If integrated into the book of Daniel: 14.36.

The angel of the Lord took him by the crown of his head, and lifted him by his hair: If these are two separate actions, they are best translated by New Jerusalem Bible, which reads “The angel of the Lord took hold of his head and carried him off by the hair.” It is hard to visualize this, however. Does the angel have the prophet’s head in one hand and the hair in another? If the two clauses describe the same action, then Good News Translation does it best with “the angel grabbed the prophet by the hair.” Contemporary English Version also is good: “The angel lifted up Habakkuk by his hair.” Even if they are two separate actions, it is hard to see that Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version lose anything. Our advice is to follow these two translations. (See Ezek 8.3, and compare 1 Kgs 18.12; 2 Kgs 2.16.)

Set him down in Babylon, right over the den: It is amazing how many translations seem to see nothing strange about setting someone down on top of a huge hole in the ground! Good News Translation sees the problem and has a good solution, but New Jerusalem Bible is better with “he set Habakkuk down on the edge of the pit” (similarly Contemporary English Version). This expresses the Greek well and presents a vivid mental image.

With the rushing sound of the wind itself: This is almost always taken as an adverbial phrase modifying the verb set. (In Good News Translation it modifies the verb “took,” but Good News Translation inserts “took” [Contemporary English Version “carried”] to fill a little gap in the narrative between the angel’s grabbing Habakkuk and his putting him down.) A suggestion has been made that the phrase is a mistranslation from Hebrew (“when he recovered his breath”) and goes with the following verse, but this is not taken seriously by most scholars today. These further points can be made:

1. Rushing sound translates a noun. In Greek literature it is used to describe such things as the sound of an arrow in flight or a whip, the noise made by a tree as it falls, the beating of a bird’s wings, the hiss of a snake, the sound made by filing metal, or the pronunciation of the letter R.
2. Wind translates a word that can mean wind, breath, or spirit.
3. The term translated itself can serve as a pronoun or an adjective, and is in an ambiguous position. As an intensive adjective, it can mean “the wind itself”; as a pronoun, it can mean “his wind.” (As a matter of fact it can even mean “its wind,” but the context rules at least that possibility out.)

The idea of a sound does not go well with “spirit,” so that the reading of the Good News Translation and New Revised Standard Version footnote, “by the power of his spirit,” is difficult to justify. Good News Translation, New American Bible, and New Revised Standard Version take the rushing sound to stand for a strong wind, and read “with the speed of the wind,” which is better. New English Bible takes the word for wind to refer to the angel’s breath, however, so it reads “with the blast of his breath” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible). This makes good sense linguistically, and if one objects that it is a strange picture—well, look around at the surrounding context! This Handbook suggests an interpretation very close to Revised Standard Version, and to Moore’s “in a gust of wind.” An alternative model for the whole verse with this interpretation is:

• So the angel grabbed Habakkuk by the hair, and took him to Babylon in a rushing wind, and set him down on the edge of the lion pit.

Compare the first line of Psa 104.4, which can be translated “[you] make the winds your messengers” or “[you] make your angels winds.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.