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.
382 Aron Pinker
*
**
This synopsis of some of the scholarship associated with Hab 3,14a
illustrate the difficulties that the ‘easy’ part of the verse posed. I tentatively
understand Hab 3,14 as describing the retribution to the Chaldeans who have
overwhelmed Judah in a cavalry attack, enjoying the chase and the loot, a
scene so vividly described in 1,8-17 (36). Consequently, I prefer here for wzrp
“horsemenâ€. I suggest emending wyfmb into ywfmb (construct state), “into the
spunâ€, referring to the locks and braids at the back of the head or to the scaled
extension of the hat at the back (37). An association between God’s attack on
His enemies and the hair of the head is indicated in Ps 68,22
wymvab ˚lhtm r[c dqdq wybya var ≈jmy µyhlaA˚a (“God will smash the head of
His enemies, the hairy crown of him that walks about in his guiltâ€). Similarly,
in Deut 32,42 God seems to hit at the long hair at the back of an enemy,
bywa tw[rp varm hybvw llj µdm rçb lkat ybrjw µdm yxj rykva (“I will make My
arrows drunk with blood, As My sword devours flesh, blood of the slain and
the captive, from the long-haired enemy chiefsâ€). The goddess Anath
threatens her father El with grabbing his locks with her hands and pulling out
the hair of his head (38).
Babylonian and Assyrian men curled their hair with irons. A drawing of
an Assyrian cavalryman in a relief from the palace of Sargon (721-705 BCE),
depicts what was apparently the typical hairstyle of such warriors (39). Since
Babylon was for a long time part of the Assyrian Empire it can be assumed
that similar hair-dos were practiced by its military. The incident in which
Absalom’s hair got caught by the tangled branches of a terebinth (2 Sam 18,9)
indicates that the long hairstyle was fashionable among the nations of the
Near-East, though not the Isarelite. Fishbane observes that the kings of
Assyria used to heavily oil their hair, letting their hair grow well over their
shoulders, and making their ends very curly (40).
It seems that hair had some magical meaning for the Assyrian. Some
Assyrian documents mention a person complaining that he was bewitched by
a magician who stole his hair (41). Samson’s head full of hair was not only a
(36) D. MARKL, “Hab 3 in intertextueller und kontextueller Sichtâ€, Bib 85 (2004) 106,
n. 44. Intertextuality leads Markl to the observation, “The links of catchwords from Hab
3,14 to Hab 1,8.15-16 allow to conclude, that here in the first line an external enemy is
meant (contra Huwyler)â€. Cf. B. HUWYLER, “Habakuk und seine Psalmenâ€, Prophetie und
Psalmen (FS K. Seybold) (eds. B. HUWYLER – H.-P. MATHYS – B. WEBER) (AOAT 280;
Münster 2001) 256.
(37) This interpretation fits well with reconstructions of the previous verse that read
rawx d[ dqdq twr[ “you revealed the back of the head to the neck†(MARGOLIS, “The
Character of the Anonymous Greek Version of Habakkuk, Chapter 3â€, 426). See also Y.
KAUFMANN, Toldot Ha-emunah Ha-Israelit (Jerusalem 1969) VI-VII, 307. He suggests that
twr[ refers to smashing and revealing the head which was covered with a hat made of metal
(helmet).
(38) U. CASSUTO, The Goddess Anath (Jerusalem 1965) 71-72. Anath says: “I will hold
your curls in my right hand, your locks with great strength of my hand, I will pull the hair
from the crown of your headâ€.
(39) YADIN, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, 457. Picture of the original relief is
on page 416. Note that in the figure the hair of the horse’s tail are controlled.
(40) M. FISHBANE, “r[câ€, Encyclopaedia Biblica (Jerusalem 1982) VIII, 329.
(41) Ibid.