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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 Hymns and Prayers to Amun-Re and Habakkuk 3:6

Ancient Near East, Egyptian · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Habakkuk and the Egyptian hymns to Amun-Re both use solar and cosmic imagery to describe divine power, portraying mountains collapsing at the deity’s presence. In both, what is usually stable and permanent becomes unstable in the divine radiance.

Passages

Hymns and Prayers to Amun-Re

Ancient Near East, Egyptian
The Sundisk's beams streamed from the sky because of your face, Hapy first surged from his cavern because of your primeval presence; Earth was established because of your heavenly voyaging; and to you, alone, belongs all that Geb nurtures. Your Name is potent, your power preeminent; even mountains of iron cannot withstand your might! Divine Falcon with extended wings. swift, seizing in a second whoever attacks him; Hidden Lion with resounding war-cry, who hugs to himself whatever comes under his claws; Strong Bull over his city, lion over his people, swishing his tail at whatever annoys him. Earth shakes when he puts forth his cry; all that exists is in fear of his majesty. He is mighty, there are none of his kind - he is perfection of Power, pattern for the Ennead.
1550 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Hymns and Prayers to Amun Re

Habakkuk 3:6

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

References

"... Before Yahweh engages in his battle, he stops to survey the earth. At his mere sight the mountains are shattered—even the “ancient” and “everlasting” ones, the ones that were thought to be immovable. On the contrary, these firm hills sink low. The seismic devastation at Yahweh’s theophanic approach is astounding. An Egyptian hymn to Amun-Rê describes a similar picture of immovable mountains crumbling at the might of the deity ..."
Tyler J. Patty, “Ancient Near Eastern Literature and the Psalm of Habakkuk 3” (diss., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2015), 1–24.

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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Hymns and Prayers to Amun-Re and Habakkuk 3:6

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