Habakuk 3:10

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

The torrential downpour sweeps through. ¹ 

The great deep ²  shouts out;

it lifts its hands high. ³ 

Habakuk 3:13

3:13 You march out to deliver your people,

to deliver your special servant. ⁴ 

You strike the leader of the wicked nation, ⁵ 

laying him open from the lower body to the neck. ⁶  Selah.

[3:10]  ¹ tn Heb “a heavy rain of waters passes by.” Perhaps the flash floods produced by the downpour are in view here.

[3:10]  ² 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]  ³ 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.

[3:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “anointed one.” In light of the parallelism with “your people” in the preceding line this could refer to Israel, but elsewhere the Lord’s anointed one is always an individual. The Davidic king is the more likely referent here.

[3:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “you strike the head from the house of wickedness.”

[3:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “laying bare [from] foundation to neck.”