Habakkuk 1:5-11 God Uses Evil To Refine Us

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 6 April 2025

Omitting greyed-out text should bring spoken delivery time down closer to 40 minutes.

Introduction

v.5 – God Is At Work In The World

vs. 6-10 God’s Means Of Justice: The Chaldean Empire

v. 11 brings God’s justice full-circle

Conclusion

Habakkuk 1:5-11 Side-by side comparison of versionsA

DouayB (Vulgate)

LXXC

BrentonD (Vaticanus)

KJVE

NAW

Masoretic HebrewF

5 Behold ye among the nations, and see: wonder, and be astonished: for a work is done in your days, [which] no man will believe when it shall be told.

5 ἴδετε, οἱ κατα­φρονη­ταίG, καὶ ἐπι­βλέψατεH καὶ θαυμ­σατεI θαυμάσια [καὶ ἀφανίσ­θητεJ], διότι ἔργον [ἐγὼK] ἐργάζομαι ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ὑμῶν, [L] οὐ μὴ πιστεύ­σητε ἐάν [τιςM] ἐκ­διηγταιN.

5 Behold, ye despisers, and look, and wonder marvelously, [and van­ish:] for I workX a work in your days, [whichO] ye will in no wise believe, though [a man] declare it [to youP].

5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellous­ly: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.

5 Look among the nations, y’all, and view and be amazed! Wonder, for I am accom­plishing an accomplish­ment during y’all’s days; y’all will not believe when it is recorded.

(ה) רְאוּ בַגּוֹיִםQ וְהַבִּיטוּ וְהִתַּמְּהוּR תְּמָהוּ כִּי פֹעַלS פֹּעֵל בִּימֵיכֶם Tלֹא תַאֲמִינוּ כִּי יְסֻפָּרU.

6 For be­hold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift na­tion, march­ing upon the breadthX of the earth, to possess [the] dwel­ling places that are not theirV own.

6 διότι ἰδοὺ [ἐγὼ] ἐξ­εγείρω [ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶςW] τοὺς Χαλδαίους [τοὺς μαχη­τάςX], τὸ ἔθνος τὸ πικρὸν καὶ τὸ ταχινὸν τὸ πορευ­όμενον πY τὰ πλάτη τῆς γῆς τοῦ κατακληρ­ονομῆσαι σκηνώματα οὐκ αὐτοῦ·

6 Where­fore, be­hold, I stir up the Chal­deans, the bitter and hasty nation, that walks upon the breadthX of the earth, to inherit tabernacles not his own.

6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadthX of the land, to possess [the] dwell­ingplaces that are not theirs.

6 Indeed, look at me raising up the Chaldeans, the fierce and fast-moving nation, the one that marches toward roomy-places of the earth to take possession of dwellings that don’t belong to it.

(ו) כִּי הִנְנִי Zמֵקִים אֶת הַכַּשְׂדִּים הַגּוֹי הַמַּר וְהַנִּמְהָרAA הַהוֹלֵךְ לְמֶרְחֲבֵיAB אֶרֶץ לָרֶשֶׁת מִשְׁכָּנוֹת לֹּא לוֹ.

7 ACThey are dreadful, and terri­ble: from them­selves shall their judg­ment, and their burden proceed.

7 φοβερὸςAD καὶ ἐπι­φανής ἐστιν, ἐξ αὐτοῦ τὸ κρίμα αὐτοῦ ἔσται, καὶ τὸ λῆμμα αὐ­τοῦ [ἐξ αὐ­τοῦAE] ἐξ­ελεύσεται·

7 He is terrible and famous; his judgment shall proc­eed of him­self, and his dignity [shall come out of himself].

7 They are terrible and dreadful: their judg­ment and their digni­ty shall proceed of themselves.

7 It is awesome and feared. Its justice and its excellence go forth from itself.

(ז) AFאָיֹם וְנוֹרָא הוּא מִמֶּנּוּ מִשְׁפָּטוֹ וּשְׂאֵתוֹ יֵצֵא.

