Amplified Bible
Habakkuk 3:5
5Before Him goes the pestilence [of judgment as in Egypt], And [the burning] plague [of condemnation] follows at His feet [as in Sennacherib’s army].
Habakkuk 3:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.
- New International Version (NIV)Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Before Him went pestilence, And fever followed at His feet.
Context of Habakkuk 3:5
3God [approaching from Sinai] comes from Teman (Edom), And the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah (pause, and calmly think of that). His splendor and majesty covers the heavens And the earth is full of His praise. 4His brightness is like the sunlight; He has [bright] rays flashing from His hand, And there [in the sunlike splendor] is the hiding place of His power. Before Him goes the pestilence [of judgment as in Egypt], And [the burning] plague [of condemnation] follows at His feet [as in Sennacherib’s army]. 6He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations, Yes, the eternal mountains were shattered, The ancient hills bowed low and collapsed. His ways are eternal. 7I [Habakkuk, in my vision] saw the tents of Cushan under distress; The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling.
Read all of Habakkuk 3Habakkuk 3:5 word by word
לְפָנָ֖יו יֵ֣לֶךְ דָּ֑בֶר וְיֵצֵ֥א רֶ֖שֶׁף לְרַגְלָֽיו׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Habakkuk 3:5
- Exodus 12:29Now it happened at midnight that the Lord struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the cattle.
- Numbers 14:12I will strike them with the pestilence (plague) and dispossess them, and will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”
- Numbers 16:46Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the Lord; the plague has begun!”
- Psalms 78:50He leveled a path for His anger [to give it free run]; He did not spare their souls from death, But turned over their lives to the plague.
- Nahum 1:2The Lord is a jealous and avenging God [protecting and demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]; The Lord avenges and He is full of wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies.
- Psalms 18:7Then the earth shook and quaked, The foundations of the mountains trembled; They were shaken because He was indignant and angry.
- Deuteronomy 32:24They will be wasted by hunger, and consumed by plague And a bitter destruction; And I will send the teeth of beasts against them, With the venom of crawling things of the dust.
Commentaries on Habakkuk 3:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Before him went the pestilence - This plague was several times inflicted on the disobedient Israelites in the wilderness; see Numbers 11:33; Numbers 14:37; Numbers 16:46; and was always the proof that the just God was then manifesting his power among them. Burning coals event forth at his feet - Newcome translates, "And flashes of fire went forth after him." The disobedient Israelites were consumed by a fire that went out from Jehovah; see Leviticus 10:2…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Before Him went (goeth) the pestilence - then to consume His enemies. Exodus 23:27: “I will send My fear before thee, and will destroy all the people, to whom thou shalt come,” and the lightnings are a token that, Psalm 68:1-2, “they which hate Him, flee before Him, and the wicked perish at the Presence of God.” So, on His Ascension, Herod and Pilate were smitten by Him, and Elymas and Simon Magus before His apostles, and whatsoever hath lifted itself up…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 3-15Verses 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…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5Habakkuk speaks of pestilence and plague as if they were people. He describes them as soldiers in God’s army, carrying out God’s purposes (see Deuteronomy 32:24; Exodus 7–12; Amos 4:10).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. pestilence--to destroy His people's foes (1Sa 5:9, 11). As Jehovah's advent is glorious to His people, so it is terrible to His foes. burning coals--Psa 18:8 favors English Version. But the parallelism requires, as the Margin translates, "burning disease" (compare De 32:24; Psa 91:6). went ... at his feet--that is, after Him, as His attendants (Jud 4:10).Read the comment
Topics related to Habakkuk 3:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Habakkuk 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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