Habakuk 3:8

3:8 Is the Lord mad at the rivers?

Are you angry with the rivers?

Are you enraged at the sea? ¹ 

Is this why ²  you climb into your horse-drawn chariots, ³ 

your victorious chariots? ⁴ 

Mazmur 77:19

77:19 You walked through the sea; ⁵ 

you passed through the surging waters, ⁶ 

but left no footprints. ⁷ 

[3:8]  ¹ sn The following context suggests these questions should be answered, “Yes.” The rivers and the sea, symbolizing here the hostile nations (v. 12), are objects of the Lord’s anger (vv. 10, 15).

[3:8]  ² tn Heb “so that.” Here כִּי (ki) is resultative. See the note on the phrase “make it” in 2:18.

[3:8]  ³ tn Heb “you mount your horses.” As the next line makes clear, the Lord is pictured here as a charioteer, not a cavalryman. Note NRSV here, “when you drove your horses, // your chariots to victory.”

[3:8]  ⁴ tn Or “chariots of deliverance.”

[77:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the sea [was] your way.”

[77:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “and your paths [were] in the mighty waters.”

[77:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “and your footprints were not known.”