Habakkuk 1:9

They shall come all for violence,.... Or, "the whole of it" (s); the whole army of the Chaldeans, everyone of them; this would be their sole view, not to do themselves justice, as might be pretended,

They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.

They, Chaldeans, and in particular these fierce and swift horsemen, shall come all, with one purpose, on the same design, to enrich themselves by making a prey of all. Their faces shall sup up as the east wind: either thus, their very countenances shall be as blasting, pestiferous, and dangerous as is the east wind in those countries; or thus, all they can sup up, or lay hold on, they will carry eastward; or thus, when you are devoured, they shall set their faces eastward to devour others in those coasts. They shall gather the captivity; prisoners or captives, called here the captivity, to express the extremity thereof. As the sand, both for easiness of gathering, and the multitudes of captives gathered. They, Chaldeans, and in particular these fierce and swift horsemen, shall come all, with one purpose, on the same design, to enrich themselves by making a prey of all. As the sand, both for easiness of gathering, and the multitudes of captives gathered.

Habakkuk 1:9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up [as] the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.Ver. 9. They shall come all for violence] That by force and violence they may carry all before them. Fit via vi, Cedit viribus aequum. They are set upon it, and will have it so. Their faces shall sup up as the east wind] That ventus urens et exsiccans, they shall blast all they look upon; Euroclydon-like, they shall overturn all, Acts 27:14. Navigantium pestem, the mariner’ s misery, Pliny calleth this wind, for the hurt it doeth by sea. Some read it, their faces shall look towards the east, viz. towards Babylon, whither they carry the booty they get. And they shall gather the captivity as the sand] So many shall be their captives, and so little accounted for as the dust or sand they tread upon. Thus the Turks carry out of Hungary and other Christian countries near unto them innumerable booties and captives, fifteen thousand at a time. And so the Spaniards, when they had taken the island Hispaniola, in the Indies, within a few months they rid it clean of the inhabitants and natives, while they gathered unto themselves captives and slaves.

(9) Their faces shall sup up as the east wind.—Literally, if we could accept this interpretation, the eagerness of their faces is eastward. The passage, however, is beset with philological difficulties. If the word kβdξmβh could be translated “east wind,” the invading Chaldζan host would be compared to a blast from the east, passing over the land, and leaving it scorched and blighted. The captives (“captivity,” Authorised Version) whom the invader carries off would then be likened to the cloud of dust, sand, &c., which accompanies this withering blast. This gives a good sense. Unfortunately, however, according to all analogy, kβdξmβh must mean either “eastwards” or “forwards.” The meaning of m’gammath (used here only) is probably either “crowd” or “eager desire.” Two plausible renderings are thus presented for our choice—“There is a crowd of their faces pressing forwards;” “Their faces turn eagerly forwards.” For other interpretations, we must refer the Hebrew student to the critical commentaries.

Verse 9. Their faces shall sup up as the east wind] This may be an allusion to those electrical winds which prevail in that country. Mr. Jackson, in his overland journey from India, mentions his having bathed in the Tigris. On his coming out of the river one of those winds passed over him, and, in a moment, carried off every particle of water that was on his body and in his bathing dress. So, the Chaldeans shall leave no substance behind them; their faces, their bare appearance, is the proof that nothing good shall be left. Shall gather the captivity as the sand.] They shall carry off innumerable captives.

9. they shall come] they come all of them for violence. To rob and harry is their object. Their faces shall sup up] R.V. paraphrastically: their faces are set eagerly as the east wind. The clause is obscure in sense, and in all likelihood the text is faulty. Two tentative senses have been suggested: (1) the word rendered in A.V. “sup up” has been connected with the term used of the war-horse, Job 39:24, he swalloweth the ground, i.e. appears to do so in his eagerness and swiftness; cf. Genesis 14:17, “Let me drink” (the same word). From this sense of swallowing or gulping up might come the more general one of straining or striving after (as in Neo-Heb.), giving some such sense as the striving of their faces is &c. Such a meaning is rather indefinite and flat, and the form of word is not easy to connect with that used in Job 39:24. (2) Others, as Gesen., would connect with the Arab. word signifying a crowd, assemblage, and render: the mass, crowd, of their faces. as the east wind] The term properly means eastward, but as the spectator when reckoning the quarters of the heavens faced the east, it is supposed that eastwards became equivalent to forwards or onwards. The whole clause would mean: the striving (or, the crowd) of their faces is forwards; the impetuosity and rapidity of their movement being indicated. Such a sense is rather lame, even if it could be legitimately reached. shall gather the captivity] and they gather captives like the sand. The sand is innumerable, Genesis 22:17; Genesis 41:49; 2 Samuel 17:11.

They shall come all for violence - “Violence” had been the sin of Judah Habakkuk 1:3-4, and now violence shall be her punishment. It had been ever before the prophet; all were full of it.

9. Their purpose is to rob and to destroy. For violence — They are without humane feelings; their only object is to do violence.