Habakkuk 3:13

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) Thou wentest.—Here the verbs, though past, are best rendered by the English present.

Even for salvation . . .—Better, even for the salvation of Thine anointed—scil., Thy chosen people, as also, perhaps, in Psalm 105:15. The rendering of the Authorised Version has the support of Aquila and the Quinta. It is a possible rendering, but few impartial Hebraists will deny that the other is preferable. In the last half of the verse two figures are blended—those of a house and a human body. Literally, it runs, Thou crushest the head of the house of the wicked (comp. Psalm 110:6), laying bare the foundation even to the neck. The obvious meaning is that the house or race of the Chaldæans is to be destroyed, “root and branch.”

Benson Commentary

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.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:3-15 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 changed, but all is for the salvation of God's own people. Even what seems least likely, shall be made to work for their salvation. Hereby is given a type and figure of the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ. It is for salvation with thine anointed. Joshua who led the armies of Israel, was a figure of Him whose name he bare, even Jesus, our Joshua. In all the salvations wrought for them, God looked upon Christ the Anointed, and brought deliverances to pass by him. All the wonders done for Israel of old, were nothing to that which was done when the Son of God suffered on the cross for the sins of his people. How glorious his resurrection and ascension! And how much more glorious will be his second coming, to put an end to all that opposes him, and all that causes suffering to his people!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thou wentest forth - Even a Jew says of this place, Kimchi: "The past is here used for the future; and this is frequent in the language of prophecy; for prophecy, although it be future, yet since it is, as it were, firmly fixed, they use the past concerning it." The prophet speaks again in the past, perhaps to fix the mind on that signal going-forth, when God destroyed Pharaoh, the first enemy who essayed to destroy the chosen line. This stands at the head of all those dispensations, in which God put or shall put forth His might to save His people or destroy their enemies. All is with Him one everlasting purpose; the last were, as it were, embodied in the first: were it not for the last, the first would not have been. Prophecy, in speaking of the first, has in mind all the rest, and chiefly the chiefest and the end of all, the full salvation of His people through Jesus Christ our Lord. "Thou wentest forth," i. e. Rup.: "Thou, the Unseen God, gavest signs which may be seen of Thy Presence or coming to men." "Thou wentest forth," not by change of place, for Thou art not bounded; Thou art without change; but by showing Thy power, and doing something anew openly.

For the salvation of thy people even for salvation with Thine anointed - The English Version is doubtless right. So Aquila, although a Jew rendered, and the 5th Version. The 6th, a Christian, translated, "Thou wentest forth to save Thy people through Jesus, Thy Christ." So also the Vulgate and other old Jewish authorities. Rachmon (in Martini Pug. Fid. f. 534.). notes "that the word (את 'êth) means "with," as in Genesis 37:2; Genesis 39:2." For although it might he used to mark the object only after a verbal noun, it is not likely that the construction would have been changed, unless the meaning were different. If (את 'êth) had been only the sign of the object there was no occasion for inserting it at all, and it would probably have been avoided, as only making the sentence ambiguous, in that it may more obviously be taken in the sense adopted by Aquila and the Vulgate and the English version.

The Septuagint and two early heretics who disbelieved the divinity of our Lord (Theodotion and Symmachus) render "to save Thy Christs." Moreover, the Septuagint is wrong in that the "anointed" is never used of the people, but of single persons only, who were shadows of the Christ. "Thine anointed" is understood of one individual - "the king of Judah," by A. E. "Saul and David," by Rashi; "Moses," by Abarb.; "Hezekiah" by Tanchum; but "Messiah Ben David," by Kimchi Sal. b. Mel. God, from the first, helped His people through single persons - Moses, Joshua, each of the Judges - accustoming them to receive deliverance by one, and to gather together all their hopes in One. To Moses He said, Exodus 3:12 : "I will be with thee," and to Joshua, Joshua 1:5 : "As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee," and to Cyrus, Isaiah 45:2 : "I will go before thee," preparing His people to receive that nearer Presence with His Christ, of which our Lord says: "Believest thou not, that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The Father that Dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works" John 14:10 Rup.: "The Son of God, God Invisible, became Man, visible; and with Him, so going forth, the Holy Spirit went forth 'to the salvation of His people,' so as to give a visible sign of His Coming. For upon His Christ Himself, Him who was anointed with the Holy Spirit Acts 10:38. 'He descended in a bodily Shape, as a Dove.' So He 'went forth to the Salvation of His people,' i. e., to save His people with His Christ, our Saviour;" and again, on the Day of Pentecost, when that other Comforter came, "whom," He said, I" will send unto you from the Father," and in whose Presence His own promise was fulfilled, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." His Presence was manifested both in the remission of sins, and the parting of graces among all, and in the Hebrews 2:4. "signs and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost," wherewith "God bare witness to the apostles," when, Mark 16:20, "they went forth, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following." A going forth to judgment, at the end of the world, is foretold in the like image of warfare (Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:11 ff).

