New International Version
Habakkuk 3:14
14With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding.
Habakkuk 3:14 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
- English Standard Version (ESV)You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
- New King James Version (NKJV)You thrust through with his own arrows The head of his villages. They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me; Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret.
- New Living Translation (NLT)With his own weapons, you destroyed the chief of those who rushed out like a whirlwind, thinking Israel would be easy prey.
Context of Habakkuk 3:14
12In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations. 13You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. 15You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters. 16I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.
Read all of Habakkuk 3Habakkuk 3:14 word by word
נָקַ֤בְתָּ בְמַטָּיו֙ רֹ֣אשׁ פְּרָזָ֔יו יִסְעֲר֖וּ לַהֲפִיצֵ֑נִי עֲלִ֣יצֻתָ֔ם כְּמוֹ־לֶאֱכֹ֥ל עָנִ֖י בַּמִּסְתָּֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Thou didst strike throughנָקַבnâqab · to pierceH5344
- with his stavesמַטֶּהmaţţeh maţţâh · tribe: arrowH4294
- the headרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
- of his villagesפֶּ֫רֶזpârâz · warriorH6518
- they came out as a whirlwindסָעַרsâ‛ar · to rageH5590
- to scatterפּוּץpûts · to scatterH6327
- me: their rejoicingעֲלִיצוּת‛ălîytsûth · exultationH5951
- as to devourאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- the poorעָנִי‛ânîy · afflictedH6041
- secretlyמִסְתָּרmistâr · hidingH4565
Cross-references for Habakkuk 3:14
- Exodus 11:4So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt.
- Exodus 12:12“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.
- Exodus 14:17I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.
- Psalms 78:50He prepared a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague.
- Psalms 83:9Do to them as you did to Midian, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
- Exodus 14:5When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!”
- Exodus 15:9The enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’
- Psalms 83:2See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads.
- Psalms 118:10All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
- Acts 4:27Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.
- Daniel 11:40“At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood.
- Zechariah 9:14Then the Lord will appear over them; his arrow will flash like lightning. The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet; he will march in the storms of the south,
- Exodus 1:10Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
- Psalms 10:8He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent. His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
- Psalms 64:2Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the plots of evildoers.
Commentaries on Habakkuk 3:14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14Thou 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…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages - The destruction comes not upon himself only, but upon the whole multitude of his subjects; and this not by any mere act of divine might, but “with his own staves,” turning upon him the destruction which he prepared for others. So it often was of old. When the Midianites and Amalekites and the children of the east Judges 6:3-4 wasted Israel in the days of Gideon “the Lord set every man‘s…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. 8-15The 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…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. strike ... with his staves--with the "wicked" (Ha 3:13) foe's own sword (Maurer translates, "spears") (Jud 7:22). head of his villages--Not only kings were overthrown by God's hand, but His vengeance passed through the foe's villages and dependencies. A just retribution, as the foe had made "the inhabitants of Israel's villages to cease" (Jud 5:7). Grotius translates, "of his warriors"; Gesenius, "the chief of his captains." to scatter me--Israel…Read the comment
Topics related to Habakkuk 3:14
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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