Habakkuk 3:11
in Habakkuk 3Sun and moon stood still in their places at the flash of Your flying arrows, at the brightness of Your shining spear.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The sun and moon stood still in their habitation, At the light of thine arrows as they went, At the shining of thy glittering spear.
KJV
The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.
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This verse in Habakkuk 3
Commentary
15 notes on this verseLXX: In light, your javelins shall go forth, in the splendor of the flashing of your armor. The javelins of God, that is, the arrows going and advancing, are not sent for the purpose of killing, but for the purpose of illuminating. In distinction to these arrows and javelins, Christ is called the chosen javelin by Isaiah proclaiming: He has made me as a chosen javelin and has hidden me in his quiver, and he said to me: This is great for you, to be called my servant (Isaiah 49:2-3).
This site's exposition
the deep uttered his voice
on Habakkuk 3:10-12
The mountains saw thee, and they trembled extends the theophany's reach from ancient rivers to the created order at large, the deep itself lifting up his hands on high like a creature startled awake. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation openly recalls Joshua's long day, the same God who halted the sky over Gibeon again commanding light itself at the light of thine arrows and the shining of thy glittering spear. Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger keeps the theophany pointed at a purpose. Henry and Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown read the whole cosmic display as instrumental to a specific act of judgment and deliverance rather than spectacle for its own sake.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Verse 11 onwards) The mountains saw you and trembled; the raging waters passed by. The abyss gave forth its voice; the heights lifted their hands. The sun and moon stood still in their dwelling place; they will go in the light of your arrows, in the radiance of your glittering spear. In your fury, you trample the earth; in your wrath, you astonish the nations. You have come for the salvation of your people, for salvation with your Christ. You have struck the head from the house of the wicked; you have laid bare the foundation to the neck. Always. We have placed our edition alone, so that according to it, that is, according to the Hebrew, we may discuss the coherence of the passage, then we may discuss the same passage comically by chapters. The mountains saw you, God, and they grieved: namely, the high kingdoms and the lofty powers of this age, and the four chariots in Zechariah, which go forth from the bronze mountains (Zech. VI): these saw you and trembled. And the surge of waters passed over: this is, all their impetus and persecution, by which they vexed your people, passed over after they saw you. Then the abyss, that is, the underworld, praised you: then even the gods, that is, the angels, clapped their hands in applause, as if with a certain gesture and exultation of raised hands they showed you as the victor. Your sun and moon, and all the splendor with which you had previously shone upon your people, and afterwards had been covered by the weight of evil, were enveloped in the horror of darkness, received their light again, and regained their former brightness. Your arrows and your flashing spear, that is, your wounds, and your teaching, provided light to your people. Finally, in the light of your arrows, and in the splendor of your spear, which hast struck them to correct them, your people walked in your fury. […]
LXX: The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood in its place. If we follow a simple interpretation, the progress of the sun and moon is shown by the words at hand: that, according to Isaiah, in the future age the sun will shine sevenfold in light, and the moon will shine with the brightness of the sun (Isaiah XXX, 26). For since the creature will be set free from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Romans VIII), which is now subjected to vanity, because of the one who subjected it in hope of freedom, when at the consummation of the world every creature will be set free, the sun and the moon will also be set free, and they will stand in their place. But if we desire to receive Christ, the sun of justice, in whose wings is health, and the moon, which is illuminated by the splendor of this sun, as the Church: it is not difficult to say that the true light, the light of men, and the splendor of the glory of God, and the splendor of eternal light, may illuminate it: which now in this age may increase and decrease according to prosperities and trials. But when the sun will be exalted, and, according to the Apostle, God will exalt it, and give it a name above every name (Philippians 2): then also the Church, which in the present age cannot maintain its order, will return to its rightful order, and will not be changed; but will stand firm in its position, and will hear with Moses: But you stand here with me (Exodus 34:2).
A commentator
Fulgentius of RuspeTO EUTHYMIUS, ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 1:21.4 · Written before 533.
proposed
And the prophet Habakkuk proclaims the ascension of Christ and the strength of the ecclesiastical order under the titles of the sun and the moon: "The sun raised high its hands; the moon stood still in its exalted place." So the heart of each of …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Concerning this glory of His Ascension, Habakkuk also says, "The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood in its order." For who is designated by the name of sun except the Lord, and who by the name of moon except the Church? For until the Lord ascended to heaven, His holy Church utterly feared the adversities of the world; but after it was strengthened by His Ascension, it openly preached what it secretly believed. Therefore the sun was lifted up, and the moon stood in its order, because when the Lord sought heaven, His holy Church grew in the authority of preaching.
