Habakkuk 3

2 of a whip. Rather, “of the whip” (R.V.), a signal of the on-coming host.

8 populous No. No-Anon: cp. Isa. xx. 3; Jer. xlvi. 25, and notes. This city (called by the Egyptians, Tapé, i.e., the head; and by the Greeks, Thebes) was one of the mightiest of the ancient world. It was celebrated even in the Homeric age for its warriors and its magnificence (Il. ix. 381-384), and still retains in the grandeur of its ruins, Karnak and Luxor, proofs of its former splendour. The argument of Nahum plainly shows that No had already been overthrown. This event is recorded in the Assyrian inscriptions: Assur-bani-pal, son and successor of Esarhaddon, invaded Egypt, then under king Urdamani, son of Tirhakah the Ethiopian, capturing, pillaging, and destroying No, 663 B.C.

the rivers . . . the sea. The artificial channels of streams for irrigating the country; and the Nile, denominated a sea from its vast expanse of waters: see note, Isa. xix. 5.

her wall was from the sea. i.e., the Nile was as a wall to the city.

9. Put. The name of an African people, sometimes rendered “Libyans”: see Gen. x. 6, 13, and note on Ezek. xxvii. 10.

Lubim. The Nubian tribes.

11. Thou also shalt be drunken. See Psa. lxxv. 8; Isa. ii. 17-23, and notes.

Thou shalt be hid. That is, “Thou shalt disappear.”

strength because of the enemy. Rather, “a defence against the enemy” (R.V. marg.).

14. Draw thee waters, etc. An ironical summons to make all preparations against a siege. The clay or mortar for building was kneaded by treading with bare feet. Let the Assyrians do what they would, it would now be vain (15).

15 the fire . . . the sword. Whilst the people shall fall by the sword, the buildings will be destroyed by fire; as the ruins of Nineveh show was the fact.

the cankerworm. Or, “locust.” From these animals three illustrations are here derived: their devastations represent the utter destruction of Nineveh, their vast swarms its numerous merchants and princes, and their sudden flight its strange depopulation: cp. Joel i., and notes.

16. Thou hast multiplied thy merchants. On the commerce of the Assyrians with Tyre, see Ezek. xxvii. 23, 24.

17. Thy crowned. Nobles, who wore a kind of diadem; or perhaps priests.

18. Thy shepherds slumber, etc. Thy shepherds, or chieftains, slumber in death; thy worthies are at rest: cp. 1 Kings xxii. 17.

19 the bruit. That is, “report.” The surrounding states will express their joy at the ruin of an empire whose rule has been so oppressive.

thy wickedness. The “wickedness” for which Nineveh was to be punished is attested by her own sculptures, which have been brought to light after being buried nearly 2,500 years. In these are portrayed the burning of cities, and the impalement, decapitation, and flaying alive of prisoners, besides other cruel modes of torture: see Layard’s Nineveh and Babylon. One more denunciation was uttered against this wicked city some years later by Zephaniah (ii. 13-15); and shortly afterwards the whole was fulfilled, 606 B.C.

THE Book gives us no particulars as to the personality of Habakkuk, except that he is called a prophet (i. 1), and it would appear from iii. 1, 19 (see notes in exposition), that he had some part in the Temple service. The date of his prophecy is variously fixed by different writers as between 625 and 600 B.C., perhaps during the reigns of Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, and at the same time as Jeremiah.

Like the other prophets, he laments the wickedness of his time, the prevalence of violence (i. 3), and the corruption of justice (i. 4). He proclaims God’s judgements upon his nation for their sins, and particularly announces the invasions by the Chaldeans (i. 6), whose character he describes (i. 6-11) in words the truth of which is confirmed by history and the monuments. Against the Chaldeans also he pronounces the judgements of God, for their pride, idolatry, covetousness, drunkenness, and cruelty (ii. 5, 8, 12, 15, 18, 19).

Filled with awe at the Divine judgements, which it was his office to proclaim (iii. 2-16), he appeals for the Divine mercy (iii. 2) and expresses his trust in God and the joy which comes of faith (iii. 17-20).

As to the final issue he has no doubt. “The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (ii. 14). He, too, is linked up with the New Testament and with the Reformation by his great message of justification by faith (cp. ii. 4 with Rom. i. 17; Gal. iii. 11; Heb. x. 38).

I upon Shiglonoth. After the manner of the “Shiggaion,” or dithyrambic ode, “a lyrical poem composed under strong mental excitement.” (See note on title of Psa. vii.) Ewald thinks that this poem was composed for public use in the Temple, vers. 2 and 16-19 being sung by the prophet, and the second or principal part by the choir of Levites.

