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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 3:4 and LXX Habakkuk 3:4

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

The Hebrew version of Habakkuk describes God shining with rays from his hand. The Greek Septuagint instead interprets this as horns in God's hands and reads the hidden power as a love of his strength, language the translators struggled to translate.

Passages

Habakkuk 3:4

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

LXX Habakkuk 3:4

Septuagint
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. 4 And his brightness shall be as light; there were horns in his hands, and he caused a mighty love of his strength. 5 Before his face shall go a word, and his feet shall go forth in sandals.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Habakkuk

References

... This verse, consisting of three equal cola, has received an abundance of interpretations and explanations. Here are some of them. The Septuagint shows the following rendering: And his brightness shall be as light there were horns in his hands and he caused (lit. put) a mighty love of his strength. The Septuagint, followed by the Syriac version, turns נֹגַהּ, 'brightness,' into נגהו, 'his brightness,' meaning the brightness of God; קַרְנַיִם were interpreted here, as well as in the Vulgate, to mean the horns of an animal; and מִיָּדוֹ, 'from his hand,' was read by both as בידיו, 'in his hands' (pl.). שָׁם was assumed by the Septuagint, as well as the Vulgate, to derive from the root שׂים, meaning 'to put'; and חֶבְיוֹן to stem from the root חבב, 'to like, love.' The Septuagint rendering makes little sense, and indicates that even the Greek translators had difficulty with the enigmatic verse. ...
Nili Shupak, “The God from Teman and the Egyptian Sun God: A Reconsideration of Habakkuk 3:3–7,” JANES (2001): 99.

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 3:4 and LXX Habakkuk 3:4

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