Habakkuk 3:8

To the impression produced upon the nations by the coming of the Lord to judge the world, there is now appended in Hab 3:8. a description of the execution of the judgment. Hab 3:8. "Was it against rivers, O Jehovah, against the rivers that Thy wrath was kindled? that Thou ridest hither upon Thy horses, Thy chariots of salvation. Hab 3:9. Thy bow lays itself bare; rods are sworn by word. Selah. Thou splittest the earth into rivers." The ode, taking a new turn, now passes from the description of the coming of God, to an address to God Himself. To the mental eye of the prophet, God presents Himself as Judge of the world, in the threatening attitude of a warlike hero equipped for conflict, so that he asks Him what is the object of His wrath. The question is merely a poetical turn given to a lively composition, which expects no answer, and is simply introduced to set forth the greatness of the wrath of God, so that in substance it is an affirmation. The wrath of God is kindled over the rivers, His fury over the sea. The first clause of the question is imperfect; Jehovah is not the subject, but a vocative, or an appeal, since chârâh, when predicated of God, is construed with ל. The subject follows in the double clause, into which the question divides itself, in אפּך and עברתך. Here the indefinite בּנהרים is defined by בּנּהרים. Hannehârı̄m, the rivers, are not any particular rivers, such as the arms of the Nile in Lower Egypt, or the rivers of Ethiopia, the Nile and Astaboras, the nahărē Khūsh (Isa 18:1; Zep 3:10 : see Delitzsch), but the rivers of the earth generally; and "the sea" (hayyâm) is not the Red Sea, but the world-sea, as in Nah 1:4 (cf. Psa 89:10; Job 38:8). It is true that this description rests upon the two facts of the miraculous dividing of the Red Sea…

Still the correspondence is kept up between God and his prophet. In the first chapter he spoke to God, then God to him, and then he to God again; in the second chapter God spoke wholly to him by the Spirit of prophecy; now, in this chapter, he speaks wholly to God by the Spirit of prayer, for he would not let the intercourse drop on his side, like a genuine son of Abraham, who "returned not to his place until God had left communing with him." Gen 18:33. The prophet's prayer, in this chapter, is in imitation of David's psalms, for it is directed "to the chief musician," and is set to musical instruments. The prayer is left upon record for the use of the church, and particularly of the Jews in their captivity, while they were waiting for their deliverance, promised by the vision in the foregoing chapter. I. He earnestly begs of God to relieve and succour his people in affliction, to hasten their deliverance, and to comfort them in the mean time (Hab 3:2). II. He calls to mind the experiences which the church formerly had of God's glorious and gracious appearances on her behalf, when he brought Israel out of Egypt through the wilderness to Canaan, and there many a time wrought wonderful deliverances for them (Hab 3:3-15). III. He affects himself with a holy concern for the present troubles of the church, but encourages himself and others to hope that the issue will be comfortable and glorious at last, though all visible means fail (Hab 3:16-19).

3:8-15 The Lord is a divine warrior for his people, moving in redemptive power on their behalf. The motif of God as divine warrior spans both Old Testament and New Testament: It is seen in Israel’s exodus from Egypt, their movement to Mount Sinai (Exod 15:1-18), their approach to the Promised Land from the south, and their triumphs in the early conquest period (e.g., Judg 5:4-5; Pss 18:8-16; 77:16-20; a key New Testament example is Rev 19:11-21). 3:8 struck the rivers . . . parted the sea: See Exod 7:19-20; 14:15-31. • chariots of salvation: An ironic echo of the Egyptian chariots, which pursued the Israelites when God led them to escape through the Red Sea (Exod 14:9).