The Pulpit Commentary — Habakkuk — Section 58

t" emerge when they shine ~- xbi:. 4, -et().). his power for the destruc Iion or the Cho.l- Overpowered ""ith the splendour of God'~ de11ns with his ohhsen " Christ," Oyrus. pN>sence, the heAYenly luminnries hid'e their But thi~ is t.on definite, Md cannot be shown• liid1t in this <lay of the Lord (Mn'l'p. lea. to be intended.· ·Th~ "anointed bne," xiii. 10: Joel ii. 2, 10, SI; iii. 15; Amos v. 11.g11in, is llllt the n11tion of IRrnel, fur the 20; Mntt. xxh-. 29). The miracle of Joshua tertu is always applied too.single individual (Josh. x. 12, etc.) may ha~ suggested some 11nd ne,·cr to the people collectively ; so here of the lang-nage here, but the iden is quite it is the theocl'atio king who is me11nt-first, ,liffercnt. At the light of thine arrows they the representative of D,Wid: and seoondly, "cnt; ;,e. the 6U!! and moon fled away dis- the lllessi:ih. God reveals himself for the comfited ut the glo1y of God's weapons, his sakation of his people in union with the' arrows gleaming with light.. The idea may work especially of his o.nointed Son, Christ. be that, in the absence of the sun nnd moon, This is how the p11~s11.ge is t11.ken by Euse-· the terrific seene wns illuminated only by bins (' Dem. Ev11.ng.,' iv. 16), Eis' trom1piav :flashes of lightning. ·• Lightnin~" are >.aov {!'ov ,rl,v Xpt{!''l"ij trov. It must be con- sometimes calkd God's "arrows," ns in Ps. fessed, however, that most modern commen- :Hiii. H; lxxvii. 17, etc.; but the image tators translate, "for the salvation of thy here is rather of the t1rms of a warrior. 1<nointed," taking the Inst expression ( oon- lllany supply the relative in the sentenoe, trury to all usage) to mean the Israelites, as nud render, "arrows which shoot along." being e. kingdom and nation of priests This s,,ems to be unnecessary, and is not (Exod. xix. 6). In this case the present ,mpport.ed by the versions. There is no clause is merely a repetition of the preceding special reference to the hailstorm at Beth- one. Thon wonndedst the head out of the horon. which discomfited the Canaanites, but house of the wicked; tho11, dashest in pieces enabled the Israelites to pass on to victory the head. A.a in the following clause the (Joshua, Inc. cit.). It is the terror ofthejudg- metaphor of e. house is plainly employed, ment that is adumbrated, when the Lord "the head'' must be taken for the gable or shall come in :flames of fire (2 Thess. i. 8), topmost ridge. " The house of the wicked" and the heavens shall be di~solved, and the is an ru.legorical description of the Chaldaic elements shell melt with fervent heat (2 Pet. dominion and its kiug; and the prophet iii. 12). declares that God will smite with destruc- Yer. 12.-Thon didst march through the tion both tho ungodly monarch and the l=d i.u indignation ; thou treadest the earth kingdom that opposes itself. Some com- in fury. The mighty Judge stalks over the mentators see here au allusion to the earth (ver. 6; comp. J udg. v. 4; Ps. lxviii. 7). primeval sentence (Gen. iiL 15); others to It is a general statement, and not to be con- the destruction of the Egyptians' firstbom ; :fined to the successes of Joshua and the others to the incident of J ael ancl Sisere. destruction oftlie Canaanites. Septuagint, 'Ev (Jndg. v. 26). If the prophet's language a.'ff"«"Aii o"A.i-yo,rre,s "Y11", with the alteration of wns influenced by any of these matters, his a letter," Thou wilt bring low the land with view and his oracle are concerned with the thr..a.ts." Thon didst thresh the heathen mighty future. The LXX. has, "Thou (nations) in anger; Septuagiut, h 6vJL<i wilt cast death upon the heads of the evil." ,ca-rd~.. s (" thou wilt break in pieces") By disoovering (literally, making naked) the ~6V71. Jerome here renders the verb, ob- foundations unto the neck, "By" is better stupefacies; but elsewhere, as Isa. xxviii. omitted. 'Keil supposes that" the neck'' is 28 ; Hos. x. 11 ; Amos i 3, he uses triturare, the centrl!.l part of the house, looking from which gives the bestmeo.niug. The kindred the gable downwards; though why this figure is found in Micah iv. 13; Isa. !xiii. I, should be so called is not apparent; and the etc. wording of the origin1tl, "the foundations Ver. 13.-Thou wenteat forth. The pro- even to the neck," compels us to connect the phet specifies the end which these mani- two words together, and will not allow us to festaMns were designed to effect. God is interpret" the neck-" of some higher part s11id to "go forth" when he intervenea for of the building. 'fhe general meaning is the aid of his people, as Judg. v. 4; 2 Sam. plain-the metaphorical house is destroyed v. 2-1; Isa. xlii. 13. For salvation with thine from summit to base, the destruction begin- anointed; In salutem cum Christo too (Vul- ning at the gable is carried on to the very gate) ; -roii <rwtra, -rbv xpi,r,,-/,p trov ( ,,-ol,s foundations. According to this view," the x_p,u,,-o,',s trov, Alex., Sin.), "to save thine neck" should mean the very lowest basis of anointed " (Septuagint). If the significa- the walls. Henderson (after Oapellus and tion of the word "with" (eth) be pressed, otberB) suggests that we sbould read" rook," the passage is taken to meau that, as God a word derived from the same root. Sep- manif,-stE;rl himself in old time for the tuggint, 'E{~-y<tpas Be{!'JLOVS i!ws -rpax~"Aov, SBlvution of his people with his chosen "Thou didst raise ch11ins unto the neck." '" Chrlilt," Moses; so he will hrreafter reveal It is poesible that the mention of "the c:U. 111. 1-10.] TUE BoOK OF llABAkKU:K.