8 X TheirAG horses are lighter than leopards, and swifter than even­ing wolves; and their horsemen shall be spread [abroad]: for their horsemen shall come from afar, they shall fly as an eagle that maketh haste to eat.

8 κα ἐξ­αλοῦνταιAH ὑπὲρ παρδάλεις οἱ ἵπποι αὐτοῦ καὶ ὀξύτεροι ὑπὲρ τοὺς λύκους τῆς Ἀραβίας· καὶ ἐξ­ιππά­σονταιAI οἱ ἱππεῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁρμή­σουσιν XAJ μακρόθεν XAK [καὶ] πετασθή­σονται ὡς ἀετὸς πρόθυμος εἰς τὸ φαγεῖν.

8 And his horses shall [bound] more swiftly than leopards, and they are fiercer than the wolves of Arabia:AL and his horse­men shall ride forth, and shall rushX from far; [and] they shall fly as an eagle hasting to eat.

8 Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horse­men shall spread them­selves, and their horse­men shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

8 Its horses are more fleet than leopards and more keen than evening wolves; its horsemen are also raring-to-go. Indeed, its horse­men come from afar; they swoop like an eagle rushing to devour.

(ח) וְקַלּוּAM מִנְּמֵרִיםAN סוּסָיו וְחַדּוּAO מִזְּאֵבֵיAP עֶרֶב וּפָשׁוּAQ פָּרָשָׁיו וּפָרָשָׁיו מֵרָחוֹק יָבֹאוּAR יָעֻפוּ כְּנֶשֶׁר חָשׁ לֶאֱכוֹל.

9 They shall all come to the prey, X their face is [like] a burn­ing wind: and theyAS shall gather together cap­tives as the sand.

9 συντέλεια εἰς σεβεῖςAT ἥξει ἀνθεσ­τηκότας AUπροσώποις αὐτῶν [ἐξ] ἐναντίαςAV καὶ συνάξει ὡς ἄμμον αἰχμαλωσίαν.

9 Destruc­tionAW shall come upon ungodly men, resist­ing [with] their adverse front, and he shall gather the captivity as the sand.

9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.

9 Every one comes for violence, the mass of their faces eastward, and gathers captives in quantity like the sand.

(ט)כֻּלֹּה לְחָמָס יָבוֹאAX מְגַמַּתAY פְּנֵיהֶם קָדִימָהAZ וַיֶּאֱסֹףBA כַּחוֹל שֶׁבִי.

10 And [their] prince shall triumph over kings, and princes shall be his laugh­ing­stock: [and] he shall laugh at every strong hold, and shall cast up a mount, and shall take it.

10 καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν βασιλεῦ­σιν ἐντρυφή­σειBB, καὶ τύραννοι παίγνιαBC αὐτοῦ, [καὶ] αὐτὸς ες πᾶν ὀχύρωμα μπαίξεται καὶ βαλεῖ χῶμα καὶ κρατήσειBD αὐτοῦ.

10 And he shall be at his ease with kings, and princes are his toys, [and] he shall mock at every strong-hold, and shall cast a mound, and take posses­sion of it.

10 And they shall scoffX at the kings, and [the] princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall derideX every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and takeX it.

10 As for him, he mocks at their kings, and rulers are a laugh­ingstock for him. /And\ as for him, he laughs at every fort­ress and heaps up dirt and takes it over.

(י) וְהוּא BEבַּמְּלָכִים BFיִתְקַלָּס וְרֹזְנִיםBG מִשְׂחָקBH לוֹ BIהוּא לְכָל מִבְצָר יִשְׂחָק וַיִּצְבֹּרBJ עָפָר וַיִּלְכְּדָהּBK.

11 Then shall [his] spirit be changed, and he shall pass, and fall: this is his strength of his god.

11 τότε μεταβαλεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ διελεύ­σεται καὶ ἐξιλάσεταιBL· αὕτη ἡ ἰσχὺς X τῷ θεῷ μου. --

11 Then shall he change [his] spirit, and he shall pass through, and make an at­onement, [saying,] This X strength be­longs to my god.

11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, im­puting this his power unto his god.

