Habakuk 3:5-8
Konteks3:5 Plague goes before him;
pestilence 1 marches right behind him. 2
3:6 He takes his battle position 3 and shakes 4 the earth;
with a mere look he frightens 5 the nations.
The ancient mountains disintegrate; 6
the primeval hills are flattened.
He travels on the ancient roads. 7
3:7 I see the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by trouble; 8
the tent curtains of the land of Midian are shaking. 9
3:8 Is the Lord mad at the rivers?
Are you angry with the rivers?
Are you enraged at the sea? 10
Is this why 11 you climb into your horse-drawn chariots, 12
your victorious chariots? 13
[3:5] 1 tn Because of parallelism with the previous line, the meaning “pestilence” is favored for רֶשֶׁף (reshef) here, but usage elsewhere suggests a destructive bolt of fire may be in view. See BDB 958 s.v.
[3:5] sn There are mythological echoes here, for in Canaanite literature the god Resheph aids Baal in his battles. See J. Day, “New Light on the Mythological Background of the Allusion to Resheph in Habakkuk III 5,” VT 29 (1979): 353-55.
[3:5] 2 tn Heb “goes out at his feet.”
[3:6] 4 tn This verb has been traditionally understood as “measure” (from מוּד, mud), but the immediately following context (vv. 6b-7) favors the meaning “shake” from מָוד (mavd; see HALOT 555 s.v.).
[3:6] 5 tn Heb “makes [the nations] jump [in fear].”
[3:6] 6 tn Or “crumbled,” broke into pieces.”
[3:6] 7 tn Heb “ancient ways [or, “doings”] are his.” The meaning of this line is unclear. Traditionally it has been translated, “his ways are eternal.” However, in this context (see vv. 3, 7) it is more likely that the line speaks of the
[3:7] 8 tn Heb “under trouble I saw the tents of Cushan.”
[3:7] sn Cushan was located in southern Transjordan.
[3:7] 9 tn R. D. Patterson takes תַּחַת אֲוֶן (takhat ’aven) in the first line as a place name, “Tahath-Aven.” (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah [WEC], 237.) In this case one may translate the verse as a tricolon: “I look at Tahath-Aven. The tents of Cushan are shaking, the tent curtains of the land of Midian.”
[3:8] 10 sn The following context suggests these questions should be answered, “Yes.” The rivers and the sea, symbolizing here the hostile nations (v. 12), are objects of the Lord’s anger (vv. 10, 15).
[3:8] 11 tn Heb “so that.” Here כִּי (ki) is resultative. See the note on the phrase “make it” in 2:18.
[3:8] 12 tn Heb “you mount your horses.” As the next line makes clear, the Lord is pictured here as a charioteer, not a cavalryman. Note NRSV here, “when you drove your horses, // your chariots to victory.”
