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Habakkuk 1:7-9
New English Translation
Habakkuk 1:7-9
New English Translation
7 They are frightening and terrifying;
they decide for themselves what is right.[a]
8 Their horses are faster than leopards
and more alert[b] than wolves in the desert.[c]
Their horses[d] gallop,[e]
their horses come a great distance;
like vultures[f] they swoop down quickly to devour their prey.[g]
9 All of them intend[h] to do violence;
every face is determined.[i]
They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand.[j]
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 1:7 tn Heb “from him his justice, even his lifting up, goes out.” In this context שְׂאֵת (seʾet) probably has the nuance “authority.” See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 150.
- Habakkuk 1:8 tn Heb “sharper,” in the sense of “keener” or “more alert.” Some translate “quicker” on the basis of the parallelism with the first line (see HALOT 291 s.v. חדד).
- Habakkuk 1:8 tn Heb “wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The present translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (ʿaravah, “desert”). On this phrase see also Zeph 3:3.
- Habakkuk 1:8 tn Or “horsemen,” “cavalry.”
- Habakkuk 1:8 tn The precise nuance of the rare verb פּוּשׁ (push) is unclear here. Elsewhere it is used of animals jumping or leaping (see Jer 50:11; Mal 4:2).
- Habakkuk 1:8 tn Or “eagle” (so NASB, NRSV). The term can refer to either eagles or vultures, but in this context of gruesome destruction and death “vulture” is preferred.
- Habakkuk 1:8 tn Heb “they fly like a vulture/an eagle quickly to devour.” The direct object “their prey” is not included in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Habakkuk 1:9 tn Heb “come.”
- Habakkuk 1:9 tn Heb “The totality of their faces is to the east” (or “is forward”). The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מְגַמַּת (megammat) is unclear. For a discussion of options see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 93. NEB has “a sea of faces rolls on”; NIV “their hordes advance like a desert wind”; NRSV “with faces pressing forward.”
- Habakkuk 1:9 tn Heb “and he gathers like sand, prisoners.”
New English Translation (NET)
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