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Selected Verse: Habakkuk 3:14 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Hab 3:14	Strong Concordance	Thou didst strike through [05344] with his staves [04294] the head [07218] of his villages [06518]: they came out as a whirlwind [05590] to scatter [06327] me: their rejoicing [05951] was as to devour [0398] the poor [06041] secretly [04565].
	King James	Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
strike . . . with his staves--with the "wicked" (Hab 3:13) foe's own sword (MAURER translates, "spears") (Jdg 7:22). head of his villages--Not only kings were overthrown by God's hand, but His vengeance passed through the foe's villages and dependencies. A just retribution, as the foe had made "the inhabitants of Israel's villages to cease" (Jdg 5:7). GROTIUS translates, "of his warriors"; GESENIUS, "the chief of his captains." to scatter me--Israel, with whom Habakkuk identifies himself (compare Hab 1:12). rejoicing . . . to devour the poor secretly--"The poor" means the Israelites, for whom in their helpless state the foe lurks in his lair, like a wild beast, to pounce on and devour (Psa 10:9; Psa 17:12).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

strike . . . with his staves--with the "wicked" (Hab 3:13) foe's own sword (MAURER translates, "spears") (Jdg 7:22).

head of his villages--Not only kings were overthrown by God's hand, but His vengeance passed through the foe's villages and dependencies. A just retribution, as the foe had made "the inhabitants of Israel's villages to cease" (Jdg 5:7). GROTIUS translates, "of his warriors"; GESENIUS, "the chief of his captains."

to scatter me--Israel, with whom Habakkuk identifies himself (compare Hab 1:12).