Thou woundedst (crushedst) the head out of the house of the wicked - One wicked stands over against One anointed, as in Isaiah Isa 11:4. "He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked;" and David speaks of one "He shall smite the head over a great land" Psalm 110:6; and Paul speaks of "that wicked, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming" 1 Thessalonians 4:8 Him He shall destroy at once from above and below; overthrowing his kingdom from the foundation. From above, his head was crushed in pieces; from below, the house was razed from its very foundations. So Amos said, Amos 9:1, "The Lord said, Smite the capital, and the lintel (threshold ) strike, and wound them in the head, all of them;" and with a different image Amos 2:9. "I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath." First, the head is struck off, crushed; then the house from the foundations to its neck; then as it were the headless walls. The image of the neck may be the rather used to recall, that as the house of God is built of living stones, so the kingdom of the evil one is made of living dead, who shall never cease to exist in an undying death. The bruising of Satan, the head or prince of this evil world, is the deliverance of the world. His head was bruised, when, by the Death of our Lord, "the Prince of this world was cast out;" he is "crushed out of the house of the wicked, whenever he, the strong man," is bound and cast out, and "the soul of the sinner which had been his abode, becomes the house of God, and righteousness dwelleth there and walketh in her."

Rup.: "Thou didst not leave any error or vice in the world unshaken, either what was concealed, like the foundation of a house; or that which was open, as the neck of the body is open;" to the neck, where the destruction from above ceased, so that nothing remained unsmitten. Rup.: "For they being, by the fiery tongues which Thou shewedst without, made fervent and strong, wise and eloquent, ceased not, until they made known to all, what folly was this world's wisdom, what sacrilege its sacred worship." Dion.: "His secret counsels He laid bare, as the apostle says 2 Corinthians 2:11; 1 Corinthians 12:10. We are not ignorant of his devices; and, to another is given the discerning of spirits."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13. with thine anointed—with Messiah; of whom Moses, Joshua, and David, God's anointed leaders of Israel, were the types (Ps 89:19, 20, 38). God from the beginning delivered His people in person, or by the hand of a Mediator (Isa 63:11). Thus Habakkuk confirms believers in the hope of their deliverance, as well because God is always the same, as also because the same anointed Mediator is ready now to fulfil God's will and interpose for Israel, as of old [Calvin]. Maurer translates to suit the parallelism, "for salvation to Thine anointed," namely, Israel's king in the abstract, answering to the "people" in the former clause (compare Ps 28:8; La 4:20). Or Israel is meant, the anointed, that is, consecrated people of Jehovah (Ps 105:15).

woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked—probably an allusion to Ps 68:21. Each head person sprung from and belonging to the house of Israel's wicked foes; such as Jabin, whose city Hazor was "the head of all the kingdoms" of Canaan (Jos 11:10; compare Jud 4:2, 3, 13).

discovering the foundation—Thou destroyedst high and low. As "the head of the house" means the prince, so the "foundation" means the general host of the enemy.

unto the neck—image from a flood reaching to the neck (Isa 8:8; 30:28). So God, by His wrath overflowing on the foe, caused their princes' necks to be trodden under foot by Israel's leaders (Jos 10:24; 11:8, 12).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Thou wentest forth: pursuant of his metaphor, the prophet speaks of God as marching on before his people; or it may refer to the ark, a token of God’s presence before the people.

For the salvation; to complete the salvation begun in bringing them out of Egypt, and carrying them through the wilderness, and to be finished in settling them in Canaan.

Of the people; thy chosen people, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Even for salvation: it is repeated for confirmation, and to affect us with the greatness of the mercy.

