Habakkuk Chapter 3 verse 14 Holy Bible
Thou didst pierce with his own staves the head of his warriors: They came as a whirlwind to scatter me; Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
read chapter 3 in ASV
You have put your spears through his head, his horsemen were sent in flight like dry stems; they had joy in driving away the poor, in making a meal of them secretly.
read chapter 3 in BBE
Thou didst strike through with his own spears the head of his leaders: They came out as a whirlwind to scatter me, Whose exulting was as to devour the afflicted secretly.
read chapter 3 in DARBY
Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
read chapter 3 in KJV
read chapter 3 in WBT
You pierced the heads of his warriors with their own spears. They came as a whirlwind to scatter me, Gloating as if to devour the wretched in secret.
read chapter 3 in WEB
Thou hast pierced with his staves the head of his leaders, They are tempestuous to scatter me, Their exultation `is' as to consume the poor in secret.
read chapter 3 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 14. - Thou didst strike through with his staves; thou didst pierce with his own spears. Thou dost turn on the Chaldeans and all thine enemies the destruction which they intended for others. The people meet with the same fate as the royal house (ver. 13); Vulgate, maledixisti sceptris ejus, which seems to be a mistranslation. The head of his villages (פרזים). There is a difficulty in arriving at the meaning of this last word. The LXX. renders it, "mighty men;" Jerome, "warriors;" Chaldee, "army;" Delitzsch and many modern critics, "hordes" or "inhabitants of the plain;" others again, "rulers" or "judges." The most probable version is either "warriors" or "hordes." The head, i.e. collectively the heads of his warlike troops. They came out (or, who rush) as a whirlwind to scatter me (see the description of the Chaldees, Habakkuk 1:6, etc.). The prophet identifies himself with his people. (For the figure of the whirlwind, comp. Isaiah 41:16; Jeremiah 13:24; Hosea 13:3.) Dr. Briggs renders, "Thou dost pierce with his rods the chief, when his rulers are rushing in to scatter me." Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly; or, as in ambush, to devoter the helpless. They exult in acting the part of robbers and murderers, who lurk for the defenceless and afflict the poor (Psalm 10:8, etc.). As is equivalent to "as it were." Vulgate, Sicut ejus qui. "The poor" are primarily the Israelites, and then all meek worshippers of God.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(14) Thou dost strike through with his staves . . .--Better, Thou dost pierce with his (scil., thine anointed people's) spears the head of his (the enemy's) princes, when they sweep by to scatter me abroad, when they exult as if to devour the afflicted secretly. The first clause is very obscure. Matteh means not only "spear," but also "rod," "stem," "tribe" (see on Habakkuk 3:9); and the word which we translate "princes" may also, perhaps, mean "villages." (See on Judges 5:7.) It is also uncertain to whom the possessive pronouns attached to these substantives refer the last clause we are reminded of several passages in the Psalms, notably, Psalm 10:9; Psalm 14:4; Psalm 17:12.
