Habakkuk 3:14

Translations

Modern

With his own spear You pierced his head, when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though ready to secretly devour the weak.

Traditional

Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.

Literal

You pierced the head of his warriors with his staves; they stormed out to scatter me, in their rejoicing as one who devours the afflicted in his hiding place.

Latin

Maledixisti sceptris ejus, capiti bellatorum ejus, venientibus ut turbo ad dispergendum me: exsultatio eorum, sicut ejus qui devorat pauperem in abscondito.

Original

Hebrew

English

With his own spear You pierced his head, when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though ready to secretly devour the weak.

Notes

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

Zechariah 9:14
Then the LORD will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord GOD will sound the ram’s horn and advance in the whirlwinds of the south.
Daniel 11:40
At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, invading many countries and sweeping through them like a flood.
Psalm 118:10–12
All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
Exodus 14:5–9
When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”
Exodus 1:10–16
Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”
Psalm 10:8
He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.
Exodus 15:9–10
The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’
Exodus 11:4–7
So Moses declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,
Exodus 12:12–13
On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
Exodus 12:29–30
Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock.
Exodus 1:22
Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”
Judges 7:22
And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.

Glossary

Book of Habakkuk Habakkuk (Person) Shiggaion, Shigionoth Whirlwind

Topics

Poor: Oppressions of The Poor: The Wicked: Devour

Habakkuk 3:14

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