rejoicing . . . to devour the poor secretly--"The poor" means the Israelites, for whom in their helpless state the foe lurks in his lair, like a wild beast, to pounce on and devour (Psa 10:9; Psa 17:12).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages - The destruction comes not upon himself only, but upon the whole multitude of his subjects; and this not by any mere act of divine might, but "with his own staves," turning upon him the destruction which he prepared for others. So it often was of old. When the Midianites and Amalekites and the children of the east Jdg 6:3-4 wasted Israel in the days of Gideon "the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host" Jdg 7:22; and when God delivered the Philistines into the hand of Jonathan Sa1 14:12, Sa1 14:16, Sa1 14:20 so it was with "Ammon Moab and the inhabitants of Mount Seir," at the prayer of Jehoshaphat and his army Ch2 20:22-23. And so it shall be, God says, at the end, of the army of God; "every man's sword shall be against his brother," Eze 38:21. and Isaiah says, Isa 9:20, "every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm," and Zechariah Zac 14:13, "a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay every man hold on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor." So Pharaoh drove Israel to the shore of the sea, in which he himself perished; Daniel's accusers perished in the den of lions, from which Daniel was delivered unharmed; Dan 6:24. and so Haman was hanged on the gallows which he prepared for Mordecai Est 7:10. So it became a saying of Psalmists (Psa 7:5, add Psa 9:15; Psa 10:2; Psa 35:8; Psa 57:6; Psa 94:23; Psa 141:10; Pro 5:22; Pro 26:27; Ecc 10:8.) "He made a pit and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made; his mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate:" and this from above, sent down by God. The pagan too observed that there was "no juster law than that artificers of death by their own art should perish." This too befell him, when he seemed to have all but gained his end. "They came (out) as a whirlwind to scatter me," with whirlwind force, to drive them asunder to all the quarters of the heavens, as the wind scatters the particles of Job 37:11. cloud, or (Jer 13:24, add Jer 18:17; Isa 41:16, Delitzsch) "as the stubble which passeth away by the wind of the wilderness." Pharaoh at the Red Sea or Sennacherib, sweep all before them. Pharaoh said Exo 15:9. "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them." Their rejoicing - It is no longer one enemy. The malice of the members was concentrated in the head; the hatred concentrated in him was diffused in them. The readiness of instruments of evil to fulfill evil is an incentive to those who conceive it; those who seem to ride the wave are but carried on upon the crest of the surge which they first roused. They cannot check themselves or it. So the ambitious conceiver of mischief has his own guilt; the willing instruments of evil have theirs. Neither could be fully evil without the other. Sennacherib had been nothing without those fierce warriors who are pictured on the monuments, with individual fierceness fulfilling his will, nor the Huns without Attila, or Attila without his hordes whose tempers he embodied. Satan would be powerless but for the willing instruments whom he uses. So then Holy Scripture sometimes passes from the mention of the evil multitude to that of the one head, on earth or in hell, who impels them; or from the one evil head who has his own special responsibility in originating it, to the evil multitude, whose responsibility and guilt lies in fomenting the evil which they execute. Their rejoicing - He does not say simply "they rejoice to," but herein is their exceeding, exulting joy. The wise of this earth glories in his wisdom, the mighty man in his might, the rich in his riches: the truly wise, that he understandeth and knoweth God. But as for these, their exultation is concentrated in this, savagery; in this is their jubilation; this is their passion. Psalmists and pious people use the word to express their exulting joy in God: people must have an object for their empassioned souls; and these, in cruelty. As it were to devour the poor secretly - From the general he descends again to the individual, but so as now to set forth the guilt of each individual in that stormy multitude which is, as it were, one in its evil unity, when each merges his responsibility, as it were, in that of the body, the horde or the mob, in which he acts. Their exultation, he says, is that of the individual robber trod murderer, who lies wait secretly in his ambush, to spring on the defenseless wanderer, to slay him and devour his substance. Premeditation, passion, lust of cruelty, cowardice, murderousness, habitual individual savagery and treachery, and that to the innocent and defenseless, are all concentrated in the words, "their exultation is, as it were, to devour the poor secretly," i. e. "in their secret haunt." Pharaoh had triumphed over Israel. "They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in" Exo 14:3. He rejoiceth in having them wholly in his power, as a lion has his prey in his lair, in secret, unknown to the Eyes of God whom he regarded not, with none to behold, none to deliver. Dion.: "They gloried in oppressing the people of Israel, even as the cruel man glories in secretly rending and afflicting the needy, when without fear they do this cruelty, nor heed God beholding all as Judge. The invisible enemies too rejoice very greatly in the ruin of our souls "Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him: for if I be cast down, they that trouble me will rejoice at it Psa 13:4. "O Lord and governor of all my life, leave me not to their counsels and let me not fall by them" (Ecclesiasticus 23:1). Yet God left them not in his hands; but even "brake the head of Leviathan in pieces."

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages - The destruction comes not upon himself only, but upon the whole multitude of his subjects; and this not by any mere act of divine might, but "with his own staves," turning upon him the destruction which he prepared for others. So it often was of old. When the Midianites and Amalekites and the children of the east Jdg 6:3-4 wasted Israel in the days of Gideon "the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host" Jdg 7:22; and when God delivered the Philistines into the hand of Jonathan Sa1 14:12, Sa1 14:16, Sa1 14:20 so it was with "Ammon Moab and the inhabitants of Mount Seir," at the prayer of Jehoshaphat and his army Ch2 20:22-23. And so it shall be, God says, at the end, of the army of God; "every man's sword shall be against his brother," Eze 38:21. and Isaiah says, Isa 9:20, "every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm," and Zechariah Zac 14:13, "a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay every man hold on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor."

So Pharaoh drove Israel to the shore of the sea, in which he himself perished; Daniel's accusers perished in the den of lions, from which Daniel was delivered unharmed; Dan 6:24. and so Haman was hanged on the gallows which he prepared for Mordecai Est 7:10. So it became a saying of Psalmists (Psa 7:5, add Psa 9:15; Psa 10:2; Psa 35:8; Psa 57:6; Psa 94:23; Psa 141:10; Pro 5:22; Pro 26:27; Ecc 10:8.) "He made a pit and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made; his mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate:" and this from above, sent down by God. The pagan too observed that there was "no juster law than that artificers of death by their own art should perish." This too befell him, when he seemed to have all but gained his end. "They came (out) as a whirlwind to scatter me," with whirlwind force, to drive them asunder to all the quarters of the heavens, as the wind scatters the particles of Job 37:11. cloud, or (Jer 13:24, add Jer 18:17; Isa 41:16, Delitzsch) "as the stubble which passeth away by the wind of the wilderness." Pharaoh at the Red Sea or Sennacherib, sweep all before them. Pharaoh said Exo 15:9. "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them."

