Verses 7-11 give a vivid description of the military power and arrogant attitude of the Babylonians.

The Babylonians are described as Dread and terrible. Good News Translation expresses this in a more personal way as “They spread fear and terror.” One may also translate this clause as “They cause people everywhere to shake with fear.” In some languages, however, “terror” is described idiomatically; for example, “They cause the hearts of people in countries everywhere to shrink so that their bodies tremble.” In still other languages it may be necessary to state this from the opposite point of view and say “People in other nations fear them very much” or “People in other nations are so afraid of them that their bodies tremble.”

The second half of the verse is not very clear in Revised Standard Version. The meaning is that the Babylonians do not acknowledge any other power greater than themselves, and so they set their own rules for the treatment of other people. (Compare “whose own might is their god” in verse 11.) Dignity in this context refers to “pride.” Good News Translation expresses this in rather idiomatic English as “in their pride they are a law to themselves.” Another way to express this clause is “They are so proud that they feel (or, consider) that anything they do is right and lawful,” or one can say “They are so proud that they feel (or, consider) that nothing they do is wrong or unlawful.”

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .