Habakkuk 3:14

14. The enemy was overwhelmed completely when his warriors were cut to pieces.

With his staves Or, spears; R.V., “with his own staves”; that is, the staves of the enemy. His own weapons, now directed by Jehovah, will be used by the destroyers (compare Ezekiel 38:21; Zechariah 14:13). It is not impossible, however, that for “his” we should read “thy,” that is, the staves or spears of Jehovah (compare Habakkuk 3:11).

The head of his villages R.V., “the head of his warriors.” The doubtful word is found only here; LXX. renders “princes.” The use of other words derived from the same root would favor the meaning “inhabitants of the plain,” in distinction from those living in walled towns; hence the translation of A.V., “villages.” From the meaning people scattered over the plain the more general “crowd” or “multitude” (compare margin, “hordes”) is derived, and since the poet deals with war, a “horde of warriors”; and this seems to be the meaning most suitable in this place, Jehovah pierced the heads of the hostile warriors.

They came out as a whirlwind These words are better connected with the preceding as a relative clause, “who came out as a whirlwind,” that is, with the swiftness and violence of a storm.

To scatter me In the vividness of the description the poet transposes himself into the midst of the events and includes himself among the people threatened by the enemy.

Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly Again better taken as a relative clause, “whose rejoicing.… “ The thought of the line seems to be that, while the enemies were advancing, they rejoiced at the thought of the helplessness of Israel, and they looked forward with exultation to the moment when they would have the poor, helpless people at their mercy, to devour them at their leisure (compare Exodus 14:3; Exodus 15:9). The figure is taken from the practice of a wild beast to seize the prey and carry it to its den, there to devour it (Psalms 10:9; Isaiah 5:29). While this seems to be the general thought, it is difficult to get it from the present Hebrew text. Marti alters the text of Habakkuk 3:14 so as to read, “thou didst pierce with thy weapons his head; his princes scattered like chaff; to scatter me came their army, to devour the poor in secret.”