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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 3:2 and LXX Habakkuk 3:2

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

Habakkuk 3 includes an appeal for divine mercy and for God to repeat what he has done in the past. The Greek Septuagint adds details not found in the Hebrew, including a description of God appearing with cherubim, harmonizing it with imagery from Exodus.

Passages

Habakkuk 3:2

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

LXX Habakkuk 3:2

Septuagint
1 A PRAYER OF THE PROPHET AMBACUM, WITH A SONG. 2 Lord, I have heard your report, and was afraid: I considered your works, and was amazed: you shall be known between the two living creatures, you shall be acknowledged when the years draw near; you shall be manifested when the time has come; when my soul is troubled, you will in fierce anger remember mercy. 3 God shall come from Teman, and the Holy One from the dark shady mount. Pause. His excellence covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Habakkuk

References

"... In this connection we cannot avoid the discussion of the early Christian interpretation of Habakkuk 3:2 because the text has played a significant role in Christological argumentations. The earliest Christian interpretation of Habakkuk 3:2 is presented in Irenaeus’s Adversus haereses III 16,7. He quotes the latter part of the Septuagint translation of the verse (“By this Thou shalt be known when the years have drawn nigh; Thou shalt be set forth when the time comes; because my soul is disturbed by anger, Thou shalt remember Thy mercy”) and argues that the life, passion and death of Jesus were preordained by God ... Origen connects Habakkuk 3:2 with Isaiah 6:3 and uses them both as arguments for Christology and, in fact, also for the Holy Triad. Second he is dependent on some early Jewish-Christian material which was mediated for him by his Hebrew Master and which clearly represents an orthodox variant of Christology. That Origen has transmitted an early Jewish Christian interpretation of Habakkuk 3:2 in De Principiis seems reasonable because in his Commentary on Romans (III 8,2–8) he interprets Habakkuk 3:2 otherwise by connecting the verse to Exodus 25:22 and argues – as we have done here – that the two living creatures refer to Cherubim on the Ark. Only then does he make his own Christological implications by emphasizing that at this time the mercy-seat (Romans 3:25) is Jesus and the Word and the Spirit representing Cherubim manifesting themselves in and through Jesus. That Habakkuk 3:2 has played a central role in Christian mission proclamation in the area of Jerusalem receives support from the sermons of Cyril of Jerusalem who refers to this text in his Catechetical Lectures ..."
Antti Laato, “Yahweh Manifests Himself between Two Cherubim: An Approach to the Reception History of Hab 3:2,” in Encounters in Past and Present: Contributions to the Conversation; A Festschrift for the 60th Birthday of Martin Tamcke, ed. Claudia Rammelt et al. (Berlin: LIT Verlag Dr. W. Hopf, 2015), 55–64.

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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