան. դու ես հաստատում ջրերի ընթացքը: Անդունդները ձայն տուեցին սաստիկ բարձրութեամբ:
10 Լեռները քեզ տեսան ու դողացին, Հեղեղը անցաւ, Անդունդը իր ձայնը տուաւ Ու ձեռքերը վեր վերցուց։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:103:10 Увидев Тебя, вострепетали горы, ринулись воды; бездна дала голос свой, высоко подняла руки свои;
3:10 ὄψονταί οραω view; see σε σε.1 you καὶ και and; even ὠδινήσουσιν ωδινω have contractions λαοί λαος populace; population σκορπίζων σκορπιζω scatter ὕδατα υδωρ water πορείας πορεια travel; journey αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him ἔδωκεν διδωμι give; deposit ἡ ο the ἄβυσσος αβυσσος abyss φωνὴν φωνη voice; sound αὐτῆς αυτος he; him ὕψος υψος height; on high φαντασίας φαντασια pomp; apparition αὐτῆς αυτος he; him
3:10 רָא֤וּךָ rāʔˈûḵā ראה see יָחִ֨ילוּ֙ yāḥˈîlû חיל have labour pain, to cry הָרִ֔ים hārˈîm הַר mountain זֶ֥רֶם zˌerem זֶרֶם rain מַ֖יִם mˌayim מַיִם water עָבָ֑ר ʕāvˈār עבר pass נָתַ֤ן nāṯˈan נתן give תְּהֹום֙ tᵊhôm תְּהֹום primeval ocean קֹולֹ֔ו qôlˈô קֹול sound רֹ֖ום rˌôm רֹום [uncertain] יָדֵ֥יהוּ yāḏˌêhû יָד hand נָשָֽׂא׃ nāśˈā נשׂא lift
3:10. viderunt te et doluerunt montes gurges aquarum transiit dedit abyssus vocem suam altitudo manus suas levavitThe mountains saw thee, and were grieved: the great body of waters passed away. The deep put forth its voice: the deep lifted up its hands.
The mountains saw thee, [and] they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, [and] lifted up his hands on high:

3:10 Увидев Тебя, вострепетали горы, ринулись воды; бездна дала голос свой, высоко подняла руки свои;
3:10
ὄψονταί οραω view; see
σε σε.1 you
καὶ και and; even
ὠδινήσουσιν ωδινω have contractions
λαοί λαος populace; population
σκορπίζων σκορπιζω scatter
ὕδατα υδωρ water
πορείας πορεια travel; journey
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
ἔδωκεν διδωμι give; deposit
ἡ ο the
ἄβυσσος αβυσσος abyss
φωνὴν φωνη voice; sound
αὐτῆς αυτος he; him
ὕψος υψος height; on high
φαντασίας φαντασια pomp; apparition
αὐτῆς αυτος he; him
3:10
רָא֤וּךָ rāʔˈûḵā ראה see
יָחִ֨ילוּ֙ yāḥˈîlû חיל have labour pain, to cry
הָרִ֔ים hārˈîm הַר mountain
זֶ֥רֶם zˌerem זֶרֶם rain
מַ֖יִם mˌayim מַיִם water
עָבָ֑ר ʕāvˈār עבר pass
נָתַ֤ן nāṯˈan נתן give
תְּהֹום֙ tᵊhôm תְּהֹום primeval ocean
קֹולֹ֔ו qôlˈô קֹול sound
רֹ֖ום rˌôm רֹום [uncertain]
יָדֵ֥יהוּ yāḏˌêhû יָד hand
נָשָֽׂא׃ nāśˈā נשׂא lift
3:10. viderunt te et doluerunt montes gurges aquarum transiit dedit abyssus vocem suam altitudo manus suas levavit
The mountains saw thee, and were grieved: the great body of waters passed away. The deep put forth its voice: the deep lifted up its hands.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:10: The mountains saw thee - This is the continued answer to the questions in Hab 3:8. These are figures highly poetic, to show with what ease God accomplished the most arduous tasks in behalf of his people. As soon as the mountains saw him, they trembled, they were in pangs. When he appeared, the sea fled to right and left, to give him a passage. "It uttered its voice." The separation of the waters occasioned a terrible noise. "And it lifted up its hands on high." Its waters, being separated, stood in heaps on the right hand and left. These heaps or waves are poetically represented here as the hands of the sea.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:10: The mountains saw Thee and they trembled - literally, "they tremble." While man is insensate, inanimate nature feels and attests the presence of its Maker. "It saw it trembles." To see, feel, tremble were one. The prophet does not follow a bare order of events, or bind himself to miracles which actually took place. The mountains tremble with earthquakes, or seem to be shaken by the thunders which they re-echo. And so they are signs, how what is firmest and closes up the way to man, trembles at the Presence of God. Whatever is lifted up shall be bowed down before Him. (See Zac 4:7.). But the word "trembled" is that which is especially used of travail pangs and so it may spiritually denote that "they who conceive the fear of God shall bring forth unto salvation." "The overflowing," i. e., the impetuous, sweeping, flow, of the water (or, of waters), such as in themselves would bear all before them, pass by harmless. The more they swell, the more they expend themselves, and pass away. "The whole force of persecution, wherewith they vexed Thy people, at sight of Thee passed away," like a torrent which rages and disappears, and, by raging, the sooner wastes itself.
The deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands - רום = מרום mâ rô m which stands as the accusative of direction with "lifted up the eyes" Isa 37:23; Isa 40:26.
On high - The noise of the waves, when God brought the strong East wind over it and Psa 106:9. rebuked it, was as a cry to God; the waves, as they swelled, were like hands lifted up to Him, and stricken one against the other. There is no distinct ground against a slightly different rendering it: "the deep uttered his voice, the height lifted up his hands" i. e., to One yet higher, whom height and depth owned as their Lord and worshipped.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:10: mountains: Hab 3:6; Exo 19:16-18; Jdg 5:4, Jdg 5:5; Psa 68:7, Psa 68:8, Psa 77:18, Psa 97:4, Psa 97:5, Psa 114:4, Psa 114:6; Isa 64:1, Isa 64:2; Jer 4:24; Mic 1:4; Nah 1:5; Mat 27:51; Rev 6:14, Rev 20:11
the overflowing: Exo 14:22-28; Jos 3:15, Jos 3:16, Jos 4:18, Jos 4:23, Jos 4:24; Neh 9:11; Psa 18:15, Psa 66:6; Psa 74:13-15, Psa 77:16-19, Psa 114:3-8, Psa 136:13-15; Isa 11:15, Isa 11:16, Isa 63:11-13; Heb 11:29; Rev 16:12
the deep: Psa 65:13, Psa 93:3, Psa 96:11-13, Psa 98:7, Psa 98:8; Isa 43:20, Isa 55:12
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
3:10
"The mountains see Thee, they writhe: a shower of waters passes along: the abyss lifts up its voice, it lifts up its hands on high. Hab 3:11. Sun, moon, enter into their habitation at the light of Thine arrows which shoot by, at the shining of the lightning of Thy spear." The effect of the coming of God upon the mountains was already referred to in Hab 3:6. There they crumbled into ruins, here they writhe with terror. This difference is to be explained from the fact that there (Hab 3:6) the general effect of the omnipotence of God upon nature was intended, whereas here (Hab 3:10, Hab 3:11) the special effect is described, which is produced upon nature by the judgment about to be executed by God upon the nations. The perfects in the description represent this effect as following immediately upon the coming of God. But in the first clause of Hab 3:10 the perfect ראוּך is followed by the imperfect יחילוּ, because the writhing is a lasting condition. The force of the description is heightened by the omission of the copula before the clauses and the particular objects. The two verbs of the first clause stand in the relation of cause and effect to one another: when the mountains have seen Thee, they writhe with terror. The further description is not founded upon the idea of a terrible storm; for there is no reference to thunder, nor even to lightnings, but only to the arrows (Hab 3:11), which may be explained from the idea of God, as a warlike hero, making bare His bow. The colours and different features of the description are borrowed from the judgment of the flood. Hab 3:10 (a and b) points to this divine judgment of the olden time, both the coming of the showers of water (geshem as in Gen 7:12 and Gen 8:2, and strengthened by mayim, analogous to hammabbūl hâyâh mayim in Gen 7:6; ‛âbhar as in Nahum 3:19; Ps 48:5), and also the nâthan tehōm qōlō, the raging outburst of the abyss. Tehōm is the mass of water in the abyss, not merely that of the ocean, but that of the subterranean waters also (Gen 49:25; Deut 33:13), the "great deep" (tehōm rabbâh), whose fountains were broken up at the flood (Gen 7:11); and not the ocean of heaven, as Hitzig erroneously infers from Gen 7:11; Gen 8:2, and Prov 8:27. To this mass of water, which is called tehōm from its roaring depth, the prophet attributes a voice, which it utters, to express the loud, mighty roaring of the waters as they rush forth from the bursting earth. As at the time of the flood, which was a type of the last judgment (Is 24:18), the windows of heaven and the fountains of the deep were opened, so that the upper and lower waters, which are divided by the firmament, rushed together again, and the earth returned, as it were, to its condition before the second day of creation; so here also the rivers of the earth and rain-showers of heaven come together, so that the abyss roars up with a loud noise (Delitzsch). This roaring outburst of the mass of waters from the heart of the earth is then represented as a lifting up of the hands to heaven, with reference to the fact that the waves are thrown up. Rōm = rūm (Prov 25:3; Prov 21:4) is an accusative of direction, like mârōm in 4Kings 19:22. ידיהוּ, for ידיו, a full-sounding and more extended form, possibly to express by the rhythm the greatness of the prodigy, how magna vi brachii tollunt (Delitzsch). The lifting up of the hands is not a gesture denoting either an oath or rebellion; but it is an involuntary utterance of terror, of restlessness, of anguish, as it were, with a prayer for help (Delitzsch).
Geneva 1599
3:10 The mountains saw thee, [and] they trembled: the overflowing of the water (n) passed by: the deep uttered his voice, [and] lifted up his hands on high.
(n) He alludes to the Red Sea and Jordan, which gave passage to God's people, and showed signs of their obedience as it were by the lifting up of their hands.
John Gill
3:10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled,.... At the power and presence of God, as Sinai of old; See Gill on Hab 3:6 by which are signified mighty people and nations, kings and great men, struck with terror at the amazing providence of God in the world, on the behalf of his own people, and against their enemies; see Rev_ 6:14,
the overflowing of the water passed by; which is usually referred to the overflowing of the river Jordan at the time of the passage of the Israelites through it, when the waters above stood and rose up as a heap, and those below failed, and were cut off, and passed away into the salt sea, Josh 3:15 but perhaps it may refer to the times of David, when he conquered all his enemies round about, who were like an overflowing flood; but now passed away, particularly the Philistines, who had always been very troublesome to Israel, but now were overcome by David at Baalperazim; where the Lord, on the contrary, broke forth upon his enemies as the breach of waters, from whence the place had its name, 2Kings 5:20 and as this respects time that was then to come, when this prayer was made, it may regard the flood of persecution, which ceased in Constantine's time, when Paganism was abolished, and Christianity established; concerning which it might be said, "the winter is past, the rain is over and gone", Song 2:11 and the word (n) here used signifies a large shower of rain, causing an inundation, a storm, a tempest; and so fitly expresses the violence of persecution, now at an end:
the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up hands on high; language very poetical, exceeding striking, very beautiful and elegant. It is generally understood of the deep waters of the Red sea, or of Jordan, or both, when divided for the Israelites to pass through; at which time, when they rose up, they made a great noise, and stood on a heap; and so the phrases are expressive of the roaring and raging of them as they rose up, which was as if they had spoken; and of the position in which they were, standing up on high, as if they had hands, and these lifted up: but rather they figuratively refer to the mighty nations conquered by David, who asked favour and mercy of him, and signified their subjection to him; and, having respect to times to come, may denote the subjection of the multitude of people and nations in the Roman empire to Christ, when heathenism was abolished in it; and the joy and rejoicing of Christians upon it, and the ceasing of persecution in it, even high and low, rich and poor, all ranks and degrees of men; height and depth, men in high or low circumstances, signified by the depth uttering his voice, and the height lifting up its hands, in token of praise and thankfulness; for so the latter clause may be rendered, "the height lifted up his hands" (o); and answers to the deep in the preceding clause; agreeable to this sense is Jarchi's note,
""the deep uttered his voice": the inhabitants of the earth praised him; "the height lifted up his hands"; the host of heaven confessed unto him;''
every creature in heaven, on the earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, ascribed blessing, honour, glory, and power, to the Lord on this occasion, Rev_ 5:13. The Targum is,
"the powers on high stood wondering;''
amazed at what was done, and lifted up their hands with astonishment.
(n) "nimbus", Tigurine version; "impetus", Munster; "imber aquosus", Cocceius, Van Till; "inundatio aquarum", Burkius. (o) "altitudo manum suam sublevavit", Munster; "tudo manus suas tulit", Burkius.
John Wesley
3:10 Overflowing - The inundation which at that season was wont to be very great in and round Jordan, passed away at the word of God; the waters below flowed, and ran from those above, which stood on a heap to make a path for Israel. The deep - Either the deep channel in which Jordan flowed, or the Red Sea with dreadful roaring parted its waters. Lift up his hands - Its waves which stood on an heap.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:10 The mountains--repetition with increased emphasis of some of the tremendous phenomena mentioned in Hab 3:6.
overflowing of the water passed by--namely, of the Red Sea; and again, of the Jordan. God marked His favor to His people in all the elements, causing every obstacle, whether mountains or waters, which impeded their progress, to "pass away" [CALVIN]. MAURER, not so well, translates, "torrents (rains) of water rush down."
lifted . . . hands on high--namely, its billows lifted on high by the tempest. Personification. As men signify by voice or gesture of hand that they will do what they are commanded, so these parts of nature testified their obedience to God's will (Ex 14:22; Josh 3:16; Ps 77:17-18; Ps 114:4).
3:113:11: Բարձաւ արեգակն, եւ լուսին եկաց ՚ի կարգի իւրում. գնասցեն նետք քո ՚ի լոյս, ՚ի փայլի՛ւն փայլատականց զինուց քոց[10733]։ [10733] Յօրինակին պակասէր. Փայլատականց զինուց քոց։
11 Բարձրացաւ արեգակը, եւ լուսինը կանգնեց իր տեղում: Քո նետերը կը թռչեն լոյսի մէջ, եւ քո զէնքերի փայլը կը լինի փայլատակումների պէս:
11 Արեւն ու լուսինը իրենց կարգին մէջ կայնեցան, Անոնք քու նետերուդ լոյսովը Եւ քու շողշողուն նիզակիդ պայծառութիւնովը քալեցին։
Բարձաւ արեգակն, եւ լուսին եկաց ի կարգի իւրում. գնասցեն նետք քո ի լոյս``, ի փայլիւն փայլատականց զինուց քոց:

3:11: Բարձաւ արեգակն, եւ լուսին եկաց ՚ի կարգի իւրում. գնասցեն նետք քո ՚ի լոյս, ՚ի փայլի՛ւն փայլատականց զինուց քոց[10733]։
[10733] Յօրինակին պակասէր. Փայլատականց զինուց քոց։
11 Բարձրացաւ արեգակը, եւ լուսինը կանգնեց իր տեղում: Քո նետերը կը թռչեն լոյսի մէջ, եւ քո զէնքերի փայլը կը լինի փայլատակումների պէս:
11 Արեւն ու լուսինը իրենց կարգին մէջ կայնեցան, Անոնք քու նետերուդ լոյսովը Եւ քու շողշողուն նիզակիդ պայծառութիւնովը քալեցին։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:113:11 солнце и луна остановились на месте своем пред светом летающих стрел Твоих, пред сиянием сверкающих копьев Твоих.
3:11 ἐπήρθη επαιρω lift up; rear up ὁ ο the ἥλιος ηλιος sun καὶ και and; even ἡ ο the σελήνη σεληνη moon ἔστη ιστημι stand; establish ἐν εν in τῇ ο the τάξει ταξις order; arrangement αὐτῆς αυτος he; him εἰς εις into; for φῶς φως light βολίδες βολις javelin σου σου of you; your πορεύσονται πορευομαι travel; go εἰς εις into; for φέγγος φεγγος brilliance ἀστραπῆς αστραπη lightning ὅπλων οπλον armament; weapon σου σου of you; your
3:11 שֶׁ֥מֶשׁ šˌemeš שֶׁמֶשׁ sun יָרֵ֖חַ yārˌēₐḥ יָרֵחַ moon עָ֣מַד ʕˈāmaḏ עמד stand זְבֻ֑לָה zᵊvˈulā זְבֻל dominion לְ lᵊ לְ to אֹ֤ור ʔˈôr אֹור light חִצֶּ֨יךָ֙ ḥiṣṣˈeʸḵā חֵץ arrow יְהַלֵּ֔כוּ yᵊhallˈēḵû הלך walk לְ lᵊ לְ to נֹ֖גַהּ nˌōḡah נֹגַהּ brightness בְּרַ֥ק bᵊrˌaq בָּרָק lightning חֲנִיתֶֽךָ׃ ḥᵃnîṯˈeḵā חֲנִית spear
3:11. sol et luna steterunt in habitaculo suo in luce sagittarum tuarum ibunt in splendore fulgurantis hastae tuaeThe sun and the moon stood still in their habitation, in the light of thy arrows, they shall go in the brightness of thy glittering spear.
The sun [and] moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, [and] at the shining of thy glittering spear:

3:11 солнце и луна остановились на месте своем пред светом летающих стрел Твоих, пред сиянием сверкающих копьев Твоих.
3:11
ἐπήρθη επαιρω lift up; rear up
ὁ ο the
ἥλιος ηλιος sun
καὶ και and; even
ἡ ο the
σελήνη σεληνη moon
ἔστη ιστημι stand; establish
ἐν εν in
τῇ ο the
τάξει ταξις order; arrangement
αὐτῆς αυτος he; him
εἰς εις into; for
φῶς φως light
βολίδες βολις javelin
σου σου of you; your
πορεύσονται πορευομαι travel; go
εἰς εις into; for
φέγγος φεγγος brilliance
ἀστραπῆς αστραπη lightning
ὅπλων οπλον armament; weapon
σου σου of you; your
3:11
שֶׁ֥מֶשׁ šˌemeš שֶׁמֶשׁ sun
יָרֵ֖חַ yārˌēₐḥ יָרֵחַ moon
עָ֣מַד ʕˈāmaḏ עמד stand
זְבֻ֑לָה zᵊvˈulā זְבֻל dominion
לְ lᵊ לְ to
אֹ֤ור ʔˈôr אֹור light
חִצֶּ֨יךָ֙ ḥiṣṣˈeʸḵā חֵץ arrow
יְהַלֵּ֔כוּ yᵊhallˈēḵû הלך walk
לְ lᵊ לְ to
נֹ֖גַהּ nˌōḡah נֹגַהּ brightness
בְּרַ֥ק bᵊrˌaq בָּרָק lightning
חֲנִיתֶֽךָ׃ ḥᵃnîṯˈeḵā חֲנִית spear
3:11. sol et luna steterunt in habitaculo suo in luce sagittarum tuarum ibunt in splendore fulgurantis hastae tuae
The sun and the moon stood still in their habitation, in the light of thy arrows, they shall go in the brightness of thy glittering spear.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:11: The sun and moon stood still - This was at the prayer of Joshua, when he fought against the Amorites. See Jos 10:11-12 (note), and the notes there.
At the light of thine arrows they went - I think we should translate: -
By their light, thine arrows went abroad; By their brightness, the lightning of thy spear.
Calvin very justly remarks that the arrows and spears of the Israelites are called those of God, under whose auspices the people fought: the meaning is, that by the continuation of the light of the sun and moon, then stayed in their course, the Israelites saw how to continue the battle, till their enemies were all defeated.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:11: Sun and moon stood still (as one act retiring into) in their habitation - They withdrew, as it were, in the midst of the great tempest, wherein Jos 10:11-13. "God cast down great stones from heaven upon" His enemies and they died; and "the sun stood still, and the moon stayed." The sun too withdrew itself in the great darkness at the crucifixion, as not bearing to look upon the death of its Maker, when the majesty of the Sun of Righteousness was darkened o'er; and signs in the sun and in the moon there shall be to the end.
At the light of Thine arrows they went - A. E.: "There was no need of the sun by day, nor of the moon by night; for by the light of Thine arrows can the sons of men hold their way." Tanchum: "This is a mystical interpretation, as you see; this is like the promise of the Most High; Isa 60:19. 'the sun shall be no more for thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee, and the Lord shall be to thee an everlasting light.'" The judgments of God are a light to His people, while they are the destruction of His enemies; in them they "learn righteousness" Isa 26:9. The arrows are God's judgments, as they threaten and wound from afar;
The shining of Thy glittering spear - literally, of the lightning of Thy spear, when close at hand. When all other light is withdrawn, and the Sun, our Lord, is hardly beheld in the darkness of the last days, and the moon, the Church, shall not give her light, Christ not shining upon her as before, because "iniquity shall abound, and the love of many shall wax cold," and "stars," many who seem to shine with the light of grace, "shall fall from heaven," His own shall walk on and advance in holiness. Dion.: "from strength to strength, Psa 84:7. from good to better, from the way to their home," by the bright light of the lightning of God's Judgments, wherein His glory shall be manifested. Arrows and spears are part of the spiritual armory of God, wherewith the people are subdued unto Him. Cyril: "armory, not wherewith He is girt but which He giveth to those who are meet; bright and as it were full of lightning. For most transparent is virtue." They went then at the light of Thine arrows. Cyril: "because to those who love sin virtue has no beauty, nor, as yet, any brightness. But to those who know her she is nothing less than lightning, bright and transparent, so that whoso hath her is easily known to all around. The disciples then, first having the lightning of Thine arms, shall lead others also to its Light. Admiring and conceiving in themselves those virtues which are the arms of Christ, they shine forth to others, a gleam, as it were, of the bright flash of light inherent in those graces." Rup.: "They were enlightened and began, by preaching, to send forth shining words of truth. But those words are Thine arrows, shining arrows, showing by their light the way of life, and by their sharp point pricking the hearts of people unto repentance."
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:11: sun: Jos 10:12, Jos 10:13; Isa 28:21, Isa 38:8
habitation: Psa 19:4
at the light of thine arrows they went: or, thine arrows walked in the light, Jos 10:11; Psa 18:12-14, Psa 77:17, Psa 77:18, Psa 144:5, Psa 144:6
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
3:11
The chaotic condition into which the earth has been brought is heightened by the darkness in which the heaven clothes itself. Sun and moon, which give light to day and night, have put themselves, or entered, into their habitation. זבוּל with ה local, a dwelling-place, is, according to oriental view, the place from which the stars come out when they rise, and to which they return when they set. Nevertheless it is not actual setting that is spoken of here, but simply their obscuration, which is not the effect of heavy clouds that pour out their water in showers of rain, but is caused by the shining of the arrows of God (ל in לאור and לנגהּ denoting the outward cause or occasion). It is not, however, that they "turn pale in consequence of the surpassing brilliancy of the lightnings" (Ewald), but that they "withdraw altogether, from the fear and horror which pervade all nature, and which are expressed in the mountains by trembling, in the waters by roaring, and in the sun and moon by obscuration" (Delitzsch). The idea that this verse refers to the standing still of the sun and moon at the believing word of Joshua (Josh 10:12.), in which nearly all the earlier commentators agreed, is quite untenable, inasmuch as עמד זבוּלה cannot mean to stand still in the sky. The arrows and spear (chănı̄th) of God are not lightnings, as in Ps 77:18-19; Ps 18:15, etc., because this theophany is not founded upon the idea of a storm, but the darts with which God as a warrior smites down His foes, as the instruments and effects of the wrath of God. A brilliant splendour is attributed to them, because they emanate from Him whose coming, like the sunlight, pours out its rays on both sides (Hab 3:4). בּרק חנית has the same meaning here as in Nahum 3:3 : the flashing, because naked and sharpened, spear. And just as we cannot understand the "bright sword" of Nahum 3:3 as signifying flashes of lightning, so here we cannot take the arrows as lightnings. יהלּכוּ is to be taken relatively, "which pass alone, or shoot by."
Geneva 1599
3:11 The (o) sun [and] moon stood still in their habitation: (p) at the light of thy arrows they went, [and] at the shining of thy glittering spear.
(o) As appears in (Josh 10:12).
(p) According to your command the sun was directed by the weapons of your people, that fought in your cause, as though it dare not go forward.
John Gill
3:11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation,.... This is generally thought to refer to the miracle in the times of Joshua, Josh 10:12 but a different word is there used, especially of the standing still of the sun; nor are the sun and moon said there to stand in their habitation; nor will the series of the history of times past, or the thread of prophecy of things to come, admit of this reference; nor do the words express the clear shining of the sun and moon at their standing still, but the reverse; for the phrase, "in their habitation", may be rendered, "within their tent" (p), or pavilion; See Gill on Ps 19:4; which is no other than their being encompassed and covered with clouds; which is just such a pavilion as God is said to be in, when "darkness was his secret place; his pavilion round about him dark waters and thick clouds of the skies", Ps 18:11 and so is expressive of the dark times of antichrist, which followed, when the Pagan persecutions were over, Christianity supported by secular powers, and the Christian churches raised to the height of riches and honour; and then the man of sin showed himself, the pope of Rome took upon him the title of universal bishop, and introduced false doctrines, strange worship, and bad discipline, into the church, and obscured the glorious light of it; and Mahomet also arose with his locusts, the Saracens, out of the bottomless pit opened, from whence came a smoke which darkened the sun and air, Rev_ 9:1,
at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear; the commonly received sense of the words is, either at the light and shining of the sun and moon, when they stood still in Joshua's time; the arrows of the Almighty, and the lightning of his spear, that is, hailstones mingled with fire, and thunder, and lightning, which the heathens call Jupiter's arrows; these steered their course, being directed against the enemies of the Lord's people, and fought for them, Josh 10:10 or at the light of these, which looked very bright and dazzling through the rays of the sun upon them, the Israelites marched against their enemies, and avenged themselves on them: but these bright arrows and glittering spear, and the light and shining of them, seem to design no other than the weapons of the Christian ministry or warfare; the Gospel, and the doctrines of it; the light of which broke forth at the Reformation, the same that is meant by the "morning star", Rev_ 2:28 irradiated by which, the ministers of it especially went forth with courage against their antichristian enemies, and prevailed, and spread the Gospel in many countries. It may be rendered as a petition, "let them walk at the light" (q), &c.; a prayer of faith that it might be, and which is a prophecy that it would be.
(p) "intra habitaculum", Cocceius, Van Till, "vel in tugurio", ib. (q) "ambulent ad lucem", &c. Van Till.
John Wesley
3:11 Stood still - At the prayer of Joshua. In the light - Which was most miraculously continued.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:11 sun . . . moon stood still--at Joshua's command (Josh 10:12-13). MAURER wrongly translates, "stand" (withdrawn, or hidden from view, by the clouds which covered the sky during the thunders).
light of thine arrows--hail mixed with lightnings (Josh 10:10-11).
they went--The sun and moon "went," not as always heretofore, but according to the light and direction of Jehovah's arrows, namely, His lightnings hurled in defense of His people; astonished at these they stood still [CALVIN]. MAURER translates, "At the light of Thine arrows (which) went" or flew.
3:123:12: Սպառնալեօք նուազեցուցեր զերկիր. եւ բարկութեամբ զիջուսցես զազգս։
12 Սպառնալիքներով խոնարհեցրիր երկիրը եւ բարկութեամբ կը տկարացնես ազգերին:
12 Երկրին վրայ սրտմտութեամբ պտըտեցար Ու բարկութեամբ ազգերը կոխեցիր։
Սպառնալեօք [41]նուազեցուցեր զերկիր, եւ բարկութեամբ զիջուսցես`` զազգս:

3:12: Սպառնալեօք նուազեցուցեր զերկիր. եւ բարկութեամբ զիջուսցես զազգս։
12 Սպառնալիքներով խոնարհեցրիր երկիրը եւ բարկութեամբ կը տկարացնես ազգերին:
12 Երկրին վրայ սրտմտութեամբ պտըտեցար Ու բարկութեամբ ազգերը կոխեցիր։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:123:12 Во гневе шествуешь Ты по земле и в негодовании попираешь народы.
3:12 ἐν εν in ἀπειλῇ απειλη threat ὀλιγώσεις ολιγοω earth; land καὶ και and; even ἐν εν in θυμῷ θυμος provocation; temper κατάξεις καταγω lead down; draw up ἔθνη εθνος nation; caste
3:12 בְּ bᵊ בְּ in זַ֖עַם zˌaʕam זַעַם curse תִּצְעַד־ tiṣʕaḏ- צעד march אָ֑רֶץ ʔˈāreṣ אֶרֶץ earth בְּ bᵊ בְּ in אַ֖ף ʔˌaf אַף nose תָּד֥וּשׁ tāḏˌûš דושׁ tread on גֹּויִֽם׃ gôyˈim גֹּוי people
3:12. in fremitu conculcabis terram in furore obstupefacies gentesIn thy anger thou wilt tread the earth under foot: in thy wrath thou wilt astonish the nations.
Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger:

3:12 Во гневе шествуешь Ты по земле и в негодовании попираешь народы.
3:12
ἐν εν in
ἀπειλῇ απειλη threat
ὀλιγώσεις ολιγοω earth; land
καὶ και and; even
ἐν εν in
θυμῷ θυμος provocation; temper
κατάξεις καταγω lead down; draw up
ἔθνη εθνος nation; caste
3:12
בְּ bᵊ בְּ in
זַ֖עַם zˌaʕam זַעַם curse
תִּצְעַד־ tiṣʕaḏ- צעד march
אָ֑רֶץ ʔˈāreṣ אֶרֶץ earth
בְּ bᵊ בְּ in
אַ֖ף ʔˌaf אַף nose
תָּד֥וּשׁ tāḏˌûš דושׁ tread on
גֹּויִֽם׃ gôyˈim גֹּוי people
3:12. in fremitu conculcabis terram in furore obstupefacies gentes
In thy anger thou wilt tread the earth under foot: in thy wrath thou wilt astonish the nations.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jg▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:12: Thou didst march through the land - This refers to the conquest of Canaan. God is represented as going at the head of his people as general-in-chief; and leading them on from conquest to conquest - which was the fact.
Thou didst thresh the heathen in anger - Thou didst tread them down, as the oxen do the sheaves on the threshing-floor.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:12: Thou didst march the earth in indignation - The word "tread" is used of very solemn manifestations of God, (Jdg 5:4; Psa 68:8; of the procession of the ark, Sa2 6:13. It is denied as to the idols, Jer 10:5.) of His going to give to His own victory over their enemies Not the land only, as of old, but the earth is the scene of His judgments; the earth which was "full of His praise," which He "meted out" Hab 3:3, Hab 3:6 which contained the nations whom He chastened, the whole earth.
Thou dost thresh the heathen in anger - Not then only, but at all times unto the end, distress of nations and perplexity are among the shoots of the fig tree, which betoken that the everlasting, Luk 21:25-31, "summer is nigh at hand." Jerusalem, when it had slain the Prince of Life, was given over to desolation and counted like the pagan. It became the synagogue, not the Church; and so in the destruction of Jerusalem (as it is an image of the destruction of the world) was that again fulfilled, "Thou dost march through the earth in indignation, Thou dost thresh the heathen in anger."
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:12: didst march: Num 21:23-35; jos 6:1-12:24; Neh 9:22-24; Psa 44:1-3, Psa 78:55; Act 13:19
thresh: Jer 51:33; Amo 1:3; Mic 4:12, Mic 4:13
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
3:12
In Hab 3:12 there follows a description of the judgment upon the nations for the rescue of the people of God. Hab 3:12. "In fury Thou walkest through the earth, in wrath Thou stampest down nations. Hab 3:13. Thou goest out to the rescue of Thy people, to the rescue of Thine anointed one; Thou dashest in pieces the head from the house of the wicked one, laying bare the foundation even to the neck. Selah. Hab 3:14. Thou piercest with his spears the head of his hordes, which storm hither to beat me to powder, whose rejoicing is, as it were, to swallow the poor in secret. Hab 3:15. Thou treadest upon the sea: Thy horses, upon the heap of great waters." The Lord, at whose coming in the terrible glory of the majesty of the Judge of the world all nature trembles and appears to fall into its primary chaotic state, marches over the earth, and stamps or tramples down the nations with His feet (compare the kindred figure of the treader of the winepress in Is 63:1-6). Not all nations, however, but only those that are hostile to Him; for He has come forth to save His people and His anointed one. The perfects in Hab 3:13-15 are prophetic, describing the future in spirit as having already occurred. יצא, referring to the going out of God to fight for His people, as in Judg 5:4; 2Kings 5:24; Is 42:13, etc. ישׁע, rescue, salvation, is construed the second time with an accusative like an inf. constr. (see Ewald, 239, a). The anointed of God is not the chosen, consecrated nation (Schnur., Ros., Hitzig, Ewald, etc.); for the nation of Israel is never called the anointed one (hammâshı̄ăch) by virtue of its calling to be "a kingdom of priests" (mamlekheth kohănı̄m, Ex 19:6), neither in Ps 28:8 nor in Ps 84:10; Ps 89:39. Even in Ps 105:15 it is not the Israelites who are called by God "my anointed" (meshı̄chai), but the patriarchs, as princes consecrated by God (Gen 23:6). And so here also משׁיחך is the divinely-appointed king of Israel; not, however, this or that historical king - say Josiah, Jehoiakim, or even Jehoiachin - but the Davidic king absolutely, including the Messiah, in whom the sovereignty of David is raised to an eternal duration, "just as by the Chaldaean king here and in Ps 2:1-12 we must understand the Chaldaean kings generally" (Delitzsch), wince the prophecy spreads from the judgment upon the Chaldaeans to the universal judgment upon the nations, and the Chaldaean is merely introduced as the possessor of the imperial power. The Messiah as the Son of David is distinguished from Jehovah, and as such is the object of divine help, just as in Zech 9:9, where He is called נושׁע in this respect, and in the royal Messianic psalms. This help God bestows upon His people and His anointed, by dashing in pieces the head from the house of the wicked one. The râshâ‛ (wicked one) is the Chaldaean, not the nation, however, which is spoken of for the first time in Hab 3:14, but the Chaldaean king, as chief of the imperial power which is hostile to the kingdom of God. But, as the following clause clearly shows, the house is the house in the literal sense, so that the "head," as part of the house, is the gable. A distinction is drawn between this and yeshōd, the foundation, and צוּאר, the neck, i.e., the central part looking from the gable downwards. The destruction takes place both from above and below at once, so that the gable and the foundation are dashed in pieces with one blow, and that even to the neck, i.e., up to the point at which the roof or gable rests upon the walls. עד, inclusive, embracing the part mentioned as the boundary; not exclusive, so as to leave the walls still rising up as ruins. The description is allegorical, the house representing the Chaldaean dynasty, the royal family including the king, but not "including the exalted Chaldaean kingdom in all its prosperity" (Hitzig). ערות, a rare form of the inf. abs., like שׁתות in Is 22:13 (cf. Ewald, 240, b), from ערה, to make bare, to destroy from the very foundation, the infinitive in the sense of the gerund describing the mode of the action.
The warlike nation meets with the same fate as the royal house (Hab 3:14). The meaning of the first clause of the verse depends upon the explanation to be given to the word perâzâv. There is no foundation for the meaning leaders or judges, which has been claimed for the word perâzı̄m ever since the time of Schroeder and Schnur. In Hebrew usage perâzı̄ signifies the inhabitant of the plain (Deut 3:5; 1Kings 6:18), and perâzōth the plains, the open flat land, as distinguished from walled cities (Ezek 38:11). Perâzōn has the same meaning in Judg 5:7 and Judg 5:11. Consequently Delitzsch derives perâzâv from a segholate noun perez or pērez, in the sense of the population settled upon the open country, the villagers and peasantry, whence the more general signification of a crowd or multitude of people, and here, since the context points to warriors, the meaning hordes, or hostile companies, which agrees with the Targum, Rashi, and Kimchi, who explain the word as signifying warriors or warlike troops. ראשׁ, the head of his hordes, cannot be the leader, partly because of what follows, "who come storming on," which presupposes that not the leader only, but the hordes or warriors, will be destroyed, and partly also because of the preceding verse, in which the destruction of the king is pronounced, and also because the distinction between the king and the leader of the army is at variance with the complex character of the prophetic description. We must take ראשׁ in the literal sense, but collectively, "heads." The prophet was led to the unusual figure of the piercing of the head by the reminiscence of the piercing of Sisera's head by Jael (Judg 5:26). The suffixes in בּמטּיו and פּרזו refer back to רשׁע. מטּיו, sticks, for lance or spears, after 2Kings 18:14. The meaning of the words is this: with the spear of the king God pierces the heads of his warlike troops; and the thought expressed is, that the hostile troops will slay one another in consequence of the confusion, as was the case in the wars described in 1Kings 14:20 and 2Chron 20:23-24, and as, according to prophecy, the last hostile power of the world is to meet with its ruin when it shall attack the kingdom of God (Ezek 38:21; Zech 14:13). יסערוּ להף is to be taken relatively: "which storm hither (sâ‛ar, approach with the swiftness and violence of a storm) to destroy me." The prophet includes himself along with the nation, and uses hēphı̄ts with reference to the figure of the dispersion or powdering of the chaff by a stormy wind (Is 41:16; Jer 13:24; Jer 18:17). עליצתם forms a substantive clause by itself: "their rejoicing is," for they who rejoice, as if to swallow, i.e., whose rejoicing is directed to this, to swallow the poor in secret. The enemies are compared to highway murderers, who lurk in dark corners for the defenceless traveller, and look forward with rejoicing for the moment when they may be able to murder him. עני forms the antithesis to רשׁע. Inasmuch as "the wicked" denotes the Chaldaean; "the poor" is the nation of Israel, i.e., the congregation of the righteous, who are really the people of God. To devour the poor, i.e., to take violent possession of his life and all that he has (cf. Prov 30:14, and for the fact itself, Ps 10:8-10), is, when applied to a nation, to destroy it (vid., Deut 7:16 and Jer 10:25).
In order that these enemies may be utterly destroyed, God passes through the sea. This thought in Hab 3:15 connects the conclusion of the description of the judicial coming of God with what precedes. The drapery of the thought rests upon the fact of the destruction of Pharaoh and his horsemen in the Red Sea (Exodus 14). The sea, the heap of many waters, is not a figurative expression for the army of the enemy, but is to be taken literally. This is required by דּרכתּ ביּם, since דּרך with ב, to tread upon a place, or enter into it (cf. Mic 5:4; Is 59:8; Deut 11:24-25), does not suit the figurative interpretation; and it is required still more by the parallel passages, viz., Ps 77:20 (בּיּם דּרכּך), which floated before the prophet's mind, and Zech 10:11. Just as God went through the Red Sea in the olden time to lead Israel through, and to destroy the Egyptian army, so will He in the future go through the sea and do the same, when He goes forth to rescue His people out of the power of the Chaldaean. The prophet does not express the latter indeed, but it is implied in what he says. סוּסיך is an accusative, not instrumenti, however, but of more precise definition: thou, namely, according to thy horses; for "with thy horses," as in Ps. 83:19; Ps 44:3 (אתּה ידך); cf. Ewald, 281, c, and 293, c. The horses are to be taken, as in Hab 3:8, as harnessed to the chariots; and they are mentioned here with reference to the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, which were destroyed by Jehovah in the sea. Chōmer, in the sense of heap, as in Ex 8:10, is not an accusative, but is still dependent upon the ב of the parallel clause. The expression "heap of many waters" serves simply to fill up the picture, as in Ps 77:20.
John Gill
3:12 Thou didst march through the land with indignation,.... Not the land of Canaan, fighting against the inhabitants of it, dispossessing them to make room for the Israelites, whatever allusion may be to it; but the antichristian land, the whole Romish jurisdiction, and all the states of it, through which the Lord will march in wrath and fury, when he pours out the vials of it upon them; or this is desired, and prayed for; for it may be rendered, "do thou march through the land" (r), &c.; foreseeing and believing that he would:
thou didst thresh the heathen in anger; or, "do thou thresh" (s), &c.; these are the Papists, called heathens and Gentiles in Scripture, because of the heathenish customs and practices they have introduced into the Christian religion, Ps 10:16 these are the nations that will be gathered together like sheaves of grain on a floor to be threshed; and when Zion the church of Christ, and Christian princes, will be called upon to arise, and thresh them; and the Lord by them will do it, namely, separate his own people from them, which are like wheat, and utterly destroy them, as chaff and stubble, Mic 4:12.
(r) "progredlaris", Van Till. (s) "tritures", Van Till.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:12 march--implying Jehovah's majestic and irresistible progress before His people (Judg 5:4; Ps 68:7). Israel would not have dared to attack the nations, unless Jehovah had gone before.
thresh-- (Mic 4:13).
3:133:13: Ելեր ՚ի փրկութիւն ժողովրդեան քոյ՝ փրկե՛լ զօծեալս քոյ. արկեր զգլխով անօրինաց մահ. զարթուցեր զկապանս մինչեւ ցպարանոցս ՚ի սպառ։ Հանգիստ[10734]։ [10734] Ոմանք. Արկեր զգլուխ անօրինաց։ Ոմանք յաւելուն. Զարթուցեր զպարանոցս զկապանս մին՛՛։
13 Ելար քո ժողովրդի փրկութեան համար՝ փրկելու քո օծեալներին. մահ բերեցիր անօրէնների գլխին. կապանքներ բարձրացրիր ամբողջ պարանոցն ի վեր (դադար):
13 Քու ժողովուրդիդ՝ փրկութեանը համար, Քու օծեալիդ փրկութեանը համար ելար. Անօրէնին տանը գլուխը ճզմեցիր՝ Հիմը մինչեւ պարանոցը բանալով (Սէլա)։
Ելեր ի փրկութիւն ժողովրդեան քո [42]փրկել զօծեալս քո. արկեր զգլխով անօրինաց մահ. զարթուցեր զկապանս մինչեւ ցպարանոցս ի սպառ: Հանգիստ:

3:13: Ելեր ՚ի փրկութիւն ժողովրդեան քոյ՝ փրկե՛լ զօծեալս քոյ. արկեր զգլխով անօրինաց մահ. զարթուցեր զկապանս մինչեւ ցպարանոցս ՚ի սպառ։ Հանգիստ[10734]։
[10734] Ոմանք. Արկեր զգլուխ անօրինաց։ Ոմանք յաւելուն. Զարթուցեր զպարանոցս զկապանս մին՛՛։
13 Ելար քո ժողովրդի փրկութեան համար՝ փրկելու քո օծեալներին. մահ բերեցիր անօրէնների գլխին. կապանքներ բարձրացրիր ամբողջ պարանոցն ի վեր (դադար):
13 Քու ժողովուրդիդ՝ փրկութեանը համար, Քու օծեալիդ փրկութեանը համար ելար. Անօրէնին տանը գլուխը ճզմեցիր՝ Հիմը մինչեւ պարանոցը բանալով (Սէլա)։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:133:13 Ты выступаешь для спасения народа Твоего, для спасения помазанного Твоего. Ты сокрушаешь главу нечестивого дома, обнажая его от основания до верха.
3:13 ἐξῆλθες εξερχομαι come out; go out εἰς εις into; for σωτηρίαν σωτηρια safety λαοῦ λαος populace; population σου σου of you; your τοῦ ο the σῶσαι σωζω save τοὺς ο the χριστούς χριστος Anointed σου σου of you; your ἔβαλες βαλλω cast; throw εἰς εις into; for κεφαλὰς κεφαλη head; top ἀνόμων ανομος lawless θάνατον θανατος death ἐξήγειρας εξεγειρω raise up; awakened δεσμοὺς δεσμος bond; confinement ἕως εως till; until τραχήλου τραχηλος neck διάψαλμα διαψαλμα interlude; rest
3:13 יָצָ֨אתָ֙ yāṣˈāṯā יצא go out לְ lᵊ לְ to יֵ֣שַׁע yˈēšaʕ יֵשַׁע help עַמֶּ֔ךָ ʕammˈeḵā עַם people לְ lᵊ לְ to יֵ֖שַׁע yˌēšaʕ יֵשַׁע help אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת together with מְשִׁיחֶ֑ךָ mᵊšîḥˈeḵā מָשִׁיחַ anointed מָחַ֤צְתָּ māḥˈaṣtā מחץ break רֹּאשׁ֙ rrōš רֹאשׁ head מִ mi מִן from בֵּ֣ית bbˈêṯ בַּיִת house רָשָׁ֔ע rāšˈāʕ רָשָׁע guilty עָרֹ֛ות ʕārˈôṯ ערה pour out יְסֹ֥וד yᵊsˌôḏ יְסֹוד foundation עַד־ ʕaḏ- עַד unto צַוָּ֖אר ṣawwˌār צַוָּאר neck סֶֽלָה׃ פ sˈelā . f סֶלָה sela
3:13. egressus es in salutem populi tui in salutem cum christo tuo percussisti caput de domo impii denudasti fundamentum usque ad collum semperThou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people: for salvation with thy Christ. Thou struckest the head of the house of the wicked: thou hast laid bare his foundation even to the neck.
Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, [even] for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah:

3:13 Ты выступаешь для спасения народа Твоего, для спасения помазанного Твоего. Ты сокрушаешь главу нечестивого дома, обнажая его от основания до верха.
3:13
ἐξῆλθες εξερχομαι come out; go out
εἰς εις into; for
σωτηρίαν σωτηρια safety
λαοῦ λαος populace; population
σου σου of you; your
τοῦ ο the
σῶσαι σωζω save
τοὺς ο the
χριστούς χριστος Anointed
σου σου of you; your
ἔβαλες βαλλω cast; throw
εἰς εις into; for
κεφαλὰς κεφαλη head; top
ἀνόμων ανομος lawless
θάνατον θανατος death
ἐξήγειρας εξεγειρω raise up; awakened
δεσμοὺς δεσμος bond; confinement
ἕως εως till; until
τραχήλου τραχηλος neck
διάψαλμα διαψαλμα interlude; rest
3:13
יָצָ֨אתָ֙ yāṣˈāṯā יצא go out
לְ lᵊ לְ to
יֵ֣שַׁע yˈēšaʕ יֵשַׁע help
עַמֶּ֔ךָ ʕammˈeḵā עַם people
לְ lᵊ לְ to
יֵ֖שַׁע yˌēšaʕ יֵשַׁע help
אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת together with
מְשִׁיחֶ֑ךָ mᵊšîḥˈeḵā מָשִׁיחַ anointed
מָחַ֤צְתָּ māḥˈaṣtā מחץ break
רֹּאשׁ֙ rrōš רֹאשׁ head
מִ mi מִן from
בֵּ֣ית bbˈêṯ בַּיִת house
רָשָׁ֔ע rāšˈāʕ רָשָׁע guilty
עָרֹ֛ות ʕārˈôṯ ערה pour out
יְסֹ֥וד yᵊsˌôḏ יְסֹוד foundation
עַד־ ʕaḏ- עַד unto
צַוָּ֖אר ṣawwˌār צַוָּאר neck
סֶֽלָה׃ פ sˈelā . f סֶלָה sela
3:13. egressus es in salutem populi tui in salutem cum christo tuo percussisti caput de domo impii denudasti fundamentum usque ad collum semper
Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people: for salvation with thy Christ. Thou struckest the head of the house of the wicked: thou hast laid bare his foundation even to the neck.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:13: Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people - Their deliverance would not have been effected but through thy interference.
For salvation with thine anointed - That is, with Joshua, whom God had anointed, or solemnly appointed to fill the place of Moses, and lead the people into the promised land. If we read, with the common text, משיחך meshichecha, "thy anointed," the singular number, Joshua is undoubtedly meant, who was God's instrument to put the people in possession of Canaan: but if, with several MSS. and some copies of the Septuagint, we read משיחיך meshicheycha, "thy anointed ones," the Israelites must be intended. They are frequently called God's anointed, or God's saints. The sense is very far-fetched when applied to Jesus Christ.
Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked - This alludes to the slaying of the first-born through all the land of Egypt. These were the heads of the houses or families.
By discovering the foundation unto the neck - The general meaning of this clause is sufficiently plain: the government of these lands should be utterly subverted; the very foundations of it should be razed. But what means unto the neck, עד צואר ad tsavvar? Several critics read עד צור ad tsar, "Unto the Rock," that on which the house is founded: and this very intelligible reading is obtained by the omission of a single letter, א aleph, from the word צוער, This conjecture has been adopted by Newcome, though unsupported either by MS. or version. But is the conjecture necessary? I think not: read the verse as it ought to be read, and all will be plain. "Thou hast wounded the head even unto the neck, in the house of the wicked, by laying bare the foundation." The whole head, neck, and all are cut off. There was no hope left to the Egyptians, because the first-born of every family was cut off, so that the very foundation was laid bare, no first-born being left to continue the heirship of families.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:13: Thou wentest forth - Even a Jew says of this place, Kimchi: "The past is here used for the future; and this is frequent in the language of prophecy; for prophecy, although it be future, yet since it is, as it were, firmly fixed, they use the past concerning it." The prophet speaks again in the past, perhaps to fix the mind on that signal going-forth, when God destroyed Pharaoh, the first enemy who essayed to destroy the chosen line. This stands at the head of all those dispensations, in which God put or shall put forth His might to save His people or destroy their enemies. All is with Him one everlasting purpose; the last were, as it were, embodied in the first: were it not for the last, the first would not have been. Prophecy, in speaking of the first, has in mind all the rest, and chiefly the chiefest and the end of all, the full salvation of His people through Jesus Christ our Lord. "Thou wentest forth," i. e. Rup.: "Thou, the Unseen God, gavest signs which may be seen of Thy Presence or coming to men." "Thou wentest forth," not by change of place, for Thou art not bounded; Thou art without change; but by showing Thy power, and doing something anew openly.
For the salvation of thy people even for salvation with Thine anointed - The English Version is doubtless right. So Aquila, although a Jew rendered, and the 5th Version. The 6th, a Christian, translated, "Thou wentest forth to save Thy people through Jesus, Thy Christ." So also the Vulgate and other old Jewish authorities. Rachmon (in Martini Pug. Fid. f. 534.). notes "that the word (את 'ê th) means "with," as in Gen 37:2; Gen 39:2." For although it might he used to mark the object only after a verbal noun, it is not likely that the construction would have been changed, unless the meaning were different. If (את 'ê th) had been only the sign of the object there was no occasion for inserting it at all, and it would probably have been avoided, as only making the sentence ambiguous, in that it may more obviously be taken in the sense adopted by Aquila and the Vulgate and the English version.
The Septuagint and two early heretics who disbelieved the divinity of our Lord (Theodotion and Symmachus) render "to save Thy Christs." Moreover, the Septuagint is wrong in that the "anointed" is never used of the people, but of single persons only, who were shadows of the Christ. "Thine anointed" is understood of one individual - "the king of Judah," by A. E. "Saul and David," by Rashi; "Moses," by Abarb.; "Hezekiah" by Tanchum; but "Messiah Ben David," by Kimchi Sal. b. Mel. God, from the first, helped His people through single persons - Moses, Joshua, each of the Judges - accustoming them to receive deliverance by one, and to gather together all their hopes in One. To Moses He said, Exo 3:12 : "I will be with thee," and to Joshua, Jos 1:5 : "As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee," and to Cyrus, Isa 45:2 : "I will go before thee," preparing His people to receive that nearer Presence with His Christ, of which our Lord says: "Believest thou not, that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The Father that Dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works" Joh 14:10 Rup.: "The Son of God, God Invisible, became Man, visible; and with Him, so going forth, the Holy Spirit went forth 'to the salvation of His people,' so as to give a visible sign of His Coming. For upon His Christ Himself, Him who was anointed with the Holy Spirit Act 10:38. 'He descended in a bodily Shape, as a Dove.' So He 'went forth to the Salvation of His people,' i. e., to save His people with His Christ, our Saviour;" and again, on the Day of Pentecost, when that other Comforter came, "whom," He said, I" will send unto you from the Father," and in whose Presence His own promise was fulfilled, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." His Presence was manifested both in the remission of sins, and the parting of graces among all, and in the Heb 2:4. "signs and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost," wherewith "God bare witness to the apostles," when, Mar 16:20, "they went forth, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following." A going forth to judgment, at the end of the world, is foretold in the like image of warfare (Rev 17:14; Rev 19:11 ff).
Thou woundedst (crushedst) the head out of the house of the wicked - One wicked stands over against One anointed, as in Isaiah Isa 11:4. "He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked;" and David speaks of one "He shall smite the head over a great land" Psa 110:6; and Paul speaks of "that wicked, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming" Th1 4:8 Him He shall destroy at once from above and below; overthrowing his kingdom from the foundation. From above, his head was crushed in pieces; from below, the house was razed from its very foundations. So Amos said, Amo 9:1, "The Lord said, Smite the capital, and the lintel (threshold ) strike, and wound them in the head, all of them;" and with a different image Amo 2:9. "I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath." First, the head is struck off, crushed; then the house from the foundations to its neck; then as it were the headless walls. The image of the neck may be the rather used to recall, that as the house of God is built of living stones, so the kingdom of the evil one is made of living dead, who shall never cease to exist in an undying death. The bruising of Satan, the head or prince of this evil world, is the deliverance of the world. His head was bruised, when, by the Death of our Lord, "the Prince of this world was cast out;" he is "crushed out of the house of the wicked, whenever he, the strong man," is bound and cast out, and "the soul of the sinner which had been his abode, becomes the house of God, and righteousness dwelleth there and walketh in her."
Rup.: "Thou didst not leave any error or vice in the world unshaken, either what was concealed, like the foundation of a house; or that which was open, as the neck of the body is open;" to the neck, where the destruction from above ceased, so that nothing remained unsmitten. Rup.: "For they being, by the fiery tongues which Thou shewedst without, made fervent and strong, wise and eloquent, ceased not, until they made known to all, what folly was this world's wisdom, what sacrilege its sacred worship." Dion.: "His secret counsels He laid bare, as the apostle says Co2 2:11; Co1 12:10. We are not ignorant of his devices; and, to another is given the discerning of spirits."
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:13: wentest: Exo 14:13, Exo 14:14, Exo 15:1, Exo 15:2; Psa 68:7, Psa 68:19-23
with: Psa 77:20, Psa 89:19-21, Psa 99:6, Psa 105:15, Psa 105:26; Isa 63:11
thou woundedst: Exo 12:29, Exo 12:30; Jos 10:11, Jos 10:24, Jos 10:42, Jos 11:8, Jos 11:12; Psa 18:37-45, Psa 68:21, Psa 74:13, Psa 74:14; Psa 110:6
discovering: Heb. making naked
Geneva 1599
3:13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, [even] for salvation with thy (q) anointed; thou didst wound the head out of the house of the wicked, by laying bare the foundation to the (r) neck. Selah.
(q) Signifying that there is no salvation, except by Christ.
(r) From the top to the bottom you have destroyed the enemies.
John Gill
3:13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of that people, even for salvation with thine anointed,.... Or, "thy Messiah"; which Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret of Messiah the son of David; and read and give the sense of the words thus,
"as thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, by bringing them into the land of Canaan, so do thou go forth for salvation with thy Messiah.''
God of old went forth in his power and providence for the salvation of his people, whom he chose above all people to be his special and peculiar people; making use of Moses and Aaron in bringing them out of Egypt, and leading them through the wilderness, and of Joshua to introduce them, and settle them in the land of Canaan; who were all types of Christ in the salvation of the chosen people. Joshua particularly was a type of Jesus; they agree in their name, which signifies a Saviour the salvation of God, or God the salvation; and in their character, office, and usefulness to the people of God, Jesus is the Lord's "anointed"; anointed with the Holy Ghost, the oil of gladness, above his fellows, which he received without measure; anointed to the office of Prophet, Priest, and King; and from whom his people receive the unction, and are denominated Christians, or anointed ones: and the "people" of God, for whose salvation he went forth with him, are not all mankind, who are not all saved; nor the people of the Jews only, or all of them; but a peculiar people, out of Jews and Gentiles, loved with a special love; chosen to salvation, secured in the covenant of grace, and given to Christ as his portion and people, and so saved by him, Mt 1:21. The "salvation" of them is a spiritual one, a salvation from all their sins; from the power and dominion, pollution and guilt, the damning power of them, and at last from the very being of them; as well as from Satan, the law, death, hell, and wrath to come: it is perfect and complete, and endures for ever. Jehovah the Father "went forth" with Christ his Son for this salvation, in his purposes and decrees concerning it; in his council and covenant relating to it; in the mission of him into this world to effect it; and by helping and assisting him in it, as man and Mediator. The words may be rendered, "thou wentest forth"; or, "thou goest forth"; thou wilt do so; and mayest thou do so, "to save thy people, to save thy anointed" (t); and so respect not the salvation of Israel by Moses or Joshua; nor the spiritual and eternal salvation of God's elect by the Messiah; but the salvation of the Lord's people from mystical Babylon, from the oppression and tyranny of antichrist, and from all his false doctrines, superstition, and idolatry, and ruin by them; and particularly the salvation of the two witnesses, the two olive trees, the two anointed ones that stand before the Lord of the whole earth; the singular being put for the plural, "anointed" for "anointed ones"; and so the Alexandrian copy of the Septuagint version, and the Arabic version, render it, "thy Christs", or "thy anointed ones"; now this will be done when the Lord shall go forth in his power and providence, and quicken and raise their dead bodies, when they have lain three days and a half, and shall cause them to ascend to heaven in the sight of their enemies; see Zech 4:14,
thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked; not the princes of the families of the land of Canaan, as some; nor the first born of Pharaoh's family in Egypt, or him and his host at the Red sea, as, others; nor Goliath of Gath, smitten by David, as Burkius; nor Satan and his principalities and powers by Christ on the cross; but antichrist the man of sin, that wicked and lawless one, who is at the bead of a wicked house or family, the antichristian party; who received a wound at the Reformation; and ere long the kings of the earth will hate the whore, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire; and Christ, will utterly consume and destroy this wicked one with the breath of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming, Rev_ 13:3 see Ps 110:6. Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret this of the head of the army of wicked Gog, the king of Magog, taking it to belong to future time; and so some render all those phrases, "thou wilt go forth, thou wilt wound" (u), &c.:
by discovering the foundation unto the neck; or "razing the foundation", as in Ps 137:7. There seems to be a double metaphor in the words, expressing the utter ruin and destruction of antichrist and his party; who, being compared to a building, will be demolished, and razed to the very foundation; that will be dug up, and laid bare, and no trace of an edifice to be seen any more; and, being compared to a human body, will be plunged into such distresses and calamities, as to be as it were up to the neck in them, from whence there is no escape and deliverance. Some understand this of the princes of this head, or of his friends, and those of his family that are nearest to him, as the neck is to the head; or of the whole body of the people under him, of which he will be deprived; and so be as a head without a body, and who cannot long survive them.
Selah is added as a mark of attention, something of moment and importance being observed.
(t) "ad salutem populi tui, ad servandum unctum tuum", De Dieu. (u) "egredieris"; so some in Vatablus. "transfiges"; so some in Drusius.
John Wesley
3:13 With thine anointed - Under the conduct of thine anointed, Joshua, the type of the Messiah. Thou woundest - Gavest a deadly wound to the kings of Canaan. The house of the wicked - The courts of these kings were houses of the vilest wickedness. By discovering - Destroying all from head to foot.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:13 with thine anointed--with Messiah; of whom Moses, Joshua, and David, God's anointed leaders of Israel, were the types (Ps 89:19-20, Ps 89:38). God from the beginning delivered His people in person, or by the hand of a Mediator (Is 63:11). Thus Habakkuk confirms believers in the hope of their deliverance, as well because God is always the same, as also because the same anointed Mediator is ready now to fulfil God's will and interpose for Israel, as of old [CALVIN]. MAURER translates to suit the parallelism, "for salvation to Thine anointed," namely, Israel's king in the abstract, answering to the "people" in the former clause (compare Ps 28:8; Lam 4:20). Or Israel is meant, the anointed, that is, consecrated people of Jehovah (Ps 105:15).
woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked--probably an allusion to Ps 68:21. Each head person sprung from and belonging to the house of Israel's wicked foes; such as Jabin, whose city Hazor was "the head of all the kingdoms" of Canaan (Josh 11:10; compare Judg 4:2-3, Judg 4:13).
discovering the foundation--Thou destroyedst high and low. As "the head of the house" means the prince, so the "foundation" means the general host of the enemy.
unto the neck--image from a flood reaching to the neck (Is 8:8; Is 30:28). So God, by His wrath overflowing on the foe, caused their princes' necks to be trodden under foot by Israel's leaders (Josh 10:24; Josh 11:8, Josh 11:12).
3:143:14: Խորտակեցեր ապշութեամբ զգլո՛ւխս բռնաւորաց. սասանեսցին ՚ի նմա. արձակեսցեն զերասանակս իւրեանց իբրեւ զտնանկ գաղտակեր[10735]։ [10735] ՚Ի լուս՛՛. Խոտորեցեր ապշութեամբ. համաձայն ոմանց ՚ի բնաբ՛՛։
14 Ապուշ դարձնելով խորտակեցիր բռնակալների գլուխը: Նրանք կը սասանուեն դրանից, կ’արձակեն իրենց երասանները ինչպէս գաղտագողի ուտող աղքատ:
14 Իրենց գաւազաններովը իրենց գլխաւորներուն գլուխը խորտակեցիր, Զիս ցրուելու համար փոթորիկի պէս ելան, Անոնց ուրախութիւնը տնանկը գաղտուկ ուտելու պէս էր։
Խորտակեցեր ապշութեամբ զգլուխս բռնաւորաց. սասանեսցին ի նմա, արձակեսցեն զերասանակս իւրեանց իբրեւ զտնանկ գաղտակեր:

3:14: Խորտակեցեր ապշութեամբ զգլո՛ւխս բռնաւորաց. սասանեսցին ՚ի նմա. արձակեսցեն զերասանակս իւրեանց իբրեւ զտնանկ գաղտակեր[10735]։
[10735] ՚Ի լուս՛՛. Խոտորեցեր ապշութեամբ. համաձայն ոմանց ՚ի բնաբ՛՛։
14 Ապուշ դարձնելով խորտակեցիր բռնակալների գլուխը: Նրանք կը սասանուեն դրանից, կ’արձակեն իրենց երասանները ինչպէս գաղտագողի ուտող աղքատ:
14 Իրենց գաւազաններովը իրենց գլխաւորներուն գլուխը խորտակեցիր, Զիս ցրուելու համար փոթորիկի պէս ելան, Անոնց ուրախութիւնը տնանկը գաղտուկ ուտելու պէս էր։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:143:14 Ты пронзаешь копьями его главу вождей его, когда они как вихрь ринулись разбить меня, в радости, как бы думая поглотить бедного скрытно.
3:14 διέκοψας διακοπτω in ἐκστάσει εκστασις ecstasy; trance κεφαλὰς κεφαλη head; top δυναστῶν δυναστης dynasty; dynast σεισθήσονται σειω shake ἐν εν in αὐτῇ αυτος he; him διανοίξουσιν διανοιγω open thoroughly / wide χαλινοὺς χαλινος bridle αὐτῶν αυτος he; him ὡς ως.1 as; how ἔσθων εσθιω eat; consume πτωχὸς πτωχος bankrupt; beggarly λάθρᾳ λαθρα privately
3:14 נָקַ֤בְתָּ nāqˈavtā נקב bore בְ vᵊ בְּ in מַטָּיו֙ maṭṭāʸw מַטֶּה staff רֹ֣אשׁ rˈōš רֹאשׁ head פְּרָזָ֔יופרזו *pᵊrāzˈāʸw פָּרָז [uncertain] יִסְעֲר֖וּ yisʕᵃrˌû סער be stormy לַ la לְ to הֲפִיצֵ֑נִי hᵃfîṣˈēnî פוץ disperse עֲלִ֣יצֻתָ֔ם ʕᵃlˈîṣuṯˈām עֲלִיצֻת presumption כְּמֹו־ kᵊmô- כְּמֹו like לֶ le לְ to אֱכֹ֥ל ʔᵉḵˌōl אכל eat עָנִ֖י ʕānˌî עָנִי humble בַּ ba בְּ in † הַ the מִּסְתָּֽר׃ mmistˈār מִסְתָּר hiding-place
3:14. maledixisti sceptris eius capiti bellatorum eius venientibus ut turbo ad dispergendum me exultatio eorum sicut eius qui devorat pauperem in absconditoThou hast cursed his sceptres, the head of his warriors, them that came out as a whirlwind to scatter me. Their joy was like that of him that devoureth the poor man in secret.
Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing [was] as to devour the poor secretly:

3:14 Ты пронзаешь копьями его главу вождей его, когда они как вихрь ринулись разбить меня, в радости, как бы думая поглотить бедного скрытно.
3:14
διέκοψας διακοπτω in
ἐκστάσει εκστασις ecstasy; trance
κεφαλὰς κεφαλη head; top
δυναστῶν δυναστης dynasty; dynast
σεισθήσονται σειω shake
ἐν εν in
αὐτῇ αυτος he; him
διανοίξουσιν διανοιγω open thoroughly / wide
χαλινοὺς χαλινος bridle
αὐτῶν αυτος he; him
ὡς ως.1 as; how
ἔσθων εσθιω eat; consume
πτωχὸς πτωχος bankrupt; beggarly
λάθρᾳ λαθρα privately
3:14
נָקַ֤בְתָּ nāqˈavtā נקב bore
בְ vᵊ בְּ in
מַטָּיו֙ maṭṭāʸw מַטֶּה staff
רֹ֣אשׁ rˈōš רֹאשׁ head
פְּרָזָ֔יופרזו
*pᵊrāzˈāʸw פָּרָז [uncertain]
יִסְעֲר֖וּ yisʕᵃrˌû סער be stormy
לַ la לְ to
הֲפִיצֵ֑נִי hᵃfîṣˈēnî פוץ disperse
עֲלִ֣יצֻתָ֔ם ʕᵃlˈîṣuṯˈām עֲלִיצֻת presumption
כְּמֹו־ kᵊmô- כְּמֹו like
לֶ le לְ to
אֱכֹ֥ל ʔᵉḵˌōl אכל eat
עָנִ֖י ʕānˌî עָנִי humble
בַּ ba בְּ in
† הַ the
מִּסְתָּֽר׃ mmistˈār מִסְתָּר hiding-place
3:14. maledixisti sceptris eius capiti bellatorum eius venientibus ut turbo ad dispergendum me exultatio eorum sicut eius qui devorat pauperem in abscondito
Thou hast cursed his sceptres, the head of his warriors, them that came out as a whirlwind to scatter me. Their joy was like that of him that devoureth the poor man in secret.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:14: Thou didst strike through - The Hebrew will bear this sense: "Thou hast pierced amidst their tribes the head of their troops," referring to Pharaoh and his generals, who came like a whirlwind to fall upon the poor Israelites, when they appeared to be hemmed in by sea, and no place for their escape. If we follow the common reading, it seems to intimate that the troops of Pharaoh, in their confusion (for God shone out upon them from the cloud) fell foul of each other; and with their staves, or weapons, slew one another: but the head of the villages or towns, i.e., Pharaoh was drowned with his army in the Red Sea.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:14: Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages - The destruction comes not upon himself only, but upon the whole multitude of his subjects; and this not by any mere act of divine might, but "with his own staves," turning upon him the destruction which he prepared for others. So it often was of old. When the Midianites and Amalekites and the children of the east Jdg 6:3-4 wasted Israel in the days of Gideon "the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host" Jdg 7:22; and when God delivered the Philistines into the hand of Jonathan Sa1 14:12, Sa1 14:16, Sa1 14:20 so it was with "Ammon Moab and the inhabitants of Mount Seir," at the prayer of Jehoshaphat and his army Ch2 20:22-23. And so it shall be, God says, at the end, of the army of God; "every man's sword shall be against his brother," Eze 38:21. and Isaiah says, Isa 9:20, "every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm," and Zechariah Zac 14:13, "a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay every man hold on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor."
So Pharaoh drove Israel to the shore of the sea, in which he himself perished; Daniel's accusers perished in the den of lions, from which Daniel was delivered unharmed; Dan 6:24. and so Haman was hanged on the gallows which he prepared for Mordecai Est 7:10. So it became a saying of Psalmists (Psa 7:5, add Psa 9:15; Psa 10:2; Psa 35:8; Psa 57:6; Psa 94:23; Psa 141:10; Pro 5:22; Pro 26:27; Ecc 10:8.) "He made a pit and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made; his mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate:" and this from above, sent down by God. The pagan too observed that there was "no juster law than that artificers of death by their own art should perish." This too befell him, when he seemed to have all but gained his end. "They came (out) as a whirlwind to scatter me," with whirlwind force, to drive them asunder to all the quarters of the heavens, as the wind scatters the particles of Job 37:11. cloud, or (Jer 13:24, add Jer 18:17; Isa 41:16, Delitzsch) "as the stubble which passeth away by the wind of the wilderness." Pharaoh at the Red Sea or Sennacherib, sweep all before them. Pharaoh said Exo 15:9. "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them."
Their rejoicing - It is no longer one enemy. The malice of the members was concentrated in the head; the hatred concentrated in him was diffused in them. The readiness of instruments of evil to fulfill evil is an incentive to those who conceive it; those who seem to ride the wave are but carried on upon the crest of the surge which they first roused. They cannot check themselves or it. So the ambitious conceiver of mischief has his own guilt; the willing instruments of evil have theirs. Neither could be fully evil without the other. Sennacherib had been nothing without those fierce warriors who are pictured on the monuments, with individual fierceness fulfilling his will, nor the Huns without Attila, or Attila without his hordes whose tempers he embodied. Satan would be powerless but for the willing instruments whom he uses. So then Holy Scripture sometimes passes from the mention of the evil multitude to that of the one head, on earth or in hell, who impels them; or from the one evil head who has his own special responsibility in originating it, to the evil multitude, whose responsibility and guilt lies in fomenting the evil which they execute.
Their rejoicing - He does not say simply "they rejoice to," but herein is their exceeding, exulting joy. The wise of this earth glories in his wisdom, the mighty man in his might, the rich in his riches: the truly wise, that he understandeth and knoweth God. But as for these, their exultation is concentrated in this, savagery; in this is their jubilation; this is their passion. Psalmists and pious people use the word to express their exulting joy in God: people must have an object for their empassioned souls; and these, in cruelty.
As it were to devour the poor secretly - From the general he descends again to the individual, but so as now to set forth the guilt of each individual in that stormy multitude which is, as it were, one in its evil unity, when each merges his responsibility, as it were, in that of the body, the horde or the mob, in which he acts. Their exultation, he says, is that of the individual robber trod murderer, who lies wait secretly in his ambush, to spring on the defenseless wanderer, to slay him and devour his substance. Premeditation, passion, lust of cruelty, cowardice, murderousness, habitual individual savagery and treachery, and that to the innocent and defenseless, are all concentrated in the words, "their exultation is, as it were, to devour the poor secretly," i. e. "in their secret haunt."
Pharaoh had triumphed over Israel. "They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in" Exo 14:3. He rejoiceth in having them wholly in his power, as a lion has his prey in his lair, in secret, unknown to the Eyes of God whom he regarded not, with none to behold, none to deliver. Dion.: "They gloried in oppressing the people of Israel, even as the cruel man glories in secretly rending and afflicting the needy, when without fear they do this cruelty, nor heed God beholding all as Judge. The invisible enemies too rejoice very greatly in the ruin of our souls "Lest mine enemy say, I have pRev_ailed against him: for if I be cast down, they that trouble me will rejoice at it Psa 13:4. "O Lord and governor of all my life, leave me not to their counsels and let me not fall by them" (Ecclesiasticus 23:1). Yet God left them not in his hands; but even "brake the head of Leviathan in pieces."
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:14: the head: Exo 11:4-7, Exo 12:12, Exo 12:13, Exo 12:29, Exo 12:30, Exo 14:17, Exo 14:18; Psa 78:50, Psa 78:51, Psa 83:9-11
they: Exo 14:5-9, Exo 15:9, Exo 15:10; Psa 83:2, Psa 83:8, Psa 118:10-12; Act 4:27, Act 4:28
came out: Heb. were tempestuous, Dan 11:40; Zac 9:14
their: Exo 1:10-16, Exo 1:22; Psa 10:8, Psa 64:2-7
Geneva 1599
3:14 Thou didst (s) strike through with his staffs the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing [was] as to devour the poor secretly.
(s) God destroyed his enemies both great and small with their own weapons, though they were ever so fierce against his Church.
John Gill
3:14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages,.... Of his warriors, mighty men, princes; so the Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; or of his armies, as Jarchi and Kimchi; which some interpret of Pharaoh and his host, who were destroyed by the steps and methods which they themselves took, going into the sea of themselves, and so were struck through with their own staves: others of the princes and armies of the Canaanites, who destroyed one another with their own weapons of war, as the Midianites did; though we have no instance of it on record: others of Goliath, as Burkius, called before "the head out of the house of the wicked", with respect to his rise from Gath; here, "the head of his Pagans", as he renders it, or Gentiles, with respect to his preeminence over the common soldiers, and all the Philistines: others of Sennacherib and his army, as Jarchi; but Kimchi's sense is much better, who interprets it of Gog and his army; and which, if understood of the Turk, the eastern antichrist, is not amiss; and so, as the western antichrist and his destruction are pointed at in the preceding verse Hab 3:13, the ruin of the other is intimated here; whose armies are expressed by a word which sometimes has the signification of villages; because he said, "I will go up to the land of unwalled villages", Ezek 38:11 in the land of Judea about Jerusalem, where he will distribute and quarter his soldiers; and where he and they at the head of them in these villages will be cut to pieces with their own weapons; as it is said, "every man's sword shall be against his brother", Ezek 38:21, Cocceius and Van Till render the words, "thou hast designed", marked out, or expressed by name, "in his tribes, the head of his villages"; and understand them, not of the enemy, but of Christ the anointed One, and his people; the Protestants, or reformed churches, who, being separated from antichrist, are represented as divided into tribes, and as dwelling in villages alone, and in separate states and kingdoms; and suppose that God has designed in his purposes and decrees some particular place, called the head or beginning of these villages, where his great and glorious work in the latter day will first appear; but what and where that place is is not said:
they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me; the prophet representing the true Israel, or the whole church of Christ: it is not unusual for mighty armies to be compared to a whirlwind coming forth with great force, suddenly and swiftly; see Jer 4:13 and particularly it is said of the army of Gog or the Turk, which shall invade Judea, in order to dispossess the Jews of their land, when converted and returned to it; "thou shall ascend and come like a storm, thou shall be like a cloud, to cover the land, thou and all thy bands, and many people with thee", Ezek 38:9 who will think to scatter the people of the Jews again among the nations, as they have been:
their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly; the poor people of the Jews, to strip them of their substance, to carry off their gold and silver, their cattle and their goods; and which they thought they should as easily accomplish as a rich man gets the mastery over a poor man, and ruins him, that has none to help him; and that they should do this in a still, private, secret manner, so as that the Christian princes should have no knowledge of it, and come in to their assistance; and this they rejoiced at in themselves, and pleased themselves with it; see Ezek 38:10. The above interpreters render this clause as a prayer, "let them tremble for fear": or be filled with horror, who come "to scatter me, whose rejoicing is as to devour the poor in secret"; which is interpreted of the Papists being terrified by some Christian princes, since the Reformation, from carrying some of their designs into execution; and of the clandestine arts and secret methods the Jesuits particularly use to do injury to the interest of Christ and true religion.
John Wesley
3:14 Villages - All the cities and all the unwalled towns. They - The inhabitants of Canaan. As a whirlwind - With violence invading me on every side. To scatter - To disperse and drive away the Israelites. Their rejoicing - They rejoiced in full confidence of swallowing up Israel unawares.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:14 strike . . . with his staves--with the "wicked" (Hab 3:13) foe's own sword (MAURER translates, "spears") (Judg 7:22).
head of his villages--Not only kings were overthrown by God's hand, but His vengeance passed through the foe's villages and dependencies. A just retribution, as the foe had made "the inhabitants of Israel's villages to cease" (Judg 5:7). GROTIUS translates, "of his warriors"; GESENIUS, "the chief of his captains."
to scatter me--Israel, with whom Habakkuk identifies himself (compare Hab 1:12).
rejoicing . . . to devour the poor secretly--"The poor" means the Israelites, for whom in their helpless state the foe lurks in his lair, like a wild beast, to pounce on and devour (Ps 10:9; Ps 17:12).
3:153:15: Հաներ ՚ի ծով զերիվարս քո, պղտորել զջուրս բազումս[10736]։ [10736] Ոմանք. Պղտորեցեր զջուրս բա՛՛։
15 Ծով հանեցիր քո ձիերը՝ շատ ջրեր պղտորելու:
15 Քու ձիերովդ՝ ծովուն վրայ, Շատ ջուրերուն խռովութեանը վրայ քալեցիր։
Հաներ ի ծով զերիվարս քո, պղտորել զջուրս բազումս:

3:15: Հաներ ՚ի ծով զերիվարս քո, պղտորել զջուրս բազումս[10736]։
[10736] Ոմանք. Պղտորեցեր զջուրս բա՛՛։
15 Ծով հանեցիր քո ձիերը՝ շատ ջրեր պղտորելու:
15 Քու ձիերովդ՝ ծովուն վրայ, Շատ ջուրերուն խռովութեանը վրայ քալեցիր։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:153:15 Ты с конями Твоими проложил путь по морю, через пучину великих вод.
3:15 καὶ και and; even ἐπεβίβασας επιβιβαζω pull on; put on εἰς εις into; for θάλασσαν θαλασσα sea τοὺς ο the ἵππους ιππος horse σου σου of you; your ταράσσοντας ταρασσω stir up; trouble ὕδωρ υδωρ water πολύ πολυς much; many
3:15 דָּרַ֥כְתָּ dārˌaḵtā דרך tread בַ va בְּ in † הַ the יָּ֖ם yyˌom יָם sea סוּסֶ֑יךָ sûsˈeʸḵā סוּס horse חֹ֖מֶר ḥˌōmer חֹמֶר clay מַ֥יִם mˌayim מַיִם water רַבִּֽים׃ rabbˈîm רַב much
3:15. viam fecisti in mari equis tuis in luto aquarum multarumThou madest a way in the sea for thy horses, in the mud of many waters.
Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, [through] the heap of great waters:

