The description of the defeat of God’s enemies continues, and as in the previous verse, there are some problems with the text.
Thou didst pierce with thy shafts the head of his warriors: the Hebrew word translated thy shafts in Revised Standard Version is literally “his own staves” (Revised Version). It is the same word as that translated “arrows” in verse 9 and can be interpreted in the same way here. Many modern versions change one letter of this Hebrew word to alter the possessive suffix and have “your arrows” instead of “his arrows” (Moffatt, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New English Bible, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible). This has the support of one manuscript of the Septuagint. However, the traditional Hebrew text also makes good sense (Revised Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New International Version, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project) and supplies an element of poetic justice, and even makes the punishment fit the crime in a manner similar to that which occurred frequently in the taunts of 2.6-20.
The word head may be taken literally (New American Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) but is usually understood to mean “leader” (Moffatt, Revised Standard Version, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), and this seems to fit the context better, especially if verse 13 is understood as in the comments above.
The Hebrew word translated warriors in Revised Standard Version occurs nowhere else, and its meaning is uncertain. The rendering warriors is based on the understanding shown in the ancient Latin Vulgate version. It is accepted in most modern versions and makes good sense.
Good News Translation “Your arrows pierced the commander of his army” accepts the change from “his” to “your,” and with the word “commander” makes it clear that it understands “head” in the sense of “leader.” Since warriors is rather old-fashioned, Good News Translation uses the modern term “army.” However, in languages which do not have a collective word for army, translators may express the final phrase as “leader (or, commander) of his soldiers.”
Who came like a whirlwind to scatter me translates the traditional Hebrew text (compare Revised Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project), which makes good sense. Some scholars change one letter of the Hebrew to read “us” instead of me (Moffatt, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, New International Version, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). However, me can be interpreted as a collective singular, like “anointed” in verse 13, and rendered as the exclusive pronoun “us” on translational grounds rather than by changing the text (Driver, Lehrman).
Other scholars have suggested more extensive changes, so that New English Bible, for instance, translates “their leaders are torn from them by the whirlwind.” New American Bible omits the line altogether. All this seems quite unnecessary. Good News Translation “When it came like a storm to scatter us” expresses the meaning clearly and simply and is an adequate translation model. The words “to scatter us” imply a comparison with grain husks which are blown away by the wind of the “storm.” If translators need to use the word “soldiers” rather than a collective word meaning “army,” it is possible to translate the second line as “when they (or, the soldiers) came like a storm to scatter us.” Scatter can be rendered as “cause to go in all directions.”
The last line adds to the description of the wicked, speaking of their attitude toward God’s people: rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret. In this setting the rejoicing is for bad reasons, and Good News Translation shows this by the word “gloating” (compare New International Version; and see Obadiah 12-13; Micah 7.8 in Good News Translation).
To devour is figurative and implies a comparison with wild animals. Good News Translation expresses this in nonfigurative language as “oppress.” Some versions try to keep the figure of speech in English, but they express it by translating in secret as “in their lair” (Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible). “Lair” in English is used primarily of the home of a fierce wild animal (see Nahum 2.11 on the translation of “lair” or “den”). “Oppress” may be expressed in some languages as “treat cruelly,” “rob,” or “plunder.”
The Hebrew word for the poor meant originally those in physical need. Later it came to be applied to the godly minority, since they were often oppressed by those in power (compare Zeph 3.12). Here the word probably has these religious overtones, but its main reference is to physical need. This is shown by the terms used in various versions: “some poor wretch” (Jerusalem Bible), “the wretched” (New American Bible, New International Version), “their wretched victims” (New English Bible). Poor can also be rendered “poor people,” or even “powerless people.” However, in languages spoken by marginal peoples where most of the population is termed poor by the rest of the world, there may not be precise terms for distinguishing between poor and rich people. In such cases translators will find it helpful to use phrases such as “people who have no possessions” or “people who have only one animal.” Alternative translation models for this final clause are “gloating like those who secretly treat poor people cruelly,” or in the case of translators who wish to follow Revised Standard Version rephrases with modern grammar as “You trampled the sea with your horses.” The various subtle allusions which were understood by the original readers are almost always lost in translation. This is one of the difficulties of translating poetry, but it simply has to be accepted.
Revised Standard Version takes the second line, the surging of mighty waters, to be in apposition to the sea in the first line (compare Jerusalem Bible). However, in other versions the fact that the waters surge is taken as the result of the treading (New English Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible). This may be stated as a cause–effect relationship, or just as two simultaneous events. Good News Translation does the latter: “and the mighty waters foamed.” In this way the cause–effect relationship is implied but not stated explicitly. In some languages it may be necessary to be more explicit and say “You trampled the sea with your horses and made the mighty waters foam” or “You rode your horses over the sea, and they trampled it and made the mighty waters foam.”
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 .