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Habakkuk

About this book
Chapter 3

1 This is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet: 2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; I am awed, Lord, by what you accomplished. In our time repeat those deeds; in our time reveal them again. But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy!⁠ 3 God comes from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.⁠ Selah. His splendor has covered the skies,⁠ the earth is full of his glory.⁠ 4 His brightness will be as lightning;⁠ a two-pronged lightning bolt flashing from his hand. This is the outward display of his power.⁠ 5 Plague will go before him; pestilence will march right behind him.⁠ 6 He took his battle position and shook the earth; with a mere look he frightened the nations. The ancient mountains disintegrated; the primeval hills were flattened.⁠ His are ancient roads.⁠ 7 I saw the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by trouble; the tent curtains of the land of Midian were shaking. 8 Was the Lord mad at the rivers? Were you angry with the rivers? Were you enraged at the sea?⁠ Such that you would climb into your horse-drawn chariots, your victorious chariots?⁠ 9 Your bow is ready for action; you commission your arrows. Selah. You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface.⁠ 10 When the mountains see you, they shake. The torrential downpour sweeps through. The great deep shouts out; it lifts its hands high.⁠ 11 The sun and moon stand still in their courses;⁠ the flash of your arrows drives them away, the bright light of your lightning-quick spear.⁠ 12 You furiously stomp on the earth; you angrily trample down the nations. 13 You march out to deliver your people, to deliver your special servant. You strike the leader of the wicked nation,⁠ laying him open from the lower body to the neck. Selah.⁠ 14 You pierce the heads of his warriors with a spear. They storm forward to scatter us; they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition. 15 But you trample on the sea with your horses, on the surging, raging waters.⁠ 16 I listened and my stomach churned; the sound made my lips quiver. My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying, and I shook as I tried to walk. I long for the day of distress to come upon the people who attack us. 17 When the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines; when the olive trees do not produce and the fields yield no crops; when the sheep disappear from the pen and there are no cattle in the stalls— 18 I will rejoice because of the Lord; I will be happy because of the God who delivers me! 19 The Sovereign Lord is my source of strength. He gives me the agility of a deer; he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain.⁠ (This prayer is for the song leader. It is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)

Texts in conversation

Compare 2 Samuel 22:11 and Habakkuk 3:10

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Habakkuk uses storm deity language found in 2 Samuel, where a god rides through the sky, strikes with lightning, and uncovers the sea. He reshapes this image around a cloud chariot, drawing on ideas also seen in Ezekiel and Isaiah.

Passages

2 Samuel 22:11

Hebrew Bible
8 The earth heaved and shook; the foundations of the sky trembled. They heaved because he was angry. 9 Smoke ascended from his nose; fire devoured as it came from his mouth; he hurled down fiery coals. 10 He made the sky sink as he descended; a thick cloud was under his feet. 11 He mounted a cherub and flew; he glided on the wings of the wind. 12 He shrouded himself in darkness, in thick rain clouds. 13 From the brightness in front of him came coals of fire. 14 The Lord thundered from the sky; the Most High shouted loudly. 15 He shot arrows and scattered them, lightning and routed them. 16 The depths of the sea were exposed; the inner regions of the world were uncovered by the Lord’s battle cry, by the powerful breath from his nose.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Samuel

Habakkuk 3:10

Hebrew Bible
8 Was the Lord mad at the rivers? Were you angry with the rivers? Were you enraged at the sea? Such that you would climb into your horse-drawn chariots, your victorious chariots? 9 Your bow is ready for action; you commission your arrows. Selah. You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface. 10 When the mountains see you, they shake. The torrential downpour sweeps through. The great deep shouts out; it lifts its hands high. 11 The sun and moon stand still in their courses; the flash of your arrows drives them away, the bright light of your lightning-quick spear. 12 You furiously stomp on the earth; you angrily trample down the nations. 13 You march out to deliver your people, to deliver your special servant. You strike the leader of the wicked nation, laying him open from the lower body to the neck. Selah. 14 You pierce the heads of his warriors with a spear. They storm forward to scatter us; they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition. 15 But you trample on the sea with your horses, on the surging, raging waters.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Habakkuk

References

"... This phrase is evocative of the winged cherubs in Ezekiel’s visions in Ezekiel 1–11, where there is a close connection between the movements of Yahweh’s winged cherubs and the “wind” (or “spirit”). We are first introduced to these creatures in Ezekiel 1:4–6 and 1:20–24, and it is these same creatures which Ezekiel sees in Ezekiel 10 (10:16–21), bearing the heavenly chariot on which Yahweh departs from the temple. Ezekiel’s imagery would appear to be a development of the imagery of the Ark of the Covenant, which had two cherubs atop it, upon which Yahweh sat as the one “enthroned between the cherubim.” In several passages elsewhere, Yahweh is said to have mounted a cherub and flown on the wings of the wind (2 Samuel 22:11 = Psalm 18:10; 104:3) ... My conjecture is that the significance of Yahweh’s chariots emerging “from between the two [bronze] mountains” in Zechariah 6:1 is that Yahweh has burst through the mountains. I suggest that this imagery arises from an intertextual conflation of Isaiah 45:2 and Habakkuk 3. In Isaiah 45:2, Yahweh declares that “I will level the mountains and break down the doors of bronze.” Habakkuk 3 describes Yahweh the divine warrior riding forth to rescue his people, with shattering consequences for the geographic features in his path ... According to Habakkuk 3:8, it is particularly Yahweh’s chariots and horses which are the agents of his destruction ..."
Michael R. Stead, The Intertextuality of Zechariah 1–8 (New York: T & T Clark International, 2009), 197, 212.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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2 Samuel 22:11 and Habakkuk 3:10

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