Habakkuk 3:1

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. Of the name, character, and office of the prophet, [See comments on Habakkuk 1:1].

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. This sublime ode begins with an exordium Habakkuk 3:1-2), then follows the main subject, then the peroration (Habakkuk 3:16-19), a summary of the

CHAPTER 3 Habakkuk’ s prayer, ,2. He describeth God’ s majesty, and wonders wrought in his people’ s behalf, . He professeth his unshaken trust in God, . A prayer: the prophet required the earth Should be silent before God, and now gives them example; he waits on and prays to God in his holy temple: some say it is a prayer of intercession, and that the word carrieth it so. Habakkuk the prophet: see . Shigionoth; a musical note, say some, and such note as the Jews have no certain knowledge of. Others say Shigionoth is ignorances, which the prophet doth confess, and sueth for the pardon of; both he and the people had erred, were offended at the darkness of Divine providences, and needed pardon as well as instruction: or it may be a prayer on occasion of the many and great changes Providence wrought in the affairs of the world and the church.

Habakkuk 3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.Ver. 1. A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet] Habakkuk signifieth a wrestler, that by closing striveth to get the better, as hath been before noted on Habakkuk 1:1. To close with the adversary is the best way to supplant him, or to avoid the blow: so is running into God the way to escape him. The prophet had heard God’ s speech and was afraid, Habakkuk 3:2. He saw his wrath ready to break forth, and therefore gets in with him by this prayer. He knew that, “ Flectitur iratus voce rogante Deus ” ( Ovid). God suffereth himself often to be overcome by the prayers of his people; and yieldeth much unto them when most bitterly bent, Matthew 24:20; he therefore sets shoulders and sides to work, and wrestles lustily in this chapter. He knew it was a prophet’ s work to pray as well as preach; and between these two to divide his time. "God forbid" (saith Samuel, who is reckoned the first of prophets, Acts 3:24), "that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: I will also teach you the good and right way," 1 Samuel 12:23. So doth this prophet; he both preferreth a prayer (the word ϊτμδ say some, signifieth such a prayer as is made by a mediator before a judge; we have an advocate with the Father, 1 John 2:1), and dedicated the same to the people, to be used by them in the time of the captivity: which yet they shamefully neglected to do, as Daniel acknowledgeth, Daniel 9:13; or if they did anything towards it, they merely sought themselves in it, and so lost their labour, Zechariah 7:5; whereas had they prayed as here is prescribed, confessing their sins, and beseeching God not to deal with them after their deserts, but according to his ancient lovingkindnesses, that never fail, they might have found mercy, Lamentations 3:22. The altar of incense stood against the mercy seat; and, Revelation 9:13, the prayers of the saints from the four corners of the earth sound and do great things in the world, make it ring. It was the speech of a learned man; If there be but one sigh come from a gracious heart it fills the ears of God, so that God hears nothing else. Upon Shigionoth] Vocabulum musicum est, cuius ratio Hebraeis ignota, saith Buxtorf; it is a musical term, the reason whereof is unknown to the Hebrew doctors to this day. Yet Rabbi Salomon (and with him most interpreters) rendereth it pro ignorantiis, for ignorances, or as touching his own and his people’ s errors; which the prophet here (convinced by God’ s former answer to his expostulation) confesseth with confusion of face. Ignorance surely is a blushful sin; especially if affected and delighted in (as the Hebrew word seemeth to imply, confer Proverbs 5:1; Proverbs 20:1). Private ignorance, though it do somewhat excuse a man (sc.

III. (1-15) A hymn describing a future self-manifestation of Jehovah on Israel’s behalf, accompanied by the signs and wonders of the early history. It is impossible to give the English reader an idea of the rhythmical structure of this beautiful composition. We will only observe that it is independent of the arrangement in verses, and that the poem (except in Habakkuk 3:7-8; Habakkuk 3:13, fin.) consists of lines each containing exactly three words.

CHAPTER III The prophet, being apprised of the calamities which were to be brought on his country by the ministry of the Chaldeans, and the punishments which awaited the Chaldeans themselves, partly struck with terror, and partly revived with hope and confidence in the Divine mercy, beseeches God to hasten the redemption of his people, 1, 2. Such a petition would naturally lead his thoughts to the astonishing deliverance which God vouchsafed to the same people of old; and the inference from it was obvious, that he could with the same ease deliver their posterity now. But, hurried on by the fire and impetuosity of his spirit, he disdains to wait the process of connecting these ideas, and bounds at once into the midst of his subject: "God came from Teman," c., 3. He goes on to describe the majesty and might which God displayed in conducting his people to the land of promise, selecting the most remarkable circumstances, and clothing them in the most lofty language. As he goes along, his fancy becomes more glowing, till at length he is transported to the scene of action, and becomes an eyewitness of the wonders he describes. "I beheld the tents of Cushan in affliction," 4-6. After having touched on the principal circumstances of that deliverance which he celebrates, he returns to what passed before them in Egypt his enthusiasm having led him to begin in the midst of his subject, 7-15. And at last he ends the hymn as he began it, with expressing his awe of the Divine judgments, and his firm trust in the mercy and goodness of God while under them; and that in terms of such singular beauty, elegance, and sublimity, as to form a to proper conclusion to this admirable piece of Divinely inspired composition, 16-19. It would seem from the title, and the note appended at the end, that it was set to music, and sung in the service of the temple. NOTES ON CHAP. III Verse 1. A prayer of Habakkuk - upon Shigionoth.] See the note on the title of Ps 7:1, where the meaning of Shiggaion is given. The Vulgate has, pro ignorantiis, for ignorances, or sins committed in ignorance; and so it is understood by the Chaldee. The Syriac has nothing but merely, A prayer of Habakkuk. And the Septuagint, instead of Shigionoth, have μεταωδης, with a hymn, which is copied by the Arabic. I suspect that the title here given is of a posterior date to the prophecy. It appears to interrupt the connection between this and the termination of the preceding verse. See them together: - Habakkuk 2:20: "But the Lord is in his holy temple: Be silent before him, all the earth. Habakkuk 3:2: O Lord, I have heard thy speech: I have feared, O Lord, thy work. As the years approach thou hast shown; As the years approach thou makest known.

1–2. Introduction 1. A prayer of Habakkuk] The only part of the passage which is strictly prayer is Habakkuk 3:2. But the whole poem is nothing but an amplification of the words “renew thy work.” The earnest direction of the poet’s mind towards God, and its absorption and loss of itself in the thought of Him and His operations is a prayer. For this wider idea of prayer cf. 1 Samuel 2:1; Psalms 72:20. Comp. the title to Psalms 90. upon Shigionoth] The word is plur. of Shiggaion in the title of Psalms 7 and may mean a wild, tumultuous and ecstatic poem. The word “upon” in such superscriptions appears to mean “after the mode of,” “to the music of” Shigionoth.

A prayer of Habakkuk - o. The “prayer” of the prophet, in the strictest sense of the word, is contained in the words of Hab 3:2.

1. Habakkuk — On the authorship of the poem see Introduction, pp. 472ff.