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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

Habakkuk Echoes God from Teman in a Sinai Inscription

Ancient Near East, Northwest Semitic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

A blessing from the 9tn century BCE at a remote desert location in northern Sinai names God from Teman. Habakkuk opens with the same southern title, saying God comes from Teman and from Mount Paran.

Passages

Kuntillet Ajrud Inscriptions

Ancient Near East, Northwest Semitic · Horvat Teiman
Utterance of Amaryaw: Say to my lord: Is it well with you? I bless you by Yahweh of Teman and his asherah. May He bless you and may He keep you, and may He be with my lord.
800 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Kuntillet Ajrud Inscriptions

Habakkuk 3:3

Hebrew Bible
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

References

... Kuntillet ʻAjrud lay near a thoroughfare route that connects the coastal city of Eilat with Gaza on the Mediterranean Sea. Ceramic stratigraphy and radiocarbon dating assign the site's use to the late 9th century BCE. Many references carved or drawn on storage pithoi, plaster walls, and stone jars are made to “Yahweh of Teman” and “Yahweh of Samaria”; both even made in consort with the deity Asherah and alongside mentions of El and Baal. ... The locale of Kuntillet ʻAjrud brings to mind Elijah's pilgrimage south from north Israel to the mountain of god in the 9th century BCE (1 Kings 19:1-14). We have already seen the record of a Yahwistic cult site near the capital city of North Israel clarified here with the honorific title “Yahweh of Samaria.” The difficulty arises when the similar title “Yahweh of Teman” implies the possibility of a Yahwistic cult located in Teman of Edom. ...
Nathan H. Scherrer, “Yahweh of the Southlands” (MA diss., Denver Seminary, 2017), 58–59.

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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Kuntillet Ajrud Inscriptions and Habakkuk 3:3

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