Bible Strands
Habakkuk 1:11
Then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. They are guilty; their own strength is their god.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Habakkuk addresses God regarding the Babylonian army’s rapid conquests, describing their actions immediately after detailing their mockery of kings and fortresses.
The words — The Hebrew חָלַף (chalaf) means "swept on" and ר֛וּחַ (ruach) means "wind," literally describing a force that moves past defenses without obstruction.
The thread — This pattern of self-deified power appears in Daniel 4:30 and Daniel 5:20, where rulers attribute their success to their own might and face divine deposition.
Why it lands — It requires a reader to acknowledge that treating military or political strength as a substitute for divine authority is a structural failure that invites correction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.
Cross-references
- Daniel 5:20 But when his heart became arrogant and his spirit was hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken from him.
- Jeremiah 4:11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift;
- Daniel 4:30 the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”
- Daniel 5:3 Thus they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king drank from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.