Habakkuk 3:9

Your bow is ready for action; ¹  you commission your arrows. ²  Selah. You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface. ³ 

Ge 15:18-21; Ge 17:7,8; Ge 22:16-18; Ge 26:3,4; Ge 28:13,14; Ex 17:6; Nu 20:11; De 32:23; Ps 7:12,13; Ps 35:1-3; Ps 78:15,16; Ps 105:8-11; Ps 105:41; Ps 143:6; Isa 51:9,10; Isa 52:10; La 2:4; Hab 3:9; Lu 1:72-75; 1Co 10:4; Heb 6:13-18

¹ tn Heb “[into] nakedness your bow is laid bare.”

² tn Heb “sworn in are the arrow-shafts with a word.” The passive participle of שָׁבַע (shava’), “swear an oath,” also occurs in Ezek 21:23 ET (21:28 HT) referencing those who have sworn allegiance. Here the Lord’s arrows are personified and viewed as having received a commission which they have vowed to uphold. In Jer 47:6-7 the Lord’s sword is given such a charge. In the Ugaritic myths Baal’s weapons are formally assigned the task of killing the sea god Yam.

³ tn Heb “[with] rivers you split open the earth.” A literal rendering like “You split the earth with rivers” (so NIV, NRSV) suggests geological activity to the modern reader, but in the present context of a violent thunderstorm, the idea of streams swollen to torrents by downpours better fits the imagery.

sn As the Lord comes in a thunderstorm the downpour causes streams to swell to river-like proportions and spread over the surface of the ground, causing flash floods.