11 Then the wind changes and he passes over, yet he is guilty whose own strength has become his god.

(יא) אָז חָלַף רוּחַBM וַיַּעֲבֹר וְאָשֵׁםBN זוּ כֹחוֹ לֵאלֹהוֹ.



1Firth missed this in his commentary. Matthew Henry was the only commentator I read who thought it was the nations themselves who were commanded to look, but everyone else took the correct view that the command was to the Jews.

2And so did Calvin: “[T]here would be a new mode of teaching, which would overwhelm the unwilling with astonishment… [L]earn now from the Gentiles what ye have hitherto refused to learn from the holy mouth of God himself… so as his word has been counted by you incredible, so also incredible shall be his judgment.”
Pusey, on the other hand, took an approach more like the one I started out with, but with a twist: “God bids them look out among [the nations] for the instrument of His displeasure… Deut. 32:21 ‘I will move them to jealousy with not-a-people…’” (Cf. Keil “Look among the nations, for it is thence that the terrible storm will burst...”)

3The Hebrew manuscripts read “among the nations,” but Paul follows the Greek and Aramaic manuscripts which read “despisers/insolent.”

4Not to mention Jeremiah (5:12), Isaiah (53:1), etc.

5The Hebrew word for Chaldean is pronounced Kesediym, and Keil asserted they were descendants of Abraham’s nephew Kesed (Gen. 22:22).

6https://bible-history.com/old-testament/distance-from-babylon

7Daniel 2:10; 3:8, 4:7, 5:7, 11

8The Hebrew word here (דּאה) is somewhat synonymous to Habakkuk’s word נמהר.

9cf. Jer. 5:15 “Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel," says the LORD. "It is a mighty na­tion, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say." (NKJV)

10The Hebrew word here (עז) is a synonym to the one Habakkuk uses – מר.

11The Hebrew word here (הישׁבים) is fairly synonymous with Habakkuk’s word משכנות.

12Lehrman called it “autocratic arrogance” and quoted Sferno as saying, “They will acknowledge no superior wisdom to which they should defer.”

13The only GNT instances of the LXX words in Hab. 1:7 are: φοβερος - Heb. 10:27, 31; 12:21, ἐπιφανῆ - Acts 2:20. Likewise, with only one exception each, the Greek words for “horse” and “sharp/swift” in the LXX of v.8 only occur in the GNT in judgment scenes in the book of Revelation.

14Pusey and Keil translated “panthers,” which might have been better-known where they lived in England and Germany. The cheetah, also in the leopard family, is the fastest land animal. Modern Hebrew has a different word for “panther” (פנתר) and for “cheetah” (ברדלס).

15That is, with a he (directional) suffix, namely Ezek. 11:1; 45:7; 47:1, 18; 48:3, 8, 18, 21, 23-26, and 32. See End­notes for further commentary.

16All the other instances of this phrase “like sand” in the HOT (Gen. 41:49, Jos. 11:4; Jdg. 7:12; 1 Sam. 13:5; 2 Sam. 17:11; 1 Ki. 4:20; 5:9; Isa. 48:19, cf. Rev. 20:8) imply “numerousness” rather than a reference to the way sand acts.

17Jeremiah 32:24 “Look, the siege mounds! They have come to the city to take it; and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword and famine and pestilence. What You have spoken has happened; there You see it!" (NKJV)
Ezekiel 26:8 “He will slay with the sword your [Tyre’s] daughter villages in the fields; he will heap up a siege mound against you, build a wall against you, and raise a defense against you." (NKJV)

18Ezekiel used a synonym (‎נְשִׂיאֵי) to the word Habakkuk used for “princes” (‎רֹזְנִים).

19Some commentators (Calvin, Pusey) suggested that this is a word picture of a river of Chaldean soldiers overflowing a valley, but Keil argued that this verb would never be used to describe the overflow of water.

20Keil: “he offends by deifying his own power.” The last book gives us a picture of strength properly attributed: Revelation 7:12 “...Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” (NKJV)

21תְקַף חִסְנִי an Aramaic synonymous phrase to Habakkuk’s כח.

22cf. Calvin on v. 6 “[H]e intended to terrify the Jews who had heedlessly despised all [previous] threatenings.”