With thine anointed; or, for thine anointed, i.e. all Israel; or under the conduct of thine anointed, Joshua, type of the Messiah, by whose hand all these great things were done.

Thou woundedst the head; gavest a deadly wound to the princes and kings of Canaan, enemies to Israel, who were cut off, and their families utterly destroyed.

Out of the house; royal palaces, or ancient dwellings, and settled habitations; of which slaughter of Canaanitish kings, see Psalm 136:17-20.

Of the wicked; the courts of these kings were houses of greatest wickednesses, for which they were destroyed.

By discovering the foundation unto the neck: razing the foundations of their power, and destroying all from foot to head.

Selah: all which is to be heeded, and well minded.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of that people, even for salvation with thine anointed,.... Or, "thy Messiah"; which Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret of Messiah the son of David; and read and give the sense of the words thus,

"as thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, by bringing them into the land of Canaan, so do thou go forth for salvation with thy Messiah.''

God of old went forth in his power and providence for the salvation of his people, whom he chose above all people to be his special and peculiar people; making use of Moses and Aaron in bringing them out of Egypt, and leading them through the wilderness, and of Joshua to introduce them, and settle them in the land of Canaan; who were all types of Christ in the salvation of the chosen people. Joshua particularly was a type of Jesus; they agree in their name, which signifies a Saviour the salvation of God, or God the salvation; and in their character, office, and usefulness to the people of God, Jesus is the Lord's "anointed"; anointed with the Holy Ghost, the oil of gladness, above his fellows, which he received without measure; anointed to the office of Prophet, Priest, and King; and from whom his people receive the unction, and are denominated Christians, or anointed ones: and the "people" of God, for whose salvation he went forth with him, are not all mankind, who are not all saved; nor the people of the Jews only, or all of them; but a peculiar people, out of Jews and Gentiles, loved with a special love; chosen to salvation, secured in the covenant of grace, and given to Christ as his portion and people, and so saved by him, Matthew 1:21. The "salvation" of them is a spiritual one, a salvation from all their sins; from the power and dominion, pollution and guilt, the damning power of them, and at last from the very being of them; as well as from Satan, the law, death, hell, and wrath to come: it is perfect and complete, and endures for ever. Jehovah the Father "went forth" with Christ his Son for this salvation, in his purposes and decrees concerning it; in his council and covenant relating to it; in the mission of him into this world to effect it; and by helping and assisting him in it, as man and Mediator. The words may be rendered, "thou wentest forth"; or, "thou goest forth"; thou wilt do so; and mayest thou do so, "to save thy people, to save thy anointed" (t); and so respect not the salvation of Israel by Moses or Joshua; nor the spiritual and eternal salvation of God's elect by the Messiah; but the salvation of the Lord's people from mystical Babylon, from the oppression and tyranny of antichrist, and from all his false doctrines, superstition, and idolatry, and ruin by them; and particularly the salvation of the two witnesses, the two olive trees, the two anointed ones that stand before the Lord of the whole earth; the singular being put for the plural, "anointed" for "anointed ones"; and so the Alexandrian copy of the Septuagint version, and the Arabic version, render it, "thy Christs", or "thy anointed ones"; now this will be done when the Lord shall go forth in his power and providence, and quicken and raise their dead bodies, when they have lain three days and a half, and shall cause them to ascend to heaven in the sight of their enemies; see Zechariah 4:14,

thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked; not the princes of the families of the land of Canaan, as some; nor the first born of Pharaoh's family in Egypt, or him and his host at the Red sea, as, others; nor Goliath of Gath, smitten by David, as Burkius; nor Satan and his principalities and powers by Christ on the cross; but antichrist the man of sin, that wicked and lawless one, who is at the bead of a wicked house or family, the antichristian party; who received a wound at the Reformation; and ere long the kings of the earth will hate the whore, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire; and Christ, will utterly consume and destroy this wicked one with the breath of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming, Revelation 13:3 see Psalm 110:6. Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret this of the head of the army of wicked Gog, the king of Magog, taking it to belong to future time; and so some render all those phrases, "thou wilt go forth, thou wilt wound" (u), &c.:

by discovering the foundation unto the neck; or "razing the foundation", as in Psalm 137:7. There seems to be a double metaphor in the words, expressing the utter ruin and destruction of antichrist and his party; who, being compared to a building, will be demolished, and razed to the very foundation; that will be dug up, and laid bare, and no trace of an edifice to be seen any more; and, being compared to a human body, will be plunged into such distresses and calamities, as to be as it were up to the neck in them, from whence there is no escape and deliverance. Some understand this of the princes of this head, or of his friends, and those of his family that are nearest to him, as the neck is to the head; or of the whole body of the people under him, of which he will be deprived; and so be as a head without a body, and who cannot long survive them.

