Habakkuk 3:14

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Habakkuk 3:3-15

It has been the usual practice of God's people, when they have been in distress and ready to fall into despair, to help themselves by recollecting their experiences, and reviving them, considering the days of old, and the years of ancient times (Ps. 77:5), and pleading with God in prayer, as he is pleased sometimes to plead them with himself. Isa. 63:11; Then he remembered the days of old. This is that which the prophet does here, and he looks as far back as the first forming of them into a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Habakkuk 3:14

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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Habakkuk 3:14

Verse 14 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... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Habakkuk 3:1-19

Part II . PSALM OR PRAYER OF HABAKKUK . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Habakkuk 3:3-15

§ 3. The prophet or the congregation depicts in a majestic theophany the coming of God to judge the world, and its effect symbolically on material nature, and properly on evil men. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Habakkuk 3:3-15

God poetically portrayed and practically remembered. "God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah," etc. The Bible contains many grand songs and odes. There is the song that Moses taught Israel to sing ( Exodus 15:1 ). There is the triumphant song of Deborah and Barak ( 5:1-31 .). There is the song of Hannah, the mother of Samuel ( 1 Samuel 2:1 ). There is the song of David bewailing the death of Saul and Jonathan ( 2 Samuel 1:19 ), and his song of thanksgiving... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Habakkuk 3:3-18

God in history. On reading these verses containing the ode of Habakkuk we find that they abound in historical allusions. The prophet recalled to mind the Divine interpositions both in mercy and in judgment which had taken place in the bygone days, and in the light of them contemplated the position and prospects of his people in his own time. This course was a very customary one with the Hebrew bards. They were eminently patriotic, and delighted to touch upon the national experiences of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Habakkuk 3:9-16

An ideal theophany: 4. The glorious interposition of the Deity. I. NATURE 'S HOMAGE TO THE JUDGE . ( Habakkuk 3:10 , Habakkuk 3:11 .) Jehovah's presence on that great and terrible day will be attested by a succession of marvels. 1 . Wonders in the earth. 2 . Wonders in the sea . The tempest of waters passed by, the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high" ( Habakkuk 3:10 ). These words possibly allude to what occurred both in the Flood and in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Habakkuk 3:14

Thou didst strike through with his staves; thou didst pierce with his own spears. Thou dost turn on the Chaldeans and all thine enemies the destruction which they intended for others. The people meet with the same fate as the royal house ( Habakkuk 3:13 ); Vulgate, maledixisti sceptris ejus, which seems to be a mistranslation. The head of his villages ( פרזים ). There is a difficulty in arriving at the meaning of this last word. The LXX . renders it, "mighty men;" Jerome,... read more

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