AMy original chart includes the following copyrighted English versions: NASB, NIV, ESV, Bauscher’s version of the Peshitta, and Cathcart’s version of the Targums, but I remove these columns from my public, non-copyrighted edition of this chart so as not to infringe on their copyrights. NAW is my translation. When a translation adds words not in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics or greyed-out text, I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout. And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I insert an X. I also place an X at the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular. I occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea Scrolls containing Habakkuk 1 are the Nahal Hever Greek scroll (containing parts of vs. 5-11 & 14-17 and dated around 25BC), the Wadi Muraba’at Scroll (containing parts of verses 3-15 and dated around 135 AD), and 1QpHab (containing vs.2-17 with commentary and dated between 50-100 BC). Where the DSS is legible and in agreement with the MT, the MT is colored purple. Where the DSS supports the LXX/Vulgate/Peshitta with omissions or text not in the MT, I have highlighted with yellow the LXX and its translation into English, and where I have accepted that into my NAW translation, I have marked it with {pointed brackets}.

BDouay Old Testament first published by the English College at Douay, A.D. 1609, Revised and Diligently Compared with the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner, Published in 1582, 1609, 1752. As published on E-Sword.

C“Septuagint” Greek Old Testament, edited by Alfred Rahlfs. Published in 1935. As published on E-Sword.

DEnglish translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, 1851, “based upon the text of the Vaticanus” but not identical to the Vaticanus. As published electronically by E-Sword.

E1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible; public domain. As published electronically by E-Sword.

FFrom the Wiki Hebrew Bible https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%94_%D7%90/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA.
DSS text comes from https://downloads.thewaytoyahuweh.com except 1QpHab, which comes from http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/habakkuk and a mostly-accurate transcription and translation by Matt Christian https://www.academia.edu/37256916/1QpHab_Transcription_and_Translation (accessed Aug 2024).

G2nd Century AD Greek translators Aquilla, Symmachus, and Theodotian all followed the MT tradition with “among the gentiles” instead of the LXX and Peshitta and Acts 13 tradition of “despiser(s).” The difference in spelling is only one letter in Hebrew.

HPaul omits this word in his Acts 31 quote of Habakkuk.

IThis is the first legible word in the Nahal Hever Dead Sea Scroll for Habakkuk. The next four words in the LXX are not in N.H. One of those words is in the MT and in Paul’s quote of this passage in Acts 13. The LXX appears to have given two translations for one word.

JThis added phrase appears to be an alternate translation of the previous word. It is not in any of the other Greek or Hebrew or Aramaic texts.

KThe emphatic “I” is not in the MT, or in N.H., or in Symmachus’ version, but it is in Paul’s quote of this verse in Acts 13, and it doesn’t harm the general meaning. Symmachus spelled the next verb in the future tense (“I will do”) instead of the LXX’s present tense (“I myself am doing”).

LAlthough not in the Hebrew, it is in Paul’s quote of it in Acts 13, and many GNT manuscripts, including the oldest-known ones even add the word “works,” although that extra word did not make it into the traditional Byzantine GNT.

MActs 13:41 also includes this word in Paul’s quote of Habakkuk.

NLXX, like the Peshitta and Targums, reads with an active verb and with an explicit subject instead of the passive reading of the MT and N.H. (-θη). It doesn’t change the basic meaning, though.

OThis relative pronoun is not in the N.H. or the M.T., but doesn’t harm the meaning.

PThis is just Brenton’s addition to the English text for readability. It is not in the LXX or 2nd Century Greek texts, but it is in Paul’s quote of this verse in Acts 13, and it is in all the Syriac texts.

QDSS (Wadi Murabba'at), Vulgate and Targums agree with the MT (“among the nations”), but LXX, Peshitta, and Acts 13:41 read (“insolent/despisers”) as though the vav in the middle of the word were a daleth, which looks similar.