Selah is added as a mark of attention, something of moment and importance being observed.

(t) "ad salutem populi tui, ad servandum unctum tuum", De Dieu. (u) "egredieris"; so some in Vatablus. "transfiges"; so some in Drusius.

Geneva Study Bible

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thy {q} anointed; thou didst wound the head out of the house of the wicked, by laying bare the foundation to the {r} neck. Selah.

(q) Signifying that there is no salvation, except by Christ.

(r) From the top to the bottom you have destroyed the enemies.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

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.’

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - Thou wentest forth. The prophet specifies the end which these manifestations were designed to effect. God is said to "go forth" when he intervenes for the aid of his people, as Judges 5:4; 2 Samuel 5:24; Isaiah 42:13. For salvation with thine anointed; In salutem cum Christo tuo (Vulgate); τοῦ σῶσαι τὸν χριστὸν σου (τοὺς χριστούς σου, Alex., Sin.), "to save thine anointed" (Septuagint). If the signification of the word "with" (eth) be pressed, the passage is taken to mean that, as God manifested himself in old time for the salvation of his people with his chosen "Christ," Moses; so he will hereafter reveal his power for the destruction of the Chaldeans with his chosen "Christ," Cyrus. But this is too definite, and cannot be shown to be intended. The "anointed one," again, is not the nation of Israel, for the term is always applied to a single individual and never to the people collectively; so here it is the theocratic king who is meant - first, the representative of David; and secondly, the Messiah. God reveals himself for the salvation of his people in union with the work especially of his anointed Son, Christ. This is how the passage is taken by Eusebius ('Dem. Evang.,' 4:16), Αἰς σωτηρίαν λαον σου σὺν Ξριστῷ σου. It must be confessed, however, that most modern commentaters translate, "for the salvation of thy anointed," taking the last expression (contrary to all usage) to mean the Israelites, as being a kingdom and nation of priests (Exodus 19:6). In this case the present clause is merely a repetition of the preceding one. Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked; thou dashest in pieces the head. As in the following clause the metaphor of a house is plainly employed, "the head" must be taken for the gable or topmost ridge. "The house of the wicked" is an allegorical description of the Chaldaic dominion and its king; and the prophet declares that God will smite with destruction both the ungodly monarch and the kingdom that opposes itself. Some commentators see here an allusion to the primeval sentence (Genesis 3:15): others to the destruction of the Egyptians' firstborn; others to the incident of Jael and Sisera (Judges 5:26). If the prophet's language was influenced by any of these matters, his view and his oracle are concerned with the mighty future. The LXX. has, "Thou wilt east death upon the heads of the evil." By discovering (literally, making naked) the foundations unto the neck. "By" is better omitted. Keil supposes that "the neck" is the central part of the house, looking from the gable downwards; though why this should be so called is not apparent; and the wording of the original, "the foundations even to the neck," compels us to connect the two words together, and will not allow us to interpret "the neck" of some higher part of the building. The general meaning is plain - the metaphorical house is destroyed from summit to base, the destruction beginning at the gable is carried on to the very foundations According to this view, "the neck" should mean the very lowest basis of the walls. Henderson (after Capellus and others) suggests that we should read "rock," a word derived from the same root. Septuagint, Ἐξήγειρας δεσμοὺς ἕως τραχήλου, "Thou didst raise chains unto the neck." It is possible that the mention of "the head," just above, has led the prophet to use the term "neck" in order to express the utter destruction of the whole body. Selah. Another solemn pause ensues. Habakkuk 3:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In Habakkuk 3:12 there follows a description of the judgment upon the nations for the rescue of the people of God. Habakkuk 3:12. "In fury Thou walkest through the earth, in wrath Thou stampest down nations. Habakkuk 3:13. Thou goest out to the rescue of Thy people, to the rescue of Thine anointed one; Thou dashest in pieces the head from the house of the wicked one, laying bare the foundation even to the neck. Selah. Habakkuk 3:14. Thou piercest with his spears the head of his hordes, which storm hither to beat me to powder, whose rejoicing is, as it were, to swallow the poor in secret. Habakkuk 3:15. Thou treadest upon the sea: Thy horses, upon the heap of great waters." The Lord, at whose coming in the terrible glory of the majesty of the Judge of the world all nature trembles and appears to fall into its primary chaotic state, marches over the earth, and stamps or tramples down the nations with His feet (compare the kindred figure of the treader of the winepress in Isaiah 63:1-6). Not all nations, however, but only those that are hostile to Him; for He has come forth to save His people and His anointed one. The perfects in Habakkuk 3:13-15 are prophetic, describing the future in spirit as having already occurred. יצא, referring to the going out of God to fight for His people, as in Judges 5:4; 2 Samuel 5:24; Isaiah 42:13, etc. ישׁע, rescue, salvation, is construed the second time with an accusative like an inf. constr. (see Ewald, 239, a). The anointed of God is not the chosen, consecrated nation (Schnur., Ros., Hitzig, Ewald, etc.); for the nation of Israel is never called the anointed one (hammâshı̄ăch) by virtue of its calling to be "a kingdom of priests" (mamlekheth kohănı̄m, Exodus 19:6), neither in Psalm 28:8 nor in Psalm 84:10; Psalm 89:39. Even in Psalm 105:15 it is not the Israelites who are called by God "my anointed" (meshı̄chai), but the patriarchs, as princes consecrated by God (Genesis 23:6). And so here also משׁיחך is the divinely-appointed king of Israel; not, however, this or that historical king - say Josiah, Jehoiakim, or even Jehoiachin - but the Davidic king absolutely, including the Messiah, in whom the sovereignty of David is raised to an eternal duration, "just as by the Chaldaean king here and in Psalm 2:1-12 we must understand the Chaldaean kings generally" (Delitzsch), wince the prophecy spreads from the judgment upon the Chaldaeans to the universal judgment upon the nations, and the Chaldaean is merely introduced as the possessor of the imperial power. The Messiah as the Son of David is distinguished from Jehovah, and as such is the object of divine help, just as in Zechariah 9:9, where He is called נושׁע in this respect, and in the royal Messianic psalms. This help God bestows upon His people and His anointed, by dashing in pieces the head from the house of the wicked one. The râshâ‛ (wicked one) is the Chaldaean, not the nation, however, which is spoken of for the first time in Habakkuk 3:14, but the Chaldaean king, as chief of the imperial power which is hostile to the kingdom of God. But, as the following clause clearly shows, the house is the house in the literal sense, so that the "head," as part of the house, is the gable. A distinction is drawn between this and yeshōd, the foundation, and צוּאר, the neck, i.e., the central part looking from the gable downwards. The destruction takes place both from above and below at once, so that the gable and the foundation are dashed in pieces with one blow, and that even to the neck, i.e., up to the point at which the roof or gable rests upon the walls. עד, inclusive, embracing the part mentioned as the boundary; not exclusive, so as to leave the walls still rising up as ruins. The description is allegorical, the house representing the Chaldaean dynasty, the royal family including the king, but not "including the exalted Chaldaean kingdom in all its prosperity" (Hitzig). ערות, a rare form of the inf. abs., like שׁתות in Isaiah 22:13 (cf. Ewald, 240, b), from ערה, to make bare, to destroy from the very foundation, the infinitive in the sense of the gerund describing the mode of the action.

