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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 Habakkuk 3:15 and Matthew 14:24

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Matthew 14 shows Jesus walking on the sea, echoing Habakkuk, where God tramples the sea with his horses. Both depict mastery over chaotic waters as a sign of power, based on ancient Near Eastern traditions where deities conquer the sea.

Passages

Habakkuk 3:15

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

Matthew 14:24

New Testament
23 And after he sent the crowds away, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. 24 Meanwhile the boat, already far from land, was taking a beating from the waves because the wind was against it. 25 As the night was ending, Jesus came to them walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the water they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” and cried out with fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them: “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” 28 Peter said to him, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.”
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... The story of Jesus calming the sea is found in Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, and Luke 8:22-25. The story of Jesus walking on the sea is found in Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, and John 6:16-21. Both stories are found only in Matthew and Mark. If the majority of New Testament scholars are correct, Mark was written first. Then some years later, Matthew composed his own Gospel, using Mark’s Gospel as one of his sources. If this historical reconstruction is correct, one may discern Matthew’s purpose and message by noting how he has changed his own Gospel from Mark’s. Already in the Markan formulation both stories are epiphanic, that is, they are revelatory of the true identity of Jesus as divine. In the Hebrew Bible the power both to still the raging sea and to trample upon the back of the sea belong to God alone. Though mediated to Mark principally through biblical tradents, these motifs derive ultimately from the common Semitic Combat Myth in which the Creator triumphs over primeval sea by quelling it and treading victoriously upon it. It is not accidental, therefore, that Mark describes Jesus’ walking on the sea in the very language used to depict Yahweh trampling on the back of the sea. Likewise, Jesus’ calming of the sea utilizes the language of Yahweh stilling the hostile sea by rebuking it ..."
Bernard F. Batto, Slaying the Dragon: Mythmaking in the Biblical Tradition (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1992), 178.

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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Habakkuk 3:15 and Matthew 14:24

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