Discovery BoxHabakkuk 3:16-18 
Context3:16 I listened and my stomach churned; 1
the sound made my lips quiver.
My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying, 2
and I shook as I tried to walk. 3
I long 4 for the day of distress
to come upon 5 the people who attack us.
3:17 When 6 the fig tree does not bud,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
when the olive trees do not produce, 7
and the fields yield no crops; 8
when the sheep disappear 9 from the pen,
and there are no cattle in the stalls,
3:18 I will rejoice because of 10 the Lord;
I will be happy because of the God who delivers me!
1 tn Heb “my insides trembled.”
2 tn Heb “decay entered my bones.”
3 tc Heb “beneath me I shook, which….” The Hebrew term אֲשֶׁר (’asher) appears to be a relative pronoun, but a relative pronoun does not fit here. The translation assumes a reading אֲשֻׁרָי (’ashuray, “my steps”) as well as an emendation of the preceding verb to a third plural form.
4 tn The translation assumes that אָנוּחַ (’anuakh) is from the otherwise unattested verb נָוָח (navakh, “sigh”; see HALOT 680 s.v. II נוח; so also NEB). Most take this verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”) and translate, “I wait patiently” (cf. NIV).
5 tn Heb “to come up toward.”
6 tn Or “though.”
7 tn Heb “the produce of the olive disappoints.”
8 tn Heb “food.”
9 tn Or “are cut off.”
10 tn Or “in.”
