Habakkuk 3:14

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. THOU DIDST STRIKE THROUGH WITH HIS STAVES - "his," with the "wicked" (Habakkuk 3:13) foe's own sword. Maurer translates [maTeym] 'spears' (Judges 7:22). THE HEAD OF HIS VILLAGES - not only kings were overthrown by God's hand, hut His vengeance passed through the foe's villages and dependencies. A just retribution, as the foe, Jabin of Hazor, king of Canaan, had made "the inhabitants of Israel's villages to cease" (Judges 5:7). Grotius translates [ pªraazaayw...

At the beginning of this verse the Prophet pursues the same subject—that God had wounded all the enemies of his people; and he says that the head of villages or towns had been wounded, though some think that פרזים, _perezim_, mean rather the inhabitants of towns; for the Hebrews call fortified towns or villages פרזות, _perezut_, and the word is commonly found in the feminine gender; but as it is here a masculine noun, it is thought that it means the inhabitants. At the same time this does not much affect the subject; for the Prophet simply means, that not only things had been overthrown by God’s hand, but also all the provinces under their authority; as though he had said that God’s vengeance, when his purpose was to defend his people, advanced through all the villages and through every region, so that not a corner was safe. (62) But we must also notice what follows—

3-15 God's people, when in distress, and ready to despair, seek help by considering the days of old, and the years of ancient times, and by pleading them with God in prayer. The resemblance between the Babylonish and Egyptian captivities, naturally presents itself to the mind, as well as the possibility of a like deliverance through the power of Jehovah. God appeared in his glory. All the powers of nature are shaken, and the course of nature changed, but all is for the salvation of God's own people. Even what seems least likely, shall be made to work for their salvation. Hereby is given a type and figure of the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ. It is for salvation with thine anointed. Joshua who led the armies of Israel, was a figure of Him whose name he bare, even Jesus, our Joshua. In all the salvations wrought for them, God looked upon Christ the Anointed, and brought delivera...

Verse Habakkuk 3:14. _THOU DIDST STRIKE THROUGH_] The Hebrew will bear this sense: "Thou hast pierced amidst their tribes the head of their troops," referring to Pharaoh and his generals, who came like a _whirlwind_ to fall upon the poor Israelites, when they appeared to be hemmed in by sea, and no place for their escape. If we follow the common reading, it seems to intimate that the troops of Pharaoh, in their confusion (for God shone out upon them from the cloud) fell foul of each other; and with their staves, or weapons, slew one another: but the _head of the villages_ or _towns_, i.e., _Pharaoh_, was drowned with his army in the Red Sea....

THOU DIDST STRIKE THROUGH WITH HIS STAVES THE HEAD OF HIS VILLAGES - The destruction comes not upon himself only, but upon the whole multitude of his subjects; and this not by any mere act of divine might, but “with his own staves,” turning upon him the destruction which he prepared for others. So it often was of old. When the Midianites and Amalekites and the children of the east Judges 6:3 wasted Israel in the days of Gideon “the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host” Judges 7:22; and when God delivered the Philistines into the hand of Jonathan 1 Samuel 14:12, 1 Samuel 14:16

EXPOSITION HABAKKUK 3:1 Part II. PSALM OR PRAYER OF HABAKKUK. HABAKKUK 3:1 § 1. _The title._ A PRAYER. There is only one formal prayer in the ode, that in Habakkuk 3:2; but the term is used of any devotional composition; and, indeed, the whole poem may be regarded as the development of the precatory sentences in the proemium. (For other hymns in the prophetical books, see Isaiah 24:1, and...

THOU DIDST STRIKE THROUGH WITH HIS STAVES THE HEAD OF HIS VILLAGES,.... Of his warriors, mighty men, princes; so the Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; or of his armies, as Jarchi and Kimchi; which some interpret of Pharaoh and his host, who were destroyed by the steps and methods which they themselves took, going into the sea of themselves, and so were struck through with their own staves: others of the princes and armies of the Canaanites, who destroyed one another with their own weapons of war, as the Midianites did; though we have no instance of it on record: others of Goliath, as Burkius, called before "the head out of the house of the wicked", with respect to his rise from Gath; here, "the head of his Pagans", as he renders it, or Gentiles, with respect to his preeminence over the common soldiers, and all the Philistines: others of Sennacherib and his army, as...

CHAPTER 3 The Vision of the Coming of the Lord _ 1. The prophet's prayer (Habakkuk 3:1) _ 2. The coming of the Lord for judgment and redemption (Habakkuk 3:3) 3. The effect upon the prophet (Habakkuk 3:16) Habakkuk 3:1. Once more we hear the voice of the man of God in prayer. Shigionoth is the plural of Shiggaion, and is found in the superscription of Psalms 7:1. Its meaning is “loud crying.” The connection with the seventh Psalm is interesting. In that Psalm God appeared to David as the God of judgment, the right

HABAKKUK 3. THE PRAYER OF HABAKKUK. Habakkuk 3:1. Shigionoth: probably plural of _shiggaion_ (Psalms 7:1, p. 373). But LXX reads _n e ginoth_, on the stringed instruments (_cf._ Psalms 4:1; Psalms 6:1, etc.). HABAKKUK 3:2. The poet has both heard of and seen Yahweh's doings in days gone by, and prays Him anew to reveal His saving power to His people. For _yarethi_, I was afraid, read _ra-' ithi_, I have seen (LXX), to be taken with the following words: thus, I have seen Thy work, O Lord. IN THE MIDST OF THE YEARS:...

STRIKE THROUGH. pierce. HIS STAVES. his own weapons. Compare Judges 7:22. HEAD. chief. VILLAGES. leaders. Hebrew text. "leader"(singular); but margin "leaders" (plural), with some codices and five early printed editions. THEY CAME OUT, &C.. = [when] they came forth. me: i.e. me [who am Thy People]. REJOICING. Compare Psalms 10:8; Psalms 10:9. AS. in very deed. _Kaph_ (K) veritatis. POOR. Hebrew. _'anah._ See note on "poverty", Proverbs 6:11....