Habakkuk 3:15

Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses,.... And as thou didst of old, so do again; as Jehovah walked through the Red sea in a pillar of cloud and fire, which were his horses and chariots,

Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.

Thou, O God, or thou, O Israel, notwithstanding all plots and opposition, didst walk; heldest on thy way, and walkedst from thy entering on the east of the land to the west thereof; from Beth-el, Jordan, and Jericho on the east, where they entered the land that lay within Jordan. Through, rather to, (as Junius, Tremellius, and Grotius,) the sea, the most western parts Of all the land God gave; they took possession from east to west, to the great sea, the western sea, the mightiest sea the Jews of that time knew, called here by way of eminency the heap of great waters; called the great sea, ,15,19,20, as . So was fulfilled what was promised, and they took possession of that was estated on them, ,4. I rather refer this 15th verse in this manner, than, with most interpreters, to the Red Sea, which is to me a repetition unseemly for so short and elegant an enumeration of God’ s wonderful deliverances and blessings to Israel, from their leaving Egypt to their settling in Canaan.

Habakkuk 3:15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, [through] the heap of great waters.Ver. 15. Thou didst walk through the sea, &c.] q.d. Shall they thus prevail by iniquity? and did they carry the ball upon the foot till they had gotten the goal? Hath ever any waxed fierce against God, and prospered? Job 9:4. I think not. Thou that of old didst walk through the Red Sea, didst tread it, or foot it, and that most swiftly, as if thou hadst had thy change of horses. Through the heap of great waters] Which thou laidest on heaps for thy people’ s sake, so that, instead of being swallowed up, they were preserved thereby. Thou, Lord, I say, hast many times since (when all hope failed) opened a fair way for thy servants to escape out of greatest dangers; and so I trust thou wilt again, when they most stand in need of thine heavenly help. Cum res est in acie novaculae, God will be seen of his in the mount.

(15) Thou didst walk.—Better, Thou walkest. “Heap” is probably the correct translation of chômer here, as in Exodus 8:10. With this glance at the miraculous passage of the Red Sea (see Habakkuk 3:8) this prophetic poem comes to a sudden termination. The new paragraph begins with Habakkuk 3:16, not, as is indicated in the Authorised Version, with Habakkuk 3:17.

Verse 15. Thou didst walk through the sea] There was no occasion to hurry across; all was safe, for God had divided the waters: and his terrible cloud had removed from before, and stood behind them, so that it was between them and the Egyptians. See Exodus 14:19-20.

15. Thou didst walk through the sea] Thou hast gone through the sea (Isaiah 11:15). The verse refers to the passage of the Red Sea; and the thought remains unexpressed, though it is understood, that with this was completed the destruction of the enemy and the deliverance of the people. The strophe reads as a whole: 12. In indignation thou marchest through the earth, Thou dost thresh the nations in anger. 13. Thou art come forth for the salvation of thy people, For the salvation of thine anointed. Thou hast shattered the head from the house of the wicked, Laying bare the foundation unto the neck. 14. Thou hast pierced through with thy spears the head of his warriors, Which were come out as a whirlwind to scatter me, Exulting as about to devour the afflicted in secret places. 15. Thou hast gone through the sea with thy horses, The heap of great waters. 16. Habakkuk 3:16 returns to Habakkuk 3:2, taking up the words “I heard the report of thee” and “I feared.” When I heard] I heard (or, have heard) and my belly, i.e. heart or inward parts. My lips quivered at the voice] i.e. the report or voice which he heard. Rottenness entered] Or, entered. “Rottenness” is a figure for utter failure of strength. I trembled in myself] I tremble in my place, or, where I stand. 2 Samuel 2:23. That I might rest in the day of trouble] The words on to the end of the verse are very obscure. The first half of the verse describes the terror and paralysis that came upon the poet (or community) from what he “heard”; there appears no connexion between this idea and A.V. that I might rest. R.V. renders that I should rest, which appears to mean, that I must rest or remain quiet in the day of trouble, i.e. probably, endure patiently the day of trouble. R.V. marg. suggests: that I should rest waiting for the day of trouble, i.e. wait patiently for (or unto) the day of trouble. The term rest has nowhere else such a sense. When he cometh up unto the people] The words might possibly mean: the day of trouble, which is to come up against the people, to invade them (like a troop). The “people” might be the speaker’s own people, for the day of trouble is universal; or possibly it might mean the people of the earth universally (Psalms 22:6; Isaiah 40:7; Isaiah 42:5). The day of trouble is a day resembling that of which the speaker has “heard” (Habakkuk 3:3-15), the report of which makes his lips tremble, and such a day can hardly be a time of calamity to come on Israel from any invader, it must rather be the day of general judgment and of the divine Theophany prayed for in ch. Habakkuk 3:2. For this reason the other marginal suggestion of R.V. is not probable: the day of trouble, when he that shall invade them cometh up against the people.

Thou didst walk through the sea with Thine horses - God Himself is pictured as leading them on the way, Himself at the head of their multitude, having, as Asaph said of old “His path in the sea.” So Isaiah Isaiah 63:13.

Habakkuk 3:15 closes the description of the mighty works of Jehovah in the past.Thine horses — See on Habakkuk 3:8.