The warlike nation meets with the same fate as the royal house (Habakkuk 3:14). The meaning of the first clause of the verse depends upon the explanation to be given to the word perâzâv. There is no foundation for the meaning leaders or judges, which has been claimed for the word perâzı̄m ever since the time of Schroeder and Schnur. In Hebrew usage perâzı̄ signifies the inhabitant of the plain (Deuteronomy 3:5; 1 Samuel 6:18), and perâzōth the plains, the open flat land, as distinguished from walled cities (Ezekiel 38:11). Perâzōn has the same meaning in Judges 5:7 and Judges 5:11. Consequently Delitzsch derives perâzâv from a segholate noun perez or pērez, in the sense of the population settled upon the open country, the villagers and peasantry, whence the more general signification of a crowd or multitude of people, and here, since the context points to warriors, the meaning hordes, or hostile companies, which agrees with the Targum, Rashi, and Kimchi, who explain the word as signifying warriors or warlike troops. ראשׁ, the head of his hordes, cannot be the leader, partly because of what follows, "who come storming on," which presupposes that not the leader only, but the hordes or warriors, will be destroyed, and partly also because of the preceding verse, in which the destruction of the king is pronounced, and also because the distinction between the king and the leader of the army is at variance with the complex character of the prophetic description. We must take ראשׁ in the literal sense, but collectively, "heads." The prophet was led to the unusual figure of the piercing of the head by the reminiscence of the piercing of Sisera's head by Jael (Judges 5:26). The suffixes in בּמטּיו and פּרזו refer back to רשׁע. מטּיו, sticks, for lance or spears, after 2 Samuel 18:14. The meaning of the words is this: with the spear of the king God pierces the heads of his warlike troops; and the thought expressed is, that the hostile troops will slay one another in consequence of the confusion, as was the case in the wars described in 1 Samuel 14:20 and 2 Chronicles 20:23-24, and as, according to prophecy, the last hostile power of the world is to meet with its ruin when it shall attack the kingdom of God (Ezekiel 38:21; Zechariah 14:13). יסערוּ להף is to be taken relatively: "which storm hither (sâ‛ar, approach with the swiftness and violence of a storm) to destroy me." The prophet includes himself along with the nation, and uses hēphı̄ts with reference to the figure of the dispersion or powdering of the chaff by a stormy wind (Isaiah 41:16; Jeremiah 13:24; Jeremiah 18:17). עליצתם forms a substantive clause by itself: "their rejoicing is," for they who rejoice, as if to swallow, i.e., whose rejoicing is directed to this, to swallow the poor in secret. The enemies are compared to highway murderers, who lurk in dark corners for the defenceless traveller, and look forward with rejoicing for the moment when they may be able to murder him. עני forms the antithesis to רשׁע. Inasmuch as "the wicked" denotes the Chaldaean; "the poor" is the nation of Israel, i.e., the congregation of the righteous, who are really the people of God. To devour the poor, i.e., to take violent possession of his life and all that he has (cf. Proverbs 30:14, and for the fact itself, Psalm 10:8-10), is, when applied to a nation, to destroy it (vid., Deuteronomy 7:16 and Jeremiah 10:25).

In order that these enemies may be utterly destroyed, God passes through the sea. This thought in Habakkuk 3:15 connects the conclusion of the description of the judicial coming of God with what precedes. The drapery of the thought rests upon the fact of the destruction of Pharaoh and his horsemen in the Red Sea (Exodus 14). The sea, the heap of many waters, is not a figurative expression for the army of the enemy, but is to be taken literally. This is required by דּרכתּ ביּם, since דּרך with ב, to tread upon a place, or enter into it (cf. Micah 5:4; Isaiah 59:8; Deuteronomy 11:24-25), does not suit the figurative interpretation; and it is required still more by the parallel passages, viz., Psalm 77:20 (בּיּם דּרכּך), which floated before the prophet's mind, and Zechariah 10:11. Just as God went through the Red Sea in the olden time to lead Israel through, and to destroy the Egyptian army, so will He in the future go through the sea and do the same, when He goes forth to rescue His people out of the power of the Chaldaean. The prophet does not express the latter indeed, but it is implied in what he says. סוּסיך is an accusative, not instrumenti, however, but of more precise definition: thou, namely, according to thy horses; for "with thy horses," as in Psalm 83:19; Psalm 44:3 (אתּה ידך); cf. Ewald, 281, c, and 293, c. The horses are to be taken, as in Habakkuk 3:8, as harnessed to the chariots; and they are mentioned here with reference to the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, which were destroyed by Jehovah in the sea. Chōmer, in the sense of heap, as in Exodus 8:10, is not an accusative, but is still dependent upon the ב of the parallel clause. The expression "heap of many waters" serves simply to fill up the picture, as in Psalm 77:20.