Exposition of Habbakuk 3

Habakkuk rests at the end of the seventh century BCE, and, with the imminent invasion of Babylon, "mobilizes a rich variety of extant liturgical traditions... that feature cries of needs that are ultimately resolved in a hymn of triumph*1*." Our aim is to examine this hymn and our question approaching it shall be How does the author convey images grammatically and syntactically in Habakkuk 3? We will approach the issues of grammar and syntax a verse at a time*2*.

תְּפִלָּה לַ־־חֲבַקּוּק הַ־־נָּבִיא עַל שִׁגְיֹנֽוֹת A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, on a dirge

The superscription of Habakkuk's prayer, versified as 1, establishes authorial attribution, by way of an allative *3*ל, and offers to hearers/readers some specific information in the form of a metaphorically locative prepositional phrase. This prayer is on a dirge. עַל שִׁגְיֹנֽוֹת however, is quite an elusive term. Koehler-Baumgartner suggest that the form could have referred to an Akkadian dirge*4*, specifically one performed as a prayer. This certainly fits the serious, even sad context of Habakkuk's prayer.

יְהוָה שָׁמַעְתִּי שִׁמְעֲ־־ךָ יָרֵאתִי יְהוָה פָּֽעָלְ־־ךָ Yahweh, I have heard your news Yahweh, I have feared your work

בְּ־־קֶרֶב שָׁנִים חַיֵּ֔י־־הוּ בְּ־־קֶ֥רֶב שָׁנִ֖ים תּוֹדִ֑יעַ In midst of years make it realised In midst of years make it known

בְּ־־רֹ֖גֶז רַחֵ֥ם תִּזְכּֽוֹר In anger, you remember mercy

The songwriter begins where most writers begin, with himself. While the object in play is God, the statement is actually about Habakkuk. The prayer will begin and end this way. Here, before the core content is explicated, the author establishes his relationship to Yahweh, like a disclaimer. The second person, singualr, masculine endings create a rhyme in this a line. With synonymous repetition*5*, the author asserts that he has feared the work of Yahweh (Implicitly resting on the wisdom of Proverbs 1 the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge) then asks the deity to make that work realised in the midst of years. Verse one ends with a thought that parallels the verse's beginning. However, most English readers would never know this because most English Bibles translate this as an imperative when it is in fact an imperfect*6*. Habakkuk is not emploring his God to remember mercy in his divine wrath, he is observing that his God already does remember mercy in his divine wrath.

אֱלוֹהַ מִ־־תֵּימָן יָב֔וֹא וְ־־קָד֥וֹשׁ מֵֽ־־הַר־פָּארָן סֶלָה God comes from Teman, and the Holy from Mt. Paran Selah

כִּסָּה שָׁמַיִם הוֹד֔־־וֹ וּ־־תְהִלָּת֖־־וֹ מָלְאָ֥ה הָ־־אָֽרֶץ His majesty has covered heavens and his praise has filled the earth

From the standpoint of versification, verse 3 is a bit odd. The prayer has a natural, euphonic break, סֶ֑לָה, which seems necessary in view of the content differences between what comes before and what comes after סֶ֑לָה. What follows סֶ֑לָה seems to follow the imagery of verse 4. But, the masora have combined these two clauses, separated by סֶ֑לָה, as verse 3. The a line continues the move to language about God and paints a very cultural picture. God coming from these lands, Teman and Paran, is probably and Exodus reference. The b line begins a theme of, shall we say, God and creation, that continues through verse 11. There is a chiastic structure here of verb and object pairs that make up the so-called a and a' that are centered