Habakkuk 3:4

And [his] brightness was as the light,.... Of fire, of devouring fire on the top of the mount, to which the sight of his glory was like, Exodus 24:16 to which Kimchi refers it.

And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.

His brightness, that lustre in which God appeared, that unparalleled splendour which shined from him, was as the light; pure, clear as the sun, but much more dazzling and overcoming. Horns: some read it beams or rays of light, and so the Hebrew will bear, and thus it is plain. Out of his hand: our God is all glory and light; Moses’ s face shined; the face, yea hands, of our God shine with glorious light; he dwelleth in light. There; either in that place where he thus appeared, or in that light wherewith he appeared· Was the hiding of his power: one would think his brightness should have discovered, not hid his power; it did both, it discovered much of it, but hid much more; it was light inaccessible, and therefore a hiding light. Power; strength or might: by what was there done it did evidently appear, God, who was there, could do much more, but it could not appear how much he could do. His brightness, that lustre in which God appeared, that unparalleled splendour which shined from him, was as the light; pure, clear as the sun, but much more dazzling and overcoming. Power; strength or might: by what was there done it did evidently appear, God, who was there, could do much more, but it could not appear how much he could do.

Habakkuk 3:4 And [his] brightness was as the light; he had horns [coming] out of his hand: and there [was] the hiding of his power.Ver. 4. And his brightness was as the light] The glory of the Lord was as a devouring fire on the top of the mountain, Exodus 24:17; the noonday light, the sun in his strength was nothing to this incomparable brightness, which was as the light, or as the sun, see Job 31:26; Job 37:20. Hence the heathens called Apollo or the sun Orus (which is the word here used), hence also the Greek οραω, to see ( ΰεψ). He had horns coming out of his hand] Or, bright beams out of his side, as the sun hath: "The eyes of the Lord are in every place," Proverbs 16:3, and every man before him is all window, Job 34:22; the whole world is to him as a sea of glass, Revelation 4:6, a clear transparent body, he shines and sees through it. God’ s hand or side is said to be horned in the sense that Moses’ s face was, Exodus 34:30. And there was the hiding of his power] Not the revealing of it, but velamen, symbolum, integumentum, the veil, the cover, such as God put over him when he showed Moses his glory. He could see but his back parts, and live; we need see no more that we may live. God is invisible, incomprehensible, and dwelleth in light unapproachable. How little a thing doth man here understand of God, Job 26:14; the greatest part of that which he knoweth is but the least part of that which he knoweth not. Surely as a weak eye is not able to behold the sun, no, nor the strongest eye without being dazzled; we cannot look upon it in rota, in the globe but only in radiis, into the rays; so here we cannot see God in his essence, but only in his effects, in his works, and in his Word, where also we have but a show, but a shadow of him, we see but his train in the temple, as Isaiah; the holy angels cover their faces with their wings as with a double scarf before God’ s brightness, which would put out their eyes else, Isaiah 6:2; see Psalms 104:2 1 Timothy 6:16.

(4) And his brightness was as the light. . . .—Better, And a brightness shall there be, like sunlight, and rays are at His side; and there [i.e., in this radiance] is the tabernacle of His power.

Verse 4. He had horns coming out of his hand] קרנים karnayim, rays. His hand - his power - was manifested in a particular place, by the sudden issuing out of pencils of rays, which diverged in coruscations of light, so as to illuminate the whole hemisphere. Yet "there was the hiding of his power." His Majesty could not be seen, nor any kind of image, because of the insufferable splendour. This may either refer to the lightnings on Mount Sinai; or to the brightness which occasionally proceeded from the shechinah or glory of God between the cherubim, over the mercy-seat. See Capellus and Newcome. If lightnings are intended, the dense cloud from which they proceeded may be meant by the "hiding of his power;" for when the lightnings burst forth, his power and energy became manifest. Probably from this the Jupiter Keraunos or Jupiter Brontes of the heathens was borrowed; who is always represented with forked or zigzag lightnings in his hand.

4. his brightness was as the light] And there is a brightness like the sun—Job 31:26; Proverbs 4:18. Attention is drawn away from the general splendour which overspread the heavens and filled the earth and concentrated upon the central point of the appearance, which was (appeared as) a brightness like the sun. He had horns coming out of his hand] he hath rays (coming forth) at his side. The rays of the sun are compared to horns in the East; in Exodus 34:29-30; Exodus 34:35 the verb is used of the face of Moses which shot out rays. The rays are probably lightning flashes. The rendering at his side is more probable than the literal out of his hand. So probably Deuteronomy 33:2 at his right hand; the rubente dextera jaculatus is less likely in Hebrew. Of course “at his side” means at each side, cf. Psalms 50:3. there was the hiding] there is the hiding-place of His power, i.e. omnipotence, or, the specially divine in the manifestation.

and His brightness - that wherein God dwelleth Ezekiel 10:4, “the brightness of the Lord’s glory,” before which darkness fleeth Psalms 18:12, “was as the light,” or as the sun.

Jehovah’s terrible approach, Habakkuk 3:3-7.3. Teman — See on Amos 1:12. Mount Paran — In all probability the mountain range between Mount Seir and Mount Sinai.