Habakkuk 3:1

Habakkuk’s Vision of the Divine Warrior

3:1 This is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet: ¹ 

Habakkuk 1:1

Habakkuk Complains to the Lord

1:1 The following is the message ²  which God revealed to Habakkuk the prophet: ³ 

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¹ tn The Hebrew text adds עַל שִׁגְיֹנוֹת (’al shigyonot, “upon [or, “according to”] shigyonot”). The meaning of this word is uncertain. It may refer to the literary genre of the prayer or to the musical style to be employed when it is sung. The NEB leaves the term untranslated; several other modern English versions transliterate the term into English, sometimes with explanatory notes (NASB, NRSV “according to Shigionoth”; NIV “On shigyonoth”).

² tn Heb “The burden” (so KJV, ASV). The Hebrew term מַשָּׂא (masa’), usually translated “oracle” (NAB, NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “utterance” (BDB 672 s.v. III מַשָּׂא), in prophetic literature is a technical term introducing a message from the Lord (see Zech 9:1; 12:1; Mal 1:1). Since it derives from a verb meaning “to carry,” its original nuance was that of a burdensome message, that is, one with ominous content.

³ tn Heb “The message [traditionally, “burden”] which Habakkuk the prophet saw.”