Habakuk 1:17

1:17 Will he then ¹  continue to fill and empty his throw net? ² 

Will he always ³  destroy ⁴  nations and spare none? ⁵ 

Habakuk 3:9-10

3:9 Your bow is ready for action; ⁶ 

you commission your arrows. ⁷  Selah.

You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface. ⁸ 

3:10 When the mountains see you, they shake.

The torrential downpour sweeps through. ⁹ 

The great deep ¹⁰  shouts out;

it lifts its hands high. ¹¹ 

Habakuk 3:15

3:15 But you trample on the sea with your horses,

on the surging, raging waters. ¹² 

[1:17]  ¹ tn Or “therefore.”

[1:17]  ² tn Heb “Will he then empty his throw net?” The words “continue to fill and” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:17]  ³ tn Or “continually.”

[1:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “kill.”

[1:17]  ⁵ tn Or “without showing compassion.”

[3:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “[into] nakedness your bow is laid bare.”

[3:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “sworn in are the arrow-shafts with a word.” The passive participle of שָׁבַע (shava’), “swear an oath,” also occurs in Ezek 21:23 ET (21:28 HT) referencing those who have sworn allegiance. Here the Lord’s arrows are personified and viewed as having received a commission which they have vowed to uphold. In Jer 47:6-7 the Lord’s sword is given such a charge. In the Ugaritic myths Baal’s weapons are formally assigned the task of killing the sea god Yam.

[3:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “[with] rivers you split open the earth.” A literal rendering like “You split the earth with rivers” (so NIV, NRSV) suggests geological activity to the modern reader, but in the present context of a violent thunderstorm, the idea of streams swollen to torrents by downpours better fits the imagery.

[3:9]  sn As the Lord comes in a thunderstorm the downpour causes streams to swell to river-like proportions and spread over the surface of the ground, causing flash floods.

[3:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “a heavy rain of waters passes by.” Perhaps the flash floods produced by the downpour are in view here.

[3:10]  ¹⁰ sn The great deep, which is to be equated with the sea (vv. 8, 15), is a symbol of chaos and represents the Lord’s enemies.

[3:10]  ¹¹ sn Lifting the hands here suggests panic and is accompanied by a cry for mercy (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19). The forces of chaos cannot withstand the Lord’s power revealed in the storm.

[3:15]  ¹² tn Heb “the foaming of the mighty [or “many”] waters.”