Ch. 3 is a brilliant description of a Theophany or manifestation of Jehovah for the redemption of His people. The dark background of Israel’s redemption is formed by the destruction of its enemies. The poem is based on earlier models, such as Deuteronomy 33; Judges 5, and it is not easy to say whether the poet be describing a future Theophany and deliverance in colours drawn from the great historical redemption of the Exodus, or be actually describing the first deliverance as the type of that which is future and for which he prays (Habakkuk 3:2). The words of A.V. I have heard thy speech (Habakkuk 3:2) ought to be, I have heard the report of thee; and according to the usage of the language report of thee refers to God’s “work,” His great deeds done in the past, or to what these past deeds reveal Him to be (Numbers 14:15). Then the poet prays “renew thy work,” that is, renew or repeat in our days the great deeds of old, or, manifest thyself again as in the ancient days. So far as the interpretation of Habakkuk 3:3-15 is concerned it will be little affected whether these verses be considered to describe the past “work” or to refer to the future one. In the one case the poet would pray: “renew thy work,” and then go on to describe in Habakkuk 3:3-15 that ancient work which he desired to see renewed; in the other he would pray: “renew thy work,” and then proceed to describe the renewed work, which was but a repetition of the ancient one. Habakkuk 3:13-15 are most naturally to be taken as historical, particularly Habakkuk 3:15 “thou hast gone through the sea with thy horses,” which appears to refer to the passage of the Red Sea, the last act in the great work of delivering His people and destroying their adversaries. On the other hand the last part of Habakkuk 3:16 appears to express a foreboding of something to come. The clause is very obscure in sense and the text may not be quite assured. But the whole passage is a prayer. The poet prays for the renewal of God’s past “work” in the future, though he cannot think of that “work” without alarm. Upon the whole it is easiest to read Habakkuk 3:3-15 as a delineation of the historical “work” of God at the Exodus. And besides being easiest, this way of reading the passage is most in harmony with other passages, e.g. Deuteronomy 33; Psalm 68:7; Psalm 77:15 ff, Judges 5. may be doubtful, but in the age of Habakkuk and later Jehovah would hardly be represented as shining forth anew from Sinai, but rather from Jerusalem (Amos 1:2; Isaiah 66:6; Psalm 80:1), or from heaven (Zechariah 2:13).

1–2. Introduction

1. A prayer of Habakkuk] The only part of the passage which is strictly prayer is Habakkuk 3:2. But the whole poem is nothing but an amplification of the words “renew thy work.” The earnest direction of the poet’s mind towards God, and its absorption and loss of itself in the thought of Him and His operations is a prayer. For this wider idea of prayer cf. 1 Samuel 2:1; Psalm 72:20. Comp. the title to Psalms 90.

upon Shigionoth] The word is plur. of Shiggaion in the title of Psalms 7 and may mean a wild, tumultuous and ecstatic poem. The word “upon” in such superscriptions appears to mean “after the mode of,” “to the music of” Shigionoth.

2. I have heard thy speech] I have heard the report of thee. The term appears always to express the report or bruit about one, e.g. Genesis 29:13 the news about Jacob, 1 Kings 10:1 about Solomon, Isaiah 23:5 about Tyre (her downfall); comp. Numbers 14:15; Isaiah 66:19; Nahum 3:19. It seems also always to refer to something past and actual (unless Hosea 7:12 be an exception); and this suggests that the allusion is to the divine manifestation at the Exodus.

and was afraid] Or, am afraid. Of course the prophet or the community in whose name he speaks (cf. Habakkuk 3:14) did not fear hurt from the Theophany so long past, but the recital or the thought of it created alarm. Comp. Exodus 14:30-31.

revive thy work] Though filled with fear at the thought of the divine interposition the prophet nevertheless prays for it. The term “revive” might mean to recall or bring back to life that which is dead (Hosea 6:2), or to call into life and being what does not yet exist (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6). The “work” of Jehovah is that which He does, any operation which He performs, ch. Habakkuk 1:5; but the word is often used of His great historical acts done for His people, Psalm 44:1; Psalm 95:9; Deuteronomy 11:7; Jdg 2:7. The sense is thus either: bring into being a great act of Thine; or, renew, recall into life again, Thy former great work of redemption. The second sense is the more natural, and most in harmony with the following phrase “in the midst of the years.”

in the midst of the years] This cannot mean “within a few years” (Gesen.), a sense ill-suited to the tone of importunity in the passage; nor “amidst the years of distress,” because the idea of distress must have been expressed. The expression must describe the poet’s own time, for his prayer is for immediate divine interposition. Looking back to the far past event of the Exodus, the many years that have rolled by since then, he conceives of the position of himself and his people as amidst the years.

midst of the years make known] i.e. at this late time in our history make thy work known. Sept. regarded the verbal form as reflexive: make thyself (ox, let thyself be) known. So Wellh.

