Habakkuk 3:3

If God is everywhere, then how could He “come from Teman”?

PROBLEM: This verse seems to contradict God’s omnipresence. If God is everywhere (Psalms 139:7-10; Jeremiah 23:23), then how could He be localized in the city of Teman from which He was to come to judge His enemy?

SOLUTION: This is not a reference to God in His omnipresence, but to a special manifestation of God, such as a theophany. Just as God came down in a special display of His glory to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Deuteronomy 33:2), or as the angel of the Lord to Manoah (Judges 13), even so here He came from Teman.

Habakkuk 3:3 — Is this a prediction of the Prophet Mohammed?

PROBLEM: Many Muslim scholars believe this refers to the prophet Mohammed coming from Paran (Arabia), and use it in connection with a similar text in Deuteronomy 33:2.

SOLUTION: As already noted (see comments on Deuteronomy 33:2), Paran is not near Mecca where Mohammed came, but is hundreds of miles away. Furthermore, the verse is speaking of “God” coming, not Mohammed. Finally, the “praise” could not refer to Mohammed (whose name means “the praised one”), since the subject of both “praise” and “glory” is God (“His”), and Mohammed is not God.