Habakkuk 3 · Verse 16

Habakkuk 3:16

When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.
Habakkuk 3:16, King James Version

Habakkuk 3:16 in other translations

BSBI heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us.
WEBI heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, for the coming up of the people who invade us.
ASVI heard, and my body trembled, My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entereth into my bones, and I tremble in my place; Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, For the coming up of the people that invadeth us.
YLTI have heard, and my belly trembleth, At the noise have my lips quivered, Rottenness doth come into my bones, And in my place I do tremble, That I rest for a day of distress, At the coming up of the people, he overcometh it.
DARBYI heard, and my belly trembled; My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in my place, That I might rest in the day of distress, When their invader shall come up against the people.
BBEHearing it, my inner parts were moved, and my lips were shaking at the sound; my bones became feeble, and my steps were uncertain under me: I gave sounds of grief in the day of trouble, when his forces came up against the people in bands.
WebsterWhen I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up to the people, he will invade them with his troops.

What does Habakkuk 3:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
16. When I heard ... trembled--namely, at the judgments which God had declared (Ha 1:1-17) were to be inflicted on Judea by the Chaldeans. belly--The bowels were thought by the Hebrews to be the seat of yearning compassion (Jr 31:20). Or "heard" may refer to Ha 3:2, "When I heard as to Jehovah's coming interposition for Israel against the Chaldeans being still at some distance" (Ha 2:3); so also the voice" [Maurer]. at the voice--of the divine threatenings (Ha 1:6). The faithful tremble at the voice alone of God before He inflicts punishment. Habakkuk speaks in the person of all the faithful in Israel. trembled in myself--that is, I trembled all over [Grotius]. that I might rest in the day of trouble--The true and only path to rest is through such fear. Whoever is securely torpid and hardened towards God, will be tumultuously agitated in the day of affliction, and so will bring on himself a worse destruction; but he who in time meets God's wrath and trembles at His threats, prepares the best rest for himself in the day of affliction [Calvin]. Henderson translates, "Yet I shall have rest." Habakkuk thus consoling his mind, Though trembling at the calamity coming, yet I shall have rest in God (Is 26:3). But that sentiment does not seem to be directly asserted till Ha 3:17, as the words following at the close of this verse imply. when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade--rather (as English Version is a mere truism), connected with the preceding clause, "that I might rest ... when he (the Chaldean foe) cometh up unto the people (the Jews), that he may cut them off" [Calvin]. The Hebrew for "invade" means, to rush upon, or to attack and cut off with congregated troops.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 16 When I heard, my belly trembled - The prophet, having finished his account of the wonders done by Jehovah, in bringing their fathers from Egypt into the promised land, now returns to the desolate state of his countrymen, who are shortly to be led into captivity, and suffer the most grievous afflictions; and although he had a sure word of prophecy that they should be ultimately delivered, yet the thoughts of the evils they must previously endure filled his soul with terror and dismay; so that he wishes to be removed from earth before this tribulation should come, that his eyes might not behold the desolations of his country. When he (Nebuchadnezzar) cometh up unto the people, (the Jews), he will invade them (overpower and carry them away captive) with his troops.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Habakkuk 3:16-19
When we see a day of trouble approach, it concerns us to prepare. A good hope through grace is founded in holy fear. The prophet looked back upon the experiences of the church in former ages, and observed what great things God had done for them, and so was not only recovered, but filled with holy joy. He resolved to delight and triumph in the Lord; for when all is gone, his God is not gone. Destroy the vines and the fig-trees, and you make all the mirth of a carnal heart to cease. But those who, when full, enjoyed God in all, when emptied and poor, can enjoy all in God. They can sit down upon the heap of the ruins of their creature-comforts, and even then praise the Lord, as the God of their salvation, the salvation of the soul, and rejoice in him as such, in their greatest distresses. Joy in the Lord is especially seasonable when we meet with losses and crosses in the world. Even when provisions are cut off, to make it appear that man lives not by bread alone, we may be supplied by the graces and comforts of God's Spirit. Then we shall be strong for spiritual warfare and work, and with enlargement of heart may run the way of his commandments, and outrun our troubles. And we shall be successful in spiritual undertakings. Thus the prophet, who began his prayer with fear and trembling, ends it with joy and triumph. And thus faith in Christ prepares for every event. The name of Jesus, when we can speak of Him as ours, is balm for every wound, a cordial for every care. It is as ointment poured forth, shedding fragrance through the whole soul. In the hope of a heavenly crown, let us sit loose to earthly possessions and comforts, and cheerfully bear up under crosses. Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry; and where he is, we shall be also.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Habakkuk 3:16 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