In wrath remember mercy] The “wrath” might be that lying on the people now; but it is more natural to understand it of the wrath which the judge will manifest when He intervenes among men. Comp. Isaiah 26:20, “Come, O my people, enter into thy chambers, hide thyself for a little moment until the indignation be overpast.” At the thought or the recital of God’s interposition in the past—type of every interposition of His—the poet trembled; yet he would encounter it for the sake of that which will come after it, and he prays that it may come again; then he prays that in that day of universal wrath he and his people may have mercy shewn them. Revelation 3:10.

3. God came from Teman] cometh: the poet feels himself in presence of the manifestation. Teman is a district lying in the north-west of Edom, Ezekiel 25:13; Obadiah 1:9.

the Holy One from mount Paran] Or, the mountains (hill country) of Paran. The “Holy One” is virtually already a proper name (without the Art.), as Isaiah 40:25. Paran is the elevated region lying between the wilderness of Kadesh on the north and that of Sinai on the south, west of the Arabah. If any particular mountain be referred to it may be Jebel Mukrah, which has a height of 2000 feet, and forms the southern boundary of the plateau. At present the region is the seat of the Azazimeh Arabs. The whole region of Sinai, Paran and Edom is regarded as the scene of the divine manifestation; comp. Deuteronomy 33:2; Jdg 5:4.

His glory covered] covereth the heavens. The “glory” is the splendour of the divine majesty, which overspreads the heavens. Psalm 8:1; Psalm 148:13.

was full of his praise] the earth is filled with. The term “praise” has a secondary meaning, viz. that in God which evokes praise or adoration. The meaning is not that praises from men’s mouth filled the earth, but that the light of God’s glory filled it, just as it overspread the heavens. Isaiah 6:3.

3–7. Approach and manifestation of Jehovah in the storm

The Theophany is pictured as a great tempest in the heavens in the midst of which God is present. It comes from the south, the region of Paran and Sinai (Habakkuk 3:3 a); there is a terrible splendour around the advancing God, which lightens the heavens and the earth (Habakkuk 3:3 b, 4); pestilence and fever-glow follow in His wake (Habakkuk 3:5); all nature shudders, the eternal hills sink down (Habakkuk 3:6); the nations and tribes in the desert are dismayed (Habakkuk 3:7).

3–15. The Revelation of Jehovah

The passage has three strophes of 5, 4, 4 verses respectively. (1) Description of the Theophany, Habakkuk 3:3-7. (2) The question, what is its meaning? Habakkuk 3:8-11. (3) Statement of its meaning—it is to save His people, Habakkuk 3:12-15.

4. his brightness was as the light] And there is a brightness like the sun—Job 31:26; Proverbs 4:18. Attention is drawn away from the general splendour which overspread the heavens and filled the earth and concentrated upon the central point of the appearance, which was (appeared as) a brightness like the sun.

He had horns coming out of his hand] he hath rays (coming forth) at his side. The rays of the sun are compared to horns in the East; in Exodus 34:29-30; Exodus 34:35 the verb is used of the face of Moses which shot out rays. The rays are probably lightning flashes. The rendering at his side is more probable than the literal out of his hand. So probably Deuteronomy 33:2 at his right hand; the rubente dextera jaculatus is less likely in Hebrew. Of course “at his side” means at each side, cf. Psalm 50:3.

there was the hiding] there is the hiding-place of His power, i.e. omnipotence, or, the specially divine in the manifestation.

5. went the pestilence] goeth pestilence. His manifestation carries death in its train.

burning coals went forth] and burning plague goeth forth at his feet, i.e. behind Him. The word again in this sense Deuteronomy 32:24.

6. stood, and measured] “Measured” could only mean surveyed, measured with His eyes, and this might be supposed taken up again in “he looked” of next clause; but the parallelism with the next clause rather requires that the effect of His standing or taking His stand should be stated. Possibly the word “measured” has the sense of a similar word used Isaiah 24:19, he made the earth to rock. Sept. renders in the pass., the earth was shaken. The preceding verses describe the Theophany as seen in heaven, it has not yet touched the earth, though its baleful accompaniments of pestilence and fever-glow are spoken of. Now the tempest in which the Deity is shrouded descends and touches the earth, enfolding the heights within it. “He stood” means He took his stand, He set His foot; 2 Samuel 20:4; Isaiah 1:8; Ezekiel 22:30. The earth felt His tread and rocked, Micah 1:3-4. Or, “stood” might describe an apparent stationariness of the storm-cloud during which it discharged itself, making the earth rock. Cf. Psalm 29:4-5.

He beheld, and drove asunder] He looked, and His look scared the nations into violent commotion. The term means to make one spring, up from terror, Job 37:1.

mountains were scattered] Or, do cleave asunder. The sense is scarcely that the hills were scattered from one another, rather that the individual mountains were cleft. Cf. Zechariah 14:4, “His feet shall stand on the mount of Olives, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof, toward the east and toward the west.”

perpetual hills did bow] Or, eternal hills.—Genesis 49:26; Deuteronomy 33:15. Their bowing refers to the sinking and rising motion, as in an earthquake, under the feet of Jehovah in the tempest.

His ways are everlasting] R.V. his goings were as of old. If this sense were adopted it would decide that the previous description referred to a Theophany about to appear, which is compared to the former historical one, the term “going” being equivalent to way. The term “goings” however might be in apposition to “eternal hills,” and the meaning be that these hills were Jehovah’s eternal pathways—the trailing tempests, in which Jehovah moves, are seen passing over the mountains, and thus these are considered the pathways of the Lord. Cf. Amos 4:13, “he treadeth upon the high places of the earth”; Micah 1:3.

The past tenses of A.V. might be retained in the verse, but as the poet feels himself in presence of the imposing phenomenon, it is perhaps better to throw them into the present:

He taketh his stand, and maketh the earth to quake,

He looketh, and causeth the nations to tremble;

And the everlasting mountains are cleft asunder,

The eternal hills do bow;

Even his pathways from of old.

The last line overloads the parallelism, and in whatever sense it be taken rather drags.

7. tents of Cushan] Cushan here cannot be Cush or Ethiopia in Africa. In Numbers 12:1 it is said that Moses had married a Cushite wife, though she was a Midianite; and in the next clause here Midian is parallel to Cushan (cf. the name Lotan for Lot, Genesis 36:29). Cushan and Midian consequently are either names for the same people or for branches of it. This people dwelt in the neighbourhood of Sinai. Mention of the ancient Cushan and Midian suggests that it is the Theo phany of the Exodus that the poet is describing, though perhaps the inference is not conclusive, as he might suppose the ancient conditions still existing in his day, or even of purpose use archaic names. Present tenses are preferable:

Under affliction I see the tents of Cushan,

The curtains of the land of Midian do tremble.

“Curtains,” parallel to tents, are the tent hangings.

8. Was the Lord displeased?] Perhaps strictly this must be rendered: art thou displeased, O Lord? lit. is it hot to thee? or, is thine anger hot? All the other verbs would be better in the present: is thine anger … is thy wrath … that thou dost ride.

chariots of salvation] Or, of victory, deliverance; lit. thy chariots which are victory, i.e. victorious, used to victory. The “horses” and “chariots” here are the storm-clouds on which Jehovah rides. Psalm 18:10; Isaiah 19:1; Deuteronomy 33:26; Psalm 68:33.

8–11. Is Jehovah’s anger against the rivers and the sea?

The reference to the “sea,” which is naturally to be understood as the Red Sea, is in favour of taking the whole passage as a description of the redemption of the Exodus. Jehovah moves in a glorious manifestation of light from His ancient seats in Paran and Sinai; He directs His movement towards the Red Sea for the delivery of His people. Sea and land are thrown into wild commotion and terror at His appearing. This suggests the prophet’s question, Is thine anger against the sea?

9. Thy bow was made quite naked] is made bare. The “bow” is the battle-bow. It is bared of its covering in order to be freely used and to discharge its arrows—a figure for the flashing thunderbolts, or for the missiles with which Jehovah smites the rivers and the sea.

