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Habakkuk 3:14-16
New English Translation
Habakkuk 3:14-16
New English Translation
14 You pierce the heads of his warriors[a] with a spear.[b]
They storm forward to scatter us;[c]
they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition.[d]
15 But you trample on the sea with your horses,
on the surging, raging waters.[e]
Habakkuk Declares His Confidence
16 I listened and my stomach churned;[f]
the sound made my lips quiver.
My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying,[g]
and I shook as I tried to walk.[h]
I long[i] for the day of distress
to come upon[j] the people who attack us.
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 3:14 tn Some take “warriors” with the following line, in which case one should translate, “you pierce [his] head with a spear; his warriors storm forward to scatter us” (cf. NIV). The meaning of the Hebrew term פְּרָזוֹ (perazo), translated here “his warriors,” is uncertain.
- Habakkuk 3:14 tc Heb “his shafts.” Some emend to “your shafts.” The translation above assumes an emendation to מַטֶּה (matteh, “shaft, spear”), the vav-yod (ו-י) sequence being derived from an original he (ה).
- Habakkuk 3:14 tn Heb “me,” but the author speaks as a representative of God’s people.
- Habakkuk 3:14 tn Heb “their rejoicing is like devouring the poor in secret.”
- Habakkuk 3:15 tn Heb “the foaming of the mighty [or “many”] waters.”
- Habakkuk 3:16 tn Heb “my insides trembled.”
- Habakkuk 3:16 tn Heb “decay entered my bones.”
- Habakkuk 3:16 tc Heb “beneath me I shook, which….” The Hebrew term אֲשֶׁר (’asher) appears to be a relative pronoun, but a relative pronoun does not fit here. The translation assumes a reading אֲשֻׁרָי (’ashuray, “my steps”) as well as an emendation of the preceding verb to a third plural form.
- Habakkuk 3:16 tn The translation assumes that אָנוּחַ (’anuakh) is from the otherwise unattested verb נָוָח (navakh, “sigh”; see HALOT 680 s.v. II נוח; so also NEB). Most take this verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”) and translate, “I wait patiently” (cf. NIV).
- Habakkuk 3:16 tn Heb “to come up toward.”
New English Translation (NET)
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