Discovery BoxHabakkuk 1:9-10 
Context1:9 All of them intend 1 to do violence;
every face is determined. 2
They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand. 3
1:10 They mock kings
and laugh at rulers.
They laugh at every fortified city;
they build siege ramps 4 and capture them.
Habakkuk 1:15
Context1:15 The Babylonian tyrant 5 pulls them all up with a fishhook;
he hauls them in with his throw net. 6
When he catches 7 them in his dragnet,
he is very happy. 8
1 tn Heb “come.”
2 tn Heb “The totality of their faces is to the east” (or “is forward”). The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מְגַמַּת (megammat) is unclear. For a discussion of options see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 93. NEB has “a sea of faces rolls on”; NIV “their hordes advance like a desert wind”; NRSV “with faces pressing forward.”
3 tn Heb “and he gathers like sand, prisoners.”
4 tn Heb “they heap up dirt.” This is a reference to the piling up of earthen ramps in the process of laying siege to a fortified city.
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Babylonian tyrant) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NASB “The Chaldeans”; NIV “The wicked foe”; NRSV “The enemy”). Babylonian imperialism is here compared to a professional fisherman who repeatedly brings in his catch and has plenty to eat.
6 tn Apparently two different types of fishing nets are referred to here. The חֵרֶם (kherem, “throw net”) was used by fishermen standing on the shore (see Ezek 47:10), while the מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret, “dragnet”) was used by men in a boat. See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 165.
7 tn Heb “and he gathers.”
8 tn Heb “Therefore he is happy and rejoices.” Here two synonyms are joined for emphasis.
