Habakkuk 3:13-15

Habakkuk 3:13-15. Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people For their deliverance and protection; even for salvation with thine anointed With those appointed and qualified to be leaders and rulers of thy people; such as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and David. Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked That is, the heads, or confederate princes, of the Canaanites, Joshua 10:3; Joshua 11:1; by discovering the foundation unto the neck Or, as Green renders it, Thou rasedst the foundations even to the rock. Thou didst strike through with his staves, &c.

Waterland reads, Thou didst strike through the head of his warriors among his tribes: and Houbigant, Thou, with thy sceptre, didst strike through the head of his princes. Thou didst discomfit all the petty kings of the several clans carrying on the war against Joshua. They came out as a whirlwind to scatter me The prophet here assumes the person of the Israelitish people, and therefore says, They came out to scatter me. Armies are sometimes spoken of as whirlwinds: see Zechariah 9:14. Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly Or, in secret, that is, to devour those who were weak and defenceless, and should keep themselves in secret for fear. So the enemies of the Israelites, who came out as a whirlwind to scatter them, thought that they were not able to oppose them, but would hide themselves through fear; and they therefore exulted, as if they were marching to certain victory. Thou didst walk through the sea with thy horses This seems to be a highly figurative expression, to signify God’s dividing the waters of the Red sea and the river Jordan, and making them to stand on a heap, while the Israelites went through with as much safety as if they had rode on horses.