According to the oaths of the tribes] The words down to Selah form a riddle which all the ingenuity of scholars has not been able to solve. Delitzsch calculates that a hundred translations of them have been offered. The clause no doubt carries on the previous one, “thy bow is made bare,” just as it is taken up by the following one, “thou cleavest the rivers (or, currents) into dryland.” What must be described therefore is the discharge from the naked bow of the shafts which smote the rivers. The word rendered “tribes” (which have nothing to do here) may mean staves (Habakkuk 3:14), i.e. spears or shafts. The term “oaths” might more naturally be some derivative of the word seven and mean sevens, heptads (so Ewald), sevens of spears, with the meaning that Jehovah’s shafts were discharged not singly but in sevens. There still remains the expression word (A. V. even thy word), which is difficult to connect with the preceding. The idea that Jehovah’s arrows are really His “word,” whereby He rebukes and cleaves the sea, is not very natural. The multiplication of conjectures would serve no purpose.

Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers] The language certainly admits of this sense, but the connexion seems rather to require: thou dost cleave the rivers (or, water-currents) into dryland. Both the words “rivers” and “earth” are in the accus.; and only the connexion can shew which is the direct object and which the more remote (acc. of result).

10. The mountains saw thee, and] the mountains see thee, they tremble. The other verbs in the verse should also be in the present.

The overflowing of the water] the rainflood of waters passeth (driveth) along. Ch. Habakkuk 1:11; the reference is to a rainstorm.

The deep uttered] uttereth. The “deep” (tehôm, Assyr. tiamat) is properly the primal ocean, subterranean source of the visible sea, but here the latter itself. The reference is probably to the Red Sea; Psalm 106:9, “he led them through the depths”; so Isaiah 63:13. The roaring of the troubled and smitten sea is described.

lift up his hands] lifteth up. The reference appears to be to the mounting heavenwards of the waves. It is doubtful, however, if uttering its voice and lifting up its hands are meant to express an appeal on the part of the sea for mercy (Ew.). Comp. Psalm 77:16.

11. The sun and moon stood still] stand still, i.e. do not come forth, being behind the storm-cloud. The word possibly means retreat, withdraw into their habitation, hiding themselves from the light of the flying arrows of Jehovah. They are scared and outshone by the terrible brightness of His lightnings; cf. Isaiah 24:23. Sept. joins “lifted up” of preceding verse to this one, making “the sun” the subject. No acceptable sense is given by the Sept., but certainly the balance of the rhythm seems to require a separate predicate to “the sun”: the sun …, the moon withdraws.

At the light of thine arrows they went] at the light of thine arrows as they go. The “arrows” and “spear” both refer to the lightnings.

The strophe reads as a whole:

  8.  Art thou displeased against the rivers, O Lord?

Is thine anger against the rivers,

Or thy wrath against the sea,

That thou dost ride upon thine horses,

Upon thy chariots of salvation?

  9.  Thy bow is made bare

… Selah.

Thou cleavest the rivers into dryland.

  10.  The mountains see thee, they tremble,

The rainflood of waters passeth on;

The deep uttereth his voice,

And lifteth up his hands on high.

  11.  The sun, the moon stand still in their habitation,

At the light of thine arrows as they go,

At the shining of thy glittering spear.

12. Thou didst march] In indignation thou marchest through the earth; thou dost thresh the nations In anger. As in former times “threshing” was performed by treading (Deuteronomy 25:4), the sense is: thou treadest down; 2 Kings 13:7; Job 39:15, comp. the figures Isaiah 63:1-6. The term “march” means to take great steps, to stride.

12–15. The Lord is come forth for the salvation of his people

The former verses have described the Theophany in itself and in its effects upon nature; now the outpouring of Jehovah’s indignation on the foes of His people is described.

13. Thou wentest forth] Thou art come forth.

for salvation with thine anointed] for the salvation (deliverance) of thine anointed. The term “anointed” was used properly of the king (1 Samuel 24:6), or of the priest (1 Samuel 2:35), but in later times it was employed more generally, e.g. of the Patriarchs (Psalm 105:15), of Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1), and here it appears to designate the people, according to the parallelism with the preceding clause. Comp. Psalm 89:38; Psalm 89:51. In Isaiah 55:3-5 the promises made to David are represented as being inherited by the people.

Thou woundedst the head] thou hast shattered, or as R.V. marg. thou hast smitten off the head from the house.

