Habakkuk 3:9

Translations

Modern

You brandished Your bow; You called for many arrows. Selah You split the earth with rivers.

Traditional

Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

Literal

Your bow was uncovered with nakedness speech was sworn for arrows. Selah With rivers You split the earth;

Latin

Suscitans suscitabis arcum tuum, juramenta tribubus quæ locutus es; fluvios scindes terræ.

Original

Hebrew

English

You brandished Your bow; You called for many arrows. Selah You split the earth with rivers.

Notes

Habakkuk 3:9–11

Only God controls the forces of the natural world.

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

Psalm 7:12–13
If one does not repent, God will sharpen His sword; He has bent and strung His bow.
Psalm 78:15–16
He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.
Psalm 105:41
He opened a rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.
Luke 1:72–75
…to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,
Hebrews 6:13–18
When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,
Isaiah 52:10
The LORD has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
Exodus 17:6
Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Psalm 143:6
I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah
Lamentations 2:4
He has bent His bow like an enemy; His right hand is positioned. Like a foe He has killed all who were pleasing to the eye; He has poured out His wrath like fire on the tent of the Daughter of Zion.
Psalm 105:8–11
He remembers His covenant forever, the word He ordained for a thousand generations—
1 Corinthians 10:4
…and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Numbers 20:11
Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.

People

Selah: A musical or liturgical term of uncertain meaning

Glossary

Book of Habakkuk Habakkuk (Person) Selah Shiggaion, Shigionoth

Topics

Bow: Figurative Geology: General Scriptures Concerning God: Power of

Habakkuk 3:9

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