2. Thy speech. The revelation contained in the preceding chapters.

revive Thy work, etc. i.e., during the time of the threatened chastening, do Thou repeat and “make known” “Thy work” of “mercy” by delivering Thy people.

3. God came from Teman, etc. Rather, “God will come from Teman,” etc.; i.e., He will renew His “work,” interposing for Israel as He did in those ancient manifestations celebrated in Deut. xxxiii. 2; Judges v. 4, 5; Psa. lxviii. 7, 8. “Teman” and “Paran” (see Gen. xxi. 21; Jer. xlix. 7) are together put for the desert through which the Israelites pass on their journey from Egypt to Canaan.

4 [His] brightness was as the light, etc. The coming of God is compared to the sun rising over the hills of Edom and Sinai, His rays (“horns”) streaming forth, as it were, “from His hand,” and lighting up the heavens and the earth. Yet this glorious appearance is not God Himself; it is but the veil in which He wraps His omnipotence: cp. Psa. civ. 2.

5 burning coals. Rather, “burning fever”; as in Deut. xxxii. 24.

6. He stood, and measured the earth, etc. Rather, “He standeth, and shaketh the earth; He looketh, and agitateth the nations.”

His ways are everlasting. “His goings are [as] of old,” R.V.: cp. Micah v. 2.

7 the tents of Cushan, etc. Referring to the deliverances of the Hebrews from their oppressors in ancient times (see Judges iii. 8-10; vi., vii.), which are introduced here as pledges of future salvation.

9 made quite naked. Drawn out from its case, for use.

[according] to the oaths of the tribes, [even Thy] word. Various renderings have been given of this clause, of which the best appears to be, “The tribes were sworn [to Thy] command. But some scholars favour the translation, “Thy quiver is filled with shafts.”

10 lifted up his (its) hands on high. See Psa. lxxvii. 16-19.

13 for salvation with Thine anointed. Rather, “for the salvation of Thine anointed” (R.V.). The reference is not to the unworthy Jehoiakim, but to the anointed people.

the foundation unto the neck. Not only the “head” of the building, but all the rest, from “the foundation up to the neck,” is destroyed.

discovering. Laying bare.

14. Thou didst strike through with his staves, etc. Or, “Thou hast pierced with his own spears (i.e., of his own followers) the head of his scattered tribes.”

to scatter me. The prophet speaks in the name of the people.

15 the heap. Or, “the boiling up”; “surge,” R.V. marg.

16 my belly trembled. Calvin thinks that the prophet here returns again to the fear which he had entertained (see ver. 2) on account of God’s threatenings; and that what he now represents himself as hearing are the actual judgements which God had announced.

that I might rest, etc. Or, “Because I must wait for the day of calamity, for the invader to come up against my people.”

17. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, etc. An emphatic or detailed description of the ruin brought upon an agricultural community by invasion.

18. I will rejoice in the Lord. This triumphant close to the prophet’s song illustrates the power of true religion to sustain the soul in the absence or loss of every earthly good.

19. The Lord God. “The Eternal, the Lord.” to walk upon mine high places. See 2 Sam. i. 19.

To the chief singer (musician). The inscription at the beginning of many of the Psalms, here placed at the close.

APART from the personal references in the Book itself, we have no record of the life of Zephaniah. But these references are of great interest. That he was of royal blood is generally recognised as clear from his mention of Hezekiah (“Hizkiah”) as one of his ancestors (i. 1). As Dr. Selbie has pointed out (Hastings’ Dict. Bible, art. “Zephaniah”), this gives an additional point to his strictures upon the princes and the king’s sons (i. 8, 9). Zephaniah also gives us the time at which he prophesied, which was during the reign of king Josiah (i. 1), and as he speaks of the worship of Baal (i. 4) this supplies a still more definite indication, as the altars of Baal were destroyed in the eighteenth year of that king (2 Kings xxii. 3; xxiii. 4), the Chemarim or idolatrous priests (i. 4) being also mentioned in 2 Kings xxiii. 4. Zephaniah’s date, then, was from about 625 to 620 B.C.

All this has its bearing on his message. The work of the earlier prophets had been largely undone during the reign of Manasseh, and idolatry, with its accompanying evils, had again become rampant. As the former judgements had not proved effective, God announces, through His servant, more drastic methods. This time He will search Jerusalem with lanterns (i. 12). It shall be “a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress” (i. 15).