Pinker, «On the Meaning of wy+m in Habakkuk 3,14a», Vol. 86 (2005) 376-386
In Hab 3,14a the minimal emendation
of wy+mb “with his staffs” into yw+mb “into the
spun of” is suggested. Hab 3,14 is perceived as describing God on His chariot
chasing the enemy’s fleeing horsemen, piercing the spun or braids at the back of
their head. These horsemen have previously much enjoyed the chase and the loot
when they attacked Judah.
384 Aron Pinker
it is embedded. It would be futile to even attempt here an analysis of the
plethora of interpretations that have been offered for Hab 3,14. Since the
focus of this paper is Hab 3,14a, I will only describe the contextual
framework, without going into the details of supporting evidence. It seems
that in Hab 3,14 God is back on His chariot (see v. 15), the enemy is fleeing
on horseback (wyzrp) and exposing his back to Him, who pierces the enemy’s
head at the back, perhaps by throwing the javelin, or piercing with a
spear/lance (46). These very horsemen, who have so much enjoyed the chase
and the loot when they attacked Judah, are now the fugitives. God is chasing
now these horsemen, piercing the braids (ywfm) at the back of their head (47). I
suggest emending the first colon according to scheme <= wzrp var ywmb tbqn
wzrp var fmb tbqn where wzrp var fmb tbqn means “You pierced at the
spun(s) of the head of his (fleeing) horsemenâ€.
As to the remainder of the verse, rtsmb yn[ lkal wmk µtcyl[ ynxyphl wr[sy,
the first two words (ynxyphl wr[sy) seem to refer to the arrival of the Chaldeans
in 1,6-11, where they pass by “as the windâ€. The first two colons thus express
a tit-for-tat situation. Those Chaldeans who passed as a storm trying to scatter
the defenders are now being scattered in pursuit by the Lord. Thus, wr[sy
would mean, “who came as a stormâ€(48). The prophet uses the singular ynxyphl,
because he wants to express his intimate relation with his people in which “Iâ€
and “them†fuse into one, it is a singular representing a nation. Perhaps it
refers to both scattering of the defenders and the scattering of the exiled in the
Babylonian Empire (49).
The arrival of an enemy normally caused the populace to scatter and hide
(46) ANDERSEN, Habakkuk, 313. Andersen translates “Their hair didst thou scatter in
the windâ€, but does not provide any explanation.
(47) YADIN, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, 402-403. The equipment of the gods
has been conceived as that of the heroic warriors, and so was the case for God in poetic
creations. The standard weaponry of a chariot was the bow and the driver’s spear. It is
conceivable that each of the crew had a personal weapon such as an axe, mace, sword, etc.
God, as the single rider of the chariot uses the bow (v. 11), and implicitly a mace (v. 13) and
spear (v. 14).
(48) wr[sy, the Qal imperfect 3rd masculine (plural) of r[s, means “they violently shake
(Jonah 1,11), toss (Isa 54,11), scatter or disperse (Zech 7,14; Hos 13,3), or rush inâ€. Most
of the versions read wr[sy as a verb, either as the imperfect plural or the participle, and
understand it as the activity (shaking, storming) of God’s enemies. The Septuagint
translates wr[sy as “they shall tremble in itâ€. Both the Targum and the Vulgate understand
wr[sy as “rushing in as a whirlwindâ€. The Peshitta and Barberini, however, read wr[sy as
“those who trustâ€, confusing the r with the d. Perhaps lkal of the last colon played some
role in the confusion, since d[s means “support, sustain, stayâ€, and the sense “sustain†can
be accomplished through eating (Gen 18,5) (MARGOLIS, “The Character of the Anonymous
Greek Version of Habakkuk, Chapter 3â€, 142). Ibn Ezra translates wr[sy “they moveâ€. BHS
suggests the reading Wr[]s]yI followed by ≈mk (kammË›s≥) “as chaffâ€, which is obtained from
/mk. Note that w and x are similar in the paleoscript. Margolis (p. 427) injects çab (be’ˇπ) after
Wr[sy, explaining the loss in the MT as a haplography resulting from the homoioteleutonic
çar – çab (b and r being virtually identical in the paleoscript).
(49) ynxyphl is either the Hiphil infinitive of ≈wp, “to scatterâ€, or of ≈pn, “to shatterâ€. Both
meanings may have been intended. The Septuagint appears to separate ynxyphl into hl + a
form of hxp, translating “at it, they shall burstâ€. The reading “they shall burst (their
bridles)â€, may have been influenced by the mention of horses in verse 15 and perhaps a
nuance of “horsemen†in wzrp. The Targum appears to translate ynxyphl as “you drowned
themâ€, the Peshitta and Barberini omit the word altogether and the Vulgate takes it to be “to
disperse meâ€.