Their rejoicing - It is no longer one enemy. The malice of the members was concentrated in the head; the hatred concentrated in him was diffused in them. The readiness of instruments of evil to fulfill evil is an incentive to those who conceive it; those who seem to ride the wave are but carried on upon the crest of the surge which they first roused. They cannot check themselves or it. So the ambitious conceiver of mischief has his own guilt; the willing instruments of evil have theirs. Neither could be fully evil without the other. Sennacherib had been nothing without those fierce warriors who are pictured on the monuments, with individual fierceness fulfilling his will, nor the Huns without Attila, or Attila without his hordes whose tempers he embodied. Satan would be powerless but for the willing instruments whom he uses. So then Holy Scripture sometimes passes from the mention of the evil multitude to that of the one head, on earth or in hell, who impels them; or from the one evil head who has his own special responsibility in originating it, to the evil multitude, whose responsibility and guilt lies in fomenting the evil which they execute.

Their rejoicing - He does not say simply "they rejoice to," but herein is their exceeding, exulting joy. The wise of this earth glories in his wisdom, the mighty man in his might, the rich in his riches: the truly wise, that he understandeth and knoweth God. But as for these, their exultation is concentrated in this, savagery; in this is their jubilation; this is their passion. Psalmists and pious people use the word to express their exulting joy in God: people must have an object for their empassioned souls; and these, in cruelty.

As it were to devour the poor secretly - From the general he descends again to the individual, but so as now to set forth the guilt of each individual in that stormy multitude which is, as it were, one in its evil unity, when each merges his responsibility, as it were, in that of the body, the horde or the mob, in which he acts. Their exultation, he says, is that of the individual robber trod murderer, who lies wait secretly in his ambush, to spring on the defenseless wanderer, to slay him and devour his substance. Premeditation, passion, lust of cruelty, cowardice, murderousness, habitual individual savagery and treachery, and that to the innocent and defenseless, are all concentrated in the words, "their exultation is, as it were, to devour the poor secretly," i. e. "in their secret haunt."

Pharaoh had triumphed over Israel. "They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in" Exo 14:3. He rejoiceth in having them wholly in his power, as a lion has his prey in his lair, in secret, unknown to the Eyes of God whom he regarded not, with none to behold, none to deliver. Dion.: "They gloried in oppressing the people of Israel, even as the cruel man glories in secretly rending and afflicting the needy, when without fear they do this cruelty, nor heed God beholding all as Judge. The invisible enemies too rejoice very greatly in the ruin of our souls "Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him: for if I be cast down, they that trouble me will rejoice at it Psa 13:4. "O Lord and governor of all my life, leave me not to their counsels and let me not fall by them" (Ecclesiasticus 23:1). Yet God left them not in his hands; but even "brake the head of Leviathan in pieces."

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Villages - All the cities and all the unwalled towns. They - The inhabitants of Canaan. As a whirlwind - With violence invading me on every side. To scatter - To disperse and drive away the Israelites. Their rejoicing - They rejoiced in full confidence of swallowing up Israel unawares.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Thou didst strike through - The Hebrew will bear this sense: "Thou hast pierced amidst their tribes the head of their troops," referring to Pharaoh and his generals, who came like a whirlwind to fall upon the poor Israelites, when they appeared to be hemmed in by sea, and no place for their escape. If we follow the common reading, it seems to intimate that the troops of Pharaoh, in their confusion (for God shone out upon them from the cloud) fell foul of each other; and with their staves, or weapons, slew one another: but the head of the villages or towns, i.e., Pharaoh was drowned with his army in the Red Sea.

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¹² Like [01825] as a lion [0738] that is greedy [03700] of his prey [02963], and as it were a young lion [03715] lurking [03427] in secret places [04565].

⁹ He lieth in wait [0693] secretly [04565] as a lion [0738] in his den [05520]: he lieth in wait [0693] to catch [02414] the poor [06041]: he doth catch [02414] the poor [06041], when he draweth [04900] him into his net [07568].

¹² Art thou not from everlasting [06924], O LORD [03068] my God [0430], mine Holy One [06918]? we shall not die [04191]. O LORD [03068], thou hast ordained [07760] them for judgment [04941]; and, O mighty God [06697], thou hast established [03245] them for correction [03198].

⁷ The inhabitants of the villages [06520] ceased [02308], they ceased [02308] in Israel [03478], until that I Deborah [01683] arose [06965], that I arose [06965] a mother [0517] in Israel [03478].

²² And the three [07969] hundred [03967] blew [08628] the trumpets [07782], and the LORD [03068] set [07760] every man's [0376] sword [02719] against his fellow [07453], even throughout all the host [04264]: and the host [04264] fled [05127] to Bethshittah [01029] in Zererath [06888], and to the border [08193] of Abelmeholah [065], unto Tabbath [02888].

¹³ Thou wentest forth [03318] for the salvation [03468] of thy people [05971], even for salvation [03468] with thine anointed [04899]; thou woundedst [04272] the head [07218] out of the house [01004] of the wicked [07563], by discovering [06168] the foundation [03247] unto the neck [06677]. Selah [05542].

⁴ Lest mine enemy [0341] say [0559], I have prevailed [03201] against him; and those that trouble [06862] me rejoice [01523] when I am moved [04131].

³ For Pharaoh [06547] will say [0559] of the children [01121] of Israel [03478], They are entangled [0943] in the land [0776], the wilderness [04057] hath shut them in [05462].

⁹ The enemy [0341] said [0559], I will pursue [07291], I will overtake [05381], I will divide [02505] the spoil [07998]; my lust [05315] shall be satisfied [04390] upon them; I will draw [07324] my sword [02719], my hand [03027] shall destroy [03423] them.

¹⁶ Thou shalt fan [02219] them, and the wind [07307] shall carry them away [05375], and the whirlwind [05591] shall scatter [06327] them: and thou shalt rejoice [01523] in the LORD [03068], and shalt glory [01984] in the Holy One [06918] of Israel [03478].

¹⁷ I will scatter [06327] them as with an east [06921] wind [07307] before [06440] the enemy [0341]; I will shew [07200] them the back [06203], and not the face [06440], in the day [03117] of their calamity [0343].

²⁴ Therefore will I scatter [06327] them as the stubble [07179] that passeth away [05674] by the wind [07307] of the wilderness [04057].

¹¹ Also by watering [07377] he wearieth [02959] the thick cloud [05645]: he scattereth [06327] his bright [0216] cloud [06051]:

⁸ He that diggeth [02658] a pit [01475] shall fall [05307] into it; and whoso breaketh [06555] an hedge [01447], a serpent [05175] shall bite [05391] him.

²⁷ Whoso diggeth [03738] a pit [07845] shall fall [05307] therein: and he that rolleth [01556] a stone [068], it will return [07725] upon him.

²² His own iniquities [05771] shall take [03920] the wicked [07563] himself, and he shall be holden [08551] with the cords [02256] of his sins [02403].

¹⁰ Let the wicked [07563] fall [05307] into their own nets [04364], whilst that I withal [03162] escape [05674].

²³ And he shall bring [07725] upon them their own iniquity [0205], and shall cut them off [06789] in their own wickedness [07451]; yea, the LORD [03068] our God [0430] shall cut them off [06789].

⁶ They have prepared [03559] a net [07568] for my steps [06471]; my soul [05315] is bowed down [03721]: they have digged [03738] a pit [07882] before [06440] me, into the midst [08432] whereof they are fallen [05307] themselves. Selah [05542].

⁸ Let destruction [07722] come [0935] upon him at unawares [03045] [03808]; and let his net [07568] that he hath hid [02934] catch [03920] himself: into that very destruction [07722] let him fall [05307].

