Habakkuk 1:9
in Habakkuk 1All of them come bent on violence; their hordes advance like the east wind; they gather prisoners like sand.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They come all of them for violence; the set of their faces is forwards; and they gather captives as the sand.
KJV
They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.
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This verse in Habakkuk 1
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They shall come all for violence - “Violence” had been the sin of Judah Hab 1:3-4, and now violence shall be her punishment. It had been ever before the prophet; all were full of it. Now should violence be the very end, one by one, of all the savage horde poured out upon them; they all, each one of them come for violence.
This site's exposition
gather the captivity as the sand
on Habakkuk 1:9-11
They shall come all for violence... they shall gather the captivity as the sand describes an invasion that takes kings, princes, and strongholds as sport, deriding fortifications it does not need to respect. Verse 11 turns from description to indictment, then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god, the Chaldean crediting his own idol for a victory the true Lord had granted him. Henry and Gill read this line as the turning hinge of the whole book, the instrument of judgment becoming guilty in the moment it forgets whose hand raised it up.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 6 onwards) For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth to take possession of dwelling places that are not theirs. They are feared and dreaded; their justice and dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. They all come for violence; their faces forward; they gather captives like sand. At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They shall come all for violence,....
(3.) That they shall take a vast number of prisoners, and send them into Babylon: They shall gather the captivity as the sand for multitude, and shall never know when they have enough, as long as there are any more to be had. (4.) That they shall make nothing of the opposition that is given to them,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
HENDERSON, with SYMMACHUS and Syriac, translates, "the aspect." as the east wind--the simoon, which spreads devastation wherever it passes (Isa 27:8). GESENIUS translates, "(is) forwards." The rendering proposed, eastward, as if it referred to the Chaldeans' return home eastward from Judea, laden with spoils, is improbable.
Their faces shall sup up as the east wind - This may be an allusion to those electrical winds which prevail in that country. Mr. Jackson, in his overland journey from India, mentions his having bathed in the Tigris. On his coming out of the river one of those winds passed over him, and, in a moment, carried off every particle of water that was on his body and in his bathing dress. So, the Chaldeans shall leave no substance behind them; their faces, their bare appearance, is the proof that nothing good shall be left. Shall gather the captivity as the sand - They shall carry off innumerable captives.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And they shall mock the kings shall mock them. Every expression of קַלָּסָה is an expression for the speech of those speaking about another; some [of these speeches] are for good, and some for bad - parledic in O.F.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֻּלֹּה֙ | kuloh | all of it | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| לְחָמָ֣ס | lechamas | for violence | H2555 → | 60 times |
| יָב֔וֹא | yavo' | it comes | H935 → | 2568 times |
| מְגַמַּ֥ת | megamat | [the] totality of | H4041 → | |
| פְּנֵיהֶ֖ם | peneihem | faces their | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| קָדִ֑ימָה | kadimah | [is] east -ward | H6921 → | |
| וַיֶּאֱסֹ֥ף | vaiyeesof | and it gathered | H622 → | 200 times |
| כַּח֖וֹל | kachol | like <the> sand | H2344 → | |
| שֶֽׁבִי׃ | shevi | captive[s] | H7628 → |
כֻּלֹּה֙all of it
kulohH3605 →5413 times
לְחָמָ֣סfor violence
lechamasH2555 →60 times
יָב֔וֹאit comes
yavo'H935 →2568 times
מְגַמַּ֥ת[the] totality of
megamatH4041 →
פְּנֵיהֶ֖םfaces their
peneihemH6440 →2123 times
קָדִ֑ימָה[is] east -ward
kadimahH6921 →
וַיֶּאֱסֹ֥ףand it gathered
vaiyeesofH622 →200 times
כַּח֖וֹלlike <the> sand
kacholH2344 →
שֶֽׁבִי׃captive[s]
sheviH7628 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 25:9behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 13:3
I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.
- Jeremiah 1:15
For I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD. “Their kings will come and set up their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem.…
- Jeremiah 18:16
They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
- Ezekiel 29:18–20
“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from…
- Habakkuk 1:6–10
For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
- Isaiah 13:3
Through
Jeremiah 34:22Behold, I am going to give the command, declares the LORD, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down. And I will…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:11
“And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
- Jeremiah 39:1–2
In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to the city.
- Jeremiah 39:8
The Chaldeans set fire to the palace of the king and to the houses of the people, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 9:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
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About Habakkuk
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Habakkuk; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.