By discovering the foundation] laying bare the foundation. The “wicked” is the heathen foe of Israel; if the Theophany of the Exodus be described he is either the nation of the Egyptians or Pharaoh. This foe is compared to a house the top of which is smitten away from it, so that it falls to pieces and the foundation is laid bare. Comp. Amos 9:1, “Smite the chapiters that the thresholds may shake, and break them to pieces on the head of all of them.”

unto the neck] The phrase to discover or lay bare the foundations means to destroy utterly and throw down the structure raised upon the foundations so that these appear (Micah 1:6). Hence in Psalm 137:7 it is said, “Lay bare even unto the foundation.” This suggests that “lay bare” was used in the general sense of destroy, rase (as A.V.). In the present passage the “head” was said to be shattered away from the house, and in this clause it is added that the house from foundation to “neck,” i.e. up to the shattered head, was rased. Possibly “rase unto the neck” was a proverbial expression, meaning to rase utterly. Baethgen (Psalmen, p. 414) proposes to read rock (a somewhat similar word) for “neck”—the foundation unto the rock. This circumstantiality is rather trivial; and the proposed reading rests on a misconception of the meaning of the phrase “lay bare the foundation.’

14. Thou didst strike through] Thou hast pierced through with thy spears the head of his warriors. The Heb. text reads his spears or staves, which would mean that the weapons of the enemy were turned against himself. But though the idea is not uncommon (Ezekiel 38:21; Zechariah 14:13; cf. 1 Samuel 14:20) that the enemies of God’s people shall be thrown into a panic and mutually destroy each other, there is nothing in the present passage to suggest that idea. The term rendered warriors with Vulgate (A.V. villages) does not occur again; Sept. princes.

They came out] which were come out as a whirlwind.

Their rejoicing was] exulting as about to devour the afflicted in secret places; lit. their exulting was as to devour. The figure is taken from the wild beast who devours his prey in his covert (Psalm 10:7-9; Psalm 17:12). The enemy exulted or raised a cry of exultation, feeling that their prey, the afflicted, that is the people Israel, was within their grasp. Comp. Exodus 14:3; Exodus 15:9, “The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.”

15. Thou didst walk through the sea] Thou hast gone through the sea (Isaiah 11:15). The verse refers to the passage of the Red Sea; and the thought remains unexpressed, though it is understood, that with this was completed the destruction of the enemy and the deliverance of the people. The strophe reads as a whole:

  12.  In indignation thou marchest through the earth,

Thou dost thresh the nations in anger.

  13.  Thou art come forth for the salvation of thy people,

For the salvation of thine anointed.

Thou hast shattered the head from the house of the wicked,

Laying bare the foundation unto the neck.

  14.  Thou hast pierced through with thy spears the head of his warriors,

Which were come out as a whirlwind to scatter me,

Exulting as about to devour the afflicted in secret places.

  15.  Thou hast gone through the sea with thy horses,

The heap of great waters.

  16.   Habakkuk 3:16 returns to Habakkuk 3:2, taking up the words “I heard the report of thee” and “I feared.”

When I heard] I heard (or, have heard) and my belly, i.e. heart or inward parts.

My lips quivered at the voice] i.e. the report or voice which he heard.

Rottenness entered] Or, entered. “Rottenness” is a figure for utter failure of strength.

I trembled in myself] I tremble in my place, or, where I stand. 2 Samuel 2:23.

That I might rest in the day of trouble] The words on to the end of the verse are very obscure. The first half of the verse describes the terror and paralysis that came upon the poet (or community) from what he “heard”; there appears no connexion between this idea and A.V. that I might rest. R.V. renders that I should rest, which appears to mean, that I must rest or remain quiet in the day of trouble, i.e. probably, endure patiently the day of trouble. R.V. marg. suggests: that I should rest waiting for the day of trouble, i.e. wait patiently for (or unto) the day of trouble. The term rest has nowhere else such a sense.

When he cometh up unto the people] The words might possibly mean: the day of trouble, which is to come up against the people, to invade them (like a troop). The “people” might be the speaker’s own people, for the day of trouble is universal; or possibly it might mean the people of the earth universally (Psalm 22:6; Isaiah 40:7; Isaiah 42:5). The day of trouble is a day resembling that of which the speaker has “heard” (Habakkuk 3:3-15), the report of which makes his lips tremble, and such a day can hardly be a time of calamity to come on Israel from any invader, it must rather be the day of general judgment and of the divine Theophany prayed for in ch. Habakkuk 3:2. For this reason the other marginal suggestion of R.V. is not probable: the day of trouble, when he that shall invade them cometh up against the people. The hard ellipses which this rendering assumes in the Heb. text are also against it. Owing to the ambiguity of the pronouns in Heb. another rendering still is possible: the day of trouble, which is to come up against the people that invades (assails) us. So Wellh. Certainty as to the exact meaning is not attainable. The “day of distress,” however, is the Theophany of the judge, in conformity with the whole scope of the poem. Zephaniah 1:15 also calls the day of the Lord “a day of distress.” This manifestation of the great God is terrible even to Israel, notwithstanding that the issue of it will be the deliverance of the people of God and the destruction of their adversaries. The “day” is personified and spoken of as coming on mankind (“the people”) like an invader.

17–19. It is not easy to say whether Habakkuk 3:17 contains a series of suppositions referring to what may happen in the future, or describes a condition of things actually existing. The latter way of reading the verse is the more natural. The verse does not suggest a condition of scarcity and barrenness arising from a hostile invasion of the land, but rather one due to the incidence of severe natural calamities. The word for, with which the verse begins, connects very loosely with the preceding Habakkuk 3:16. The mood of the speaker also in Habakkuk 3:18-19 is confident and jubilant, in strong contrast to the gloom and terror of Habakkuk 3:16. It is possible that the poem originally ended with Habakkuk 3:16, and that Habakkuk 3:17-19 are an addition. The difference of tone in Habakkuk 3:16 and Habakkuk 3:17-19 is not decisive, for in such poems the author’s mind not unusually passes from gloomy anticipations to confidence.

The verse may read:

For though the figtree doth not blossom,

And there is no fruit in the vines;

The produce of the olive faileth,

And the fields yield no meat;

The flock is cut off from the fold,

And there is no herd in the stalls.

It is the community that speaks in Habakkuk 3:17-19, as is evident from Habakkuk 3:18-19.

18. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord] Comp. Psalm 5:11; Psalm 32:11; Psalm 33:1; Isaiah 61:10. In spite of calamities the people will joy in God; though earthly blessings perish He remains their portion. The joy is partly a present one in the possession of God, as Psalm 73:23, “Nevertheless I am continually with thee”; and partly one of hope in His salvation; Psalm 18:46; Micah 7:7; Isaiah 17:12 ff.

19. The Lord God is my strength] lit. Jehovah, the Lord is, &c. Psalm 73:26, “God is the strength of my heart”; Psalm 18:32, “The God that girdeth me with strength.” The strength is an inward one, confidence and assurance and courageousness in the face of all external afflictions.

And he will make my feet] Or, and he maketh. The points in the comparison are perhaps swiftness and security. What is suggested is the freshness of life, the power and confidence in action, which is felt to be drawn from God.

And he will make me to walk] Or, and he maketh me.

upon mine high places] The words seem still to carry on the figure of the “hinds’ feet.” The pronoun mine does not refer to any particular high places; my high places are just those on which I walk or tread. Sept., Syr., Vulg. omit my, with no difference of meaning. The phrase “tread on my high places” expresses the freedom, the superiority to hindrance or restraint, and the power, which the community is conscious of in the strength of God. Cf. Psalm 18:33.

To the chief singer] In the titles to Psalms 4, 6 the word is rendered chief musician. It means director, or, superintendent.

on my stringed instruments] Or, with my. In the titles to Psalms 4, 6 &c. in A.V. the original word neginoth is retained. In the sing this word may mean playing on strings, in the plur it appears to mean stringed instruments. The whole expression has the meaning: To the director in the (Temple) music; or, To the director; with (Temple) music. The pronoun my occasions difficulty. On the assumption that this musical direction came from the author of the hymn it has been inferred that he was a Levite and a musician. Such an assumption would exclude the authorship of Habakkuk. But even supposing the author were some other Levite, how could a single member of the orchestra say “my stringed instruments”? The Sept. reads his, which might refer to the director, but no reliance can ever be placed on the pronouns of the Sept. All evidence, however, is against ascribing any of these musical directions to the authors of the hymns themselves. The similar passage Isaiah 38:20 should perhaps be rendered: “Therefore will we strike (play) my stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.” In both passages the pronoun my must either be deleted according to the usage in the titles to Psalms 4, 6 &c., or the speaker who says “my” must be supposed to be the worshipping congregation. Only a collective body could say “my stringed instruments” and “our life” (Isaiah 38:20) in the same breath.