² The wicked [07563] in his pride [01346] doth persecute [01814] the poor [06041]: let them be taken [08610] in the devices [04209] that [02098] they have imagined [02803].

¹⁵ The heathen [01471] are sunk down [02883] in the pit [07845] that they made [06213]: in the net [07568] which [02098] they hid [02934] is their own foot [07272] taken [03920].

⁵ Let the enemy [0341] persecute [07291] my soul [05315], and take [05381] it; yea, let him tread down [07429] my life [02416] upon the earth [0776], and lay [07931] mine honour [03519] in the dust [06083]. Selah [05542].

¹⁰ So they hanged [08518] Haman [02001] on the gallows [06086] that he had prepared [03559] for Mordecai [04782]. Then was the king's [04428] wrath [02534] pacified [07918].

²⁴ And the king [04430] commanded [0560], and they brought [0858] those [0479] men [01400] which had accused [0399] [07170] Daniel [01841], and they cast [07412] them into the den [01358] of lions [0744], them [0581], their children [01123], and their wives [05389]; and the lions [0744] had the mastery [05705] [07981] of them, and brake [01855] all [03606] their bones [01635] in pieces [01855] or ever [03809] they came [04291] at the bottom [0773] of the den [01358].

¹³ And it shall come to pass in that day [03117], that a great [07227] tumult [04103] from the LORD [03068] shall be among them; and they shall lay hold [02388] every one [0376] on the hand [03027] of his neighbour [07453], and his hand [03027] shall rise up [05927] against the hand [03027] of his neighbour [07453].

²⁰ And he shall snatch [01504] on the right hand [03225], and be hungry [07457]; and he shall eat [0398] on the left hand [08040], and they shall not be satisfied [07646]: they shall eat [0398] every man [0376] the flesh [01320] of his own arm [02220]:

²¹ And I will call [07121] for a sword [02719] against him throughout all my mountains [02022], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]: every man's [0376] sword [02719] shall be against his brother [0251].

²² And when [06256] they began [02490] to sing [07440] and to praise [08416], the LORD [03068] set [05414] ambushments [0693] against the children [01121] of Ammon [05983], Moab [04124], and mount [02022] Seir [08165], which were come [0935] against Judah [03063]; and they were smitten [05062].
²³ For the children [01121] of Ammon [05983] and Moab [04124] stood up [05975] against the inhabitants [03427] of mount [02022] Seir [08165], utterly to slay [02763] and destroy [08045] them: and when they had made an end [03615] of the inhabitants [03427] of Seir [08165], every one [0376] helped [05826] to destroy [04889] another [07453].

²⁰ And Saul [07586] and all the people [05971] that were with him assembled [02199] themselves, and they came [0935] to the battle [04421]: and, behold, every man's [0376] sword [02719] was against his fellow [07453], and there was a very [03966] great [01419] discomfiture [04103].

¹⁶ And the watchmen [06822] of Saul [07586] in Gibeah [01390] of Benjamin [01144] looked [07200]; and, behold, the multitude [01995] melted away [04127], and they went [03212] on beating down [01986] one another.

¹² And the men [0582] of the garrison [04675] answered [06030] Jonathan [03129] and his armourbearer [05375] [03627], and said [0559], Come up [05927] to us, and we will shew [03045] you a thing [01697]. And Jonathan [03129] said [0559] unto his armourbearer [05375] [03627], Come up [05927] after [0310] me: for the LORD [03068] hath delivered [05414] them into the hand [03027] of Israel [03478].

³ And so it was, when Israel [03478] had sown [02232], that the Midianites [04080] came up [05927], and the Amalekites [06002], and the children [01121] of the east [06924], even they came up [05927] against them;
⁴ And they encamped [02583] against them, and destroyed [07843] the increase [02981] of the earth [0776], till thou come [0935] unto Gaza [05804], and left [07604] no sustenance [04241] for Israel [03478], neither sheep [07716], nor ox [07794], nor ass [02543].