3:15 Ты с конями Твоими проложил путь по морю, через пучину великих вод.
3:15
καὶ και and; even
ἐπεβίβασας επιβιβαζω pull on; put on
εἰς εις into; for
θάλασσαν θαλασσα sea
τοὺς ο the
ἵππους ιππος horse
σου σου of you; your
ταράσσοντας ταρασσω stir up; trouble
ὕδωρ υδωρ water
πολύ πολυς much; many
3:15
דָּרַ֥כְתָּ dārˌaḵtā דרך tread
בַ va בְּ in
† הַ the
יָּ֖ם yyˌom יָם sea
סוּסֶ֑יךָ sûsˈeʸḵā סוּס horse
חֹ֖מֶר ḥˌōmer חֹמֶר clay
מַ֥יִם mˌayim מַיִם water
רַבִּֽים׃ rabbˈîm רַב much
3:15. viam fecisti in mari equis tuis in luto aquarum multarum
Thou madest a way in the sea for thy horses, in the mud of many waters.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:15: Thou didst walk through the sea - There was no occasion to hurry across; all was safe, for God had divided the waters: and his terrible cloud had removed from before, and stood behind them, so that it was between them and the Egyptians. See Exo 14:19, Exo 14:20.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:15: Thou didst walk through the sea with Thine horses - God Himself is pictured as leading them on the way, Himself at the head of their multitude, having, as Asaph said of old "His path in the sea." So Isaiah Isa 63:13. "who leddest them in the depths;" and Zechariah Zac 10:11. "And he shall pass through the sea." God was literally there; for Act 17:28. "in Him we live and move and have our being." He who "is wholly everywhere but the whole of Him nowhere" manifested His Presence there. Such anthropomorphisms have a truth, which people's favorite abstractions have not.
Through the heap - o of great waters as of old Exo 15:8; Psa 78:13. "the waters stood us a heap, and He made the waters to stand a a heap." The very hindrances to deliverance are in God's hands a way for His ends. The waves of the Red Sea rose in heaps, yet this was but a readier way for the salvation of His people and the destruction of their enemies. Dion.: "God prepareth ever a way for His elect in this present evil world, and leadeth them along the narrow way which leadeth unto life."
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:15: walk: Hab 3:8; Psa 77:19
heap: or, mud
John Gill
3:15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses,.... And as thou didst of old, so do again; as Jehovah walked through the Red sea in a pillar of cloud and fire, which were his horses and chariots, and destroyed the Egyptians; so may he walk through another sea by his instruments, and destroy the enemies of his church and people; See Gill on Hab 3:8. The "sea" here signifies the world, compared to it for the multitude of its people; the noise, fluctuation, and uncertainty of all things in it; and particularly the Roman empire, the sea out of which the antichristian beast arose, Rev_ 13:1. The "horses" are the angels or Christian princes, with whom the Lord will walk in majesty, and in the greatness of his strength, pouring out the vials of his wrath on the antichristian states:
through the heap of many waters; or "the clay", or "mud of many waters" (w); that lies at the bottom of them; which being walked through and trampled on by horses, is raised up, and "troubles" them, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it: these "many waters" are those on which the whore of Rome is said to sit; and which are interpreted of people, multitudes, nations, and tongues, Rev_ 17:1 and the "mud" of them is expressive of their pollution and corruption, with her false doctrines, idolatry, superstition, and immoralities; and of their disturbed state and condition, through the judgments of God upon them, signified by his horses walking through them; trampling upon them in fury; treating them with the utmost contempt; treading them like mire and clay, and bringing upon them utter ruin and destruction.
(w) "in luto aquarum multarum", Tigurine version; "calcasti lutum aquarum multarum", Cocceius, Van Till; "lutum, aquae multae", Burkius.
John Wesley
3:15 Didst walk - Thou heldest on thy way, from thy entering in on the east of the land, to the west thereof.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses-- (Hab 3:8). No obstacle could prevent Thy progress when leading Thy people in safety to their inheritance, whether the Red Sea, Jordan, or the figurative waves of foes raging against Israel (Ps 65:7; Ps 77:19).
3:163:16: Զգուշացայ եւ զարհուրեցա՛ւ սիրտ իմ ՚ի ձայնէ աղօթից շրթանց իմոց. եմուտ դողումն յոսկերս իմ. եւ խռովեցաւ փո՛ր իմ ՚ի ներքուստ. հանգեա՛յց յաւուր նեղութեան, ելանե՛լ ինձ ՚ի ժողովուրդ պանդխտութեան իմոյ։
16 Նայեցի, եւ իմ սիրտը զարհուրեց իմ շրթների աղօթքների ձայնից, դող ընկաւ ոսկորներիս մէջ, եւ փորս անհանգստացաւ ներսից: Կը հանգստանամ նեղութեան օրը, որպէսզի ելնեմ գնամ դէպի իմ պանդուխտ ժողովուրդը.
16 Լսեցի ու սիրտս սարսափեցաւ, Ձայնէն շրթունքներս դողացին։Ոսկորներուս մէջ փտութիւն մտաւ Ու եղած տեղս սարսափեցայ։Հանգստութեամբ սպասեցի նեղութեան օրուան, Երբ ան ելլէ իր գունդերովը յարձակի իմ ժողովուրդիս վրայ։
Զգուշացայ եւ զարհուրեցաւ սիրտ իմ ի ձայնէ աղօթից շրթանց իմոց. եմուտ դողումն յոսկերս իմ, եւ խռովեցաւ փոր իմ ի ներքուստ. հանգեայց յաւուր նեղութեան, ելանել ինձ ի ժողովուրդ պանդխտութեան իմոյ:

3:16: Զգուշացայ եւ զարհուրեցա՛ւ սիրտ իմ ՚ի ձայնէ աղօթից շրթանց իմոց. եմուտ դողումն յոսկերս իմ. եւ խռովեցաւ փո՛ր իմ ՚ի ներքուստ. հանգեա՛յց յաւուր նեղութեան, ելանե՛լ ինձ ՚ի ժողովուրդ պանդխտութեան իմոյ։
16 Նայեցի, եւ իմ սիրտը զարհուրեց իմ շրթների աղօթքների ձայնից, դող ընկաւ ոսկորներիս մէջ, եւ փորս անհանգստացաւ ներսից: Կը հանգստանամ նեղութեան օրը, որպէսզի ելնեմ գնամ դէպի իմ պանդուխտ ժողովուրդը.
16 Լսեցի ու սիրտս սարսափեցաւ, Ձայնէն շրթունքներս դողացին։Ոսկորներուս մէջ փտութիւն մտաւ Ու եղած տեղս սարսափեցայ։Հանգստութեամբ սպասեցի նեղութեան օրուան, Երբ ան ելլէ իր գունդերովը յարձակի իմ ժողովուրդիս վրայ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:163:16 Я услышал, и вострепетала внутренность моя; при вести о сем задрожали губы мои, боль проникла в кости мои, и колеблется место подо мною; а я должен быть спокоен в день бедствия, когда придет на народ мой грабитель его.
3:16 ἐφυλαξάμην φυλασσω guard; keep καὶ και and; even ἐπτοήθη πτοεω frighten ἡ ο the κοιλία κοιλια insides; womb μου μου of me; mine ἀπὸ απο from; away φωνῆς φωνη voice; sound προσευχῆς προσευχη prayer χειλέων χειλος lip; shore μου μου of me; mine καὶ και and; even εἰσῆλθεν εισερχομαι enter; go in τρόμος τρομος trembling εἰς εις into; for τὰ ο the ὀστᾶ οστεον bone μου μου of me; mine καὶ και and; even ὑποκάτωθέν υποκατωθεν of me; mine ἐταράχθη ταρασσω stir up; trouble ἡ ο the ἕξις εξις habit μου μου of me; mine ἀναπαύσομαι αναπαυω have respite; give relief ἐν εν in ἡμέρᾳ ημερα day θλίψεως θλιψις pressure τοῦ ο the ἀναβῆναι αναβαινω step up; ascend εἰς εις into; for λαὸν λαος populace; population παροικίας παροικια residency μου μου of me; mine
3:16 שָׁמַ֣עְתִּי׀ šāmˈaʕtî שׁמע hear וַ wa וְ and תִּרְגַּ֣ז ttirgˈaz רגז quake בִּטְנִ֗י biṭnˈî בֶּטֶן belly לְ lᵊ לְ to קֹול֙ qôl קֹול sound צָלֲל֣וּ ṣālᵃlˈû צלל tingle שְׂפָתַ֔י śᵊfāṯˈay שָׂפָה lip יָבֹ֥וא yāvˌô בוא come רָקָ֛ב rāqˈāv רָקָב rottenness בַּ ba בְּ in עֲצָמַ֖י ʕᵃṣāmˌay עֶצֶם bone וְ wᵊ וְ and תַחְתַּ֣י ṯaḥtˈay תַּחַת under part אֶרְגָּ֑ז ʔergˈāz רגז quake אֲשֶׁ֤ר ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative] אָנ֨וּחַ֙ ʔānˈûₐḥ נוח lament לְ lᵊ לְ to יֹ֣ום yˈôm יֹום day צָרָ֔ה ṣārˈā צָרָה distress לַ la לְ to עֲלֹ֖ות ʕᵃlˌôṯ עלה ascend לְ lᵊ לְ to עַ֥ם ʕˌam עַם people יְגוּדֶֽנּוּ׃ yᵊḡûḏˈennû גוד attack
3:16. audivi et conturbatus est venter meus ad vocem contremuerunt labia mea ingrediatur putredo in ossibus meis et subter me scateat ut requiescam in die tribulationis ut ascendam ad populum accinctum nostrumI have heard and my bowels were troubled: my lips trembled at the voice. Let rottenness enter into my bones, and swarm under me. That I may rest in the day of tribulation: that I may go up to our people that are girded.
When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops:

3:16 Я услышал, и вострепетала внутренность моя; при вести о сем задрожали губы мои, боль проникла в кости мои, и колеблется место подо мною; а я должен быть спокоен в день бедствия, когда придет на народ мой грабитель его.
3:16
ἐφυλαξάμην φυλασσω guard; keep
καὶ και and; even
ἐπτοήθη πτοεω frighten
ἡ ο the
κοιλία κοιλια insides; womb
μου μου of me; mine
ἀπὸ απο from; away
φωνῆς φωνη voice; sound
προσευχῆς προσευχη prayer
χειλέων χειλος lip; shore
μου μου of me; mine
καὶ και and; even
εἰσῆλθεν εισερχομαι enter; go in
τρόμος τρομος trembling
εἰς εις into; for
τὰ ο the
ὀστᾶ οστεον bone
μου μου of me; mine
καὶ και and; even
ὑποκάτωθέν υποκατωθεν of me; mine
ἐταράχθη ταρασσω stir up; trouble
ἡ ο the
ἕξις εξις habit
μου μου of me; mine
ἀναπαύσομαι αναπαυω have respite; give relief
ἐν εν in
ἡμέρᾳ ημερα day
θλίψεως θλιψις pressure
τοῦ ο the
ἀναβῆναι αναβαινω step up; ascend
εἰς εις into; for
λαὸν λαος populace; population
παροικίας παροικια residency
μου μου of me; mine
3:16
שָׁמַ֣עְתִּי׀ šāmˈaʕtî שׁמע hear
וַ wa וְ and
תִּרְגַּ֣ז ttirgˈaz רגז quake
בִּטְנִ֗י biṭnˈî בֶּטֶן belly
לְ lᵊ לְ to
קֹול֙ qôl קֹול sound
צָלֲל֣וּ ṣālᵃlˈû צלל tingle
שְׂפָתַ֔י śᵊfāṯˈay שָׂפָה lip
יָבֹ֥וא yāvˌô בוא come
רָקָ֛ב rāqˈāv רָקָב rottenness
בַּ ba בְּ in
עֲצָמַ֖י ʕᵃṣāmˌay עֶצֶם bone
וְ wᵊ וְ and
תַחְתַּ֣י ṯaḥtˈay תַּחַת under part
אֶרְגָּ֑ז ʔergˈāz רגז quake
אֲשֶׁ֤ר ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative]
אָנ֨וּחַ֙ ʔānˈûₐḥ נוח lament
לְ lᵊ לְ to
יֹ֣ום yˈôm יֹום day
צָרָ֔ה ṣārˈā צָרָה distress
לַ la לְ to
עֲלֹ֖ות ʕᵃlˌôṯ עלה ascend
לְ lᵊ לְ to
עַ֥ם ʕˌam עַם people
יְגוּדֶֽנּוּ׃ yᵊḡûḏˈennû גוד attack
3:16. audivi et conturbatus est venter meus ad vocem contremuerunt labia mea ingrediatur putredo in ossibus meis et subter me scateat ut requiescam in die tribulationis ut ascendam ad populum accinctum nostrum
I have heard and my bowels were troubled: my lips trembled at the voice. Let rottenness enter into my bones, and swarm under me. That I may rest in the day of tribulation: that I may go up to our people that are girded.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ mh▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
16-19. В заключение своей "молитвы", а вместе с тем и всей своей книги пророк изображает свои впечатления от Богоявления, а также вызванные им и всем вообще содержанием пророчества чувства и мысли. Первое впечатление видения и откровения, полученного пророком, - впечатление охватывающего все существо ужаса и трепета (16а), подобно тому, как таково именно было впечатление видений на пророка Даниила (Дан VIII:18, 27; X:8). При этом ужас, который охватил пророка, и о котором упоминал он еще в начале своей молитвы (ст. 2), вызван был не только сверхъестественностью и небесною природою Богоявления, но и грозным характером предвещаемых им событий, близко и роковым образом затрагивающих судьбу его родного народа: "движимый состраданием к иноплеменникам, пришел он в трепет и страх от предсказаний, изреченных в молитве" (блаж. Федорит, с. 38). Но как истинный вестник велений и судеб Божиих, пророк знает и возвещает людям, что рядом с ужасом бедствий должно быть и успокоение надежды на Бога и Его непрекращающуюся и среди гнева милость (ст. 16б, ср. Иc XIV:13; LVII:18). Этого мало: в следующих стихах, 17:-19, пророк, как истинный учитель веры и нравственности, святости и добра, высказывает возвышенную мысль о том, что прославлять Бога должно и среди величайших бедствий. В ст. 17: пророк рисует картину величайших и чувствительнейших жизненных лишений и затруднений: пророк предвидит близость такого времени, когда жители Палестины, этой земли кипящей медом и молоком, будут испытывать - по случаю нашествия неприятелей - крайний недостаток в насущных предметах жизненного довольства библейских евреев: не будет ни произведений садовой культуры - плодов смоковницы, виноградной лозы и маслины, ни плодов земледелия и нивы, ни продуктов скотоводства - яркая картина запустения святой земли, напоминающая подобное же изображение ее у пророка Иоиля в пору народного бедствия, нашествия саранчи (Иоил I:17-20). Но и при таких тяжелых условиях существования, не взирая на всю тяготу народных бедствий, пророк Аввакум, подобно пророку Михею в подобных же обстоятельствах (Мих VII:7), выражает крепкую веру в Бога Иегову, совершенную надежду на Него и полнейшую преданность Ему, а потому выражает и полнейшую готовность восхвалять Его, ст. 18-19а. Здесь, как и во многих других библейских местах (напр. в Пс LXXII:25-26), дано яркое и очевидное свидетельство абсолютной ценности религиозного блага, блага Богообщения, вообще истинной религии: каким бы злоключением ни подвергался человек, остается во всей силе долг "служить Господу со страхом и радоваться Ему с трепетом" (Пс II:11). И кто, подобно пророку, проникнется этим убеждением, тот обретет, подобно ему же, благодатную силу для своего религиозного подвига, и воскликнет с пророком: "Господь Бог - сила моя: Он сделает ноги у меня, как у оленя, и на высоты мои (т. е. на высоту спасения) возведет меня" (ст. 19), т. е., "подкрепит Бог естества моего немощь, и сделает, что подобно оленю буду попирать змеев и скорпионов и духов злобы, пока не взойду на высоту добродетели, и не воспою победную песнь Спасителю и Творцу моему" (блаж. Феодорит, с. 39-40).

Об общем смысле "молитвы" пророка Аввакума блаженный Феодорит замечает: "Известно мне, что иные, всю молитву Аввакумову понимая исторически, утверждали, будто бы пророк предрек сие о возвращении из Вавилона. Не буду противоречить, если кому угодно полагать, что прообразовательное сие предречено о возвратившихся из плена; потому что такое разумение согласно и с моим толкованием; если ветхозаветное подлинно есть действительное прообразование новозаветного. Но почел бы я ни с чем несообразным, когда превозмогает действительность, и телом закрывается тень, о чем-либо другом понимать пророчество, не вполне тому соответствующее..." (с. 40).

Из этого замечания церковного учителя, авторитетного толкователя Св. Писания следует, что оба элемента - исторический и типологический в изъяснении содержания "молитвы", а равно и всей вообще книги пророка Аввакума - должны находить свое равномерное, гармонически объединенное применение. То же правило должно быть соблюдаемо и при толковании других пророчеств Ветхого Завета.
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. 17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
Within the compass of these few lines we have the prophet in the highest degree both of trembling and triumphing, such are the varieties both of the state and of the spirit of God's people in this world. In heaven there shall be no more trembling, but everlasting triumphs.
I. The prophet had foreseen the prevalence of the church's enemies and the long continuance of the church's troubles; and the sight made him tremble, v. 16. Here he goes on with what he had said v. 2, "I have heard thy speech and was afraid. When I heard what sad times were coming upon the church my belly trembled, my lips quivered at the voice; the news made such an impression that it put me into a perfect ague fit." The blood retiring to the heart, to succour that when it was ready to faint, the extreme parts were left destitute of spirits, so that his lips quivered. Nay, he was so weak, and so unable to help himself, that he was as if rottenness had entered into his bones; he had no strength left in him, could neither stand nor go; he trembled in himself, trembled all over him, trembled within him; he yielded to his trembling, and troubled himself, as our Savior did; his flesh trembled for fear of God and he was afraid of his judgments, Ps. cxix. 120. He was touched with a tender concern for the calamities of the church, and trembled for fear lest they should end at length in ruin, and the name of Israel be blotted out. Nor did he think it any disparagement to him, nor any reproach to his courage, but freely owned he was one of those that trembled at God's word, for to them he will look with favour: I tremble in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble. Note, When we see a day of trouble approaching it concerns us to provide accordingly, and to lay up something in store, by the help of which we may rest in that day; and the best way to make sure rest for ourselves in the day of trouble is to tremble within ourselves at the word of God and the threatenings of that word. He that has joy in store for those that sow in tears has rest in store for those that tremble before him. Good hope through grace is founded in a holy fear. Noah, who was moved with fear, trembled within himself at the warning given him of the deluge coming, had the ark for his resting place in the day of that trouble. The prophet tells us what he said in his trembling. His fear is that, when he comes up to the people, when the Chaldean comes up to the people of Israel, he will invade them, will surround them, will break in upon them, nay (as it is in the margin), He will cut them in pieces with his troops; he cried out, We are all undone; the whole nation of the Jews is lost and gone. Note, When things look bad we are too apt to aggravate them, and make the worst of them.
II. He had looked back upon the experiences of the church in former ages, and had observed what great things God had done for them, and so he recovered himself out of his fright, and not only retrieved his temper, but fell into a transport of holy joy, with an express non obstante--notwithstanding to the calamities he foresaw coming, and this not for himself only, but in the name of every faithful Israelite.
1. He supposes the ruin of all his creature comforts and enjoyments, not only of the delights of this life, but even of the necessary supports of it, v. 17. Famine is one of the ordinary effects of war, and those commonly feel it first and most that sit still and are quiet; the prophet and his pious friends, when the Chaldean army comes, will be plundered and stripped of all they have. Or he supposes himself deprived of all by blasting and unseasonable weather, or some other immediate hand of God. Or though the captives in Babylon have not that plenty of all good things in their own land. (1.) He supposes the fruit-tree to be withered and become barren; the fig-tree (which used to furnish them with much of their food; hence we often read of cakes of figs) shall not so much as blossom, nor shall fruit be in the vine, from which they had their drink, that made glad the heart: he supposes the labour of the olive to fail, their oil, which was to them as butter is to us; the labour of the olive shall lie (so it is in the margin); their expectations from it shall be disappointed. (2.) He supposes the bread-corn to fail; the fields shall yield no meat; and, since the king himself is served of the field, if the productions of that be withdrawn, every one will feel the want of them. (3.) He supposes the cattle to perish for want of the food which the field should yield and does not, or by disease, or being destroyed and carried away by the enemy: The flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stall. Note, When we are in the full enjoyment of our creature comforts we should consider that there may come a time when we shall be stripped of them all, and use them accordingly, as not abusing them, 1 Cor. vii. 29, 30.
2. He resolves to delight and triumph in God notwithstanding; when all is gone his God is not gone (v. 18): "Yet will I rejoice in the Lord; I shall have him to rejoice in, and will rejoice in him." Destroy the vines and the fig-trees, and you make all the mirth of a carnal heart to cease, Hos. ii. 11, 12. But those who, when they were full, enjoyed God in all, when they are emptied and impoverished can enjoy all in God, and can sit down upon a melancholy heap of the ruins of all their creature comforts and even then can sing to the praise and glory of God, as the God of their salvation. This is the principal ground of our joy in God, that he is the God of our salvation, our eternal salvation, the salvation of the soul; and, if he be so, we may rejoice in him as such in our greatest distresses, since by them our salvation cannot be hindered, but may be furthered. Note, Joy in God is never out of season, nay, it is in a special manner seasonable when we meet with losses and crosses in the world, that it may then appear that our hearts are not set upon these things, nor our happiness bound up in them. See how the prophet triumphs in God: The Lord God is my strength, v. 19. He that is the God of our salvation in another world will be our strength in this world, to carry us on in our journey thither, and help us over the difficulties and oppositions we meet with in our way. Even when provisions are cut off, to make it appear that man lives not by bread alone, we may have the want of bread supplied by the graces and comforts of God's Spirit and with the supplies of them. (1.) We shall be strong for our spiritual warfare and work: The Lord God is my strength, the strength of my heart. (2.) We shall be swift for our spiritual race: "He will make my feet like hinds' feet, that with enlargement of heart I may run the way of his commands and outrun my troubles." (3.) We shall be successful in our spiritual enterprises: "He will make me to walk upon my high places; that is, I shall gain my point, shall be restored unto my own land, and tread upon the high places of the enemy," Deut. xxxii. 13; xxxiii. 29. Thus the prophet, who began his prayer with fear and trembling, concludes it with joy and triumph, for prayer is heart's ease to a gracious soul. When Hannah had prayed she went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. This prophet, finding it so, publishes his experience of it, and puts it into the hand of the chief singer for the use of the church, especially in the day of our captivity. And, though then the harps were hung upon the willow-trees, yet in the hope that they would be resumed, and their right hand retrieve its cunning, which it had forgotten, he set his song upon Shigionoth (v. 1), wandering tunes, according to the variable songs, and upon Neginoth (v. 19), the stringed instruments. He that is afflicted, and has prayed aright, may then be so easy, may then be so merry, as to sing psalms.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:16: When I heard, my belly trembled - The prophet, having finished his account of the wonders done by Jehovah, in bringing their fathers from Egypt into the promised land, now returns to the desolate state of his countrymen, who are shortly to be led into captivity, and suffer the most grievous afflictions; and although he had a sure word of prophecy that they should be ultimately delivered, yet the thoughts of the evils they must previously endure filled his soul with terror and dismay; so that he wishes to be removed from earth before this tribulation should come, that his eyes might not behold the desolations of his country.
When he (Nebuchadnezzar) cometh up unto the people, (the Jews), he will invade them (overpower and carry them away captive) with his troops.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:16: When I heard - , better, "I heard and ..." The prophet sums up, resuming that same declaration with which he had begun, "I heard, I was afraid." Only now he expresses far more strongly both his awe at God's judgments and his hopes. He had just beheld the image of the destruction of Pharaoh, the end of the brief triumphing of the wicked and of the trials of God's people. But awful as are all the judgments of God upon the enemies of His people, it was not this alone which was the object of his terror. This was deliverance. It was the whole course of God's dispensations, which he had heard; God's punishment of His people for their sins, and the excision of their oppressors, who, in His Providence, fulfilling their own evil end, executed His chastisements upon them. The deliverances, which shadowed out the future, had their dark side, in that they were deliverances. The whole course of this world is one series of man's unfaithfulnesses or sins, God's chastisements of them through their fellow-sinners, and His ultimate overt brow of the aggressors. Those first three centuries of glorious martyrdoms were, on the one side, the malice and hatred of Satan and the world against the truth; on the other side, the prophets of those days told their people that they were the chastisements of their sins. Future deliverance implies pRev_ious chastisement of those delivered. The prophet then, at the close, in view of all, for himself and all whose perplexities he represented and pleaded before God, chooses his and their portion. "Suffer here and rest foRev_er!" "Endure here any terror, any failure of hopes, yet trust wholly in God, have rest in the day of trouble and sing the endless song!" Again he casts himself back amid all the troubles of this life.
I heard - (i. e. that speech of God uttering judgments to come) "and my belly," the whole inward self, bodily and mental, all his hidden powers, trembled , "vibrated" as it were, "Sin every fibre of his frame," at the wrath of God; "my lips quivered at the voice of God," so that they almost refused their office and could hardly fulfill the prophetic duty and utter the terrors which he had heard; his very strongest parts, the bones, which keep the whole frame of man together, that he be not a shapeless mass, and which remain unconsumed long after the rest has wasted away in the grave, "rottenness entered into them," corruption and mouldering eating into them; and "I trembled in myself" (literally under me) so that he was a burden to himself and sank unable to support himself, "that I might rest in the day of trouble."
All up to this time was weariness and terror, and now at once all is repose; the prophet is carried, as it were, over the troubles of this life and the decay of the grave to the sweetness of everlasting rest I, the same, suffer these things, terror, quivering, rottenness in the very bones themselves. "I (literally) who shall rest in the day of trouble." I who had not rest until then, shall enter into rest then in the very day of trouble to all who found their rest in the world not in God, the day of judgment Psa 94:12-13.. "Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him in Thy law, that Thou mayest give him patience in time of adversity, until the pit be digged up for the ungodly."
"O my soul; had we daily to bear tortures, had we for a long time to endure hell itself, that we might see Christ in His glory and be the companion of His saints, were it not worth enduring all sorrow, that we might be partakers of so exceeding a good, such exceeding glory?"
When he cometh up unto the people, he shall invade them with his troops - or, which is probably meant, "when he cometh up who shall invade them." It is a filling out of "the day of trouble." However, near the trouble came, he, under the protection of God and in firm trust in Him, would be at rest in Him. The troubles of God's prophets are not the outward troubles, but the sins of their people which bring those troubles, the offence against the majesty of God, the loss of souls. Jeremiah was more at rest in the court of the prison, than when all the people did curse him Jer 15:10 for telling them God's truth. He who fears God and His judgments betimes, shall rest in perfect tranquility when those judgments come. The immediate trouble was the fierce assault of the Chaldees whose terror he had described; and this, picturing, as through the prophecy, all other judgments of God even to the last, when devils shall contend about the souls of people, as Satan did about the body of Moses.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:16: I heard: Hab 3:2, Hab 1:5-11
my belly: Psa 119:120; Jer 23:9; Eze 3:14; Dan 8:27, Dan 10:8
that I: Psa 91:15, Psa 94:12, Psa 94:13; Isa 26:20, Isa 26:21; Jer 15:10, Jer 15:11, Jer 45:3-5; Eze 9:4-6; Th2 1:6-9
he will: Hab 1:6; Deu 28:49-52; Kg2 24:1, Kg2 24:2; Jer 25:9-11
invade them: or cut them in pieces
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
3:16
Hab 3:16-19 form the second part of the psalm, in which the prophet describes the feelings that are produced within himself by the coming of the Lord to judge the nations, and to rescue His own people; viz., first of all, fear and trembling at the tribulation (Hab 3:16, Hab 3:17); then exulting joy, in his confident trust in the God of salvation (Hab 3:18, Hab 3:19). Hab 3:16. "I heard it, then my belly trembled, at the sound my lips yelled; rottenness forces itself into my bones, and I tremble under myself, that I am to wait quietly for the day of tribulation, when he that attacketh it approacheth the nation. Hab 3:17. For the fig-tree will not blossom, and there is no yield on the vines; the produce of the olive-tree disappoints, and the corn-fields bear no food; the flock is away from the fold, and no ox in the stalls." שׁמעתּי is not connected with the theophany depicted in Hab 3:3-15, since this was not an audible phenomenon, but was an object of inward vision, "a spectacle which presented itself to the eye." "I heard" corresponds to "I have heard" in Hab 3:2, and, like the latter, refers to the report heard from God of the approaching judgment. This address goes back to its starting-point, to explain the impression which it made upon the prophet, and to develop still how he "was afraid." The alarm pervades his whole body, belly, and bones, i.e., the softer and firmer component parts of the body; lips and feet, i.e., the upper and lower organs of the body. The lips cried leqōl, at the voice, the sound of God, which the prophet heard. Tsâlal is used elsewhere only of the ringing of the ears (1Kings 3:11; 4Kings 21:12; Jer 19:3); but here it is applied to the chattering sound produced by the lips, when they smite one another before crying out, not to the chattering of the teeth. Into the bones there penetrates râqâbh, rottenness, inward consumption of the bones, as an effect of alarm or pain, which paralyzes all the powers, and takes away all firmness from the body (cf. Prov 12:4; Prov 14:30). Tachtai, under me, i.e., in my lower members, knees, feet: not as in Ex 16:29; 2Kings 2:23, on the spot where I stand (cf. Ewald, 217, k). אשׁר אנוּח might mean, "I who was to rest;" but it is more appropriate to take 'ăsher as a relative conjunction, "that I," since the clause explains the great fear that had fallen upon him. אשׁר is used in a similar way viz., as a conjunction with the verb in the first person, in Ezek. 29:29. Nūăch, to rest, not to rest in the grave (Luther and others), nor to bear quietly or endure (Ges., Maurer), but to wait quietly or silently. For it could hardly occasion such consuming pain to a God-fearing man as that which the prophet experienced, to bear misfortune quietly, when it has already come, and cannot be averted; but it might be to wait quietly and silently, in constant anticipation. Tsârâh, the trouble which the Chaldaeans bring upon Judah. לעלות is not subordinate to ליום צרה, but co-ordinate with it, and is still dependent upon אנוּח; and יגוּדנּוּ, as a relative clause (who oppresses it), is the subject to לעלות: "that I am to wait quietly for him that attacketh to approach my nation." For if לעלוי were dependent upon ליום, it would be necessary to supply יום as the subject: "when it (the day) comes." But this is precluded by the fact that עלה is not used for the approach or breaking of day. לעם, to the people, dativ. incomm., is practically equivalent to על עם, against the people. עם, used absolutely, as in Is 26:11; Is 42:6, is the nation of Israel. Gūd, as in Gen 49:19-20, i.e., gâdad, to press upon a person, to attack him, or crowd together against him (cf. Ps 94:21). In Hab 3:17 the trouble of this day is described; and the sensation of pain, in the anticipation of the period of calamity, is thereby still further accounted for. The plantations and fields yield no produce. Folds and stalls are empty in consequence of the devastation of the land by the hostile troops and their depredations: "a prophetic picture of the devastation of the holy land by the Chaldaean war" (Delitzsch). Fig-tree and vine are mentioned as the noblest fruit-trees of the land, as is frequently the case (see Joel 1:7; Hos 2:14; Mic 4:4). To this there is added the olive-tree, as in Mic 6:15; Deut 6:11; Deut 8:8, etc. Ma‛asēh zayith is not the shoot, but the produce or fruit of the olive-tree, after the phrase עשׂה פרי, to bear fruit. Kichēsh, to disappoint, namely the expectation of produce, as in Hos 9:2. Shedēmôth, which only occurs in the plural, corn-fields, is construed here as in Is 16:8, with the verb in the singular, because, so far as the sense was concerned, it had become almost equivalent to sâdeh, the field (see Ewald, 318, a). Gâzar, to cut off, used here in a neuter sense: to be cut off or absent. מכלה, contracted from מכלאה: fold, pen, an enclosed place for sheep. Repheth, ἁπ. λεγ., the rack, then the stable or stall.
Geneva 1599
3:16 When I (t) heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in (u) the day of trouble: when he cometh up (x) to the people, he will invade them with his troops.
(t) He returns to that which he spoke as in, (Hab 3:2) and shows how he was afraid of God's judgments.
(u) He shows that the faithful can never have true rest, except that which they feel before the weight of God's judgments.
(x) That is, the enemy, but the godly will be quiet, knowing that all things will turn to good for them.
John Gill
3:16 When I heard, my belly trembled,.... His bowels, his heart within him, at the report made of what would come to pass in future time; and not so much at hearing of the judgments of God that should come upon the enemies of his Church, antichrist and his followers; though even these are awful and tremendous to good men; see Ps 119:120 but upon hearing what troubles and distresses would come upon the churches of Christ, previous to these, afterwards called a day of trouble in this verse, and more particularly described in the next Hab 3:17,
my lips quivered at the voice; at the voice of these words, as the Targum; at the voice of the Lord, expressing and foretelling these calamities, through fear and dread, consternation and amazement; under which circumstances the natural heat of the outward parts of the body retires to defend the heart, and leaves them trembling and quivering, particularly the lips, so that they lose their use for a time; and a person in such a case can hardly speak:
rottenness entered into my bones; he became weak and without strength, as if he had long been in a wasting consumption; or was at once deprived of all his strength, and it was turned into corruption; see Dan 10:8,
and I trembled in myself; within himself, in all his inward parts, as well as in his outward parts: or, "under myself" (x); was not able to keep his place, could not stand upon the ground that was under him; his knees trembled, as the Syriac version:
that I might rest in the day of trouble; rather, as Noldius (y) renders the particle, "yet", or "notwithstanding, I shall rest in the day of trouble"; which had been represented to him in vision; and which he had a sight of by a spirit of prophecy, as coming upon the church of Christ, and had given him that concern before expressed. The Syriac version of this and the next clause, which it joins, is, "he showed me the day of calamity, which is about to come upon the people". Here begins the prophet's expression of his strong faith and joy in the midst of all the distresses he saw were at hand; herein representing the church, and all true believers helped to exercise faith in those worst of times. This "day of trouble" is the same with the hour of temptation that shall come upon all the earth to try the inhabitants of it; the time of the slaying of the witnesses, which will be such a time of trouble as never was in the world; see Rev_ 3:10. The "rest" the people of God will have then, which the prophet had faith in for them, will lie in the Lord's protection and keeping of his people; his perfections, power, and providence, are the chambers of rest and safety he will call them unto, and the shadow of his wings, which they will make their refuge till these calamities and indignation be overpast, Is 26:20
when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops; or rather "him"; not "the people"; the people of God, "he" the Lord or Christ comes unto; but the enemy of them: this is the ground of the prophet's faith and confidence before expressed, or of the church's he personated; namely, that when Christ, Michael the great Prince, should come up to his people, appear for them, and stand on their side, he would lead his troops and march his army against their grand enemy antichrist; and "cut him to pieces" (z), as some render the word: so Christ is represented as a mighty warrior, marching at the head of his troops, the armies of heaven following him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, who are the called, chosen, and faithful; and with these he will fall upon the beast, the false prophet, and the kings of the earth, gathered together at Armageddon, and utterly destroy them, Rev_ 16:14.
(x) "subtus me", Drusius, De Dieu; "subter me", Cocceius, Van Till. (y) Ebr. Concord. Part p. 108. No. 550. (z) "ut excidat eum", Calvin; "succidet eum", Vatablus.
John Wesley
3:16 When I heard - What dreadful desolations God threatened against Israel. My heart trembled - Another effect of surprising fears and astonishment. Rottenness - A decay of all my strength. That I might rest - These fears made me betake myself to God, that I might rest in him. He - The king of Babylon. The people - The Jews.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:16 When I heard . . . trembled--namely, at the judgments which God had declared (Hab. 1:1-17) were to be inflicted on Judea by the Chaldeans.
belly--The bowels were thought by the Hebrews to be the seat of yearning compassion (Jer 31:20). Or "heard" may refer to Hab 3:2, "When I heard as to Jehovah's coming interposition for Israel against the Chaldeans being still at some distance" (Hab 2:3); so also the voice" [MAURER].
at the voice--of the divine threatenings (Hab 1:6). The faithful tremble at the voice alone of God before He inflicts punishment. Habakkuk speaks in the person of all the faithful in Israel.
trembled in myself--that is, I trembled all over [GROTIUS].
that I might rest in the day of trouble--The true and only path to rest is through such fear. Whoever is securely torpid and hardened towards God, will be tumultuously agitated in the day of affliction, and so will bring on himself a worse destruction; but he who in time meets God's wrath and trembles at His threats, prepares the best rest for himself in the day of affliction [CALVIN]. HENDERSON translates, "Yet I shall have rest." Habakkuk thus consoling his mind, Though trembling at the calamity coming, yet I shall have rest in God (Is 26:3). But that sentiment does not seem to be directly asserted till Hab 3:17, as the words following at the close of this verse imply.
when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade--rather (as English Version is a mere truism), connected with the preceding clause, "that I might rest . . . when he (the Chaldean foe) cometh up unto the people (the Jews), that he may cut them off" [CALVIN]. The Hebrew for "invade" means, to rush upon, or to attack and cut off with congregated troops.
3:173:17: Զի թզենի ո՛չ տացէ զպտուղ իւր, եւ մի՛ եղիցի ծնունդ որթոյ. ստեսցէ՛ բեր ձիթենւոյ, եւ դաշտք մի՛ արասցեն զկերակուր. պակասեսցեն հօտք ՚ի ճարակոյ, եւ ո՛չ իցեն եզինք ՚ի մսուրս[10737]։ [10737] Ոմանք. Պակասեսցին հօտք ՚ի ճարակաց։
17 քանզի եթէ անգամ թզենին իր պտուղը չտայ, որթատունկը ծնունդ չունենայ, ձիթենին բերք չտայ, դաշտերը կերակուր չտան, հօտերը դադարեն արածելուց, եւ մսուրների մէջ եզներ չլինեն,
17 Թէեւ թզենին ընձիւղ չտայ, Որթատունկերուն վրայ պտուղ չըլլայ, Ձիթենիին բերքը ստէ, Արտերը կերակուր չտան, Փարախէն ոչխարը պակսի, Գոմերուն մէջ արջառ չըլլայ
Զի թզենի ոչ տացէ զպտուղ իւր, եւ մի՛`` եղիցի ծնունդ որթոյ. ստեսցէ բեր ձիթենւոյ, եւ դաշտք մի՛ արասցեն զկերակուր, պակասեսցեն հօտք ի ճարակոյ, եւ ոչ իցեն եզինք ի մսուրս:

3:17: Զի թզենի ո՛չ տացէ զպտուղ իւր, եւ մի՛ եղիցի ծնունդ որթոյ. ստեսցէ՛ բեր ձիթենւոյ, եւ դաշտք մի՛ արասցեն զկերակուր. պակասեսցեն հօտք ՚ի ճարակոյ, եւ ո՛չ իցեն եզինք ՚ի մսուրս[10737]։
[10737] Ոմանք. Պակասեսցին հօտք ՚ի ճարակաց։
17 քանզի եթէ անգամ թզենին իր պտուղը չտայ, որթատունկը ծնունդ չունենայ, ձիթենին բերք չտայ, դաշտերը կերակուր չտան, հօտերը դադարեն արածելուց, եւ մսուրների մէջ եզներ չլինեն,
17 Թէեւ թզենին ընձիւղ չտայ, Որթատունկերուն վրայ պտուղ չըլլայ, Ձիթենիին բերքը ստէ, Արտերը կերակուր չտան, Փարախէն ոչխարը պակսի, Գոմերուն մէջ արջառ չըլլայ
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:173:17 Хотя бы не расцвела смоковница и не было плода на виноградных лозах, и маслина изменила, и нива не дала пищи, хотя бы не стало овец в загоне и рогатого скота в стойлах,
3:17 διότι διοτι because; that συκῆ συκη fig tree οὐ ου not καρποφορήσει καρποφορεω bear fruit καὶ και and; even οὐκ ου not ἔσται ειμι be γενήματα γεννημα spawn; product ἐν εν in ταῖς ο the ἀμπέλοις αμπελος vine ψεύσεται ψευδω work ἐλαίας ελαια olive tree; olive καὶ και and; even τὰ ο the πεδία πεδιον not ποιήσει ποιεω do; make βρῶσιν βρωσις meal; eating ἐξέλιπον εκλειπω leave off; cease ἀπὸ απο from; away βρώσεως βρωσις meal; eating πρόβατα προβατον sheep καὶ και and; even οὐχ ου not ὑπάρχουσιν υπαρχω happen to be; belong βόες βους ox ἐπὶ επι in; on φάτναις φατνη manger
3:17 כִּֽי־ kˈî- כִּי that תְאֵנָ֣ה ṯᵊʔēnˈā תְּאֵנָה fig לֹֽא־ lˈō- לֹא not תִפְרָ֗ח ṯifrˈāḥ פרח sprout וְ wᵊ וְ and אֵ֤ין ʔˈên אַיִן [NEG] יְבוּל֙ yᵊvûl יְבוּל produce בַּ ba בְּ in † הַ the גְּפָנִ֔ים ggᵊfānˈîm גֶּפֶן vine כִּחֵשׁ֙ kiḥˌēš כחשׁ grow lean מַעֲשֵׂה־ maʕᵃśē- מַעֲשֶׂה deed זַ֔יִת zˈayiṯ זַיִת olive וּ û וְ and שְׁדֵמֹ֖ות šᵊḏēmˌôṯ שְׁדֵמָה terrace לֹא־ lō- לֹא not עָ֣שָׂה ʕˈāśā עשׂה make אֹ֑כֶל ʔˈōḵel אֹכֶל food גָּזַ֤ר gāzˈar גזר cut מִ mi מִן from מִּכְלָה֙ mmiḵlˌā מִכְלָא enclosure צֹ֔אן ṣˈōn צֹאן cattle וְ wᵊ וְ and אֵ֥ין ʔˌên אַיִן [NEG] בָּקָ֖ר bāqˌār בָּקָר cattle בָּ bā בְּ in † הַ the רְפָתִֽים׃ rᵊfāṯˈîm רֶפֶת enclosure
3:17. ficus enim non florebit et non erit germen in vineis mentietur opus olivae et arva non adferent cibum abscidetur de ovili pecus et non erit armentum in praesepibusFor the fig tree shall not blossom: and there shall be no spring in the vines. The labour of the olive tree shall fail: and the fields shall yield no food: the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither [shall] fruit [be] in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and [there shall be] no herd in the stalls:

3:17 Хотя бы не расцвела смоковница и не было плода на виноградных лозах, и маслина изменила, и нива не дала пищи, хотя бы не стало овец в загоне и рогатого скота в стойлах,
3:17
διότι διοτι because; that
συκῆ συκη fig tree
οὐ ου not
καρποφορήσει καρποφορεω bear fruit
καὶ και and; even
οὐκ ου not
ἔσται ειμι be
γενήματα γεννημα spawn; product
ἐν εν in
ταῖς ο the
ἀμπέλοις αμπελος vine
ψεύσεται ψευδω work
ἐλαίας ελαια olive tree; olive
καὶ και and; even
τὰ ο the
πεδία πεδιον not
ποιήσει ποιεω do; make
βρῶσιν βρωσις meal; eating
ἐξέλιπον εκλειπω leave off; cease
ἀπὸ απο from; away
βρώσεως βρωσις meal; eating
πρόβατα προβατον sheep
καὶ και and; even
οὐχ ου not
ὑπάρχουσιν υπαρχω happen to be; belong
βόες βους ox
ἐπὶ επι in; on
φάτναις φατνη manger
3:17
כִּֽי־ kˈî- כִּי that
תְאֵנָ֣ה ṯᵊʔēnˈā תְּאֵנָה fig
לֹֽא־ lˈō- לֹא not
תִפְרָ֗ח ṯifrˈāḥ פרח sprout
וְ wᵊ וְ and
אֵ֤ין ʔˈên אַיִן [NEG]
יְבוּל֙ yᵊvûl יְבוּל produce
בַּ ba בְּ in
† הַ the
גְּפָנִ֔ים ggᵊfānˈîm גֶּפֶן vine
כִּחֵשׁ֙ kiḥˌēš כחשׁ grow lean
מַעֲשֵׂה־ maʕᵃśē- מַעֲשֶׂה deed
זַ֔יִת zˈayiṯ זַיִת olive
וּ û וְ and
שְׁדֵמֹ֖ות šᵊḏēmˌôṯ שְׁדֵמָה terrace
לֹא־ lō- לֹא not
עָ֣שָׂה ʕˈāśā עשׂה make
אֹ֑כֶל ʔˈōḵel אֹכֶל food
גָּזַ֤ר gāzˈar גזר cut
מִ mi מִן from
מִּכְלָה֙ mmiḵlˌā מִכְלָא enclosure
צֹ֔אן ṣˈōn צֹאן cattle
וְ wᵊ וְ and
אֵ֥ין ʔˌên אַיִן [NEG]
בָּקָ֖ר bāqˌār בָּקָר cattle
בָּ bā בְּ in
† הַ the
רְפָתִֽים׃ rᵊfāṯˈîm רֶפֶת enclosure
3:17. ficus enim non florebit et non erit germen in vineis mentietur opus olivae et arva non adferent cibum abscidetur de ovili pecus et non erit armentum in praesepibus
For the fig tree shall not blossom: and there shall be no spring in the vines. The labour of the olive tree shall fail: and the fields shall yield no food: the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:17: Although the fig tree shall not blossom - תפרח tiphrach, "shall not flourish," shall not put forth its young figs, for the fig tree does not blossom. The young figs appear as soon as the old ones are ripe, as I have often had occasion to observe.
This verse most nervously paints the desolate state of the land of Judea during the captivity. In its hemistich form, it may be translated thus: -
For the fig tree shall not flourish,
And there shall be no fruit on the vines;
The fruit of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall supply no food:
The flocks shall be cut off from the fold,
And no herds shall be found in the stalls:
Yet in Jehovah will I exult;
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Vulgate has: -
Yet I in the Lord will rejoice,
And will exult in Jesus my God.
The Targum countenances this version: - -
ואנא במימרא דיי אבוע veana bemeimra dayai abua, "But in the Word of the Lord will I rejoice," i.e., the personal, substantial Word of Jehovah.
These two verses give the finest display of resignation and confidence that I have ever met with. He saw that evil was at hand, and unavoidable, he submitted to the dispensation of God, whose Spirit enabled him to paint it in all its calamitous circumstances. He knew that God was merciful and gracious. He trusted to his promise, though all appearances were against its fulfillment; for he knew that the word of Jehovah could not fail, and therefore his confidence is unshaken.
No paraphrase can add any thing to this hymn, which is full of inexpressible dignity and elegance, leaving even its unparalleled piety out of the question.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:17: Although - literally, For
The fig tree shall not blossom - The prophet repeats his confidence in God, premising his knowledge that all human hopes should fail. I know, he says, all stay and support shall fail; he numbers from the least to the greatest, the fruits of trees, the fig, vine and olive, for sweetness, gladness, cheerfulness Psa 104:15. whereof the well-being of the vine and fig tree furnishes the proverbial picture of peace and rest. These shall either not shoot forth, or shall at time of fruit-gathering have no produce or having, as it were, labored to bring forth fruit shall lie and fail: yet further "the staff of life" itself shall fail; "the fields shall yield no meat;" all the fields, as though they were but one shall have one common lot, barrenness.
Yet more; the flocks shall be cut off from the fold; not those only, feeding abroad in fields and open plains, shall be driven away, but they shall be carried away by the enemy from the folds, where they seemed penned securely; and not these only, but "there shall be no herd in the stalls," even the stronger animals shall utterly fail; every help for labor, or for clothing, or for food shall cease; he speaks not of privation, partial failure, but of the entire loss of all things, no meat from the fields, no herd in the stalls; and what then?
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:17: the fig tree: Deu 28:15-18, Deu 28:30-41; Jer 14:2-8; Joe 1:10-13, Joe 1:16-18; Amo 4:6-10; Hag 2:16, Hag 2:17
fail: Heb. lie
John Gill
3:17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom,.... Or rather, as the Septuagint version, "shall not bring forth fruit"; since the fig tree does not bear blossoms and flowers, but puts forth green figs at once. This was a tree common in the land of Canaan, and its fruit much in use, and for food; hence we read of cakes of figs among the provisions Abigail brought to David, 1Kings 25:18 so that, when there was a scarcity of these, it was a bad time:
neither shall fruit be in the vines; no grapes, or clusters of them, out of which wine was pressed; a liquor very refreshing and reviving to nature; and is said to cheer God and man, being used in sacrifices and libations to God, and the common drink of men, Judg 9:13 so that, when it failed, it was a public calamity:
the labour of the olive shall fail; or "lie" (a); disappoint the expectation of those who planted and cultivated it with much toil and labour, it not producing fruit as looked for. This tree yielded berries of an agreeable taste, and out of which oil was extracted, the Jews used instead of butter, and for various purposes; so that, when it failed of fruit, it was a great loss on many accounts:
and the fields shall yield no meat; the grass fields no herbage for beasts; the grain fields no grain for man; the consequence of which must be a famine to both; and this must be very dismal and distressing:
the flock shall be cut off from the fold; flocks of sheep; either by the hand of God, some disease being sent among them; or by the hand of man, drove off by the enemy, or killed for their use; so that the folds were empty of them, and none to gather into them:
and there shall be no herd in the stalls; or oxen in the stables, where they are kept, and have their food; or stalls in which they are fattened for use; and by all these are signified the necessaries of life, which, when they fail, make a famine, which is a very distressing case; and yet, in the midst of all this, the prophet, representing the church, expresses his faith and joy in the Lord, as in the following verse Hab 3:18; though all this is to be understood, not so much in a literal as in a figurative sense. "Fig trees, vines", and "olives", are often used as emblems of truly gracious persons, Song 2:13 partly because of their fruitfulness in grace and good works, and partly because of their perseverance therein; all these trees being fruitful ones; and some, as the olive, ever green: of such persons there is sometimes a scarcity, as is complained of in the times of David and Micah, Ps 12:1 and especially there will be in the latter day; for righteous and merciful men will be taken away from the evil to come, Is 57:1 and, however, there will be very few lively, spiritual, and fruitful Christians, such as abound in the exercise of grace, and are diligent in the discharge of duty; for, when the Son of Man cometh, he will not find faith on the earth; and he will find the virgins sleeping, Lk 18:8. The "fields not" yielding "meat" may signify that the provisions of the house of God will be cut off; there will be no ministration of the word, or administration of ordinances; the word of the Lord will be scarce, rare, and precious; there will be a famine, not of bread and of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord; one of the days of the Son of Man will be desired, but not enjoyed; so no spiritual food in the use of means to be had; a very uncomfortable time this will be, Amos 8:11 Lk 17:22. The "flock" being "cut off from the fold" may denote that the sheep of Christ will be given up to the slaughter of the enemy, or be scattered abroad in this dark and cloudy day of persecution; so that there will be no fold, no flock, no sheep gathered together; and perhaps such will be the case, that there will not be one visible congregated church in due order throughout the whole world; all will be broke up, and dispersed here and there: no "herd" or "oxen in the stall" may signify that the ministers of the Gospel, compared to oxen for their strength, industry, and laboriousness in the work of the Lord, will be removed, or not suffered to exercise their ministry, nor be encouraged by any in it: this will be the case at the slaying of the witnesses, and a most distressing time it will be; and yet the prophet, or the church represented by him, expresses an uncommon frame of spirit in the following verse Hab 3:18. The Targum interprets all this figuratively of each of the monarchies of the world, which should be no more;
"the kingdom of Babylon shall not continue, nor shall it exercise dominion over Israel; the kings of the Medes shall be killed; and the mighty men of Greece shall not prosper; and the Romans shall be destroyed, and shall not collect tribute from Jerusalem; therefore for the wonder, and for the redemption, thou shalt work for thy Messiah; and for the rest of thy people who shall remain, they shall praise, saying: the prophet said;''
as follows:
(a) Sept.; "mentietur", V. L. Piscator; "mentiebatur", Pagninus.
John Wesley
3:17 The labour - The labour bestowed upon the olive. Yield no meat - Corn. Flock - Of sheep.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:17 Destroy the "vines" and "fig trees" of the carnal heart, and his mirth ceases. But those who when full enjoyed God in all, when emptied can enjoy all in God. They can sit down upon the heap of ruined creature comforts, and rejoice in Him as the "God of their salvation." Running in the way of His commandments, we outrun our troubles. Thus Habakkuk, beginning his prayer with trembling, ends it with a song of triumph (Job 13:15; Ps 4:7; Ps 43:3, Ps 43:5).
labour of the olive--that is, the fruit expected from the olive.
fail--literally, "lie," that is, disappoint the hope (Is 58:11, Margin).
fields--from a Hebrew root meaning "to be yellow"; as they look at harvest-time.
meat--food, grain.
cut off--that is, cease.
3:183:18: Այլ ես ՚ի Տէր ցնծացայց, եւ ուրա՛խ եղէց յԱստուած Փրկիչ իմ։
18 ես պիտի ուրախանամ Տիրոջով, ուրախանամ իմ փրկիչ Աստուծով:
18 Սակայն ես Տէրոջմով պիտի ցնծամ, Իմ փրկութեանս Աստուծմովը պիտի ուրախանամ։
Այլ ես ի Տէր ցնծացայց, եւ ուրախ եղէց յԱստուած Փրկիչ իմ:

3:18: Այլ ես ՚ի Տէր ցնծացայց, եւ ուրա՛խ եղէց յԱստուած Փրկիչ իմ։
18 ես պիտի ուրախանամ Տիրոջով, ուրախանամ իմ փրկիչ Աստուծով:
18 Սակայն ես Տէրոջմով պիտի ցնծամ, Իմ փրկութեանս Աստուծմովը պիտի ուրախանամ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:183:18 но и тогда я буду радоваться о Господе и веселиться о Боге спасения моего.
3:18 ἐγὼ εγω I δὲ δε though; while ἐν εν in τῷ ο the κυρίῳ κυριος lord; master ἀγαλλιάσομαι αγαλλιαω jump for joy χαρήσομαι χαιρω rejoice; hail ἐπὶ επι in; on τῷ ο the θεῷ θεος God τῷ ο the σωτῆρί σωτηρ savior μου μου of me; mine
3:18 וַ wa וְ and אֲנִ֖י ʔᵃnˌî אֲנִי i בַּ ba בְּ in יהוָ֣ה [yhwˈāh] יְהוָה YHWH אֶעְלֹ֑וזָה ʔeʕlˈôzā עלז rejoice אָגִ֖ילָה ʔāḡˌîlā גיל rejoice בֵּ bē בְּ in אלֹהֵ֥י ʔlōhˌê אֱלֹהִים god(s) יִשְׁעִֽי׃ yišʕˈî יֵשַׁע help
3:18. ego autem in Domino gaudebo exultabo in Deo Iesu meoBut I will rejoice in the Lord: and I will joy in God my Jesus.
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation:

3:18 но и тогда я буду радоваться о Господе и веселиться о Боге спасения моего.
3:18
ἐγὼ εγω I
δὲ δε though; while
ἐν εν in
τῷ ο the
κυρίῳ κυριος lord; master
ἀγαλλιάσομαι αγαλλιαω jump for joy
χαρήσομαι χαιρω rejoice; hail
ἐπὶ επι in; on
τῷ ο the
θεῷ θεος God
τῷ ο the
σωτῆρί σωτηρ savior
μου μου of me; mine
3:18
וַ wa וְ and
אֲנִ֖י ʔᵃnˌî אֲנִי i
בַּ ba בְּ in
יהוָ֣ה [yhwˈāh] יְהוָה YHWH
אֶעְלֹ֑וזָה ʔeʕlˈôzā עלז rejoice
אָגִ֖ילָה ʔāḡˌîlā גיל rejoice
בֵּ bē בְּ in
אלֹהֵ֥י ʔlōhˌê אֱלֹהִים god(s)
יִשְׁעִֽי׃ yišʕˈî יֵשַׁע help
3:18. ego autem in Domino gaudebo exultabo in Deo Iesu meo
But I will rejoice in the Lord: and I will joy in God my Jesus.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ all ▾
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:18: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. - The words are very impressive, as they stand in the Hebrew. "For," he says, "the fig tree shall not blossom, and there is no fruit in the vines, the labor of the olive hath failed;" (the prophet does not look on, only to these things, but in his mind stands in the midst of them, they are done, and he amid them, feeling their effects) "and the field hath yielded no food; the flock hath been cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stall; and I." He relates it as the result of all which had gone before; such and such was the state of fruit-trees, vintage, harvest, flocks and herds; such was the aspect of all nature, living or inanimate; all was barren, disappointing; all had failed and was gone; and then at last he comes to himself, and I; what is he doing, when all nature and every seeming hope is dead? thus and thus it is with them; and I will rejoice.
He almost uses the expression as to the exultation of the enemy, adopting the same word only in a softer form. "Their exulting joy was" concentrated in this, "as to devour the poor secretly;" he too had "exulting joy." There is a joy against joy - a joy of theirs in the possession of all which their rapacity covets, in the possession of all things: a joy of his amid the privation of all things. He contrasts the two joys, as David had of old; Psa 17:13, Psa 17:15 : "the men of the world, whose portion is in this life, whose belly Thou fillest with Thy hid treasure; they are sated of children and leave their substance to their babes: I," he adds, "I shall behold Thy Presenee in righteousness, I shall be sated, in the awakening, with Thine image." So Habakkuk, "I will not rejoice only, but shout for joy;" and not so only, but "I will bound for joy;" and this not for a time only; both words express a drawing, yearning of the soul, and this yet more and more, "I will shout for joy and would shout on; I will bound for joy and would bound on."
But whence the source of this measureless unutterable joy? In the Lord, the Unchangeable God, "who is and was and is to come," I am (it is the incommunicable Name); in the God of my salvation: it is almost the Name of Jesus; for jesus is salvation, and the Name means "the Lord is Salvation;" whence the words are here rendered even by a Jew "in God the Author of my redemption," and yet more sweetly by a father. Augustine, de Civ. D. xviii. 32: "To me what some manuscripts have; 'I will rejoice in God my Jesus,' seems better than what they have, who have not set the Name itself (but saving) which to us it is more loving and sweeter to name.") "in God my Jesus." In Him his joy begins, to Him and in Him it flows back and on; before he ventures, amid all the desolation, to speak of joy, he names the Name of God, and, as it were, stays himself in God, is enveloped and wrapped round in God; sad I (the words stand in this order) "and I in the Lord would shout for joy."
He comes, as it were, and places himself quite close to God, so that nothing, not even his joy should be between himself and God; "and I in the Lord." All creation, as it had failed, ceases to be; all out of God: he speaks of nothing but himself and God, or rather himself in God; and as He, God, comes before his joy, as its source, so in Him does he lose himself, with joy which cannot be contained, nor expressed, nor rest, but utters itself in the glad motions of untiring love. "I would bound for joy in my Saving God." Truly all our joy is, to be in Him in whom is all Good, who is all Goodness and all Love.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:18: I will rejoice: Deu 12:18; Sa1 2:1; Job 13:15; Psa 33:1, Psa 46:1-5, Psa 85:6, Psa 97:12, Psa 104:34; Psa 118:15, Psa 149:2; Isa 41:16, Isa 61:10; Zac 10:7; Luk 1:46, Luk 1:47; Rom 5:2, Rom 5:3; Phi 4:4; Jam 1:2, Jam 1:9, Jam 1:10; Pe1 1:8, Pe1 4:12, Pe1 4:13
the God: Exo 15:2; Psa 25:5, Psa 27:1, Psa 118:14; Isa 12:2; Mic 7:7; Luk 2:30
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
3:18
Although trembling on account of the approaching trouble, the prophet will nevertheless exult in the prospect of the salvation that he foresees. Hab 3:18. "But I, in Jehovah will I rejoice, will shout in the God of my salvation. Hab 3:19. Jehovah the Lord is my strength, and makes my feet like the hinds, and causes me to walk along upon my high places." The turning-point is introduced with ואני ht, as is frequently the case in the Psalms. For this exaltation out of the sufferings of this life to believing joy in God, compare Ps 5:8; Ps 13:6; Ps 31:15, etc. עלז, a softened form of עלץ, to rejoice in God (cf. Ps 5:12), i.e., so that God is the inexhaustible source and infinite sphere of the joy, because He is the God of salvation, and rises up to judgment upon the nations, to procure the salvation of His people (Hab 3:13). Elōhē yish‛ı̄ (the God of my salvation), as in Ps 18:47; Ps 25:5 (see at Mic 7:7). The thoughts of the 19th verse are also formed from reminiscences of Psalm 18: the first clause, "the Lord is my strength," from Ps 18:33. "God, who girdeth me with strength," i.e., the Lord gives me strength to overcome all tribulation (cf. Ps 27:1 and 2Cor 12:9). The next two clauses are from Ps 18:34, "He maketh my feet like hinds'," according to the contracted simile common in Hebrew for "hinds' feet;" and the reference is to the swiftness of foot, which was one of the qualifications of a thorough man of war (2Kings 1:23; 1Chron 12:8), so as to enable him to make a sudden attack upon the enemy, and pursue him vigorously. Here it is a figurative expression for the fresh and joyous strength acquired in God, which Isaiah calls rising up with eagles' wings (Is 40:29-31). Causing to walk upon the high places of the land, was originally a figure denoting the victorious possession and government of a land. It is so in Deut 32:13 and Deut 33:29, from which David has taken the figure in Psalm 18, though he has altered the high places of the earth into "my high places" (bâmōthai). They were the high places upon which the Lord had placed him, by giving him the victory over his enemies. And Habakkuk uses the figurative expression in the same sense, with the simple change of יעמידני into ידרכני after Deut 33:29, to substitute for the bestowment of victory the maintenance of victory corresponding to the blessing of Moses. We have therefore to understand bâmōthai neither as signifying the high places of the enemy, nor the high places at home, nor high places generally. The figure must be taken as a whole; and according to this, it simply denotes the ultimate triumph of the people of God over all oppression on the part of the power of the world, altogether apart from the local standing which the kingdom of God will have upon the earth, either by the side of or in antagonism to the kingdom of the world. The prophet prays and speaks throughout the entire ode in the name of the believing congregation. His pain is their pain; his joy their joy. Accordingly he closes his ode by appropriating to himself and all believers the promise which the Lord has given to His people and to David His anointed servant, to express the confident assurance that the God of salvation will keep it, and fulfil it in the approaching attack on the part of the power of the world upon the nation which has been refined by the judgment.
The last words, למנצּח בּנגינותי, do not form part of the contents of the supplicatory ode, but are a subscription answering to the heading in Hab 3:1, and refer to the use of the ode in the worship of God, and simply differ from the headings למנצּח בּנגינות in Ps 4:1-8; Ps 6:1-10; 54:1-55:23; Ps 67:1-7, and Ps 76:1-12, through the use of the suffix in בּנגינותי. Through the words, "to the president (of the temple-music, or the conductor) in accompaniment of my stringed playing," the prophet appoints his psalm for use in the public worship of God accompanied by his stringed playing. Hitzig's rendering is grammatically false, "to the conductor of my pieces of music;" for ב cannot be used as a periphrasis for the genitive, but when connected with a musical expression, only means with or in the accompaniment of (ה instrumenti or concomitantiae). Moreover, נגינות does not mean pieces of music, but simply a song, and the playing upon stringed instruments, or the stringed instrument itself (see at Ps 4:1-8). The first of these renderings gives no suitable sense here, so that there only remains the second, viz., "playing upon stringed instruments." But if the prophet, by using this formula, stipulates that the ode is to be used in the temple, accompanied by stringed instruments, the expression bingı̄nōthai, with my stringed playing, affirms that he himself will accompany it with his own playing, from which it has been justly inferred that he was qualified, according to the arrangements of the Israelitish worship, to take part in the public performance of such pieces of music as were suited for public worship, and therefore belonged to the Levites who were entrusted with the conduct of the musical performance of the temple.
Geneva 1599
3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy (y) in the God of my salvation.
(y) He declares in what the joy of the faithful consists, though they see ever so great afflictions prepared.
John Gill
3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,.... In the Word of the Lord, as the Targum; the essential Word of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ; in his person, the greatness and glory of it; in his offices, as Prophet, Priest, and King, the only Mediator and Saviour; in his relations, as head and husband, father, brother, friend; in his fulness, grace, and righteousness; in his spiritual presence, and comfortable communion with him, which may be expected in a remarkable manner after the above day of trouble is over; and in his personal appearance, which will shortly be, and when his tabernacle will be with men on earth:
I will joy in the God of my salvation; in Christ, who is God, and so able to save his people; to make everything he did and suffered in human nature effectual and available to them; to supply all their wants, and to keep what they commit unto him, and to preserve them safe to his kingdom and glory: and who also joy in the salvation of their God, or which he is the author of, both temporal and spiritual, especially the latter; which is so great and glorious in itself, so suitable to their case, so complete and perfect, and makes so much for the glory of all the divine perfections, and is all of free grace, and lasts for ever: this salvation is peculiar to the people of God; it is theirs, and theirs only; it is what they choose and prefer to all other ways of salvation; it is brought and applied to them by the Spirit, and which they appropriate to themselves under his witnessings; and then it is they can and do rejoice: particularly salvation and deliverance from antichristianism, in all the branches of it, may be chiefly pointed at as the matter and ground of joy; and the enjoyment of Gospel privileges in the full extent of them; the word and ordinances in their power and purity; and the presence of Christ in them.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:18 yet I will rejoice--The prophet speaks in the name of his people.
3:193:19: Տէր Աստուած զօրութիւն իմ, եւ կարգեսցէ զոտս իմ ՚ի վախճան. եւ հանցէ զիս ՚ի բարձունս յաղթել երգով նորա[10738]։[10738] Ոմանք. ՚Ի բարձունս յաղօթել երգով նորա։
19 Տէր Աստուածն է իմ զօրութիւնը, նա կը հաստատի իմ ոտքերը մինչեւ վերջ եւ ինձ բարձունք կը հանի՝ յաղթելու իր երգով»:
19 Տէր Եհովան իմ զօրութիւնս է, Որ իմ ոտքերս եղնիկի ոտքերուն պէս պիտի ընէ Եւ զիս իմ բարձր տեղերուս վրայ պիտի պտըտցնէ։Գլխաւոր երաժշտին՝ իմ նուագած նուագարաններուս վրայ։
Տէր [43]Աստուած զօրութիւն իմ, եւ կարգեսցէ զոտս իմ [44]ի վախճան. եւ հանցէ զիս ի բարձունս յաղթել երգով նորա:

3:19: Տէր Աստուած զօրութիւն իմ, եւ կարգեսցէ զոտս իմ ՚ի վախճան. եւ հանցէ զիս ՚ի բարձունս յաղթել երգով նորա[10738]։
[10738] Ոմանք. ՚Ի բարձունս յաղօթել երգով նորա։
19 Տէր Աստուածն է իմ զօրութիւնը, նա կը հաստատի իմ ոտքերը մինչեւ վերջ եւ ինձ բարձունք կը հանի՝ յաղթելու իր երգով»:
19 Տէր Եհովան իմ զօրութիւնս է, Որ իմ ոտքերս եղնիկի ոտքերուն պէս պիտի ընէ Եւ զիս իմ բարձր տեղերուս վրայ պիտի պտըտցնէ։Գլխաւոր երաժշտին՝ իմ նուագած նուագարաններուս վրայ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
3:193:19 Господь Бог сила моя: Он сделает ноги мои как у оленя и на высоты мои возведет меня! (Начальнику хора.)
3:19 κύριος κυριος lord; master ὁ ο the θεὸς θεος God δύναμίς δυναμις power; ability μου μου of me; mine καὶ και and; even τάξει τασσω arrange; appoint τοὺς ο the πόδας πους foot; pace μου μου of me; mine εἰς εις into; for συντέλειαν συντελεια consummation ἐπὶ επι in; on τὰ ο the ὑψηλὰ υψηλος high; lofty ἐπιβιβᾷ επιβιβαζω pull on; put on με με me τοῦ ο the νικῆσαι νικαω conquer ἐν εν in τῇ ο the ᾠδῇ ωδη song αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
3:19 יְהוִ֤ה [yᵊhwˈih] יְהוָה YHWH אֲדֹנָי֙ ʔᵃḏōnˌāy אֲדֹנָי Lord חֵילִ֔י ḥêlˈî חַיִל power וַ wa וְ and יָּ֤שֶׂם yyˈāśem שׂים put רַגְלַי֙ raḡlˌay רֶגֶל foot כָּֽ kˈā כְּ as † הַ the אַיָּלֹ֔ות ʔayyālˈôṯ אַיָּלָה doe וְ wᵊ וְ and עַ֥ל ʕˌal עַל upon בָּמֹותַ֖י bāmôṯˌay בָּמָה high place יַדְרִכֵ֑נִי yaḏriḵˈēnî דרך tread לַ la לְ to † הַ the מְנַצֵּ֖חַ mᵊnaṣṣˌēₐḥ נצח prevail בִּ bi בְּ in נְגִינֹותָֽי׃ nᵊḡînôṯˈāy נְגִינָה music
3:19. Dominus Deus fortitudo mea et ponet pedes meos quasi cervorum et super excelsa mea deducet me victori in psalmis canentemThe Lord God is my strength: and he will make my feet like the feet of harts: and he the conqueror will lead me upon my high places singing psalms.
The LORD God [is] my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' [feet], and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments:

3:19 Господь Бог сила моя: Он сделает ноги мои как у оленя и на высоты мои возведет меня! (Начальнику хора.)
3:19
κύριος κυριος lord; master
ὁ ο the
θεὸς θεος God
δύναμίς δυναμις power; ability
μου μου of me; mine
καὶ και and; even
τάξει τασσω arrange; appoint
τοὺς ο the
πόδας πους foot; pace
μου μου of me; mine
εἰς εις into; for
συντέλειαν συντελεια consummation
ἐπὶ επι in; on
τὰ ο the
ὑψηλὰ υψηλος high; lofty
ἐπιβιβᾷ επιβιβαζω pull on; put on
με με me
τοῦ ο the
νικῆσαι νικαω conquer
ἐν εν in
τῇ ο the
ᾠδῇ ωδη song
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
3:19
יְהוִ֤ה [yᵊhwˈih] יְהוָה YHWH
אֲדֹנָי֙ ʔᵃḏōnˌāy אֲדֹנָי Lord
חֵילִ֔י ḥêlˈî חַיִל power
וַ wa וְ and
יָּ֤שֶׂם yyˈāśem שׂים put
רַגְלַי֙ raḡlˌay רֶגֶל foot
כָּֽ kˈā כְּ as
† הַ the
אַיָּלֹ֔ות ʔayyālˈôṯ אַיָּלָה doe
וְ wᵊ וְ and
עַ֥ל ʕˌal עַל upon
בָּמֹותַ֖י bāmôṯˌay בָּמָה high place
יַדְרִכֵ֑נִי yaḏriḵˈēnî דרך tread
לַ la לְ to
† הַ the
מְנַצֵּ֖חַ mᵊnaṣṣˌēₐḥ נצח prevail
בִּ bi בְּ in
נְגִינֹותָֽי׃ nᵊḡînôṯˈāy נְגִינָה music
3:19. Dominus Deus fortitudo mea et ponet pedes meos quasi cervorum et super excelsa mea deducet me victori in psalmis canentem
The Lord God is my strength: and he will make my feet like the feet of harts: and he the conqueror will lead me upon my high places singing psalms.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
3:19: The Lord God is my strength - This is an imitation, if not a quotation, from Psa 18:32-33 (note), where see the notes.
Will make me to walk upon mine high places - This last verse is spoken in the person of the people, who seem to anticipate their restoration; and that they shall once more rejoice in the hills and mountains of Judea.
To the chief singer on my stringed instruments - This line, which is evidently a superscription, leads me to suppose that when the prophet had completed his short ode, he folded it up, with the above direction to the master singer, or leader of the choir, to be sung in the temple service. Many of the Psalms are directed in the same way. "To the master singer;" or, "chief musician;" to be sung, according to their nature, on different kinds of instruments, or with particular airs or tunes.
Neginoth, נגינות which we translate stringed instruments, means such as were struck with a plectrum, or excited by some kind of friction or pulsation; as violins and cymbals or tambourines are. I do not think that the line makes any part of the prophecy, but merely the superscription or direction of the work when it was finished. The ending will appear much more dignified, this line being separated from it.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
3:19: The Lord God is my strength - The prophet does not inwardly only exult and triumph in God, but he confesses also in words of praise, that in Him he hath all things, that He is All things in him. And as he had confessed the Father, under the Name whereby He Rev_ealed Himself to Moses, and the Son, "the Lord God of my salvation," so he confesses God the Holy Ghost, who, in us, is our strength. "He is our strength," so that through Him, we can do all things; "He is our strength," so that without Him, we can do nothing; "He is our strength," so that when we put forth strength, we put forth nothing of our own, we add nothing of our own, we use not our own strength, of which we have none, but we do use His; and we have It ever ready to use, as if it were our own. For it is not our own and it is our own; not our own, i. e., not from or of ourselves; but our own, since It is in us, yea "He the Lord our God is our strength," not without us, for He is our strength, but in us.
And so he says further, how we can use it as our own. "He will make my feet like hinds," which bound upward through His imparted strength, trod, when scared by alarms here below, flee tearless to their native reeks, spring from height to height, and at last shew themselves on some high peak, and standing on the Rock, look down on the whole world below their feet and upward on high. Even so when at the end of the world all shall fail, and the love of many shall wax cold, and the Church, which is likened to the fig tree the vine and the (Luk 13:6; Isa 5:1; 21:33; etc. Rom 11:17.) olive, shall yield no fruits, and sweetness shall be corrupted by vanities, and the oil of mercy shall be dried up, and lamps go out, and its promises shall fail and it shall lie, having "a show of goodness, but denying the power of it; in words confessing God, and in works denying Him;" and through their own negligences, or the carelessness of pastors, the sheep of Christ shall perish from His very fold, and they who should be strong to labor Co1 9:9-10. shall cease, God's elect shall joy in Him, "beholding His goodness, and loving Him in all things, and He will give them free affections, and fervid longings of holy love, whereby they shall not walk only, but run the way of His commandments and pRev_ail over the enemies of their salvation."
Yet though this strength is inward, and used by man, still God who gives it, Himself guides it. Not man shall "direct his own ways," but "He will make me to walk (as on a plain way) upon my high place." Steep and slippery places and crags of the reeks are but ways to the safe height above, to those whom God makes to walk on them; and since he has passed all things earthly, what are his high places, but the heavenly places, even his home, even while a pilgrim here, but now at the end, much more his home, when not in hope only, but in truth, he is "raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus?" Eph 2:6)
And now what remains then, but that this song of praise should be foRev_er? And so it is not without meaning, nor was of old thought to be so that there stand here, at the end, words which elsewhere in the Psalms always stand at the beginning. Nor is it anywhere else, "upon my stringed instruments."
To the chief singer on my stringed instruments - To Him to whom all praise is due, through whom we praise Himself, His Spirit pleading in us, for us, "upon my stringed instruments." He Himself, providing, as it were, and teaching the prelude of the endless song, and by His spirit, breathing upon the instrument which He has attuned, and it giving back faithfully, in union with the heavenly choir with whom it is now blended, the angelic hymn, "Glory to God in the Highest."
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
3:19: my strength: Psa 18:1, Psa 27:1, Psa 46:1; Isa 12:2, Isa 45:24; Zac 10:12; Co2 12:9, Co2 12:10; Eph 3:16; Phi 4:13; Col 1:11
like: Sa2 22:34; Psa 18:33
to walk: Deu 32:13, Deu 33:29; Isa 58:14
stringed instruments: Heb. Neginoth, Psa 4:1-8, Psa 6:1-10, Psa 54:1-7, Psa 55:1-23, Psa 67:1-7, Psa 76:1-12 *titles
Next: Zephaniah Chapter 1
Geneva 1599
3:19 The LORD God [is] my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' [feet], and he will make me to walk upon my high places. (z) To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
(z) The chief singer upon the instruments of music, will have occasion to praise God for this great deliverance of his Church.
John Gill
3:19 The Lord God is my strength,.... The author and giver of natural and spiritual strength, as he is to all his people; he is the strength of their hearts when ready to faint and sink, and of their graces, faith, hope, love, patience, &c. and continues and increases them, and draws them forth into lively acts and exercise; and of their lives, natural and spiritual, which he supports and maintains, secures and defends; from him they have their strength to perform the duties of religion; to oppose their spiritual enemies, sin, Satan, and the world; and to bear them up under all trials and afflictions, and carry them through them, and deliver out of them, and which is principally intended here: the church, though in distress, and pressed with sorrows, yet believed the strength of Christ would be made perfect in her weakness, and she should be upheld by him under all, and brought out of it:
and he will make my feet like hinds' feet; swift as they, as the Targum, which are very swift; and on account of the swiftness of them is the comparison used: and which is to be understood, not barely of the Jews being swift of foot to return to their own country, when the time of their conversion is come; or to pursue their enemies, as Kimchi; that is, Gog or the Turks, having got the victory over them: but of all Christians, whose feet will be swift to run, in a lively cheerful manner, the way of Christ's commandments; their souls being strengthened, and their hearts enlarged with the love and grace of God; and to surmount with ease all difficulties and obstructions that lie in their way: and chiefly this regards the ministers of the Gospel, and the swift progress they will make in spreading it in the world; as the apostles and first ministers of the word, having their feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, went swiftly through all parts of the world, even to the ends of the earth, with it; so in the latter day many will run to and fro, everywhere preaching the everlasting Gospel to all nations; the knowledge of it shall greatly increase; see Dan 12:4 this passage seems to be taken out of Ps 18:33 and there may be not only an allusion to the swiftness of those creatures, but to the strength and firmness of their feet; so that they can go upon rocks and mountains securely, and tread and walk, and even run upon them with safety; and this sense is directed to, not only by what follows, concerning "walking" on "high places"; but by the word here used, which signifies to "make", or "set", fix, place, order, and settle (b); and this agrees with the nature of those creatures, whose feet are not only swift, but firm; they tread sure and stable; hence hinds and harts are by the poets (c) called the "brasen footed hinds", or "harts"; because of the firmness and stability of their going; and it is an observation of Jarchi's (d), that the feet of the females stand firmer and more upright than the feet of the males; wherefore, both here, and in Ps 18:33, not harts, but hinds, are made mention of; and so this may also denote the stability of the saints in those times, both ministers and common Christians, in the exercise of grace, and in the performance of duty; their hearts will be established in the faith of Christ, and in love to him, and in the hope of eternal life by him; all which they will be settled in, and will hold fast, and not let go; and will be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord their God; and so in the Gospel of Christ, and in the ordinances of it, their souls will be established in and with the doctrines of grace, and will continue steadfastly in them, and abide by and keep the ordinances as they have been delivered to them; nor will any difficulties, which may seem like hills and mountains, and cragged rocks, deter or discourage them, or move them from the hope of the Gospel, or from their duty; but they shall walk on securely and firmly:
and he will make me to walk upon mine high places: meaning not so much the high places of the land of Judea, some part of it being mountainous, though there may be some reference to them; but it signifies the exalted state of the church after the troublesome times, when it shall be exalted above the hills, and established on the top of the mountains; when Christ the Lamb, with his 144,000 sealed ones, shall stand upon Mount Zion with harps in their hands, having gotten the victory over the antichristian beast and his image; and when the saints shall have the dominion of the world; and the kingdom and the greatness of it, under the whole heaven, shall be given to them, Is 2:2 as well as they shall be in lively, spiritual, and heavenly frames of soul; mount up with wings, as eagles; soar aloft in the exercise of faith; dwell on high in the contemplation of divine things; have their affections set on things above; and their conversation in heaven while they are on earth: especially this may be said of them when they shall have the glory of God upon them in the New Jerusalem state, and shall dwell in the new heavens and the new earth, with Christ at the head of them; and when they shall possess the ultimate glory in the highest heavens to all eternity; see Deut 33:29 and thus ends this prayer of Habakkuk; which serves to draw out the desires of good men after the flourishing estate of the kingdom and interest of Christ; to assist their faith in the belief, hope, and expectation of it; and to lead their views to its summit and perfection, notwithstanding all the difficulties and discouragements that may lie in its way: and being of so much moment and importance, that it might remain and continue, and be of use to the church in succeeding ages, the prophet delivered or directed it
to the chief singer, to be set to tune, and sung by him, as David's prayers, and others, sometimes were, and to be preserved for future usefulness; and this he would have sung (he says)
on my stringed instruments; which were either invented by him, or used by him in the temple, or were his own property: or he sent this prayer or ode to him who was over these instruments, had the care and use of them; and which were such as were to be stricken with the hand, bone, or quill; and are the same that are called "Neginoth" in the title of the fourth Psalm Ps 4:1, and others.
(b) , Sept.; "et ponet", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Burkius; "qui disponit", Junius & Tremellius; "et possuit", (c) "Fixerit aeripedem cervam licet----" Virgil. Aeneid. 6. prope finem. "Vincunt aeripedes ter terno Nestore cervi." Ausonii Idyll. 11. (d) Comment. in Psal. xviii. 34.
John Wesley
3:19 Like hinds feet - That I may escape to God my refuge. He will make me - To conquer and triumph.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3:19 hinds' feet . . . walk upon . . . high places--Habakkuk has here before his mind Ps 18:33-34; Deut 32:13. "Hinds' (gazelles') feet" imply the swiftness with which God enables him (the prophet and his people) to escape from his enemies, and return to his native land. The "high places" are called "mine," to imply that Israel shall be restored to his own land, a land of hills which are places of safety and of eminence (compare Gen 19:17; Mt 24:16). Probably not only the safety, but the moral elevation, of Israel above all the lands of the earth is implied (Deut 33:29).
on my stringed instruments--neginoth. This is the prophet's direction to the precentor ("chief singer") as to how the preceding ode (Hab. 3:1-19) is to be performed (compare Ps 4:1; Ps 6:1, titles). The prophet had in mind a certain form of stringed instrument adapted to certain numbers and measures. This formula at the end of the ode, directing the kind of instrument to be used, agrees with that in the beginning of it, which directs the kind of melody (compare Is 38:20).