שָׁמַ֣עְתִּי\׀sha.Ma'.tiI heardH8085
וַתִּרְגַּ֣זva.tir.Gazand it trembledH7264
בִּטְנִ֗יbit.Nibelly myH990
לְקוֹל֙le.kOlto [the] soundH6963
צָלֲל֣וּtza.la.Luthey quiveredH6750
שְׂפָתַ֔יse.fa.Tailips myH8193
יָב֥וֹאya.Vo'it cameH935
רָקָ֛בra.KavrottennessH7538
בַּעֲצָמַ֖יba.'a.tza.Maiin bones myH6106
וְתַחְתַּ֣יve.tach.Taiand under meH8478
אֶרְגָּ֑ז'er.GazI trembledH7264
אֲשֶׁ֤ר'a.SherthatH834
אָנ֙וּחַ֙'a.Nu.achI will be quietH5117
לְי֣וֹםle.Yomfor [the] day ofH3117
צָרָ֔הtza.RahtroubleH6869
לַעֲל֖וֹתla.'a.Lotto come upH5927
לְעַ֥םle.'Amto [the] peopleH5971
יְגוּדֶֽנּוּ\׃ye.gu.De.nu[which] attacks us itH1464

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Habakkuk 3:16

  • Jeremiah 23:9

    Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness.

  • Habakkuk 1:5-11

    Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. …

  • Habakkuk 3:2

    O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

  • Daniel 10:8

    Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.

  • Jeremiah 45:3-5

    Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest. Thus shalt thou say unto him, The Lord saith thus; Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land. And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.

  • Psalms 119:120

    My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.

  • Psalms 94:12-13

    Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.

  • 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9

    Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

  • Jeremiah 25:9-11

    Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

  • Jeremiah 15:10-11

    Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me. The Lord said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

  • Daniel 8:27

    And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.

  • 2 Kings 24:1-2

    In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I heard.
2; 1:5-11
my belly.
Ps 119:120; Jer 23:9; Eze 3:14; Da 8:27; 10:8
that I.
Ps 91:15; 94:12,13; Isa 26:20,21; Jer 15:10,11; 45:3-5; Eze 9:4-6
2Th 1:6-9
he will.
1:6; De 28:49-52; 2Ki 24:1,2; Jer 25:9-11
invade them. or cut them in pieces.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Habakkuk 3:15

    Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.

  • Habakkuk 3:16

    When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

  • Habakkuk 3:17

    Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

Read all of Habakkuk 3

Habakkuk 3:16 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Oí, y tembló mi vientre; á la voz se batieron mis labios; pudrición se entró en mis huesos, y en mi asiento me estremecí; si bien estaré quieto en el día de la angustia, cuando suba al pueblo el que lo invadirá con sus tropas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
J’entendis, et mes entrailles tremblèrent; à la voix que j’entendis mes lèvres frémirent, la pourriture entra dans mes os, et je tremblai sous moi-même, pour que j’aie du repos au jour de la détresse, quand montera contre le peuple celui qui l’assaillira.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Ich vernahm es, und es zitterte mein Leib; bei der Stimme bebten meine Lippen; Morschheit drang in meine Gebeine, und wo ich stand, erzitterte ich: der ich ruhen werde am Tage der Drangsal, wenn derjenige gegen das Volk heranzieht, der es angreifen wird.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Audivi, et conturbatus est venter meus; a voce contremuerunt labia mea. Ingrediatur putredo in ossibus meis, et subter me scateat: ut requiescam in die tribulationis, ut ascendam ad populum accinctum nostrum.