RAlso of Jerusalem in Isa. 29:9 & Jer. 4:9, then of Babylon in Isa. 13:8 (only other occurrences of this verb in HOT are Gen. 43:33; Job 26:11; Ps. 48:6; Eccl. 5:7; & Jer. 4:9). Hab. 1:5, however, is the only occurrence in the Hitpael instead of Qal stem. “The double expression reflects the extreme evil that Nebuchadnezzar is destined to inflict…” ~Lehrman, quoting Kimchi. Owen commented on Calvin’s translation “And wonder ye, wonder”: “This is the proper rendering… the two verbs here are in the imperative mood.” He cites Parkhurst and Drusius in support. The Westminster and OSHB morphologies definitely confirm that this is two imperatives, not an emphatic verb chain with an infinitive or participle as the KJV and NIV render it. Cf. Pusey: “The word is doubled to express how amazement should follow upon amazement…” Keil: “and be amazed, amazed!”

SLXX & Peshitta add the pronoun “I,” which makes the unstated subject of the participle “working” more explicit, but there is no such pronoun in the MT, DSS (Nahal Hever), Targums, or Vulgate. Cf. same word in 3:2, where Habakkuk prays for God to do that “deed.”

TAlthough both DSS support the MT without a conjunction, the LXX, Peshitta, Vulgate, and Targums all read as though they saw a conjunction here.

UAlthough LXX, Peshitta, and Targums render this verb actively, the passive form in the MT is supported by the DSS (1QpHab). Furthermore, this is not the verb for “speaking,” but rather of “writing/making a record.”

VThe Latin word is sua (“his”) – which is more accurate to the MT.

WNot in DSS (Nahal Hever), Vaticanus, MT, or other ancient versions.

X“The warriors,” an alternate translation of the word for “Chaldeans” (The LXX often inserted a second, alternate trans­lation of a word when its meaning was in doubt.) Not in DSS (Nahal Hever), Vaticanus, MT, or other ancient versions.

YN.H. is partially obliterated, but appears to be the preposition εις (“into”), a better translation of the Hebrew lamed preposition than the LXX “upon.”

ZKeil claimed that “[hinneh] before the participle always refers to the future,” but I’m not so sure.

AAIt may be debated whether this word is intended to mean physical speed/swiftness or emotional hastiness/impetuous­ness. The Vulgate, LXX, and Targums seem to support the former, whereas the modern English versions seem to support the latter.

ABRelatively-rare word denoting “spaciousness/room/openness/freedom,” also found in 2 Sam. 22:20; Ps. 18:20; 31:9; 118:5; and Hos. 4:16. It is plural and construct here, but KJV & ESV change to singular “breadth.” NIV changes it to a different word altogether (“whole”), and NASB drops it out completely. I like Calvin’s translation: “latitudes.”

ACDouay chose to pluralize the pronouns in this verse when he translated it into English, but the Latin pronouns are all singular like the Hebrew pronouns are.

ADN.H. translates this word with the synonym θαμβος (“astonishing”).

AELXX repeats “of himself” whereas it is only once in N.H. and Symmachus, as it is in the MT. Since is should be assumed by ellipsis, it makes no difference in meaning.

AFThis word doesn’t occur anywhere else in the HOT but here and Canticles 6:4-7, where it is used to describe a beloved woman by comparison with “bannered ones.” Most versions render “awesome/majestic as [an army with] banners.”
The transcriber I used as my source for 1QpHab began here to make transcription errors which persist throughout the rest of the transcription. I have had to correct these errors by comparison to a photograph of the scroll at http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/habakkuk to confirm the text of this manuscript over against the transcription.

AGThese pronouns are singular in the Latin, as they are in the Greek and Hebrew.

AHNahal Hever reads with the synonym κουφ- (“to be light/swift”), which is closer to the meaning of the MT.

AIN.H. reads with the synonym ορμη- (“gallop/rush”), and Symmachus with the synonym εκχυθησονται (“pour out”).

AJN.H. reads like the MT ιππεις αυτου (“their horsemen” – greyed out text is obliterated in the manuscript).

AKNahal Hever reads πωρρ- (“hard”) followed by 24 obliterated character-spaces, which is more space than the LXX reading allows. The LXX omits the verb “coming” which is in the MT, but N.H. has room for that in the lacuna. However, the N.H.’s word “hard” is not as good a translation of the MT as the LXX word “afar.”

