Texts in Conversation
Habakkuk describes Plague as a deity marching before God as part of a divine army. The Greek Septuagint reads the same Hebrew letters as “a word” instead of “plague,” replacing the mythological image with a prophetic one.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Habakkuk 3:5
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.
LXX Habakkuk 3:5
Septuagint
4 And his splendor will be like a light; horns are in his hands. And he has established a strong love of his strength. 5 A word will go before his face, and it will come out into the plain at his feet. 6 He stood firm, and the earth was shaken; he looked, and nations melted. The mountains were broken in pieces with force; eternal hills were melted at his eternal journey.
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Notes and References
"… In Habakkuk 3.5, for instance, where דבר is construed as דָּבָר ‘word’ and not as the Masoretic Text דֶּבֶר ‘plague’, it may have seemed appropriate for a prophetic ‘word’ to precede the Lord, especially as the parallel term רשׁף has not been understood. …"
Dines, Jennifer
"The Minor Prophets" in Aitken, James K. (ed.) T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint
(p. 443) T&T Clark, 2015
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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