Habakkuk 3:5

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. 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.

Jeremiah 14:12

Hebrew Bible

10 Then the Lord spoke about these people. “They truly love to go astray. They cannot keep from running away from me. So I am not pleased with them. I will now call to mind the wrongs they have done and punish them for their sins.” 11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for good to come to these people! 12 Even if they fast, I will not hear their cries for help. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will kill them through wars, famines, and plagues. 13 Then I said, “Oh, Sovereign Lord, look! The prophets are telling them that you said, ‘You will not experience war or suffer famine. I will give you lasting peace and prosperity in this land.’” 14 Then the Lord said to me, “Those prophets are prophesying lies while claiming my authority! I did not send them. I did not commission them. I did not speak to them. They are prophesying to these people false visions, worthless predictions, and the delusions of their own mind.

 Notes and References

"... while many scholars are of the opinion 'that Habakkuk 3 has its literary parallel in the Canaanite epic literature', other scholars seriously doubt such a suggestion. Nevertheless, exegetes generally acknowledge an Ancient Near Eastern background of Habakkuk 3 'without over-emphasising the Mesopotamian or Canaanite background'. To a large extent, consensus has been reached amongst scholars that Habakkuk 3:3-15 is an archaic theophany, resembling other theophanies in the Hebrew Bible. Habakkuk 3:3-7 describes Yahweh's triumphant march from the "South" distinctly portraying him as a heavenly warrior. Although storm god motifs – clouds, winds, lightning and storm – are absent in Habakkuk 3:3-7 and Deuteronomy 33:2, they do appear in the archaic theophanies of Judges 5:4 and Psalm 68:8-10. A blinding light associated with the appearance of Yahweh clearly depicts Yahweh as a solar deity. Habakkuk 3 gives a description of a theophany with accompanying natural phenomena. The "Lord of Light" is described as a Divine Warrior; the plague went before him and pestilence followed on his heels. (Habakkuk 3:5; Compare 1 Kings 8:37; Jeremiah 14:12. They could be seen as two 'personalized natural powers, submitted to Yahweh') ..."

Mondriaan, Marlene Elizabeth The Rise of Yahwism: Role of Marginalized Groups (p. 154) University of Pretoria, 2010

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