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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 KTU 1.18 I:11 and Habakkuk 3:13

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Habakkuk shares Anat's threat of a blow to the head, showing that its picture of God's victory uses battle language already familiar in Ugaritic stories.

Passages

KTU 1.18 I:11

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
[…] I will break […] […] [his father], also […] And Virgin Anat replied: “Do not let the sons of your house, O El, do not let the daughters of your house rejoice, do not let the children of your palace rejoice! I shall surely seize them in my right hand; I shall smite them by the strength of my long arm! I shall smite you on your skull; I shall make your gray hair run with blood, the gray hair of your beard with gore! Then let Aqhat come to you, and let the son of Danel deliver you, and let him save you from the hand of Virgin Anat!” But the Wise One, El the perceptive, replied: “I know you, daughter, that you are pitiless, and that among goddesses there is no contempt like yours!
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Habakkuk 3:13

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.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Habakkuk

References

“... However, this similarity does not prove that this Biblical text has a literary connection with Ugaritic conflict myths. ... Moreover, the expression 'strike/ smite the head of somebody' seems to appear in a context other than the Chaoskampf myth even in Ugaritic. Thus, in KTU 1.18:10f. the goddess Anat threatens her father god El with bodily violence, saying: ... 'I will strike you on your skull.’ It seems that the expression 'strike/ smite the head of somebody' was already a literary cliché in the Ugaritic literature. ...”
David Toshio Tsumura, “Ugaritic Poetry and Habakkuk 3,” TynBul 40.1 (1989): 41.

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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KTU 1.18 I:11 and Habakkuk 3:13

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