Habakkuk 3:13

"Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, For the salvation of thine anointed; Thou woundest the head out of the house of the wicked man, Laying bare the foundation, even unto the neck. Selah."

"For the salvation of thy people ..." The holy purpose of all God's dealings with ancient Israel was that of procurement of salvation for the redeemed of all ages. Behind all of the apostasies and restorations of the old Israel, there lay the purpose of the Christ's birth in Bethlehem, "thine anointed" almost certainly being a reference to that same Christ.

"Thou woundest the head ..." Who is the head "out of the house of the wicked," if not Satan? Here is a prophetic renewal of the great promise of the Protoevangelium (Genesis 3:15) that the head of the evil one would be bruised.

"Even unto the neck ..." Jamieson thought this carries the image of a flood reaching to the neck (Isaiah 8:8);[30] Kerr, however, thought the text should read "rock." "The figure is that of a conqueror tearing away the foundation down to the rock."[31] The imperfection of the text leaves the meaning somewhat obscure; but the principal meaning of the passage shines through nevertheless.

"Selah ..." See comment under Habakkuk 3:3,9.