The sun was raised, and the moon stood in its place. For the sun, the Lord of righteousness, was raised to heaven after his passion and resurrection, and having sent the Spirit from the Father, he illuminated the Church and spread it through the whole …
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church3 voices
In light, your arrows will go forth, in the brightness of the splendor of arms. The arrows of Christ, however, are his words, by which the hearts of men are pierced, so that with the wound of salvation inflicted, the faithful soul may say: "I …
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 3 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
As indeed a cloud rises aloft in order that it may rain down, so does Christ ascend in order that He may grant His gifts. The sun has been lifted up, and the moon remained in its shelter. For at first He had given the …
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 13 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The fourth anagogy is a reference to the Church Triumphant which is also signified by the sun, in a passage from Habacuc: "The sun and the moon stood still in their habitation," that is, when the soul and the body are glorified. "They go about …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The sun and moon stood still in their habitation,....
Many expressions are here used to set forth the conquest of Canaan. (1.) God's bow was made quite naked, taken out of the case, to be employed for Israel; we should say, his sword was quite unsheathed, not drawn out a little way, to frighten the enemy, and then put up again, but quite drawn out, not to be returned till they are all cut off.
He affects himself with a holy concern for the present troubles of the church, but encourages himself and others to hope that the issue will be comfortable and glorious at last, though all visible means fail,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Sun and moon stood still (as one act retiring into) in their habitation - They withdrew, as it were, in the midst of the great tempest, wherein Jos 10:11-13. “God cast down great stones from heaven upon” His enemies and they died; and “the sun stood still, and the moon stayed.” The sun too withdrew itself in the great darkness at the crucifixion, as not bearing to look upon the death of its Maker, when the majesty of the Sun of Righteousness was darkened o’er; and signs in the sun and in the moon there shall be to the end.
The sun and moon stood still - This was at the prayer of Joshua, when he fought against the Amorites. See Jos 10:11-12 (note), and the notes there. At the light of thine arrows they went - I think we should translate: - By their light, thine arrows went abroad; By their brightness, the lightning of thy spear. Calvin very justly remarks that the arrows and spears of the Israelites are called those of God, under whose auspices the people fought: the meaning is, that by the continuation of the light of the sun and moon, then stayed in their course, the Israelites saw how to continue the battle, till their enemies were all defeated.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
stood in their dwellings in their dwellings. In every word that requires a “lammed” at the beginning - Scripture placed a “he” at the end [meaning “to”]. They explained the phrase as referring to the war of Gibeon, as the Targum paraphrases it.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Mountains saw You and quaked The mountains of the streams of Arnon that cleft to one another.
With fury You tread the earth to drive out the seven nation [the heathens of Canaan].
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. 3 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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שֶׁ֥מֶשׁ | shemesh | sun | H8121 → | |
| יָרֵ֖חַ | yareach | moon | H3394 → | |
| עָ֣מַד | ʾamad | it has stood still | H5975 → | 521 times |
| זְבֻ֑לָה | zevulah | a lofty abode <towards> | H2073 → | |
| לְא֤וֹר | leor | to light | H216 → | |
| חִצֶּ֙יךָ֙ | chitzeikha | arrows your | H2671 → | |
| יְהַלֵּ֔כוּ | yehalekhu | they go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לְנֹ֖גַהּ | lenogah | to brightness | H5051 → | |
| בְּרַ֥ק | berak | [the] lightning flash of | H1300 → | |
| חֲנִיתֶֽךָ׃ | chanitekha | spear your | H2595 → |
שֶׁ֥מֶשׁsun
shemeshH8121 →
יָרֵ֖חַmoon
yareachH3394 →
עָ֣מַדit has stood still
ʾamadH5975 →521 times
זְבֻ֑לָהa lofty abode <towards>
zevulahH2073 →
לְא֤וֹרto light
leorH216 →
חִצֶּ֙יךָ֙arrows your
chitzeikhaH2671 →
יְהַלֵּ֔כוּthey go
yehalekhuH1980 →1546 times
לְנֹ֖גַהּto brightness
lenogahH5051 →
בְּרַ֥ק[the] lightning flash of
berakH1300 →
חֲנִיתֶֽךָ׃spear your
chanitekhaH2595 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Psalms 19:4their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.
it leads to
- Romans 10:18
But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
- Genesis 1:14–18
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.
- Psalms 104:2
He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent,
- Malachi 4:2
“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
- Psalms 98:3
He has remembered His love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
- Romans 10:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Habakkuk
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on the Song of Habakkuk; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 3; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 13; Fulgentius of Ruspe, TO EUTHYMIUS, ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 1:21.4; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 29; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Habakkuk; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.