ALThe Hebrew word is pronounced ereb, which means “evening,” but the LXX translator rendered it “Arabia,” which sounds similar and probably does no harm to the general meaning. The NET Bible followed the LXX and translated it “desert.” The DSS Nahal Hever, although partially obliterated here, appears to be a translation of the MT textual tradition. The legible part of this word is -ρας, the last three letters of the Greek word for “evening.” Symmachus (εσπερας = “evening”) also translated rather than transliterating the Hebrew. The Latin and Aramaic versions also go with “evening” instead of “southern/Arabian/desert,” so the consensus is strong against the LXX and NET Bible.

AMWadi Mubarrat agrees with the MT spelling, but 1QpHab switches the last two letters of this word. Apparently it does not make a difference in meaning.

AN“Leopards” are also mentioned in Cant. 4:8, Isa. 11:6, Jer. 13:23, 5:6, and Hos. 13:7, the latter two of which are parallel statements to Habakkuk’s.

AOThis word occurs only two other places, Prov. 27:17 and Ezek. 21:14-16, both describing the “sharpness” of a sword, but perhaps this refers to teeth or to hunger pangs here.

APOf the seven occurrences of this Hebrew word for “wolf” in the Bible, two stand alone without an adjective (Isa. 11:6; 65:25), two are paired with the word “טרף/ravening” (Gen. 49:27, Ezek. 22:27), and three are paired with the word “evening” (Hab. 1:8, Jer. 5:6, and Zeph. 3:3). Whether this denotes three different species of wolves or not is hard to tell. It’s hard to imagine how “evening” could be a species designation when all canines are more active in the evening. LXX/AJV/NET “in the Arabian/desert” appears to be an outlier based on a Hebrew homonym. Geneva/NASB (“in the evening”) and NIV/NLT (“at dusk”) opt for a time of day rather than a species description, which could relate the “sharpness” to hunger pangs at the usual time wild dogs go hunting (such was the interpretation of Metsudath David, J. Calvin, M. Henry, E. B. Pusey, C. F. Keil, H. Hailey, etc.).

AQbe spreadVulgate, spread itselfKJV,Henry,Pusey, gallopLXX,Keil,NASB,NIV, flyPeshitta, pressESV, thrustTarg. This word only occurs in three other places in the Hebrew O.T. (Jer. 50:11; Nah. 3:18 – where it is a different stem with a different meaning, and Mal. 3:20), where it is translated “grow up/fat” in the KJV and “leap, frolic, skip, frisk” in the newer versions. 1QpHab has a slightly different reading with conjunctions in different places and the yod’s missing from the endings of the nouns (making the “horsemen” singular “horseman”), but the W.M. supports the MT.

ARThis verb (“come”) is missing from 1QpHab and from the Peshitta and LXX (which turn the earlier noun for “horse­men” in the sentence into a verb “gallop,” so they end up with the same basic meaning). This verb is, however in the N.H. and the W.M.

ASVulgate translates this singular, properly following the MT and LXX. Douay improperly rendered this plural in English. The previous verb, “they come,” however, was properly translated by Douay; it is plural in the Vulgate, despite the fact that it is singular in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

ATNahal Hever (N.H.) reads the synonym αδικιαν (“unrighteousness”), but Symmachus with πλεονεξιαν (“greed”) – which is much closer to the MT’s word.

AUN.H. translated with the same word “face,” but made it singular instead of the LXX plural (“faces”). BHS suggests this meaning could have been derived from מגרת , but the MT word is מגמת.

AVN.H translated this word καυσων (“burning”), and Symmachus translated this word ανεμος καυσων (cf. Targums‎ קִדֻומָא “east wind”), and the Vulgate picked up on that with “burning wind,” followed by the NIV “desert wind.”

AWN.H. reads παντα (greyed-out letter is illegible), followed by Symmachus, matching the MT and other versions.

AXThis verb is rendered plural by the Vulgate and most English versions, but it is singular in the Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic manuscripts.

AYHapex Legomenon, BDB (following Ibn Garah) relates it to the combinative conjunction gam, from whence the NASB and NIV got “horde.” Symmachus translated προσοψις while the Peshitta rendered חזוא – both meaning “appearance.” Rashi, AJV, and NET rendered it “eager/determined.” Newcome, Drusius and KJV render it “supping/slurping up.”

AZEastward (Abarbanel, Dathius, Owen of Thrussington) could be considered “forward” (LXX, NASB, ESV, Keil, Hailey), or the “East wind” (Vulgate, Peshitta, Calvin, Geneva, KJV, Targums, NIV, AJV, NLT) which was hot from blowing off the desert East of Jerusalem. It has a directional he suffix. 1QpHab does not have the suffix, but Wadi Mubarrat does, like the MT. Notably there is no word for “like/as” here in the original. The DSS Habakkuk Commen­tary explains that they come from the direction of the sea, which would be an easterly direction – from the Levant toward Jerusalem, and Owen of Thrussington noted that the he suffix which appears here is never present when it means the “east wind.”

BABoth verbs in this verse (“he comes… he gathers”) are singular in the MT and DSS, referring to the singular subject “all/each.” The Peshitta and all the English versions make it plural (“they”) instead, presumably because “faces” is plural, but the LXX, Vulgate, and Targums did not take the same liberty. This discrepancy continues into the next verse where again the Hebrew verbs are all singular (“he” rather than “they”).

BB“will enjoy” cf. N.H. and Symmachus ενπαιξει/εται (“will play”) – a synonym used by the LXX later in this verse.

BCThis word in the N.H. is mostly obliterated, but begins with a gamma. If it is the word γελως (“laughter”) – which is the way Symmachus and Aquila translated it into Greek, it would be a good match to the MT.

BDN.H. = συνλημψετ-- (“he will take together”)

BEThe LXX and one of the Targums do not make “kings” definite, but the MT pointing places a definite article there. The DSS, Vulgate, and Peshitta are silent on the matter because Latin doesn’t have articles, and unpointed Hebrew/Aramaic does not keep track of articles when there is a prepositional prefix.

BF1QpHab spells this word in the Piel rather than Hitpael stem, but W.M. spells it Hitpael like the MT does. At any rate, both stems mean pretty much the same thing.

BGRoot meaning is “heavy.” This word only occurs 6 times in the Bible, 5 of which are in parallel with “kings” (as it is here), and once in parallel with “judges.” Whether the office is complementary to a king (as in noblemen and counsel­ors) or synonymous with that of a king might be debated, but the role involves the issuing of statutory law as per Prov. 8:15 (“By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just.” ~NIV) and would therefore fit within the executive branch of government.

BHHapex Legomenon, but this noun is obviously related to the verb “laugh” used later in this verse.

BI1QpHab, Vaticanus, LXX, and Peshitta all add a conjunction here. (The other two DSS can’t be used to resolve the dispute because they have lacuna here.)

BJRare verb only used 7 times in the HOT, mostly denoting “stockpiling” of something valuable (Gen. 41:35, 49; Job 27:16; Ps. 39:7; Zech. 9:3), but here and Ex. 8:10 (re: dead frogs) denoting the “piling up” of something non-valuable.

BK1QpHab has the 3ms pronoun (ו-) here (as does the LXX), matching the masculine “fortress” instead of the 3fs pronoun found in the MT, W.M., and Vulgate (which doesn’t match gender properly unless the feminine word for “city” were to be assumed).

BLAq. & Sym. = πλημμελησει (“he will sin”) matching the MT and other ancient versions.

BMIt should be noted that, despite the Vulgate and Aramaic versions and KJV, there is no “his” before “spirit.” Further­more, the feminine “spirit/wind” does not match the masculine verbs “change/sweep by” and “pass over,” so a variety of interpretations has resulted:

BN1QpHab reads ישם זה (“he sets this”) instead of the MT אשם זו (“guilty this”). All the ancient versions go with the MT (the exceptional reading in the LXX “make a guilt offering” is corrected by Aq. and Sym. to “incur guilt”), as does W.M. (the other DSS where at least part of these words are legible).

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