Habakkuk 3:10

Translations

Modern

The mountains saw You and quaked; torrents of water swept by. The deep roared with its voice and lifted its hands on high.

Traditional

The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.

Literal

…the mountains saw You and trembled. A storm of waters passed by; the deep gave forth its voice, and on high its hand lifted.

Latin

Viderunt te, et doluerunt montes; gurges aquarum transiit: dedit abyssus vocem suam; altitudo manus suas levavit.

Original

Hebrew

English

The mountains saw You and quaked; torrents of water swept by. The deep roared with its voice and lifted its hands on high.

Notes

Habakkuk 3:10

water: See study note on Habakkuk 3:8 and also Exodus 15:1–18.

Habakkuk 3:9–11

Only God controls the forces of the natural world.

Habakkuk 3:8–15

The Lord acts as a divine warrior for his people, using his power to save them. This picture of God as a divine warrior appears in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

In the Old Testament, it is seen in Israel’s escape from Egypt and their journey to Mount Sinai (Exodus 15:1–18). It also appears as Israel approached the promised land from the south and during their early victories in the land (for example, Judges 5:4–5; Psalms 18:8–16; 77:16–20).

A key New Testament example of this theme appears in Revelation, where Christ comes as a warrior to defeat evil and bring final justice (Revelation 19:11–21).

Habakkuk 3:3–15

The prophet praises God's power to save. These two praise sections (Habakkuk 3:3–7 and 3:8–15) poetically reflect on Israel's exodus. Although Habakkuk focuses on God's redemption of his people, his imagery sometimes includes ideas from ancient Near Eastern stories about the gods. For example:

pestilence and plague (Habakkuk 3:5)
river and sea (Habakkuk 3:8)
sun and moon (Habakkuk 3:11)

This imagery reminds Habakkuk's original audience that the Lord alone is the one true God who rules over all these things.

Habakkuk 3:1–19

Habakkuk’s prophecy concludes with a prayer that has the style and language of a psalm (a song of prayer).

Theme notes and profiles

Human Confusion and God’s Purpose

Events

Prophecies of Habakkukc. 607 BC

Related verses

Psalm 98:7–8
Let the sea resound, and all that fills it, the world, and all who dwell in it.
Isaiah 43:20
The beasts of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people.
Jeremiah 4:24
I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.
Joshua 4:23–24
For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as He did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over.
Psalm 93:3
The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
Joshua 4:18
When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up out of the Jordan and their feet touched the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their course and overflowed all the banks as before.
Hebrews 11:29
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned.
Psalm 74:13–15
You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
Psalm 136:13–15
He divided the Red Sea in two His loving devotion endures forever.
Matthew 27:51
At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, and the rocks were split.
Isaiah 64:1–2
If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
Isaiah 63:11–13
Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His Holy Spirit among them,

Glossary

Book of Habakkuk Habakkuk (Person) Selah Shiggaion, Shigionoth

Topics

God: Power of Mountains: God: Causes, to Tremble

Habakkuk 3:10

Translations?

Original?

Notes?

Events?

Related verses?

Glossary?

Topics?

Translations

Original

Notes

Events

Related verses

Glossary

Topics