Discovery BoxHabakkuk 1:9 
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
Habakkuk 1:11
Context1:11 They sweep by like the wind and pass on. 4
But the one who considers himself a god will be held guilty.” 5
Habakkuk 3:10
Context3:10 When the mountains see you, they shake.
The torrential downpour sweeps through. 6
The great deep 7 shouts out;
it lifts its hands high. 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 The precise meaning of v. 11a is uncertain. The present translation assumes the first line further describes the Babylonian hordes, comparing them to a destructive wind. Another option is to understand רוּחַ (ruakh) as “spirit,” rather than “wind,” and take the form וְאָשֵׁם (vÿ’ashem) with what precedes (as suggested by the scribal punctuation). Repointing this form as a geminate verb from שָׁמַם (shamam, “be astonished”), one could then translate the line, “The spirit passed on and departed, and I was astonished.” In this case the line would describe the cessation of the divine revelation which began in v. 5. For a detailed defense of this view, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 97-100.
5 tn Heb “and guilty is the one whose strength is his god.” This assumes that אָשֵׁם (’ashem) is a predicate adjective meaning “guilty” and that it relates to what follows.
6 tn Heb “a heavy rain of waters passes by.” Perhaps the flash floods produced by the downpour are in view here.
7 sn The great deep, which is to be equated with the sea (vv. 8, 15), is a symbol of chaos and represents the Lord’s enemies.
8 sn Lifting the hands here suggests panic and is accompanied by a cry for mercy (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19). The forces of chaos cannot withstand the Lord’s power revealed in the storm.
