Bible Strands
Habakkuk 3:14
With his own spear You pierced his head, when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though ready to secretly devour the weak.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Habakkuk addresses God in a prayer of praise, recounting a past martial deliverance that secured salvation for the people. The speaker stands in a moment of worship, reflecting on God’s intervention after describing His march to crush the wicked in the preceding verse.
The words — The Hebrew נָקַבְתָּ (naqavta) translates literally as "you pierced," denoting the decisive strike against the enemy commander. The phrase בְּמַטֵּימוֹ (betamito) or the provided בְּמַטֵּימוֹ refers to "his own spear/arrows," highlighting the reversal of the attacker’s intended weapons.
The thread — The imagery of divine arrows and lightning striking enemies runs through Zechariah 9:14 and Daniel 11:40, where God’s sudden, overwhelming military intervention is described. The motif of surrounded nations being cut off in the Lord’s name parallels Psalm 118:10.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that God repurposes the enemy’s own violence to execute judgment. It asks the reader to recognize that salvation comes through decisive, unmerited intervention rather than human strategy.
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
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.
Cross-references
- Zechariah 9:14 Then the LORD will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord GOD will sound the ram’s horn and advance in the whirlwinds of the south.
- Daniel 11:40 At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, invading many countries and sweeping through them like a flood.
- Psalms 118:10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
- Exodus 1:10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”
- Exodus 1:22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”
- Exodus 11:4 So Moses declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,
- Exodus 12:12 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
- Exodus 12:29 Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock.
- Exodus 14:5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”
- Exodus 14:17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen.