Habakkuk 3:15

15 You trampled the sea with your horses, and the mighty waters foamed.

Habakkuk 3:15 Meaning and Commentary

Habakkuk 3:15

Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses
And as thou didst of old, so do again; as Jehovah walked through the Red sea in a pillar of cloud and fire, which were his horses and chariots, and destroyed the Egyptians; so may he walk through another sea by his instruments, and destroy the enemies of his church and people; (See Gill on Habakkuk 3:8). The "sea" here signifies the world, compared to it for the multitude of its people; the noise, fluctuation, and uncertainty of all things in it; and particularly the Roman empire, the sea out of which the antichristian beast arose, ( Revelation 13:1 ) . The "horses" are the angels or Christian princes, with whom the Lord will walk in majesty, and in the greatness of his strength, pouring out the vials of his wrath on the antichristian states: through the heap of many waters;
or "the clay", or "mud of many waters" F23; that lies at the bottom of them; which being walked through and trampled on by horses, is raised up, and "troubles" them, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it: these "many waters" are those on which the whore of Rome is said to sit; and which are interpreted of people, multitudes, nations, and tongues, ( Revelation 17:1 Revelation 17:15 ) and the "mud" of them is expressive of their pollution and corruption, with her false doctrines, idolatry, superstition, and immoralities; and of their disturbed state and condition, through the judgments of God upon them, signified by his horses walking through them; trampling upon them in fury; treating them with the utmost contempt; treading them like mire and clay, and bringing upon them utter ruin and destruction.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 (Mybr Mym rmx) "in luto aquarum multarum", Tigurine version; "calcasti lutum aquarum multarum", Cocceius, Van Till; "lutum, aquae multae", Burkius.

Habakkuk 3:15 In-Context

13 You went out to save your people, to save your chosen king. You struck down the leader of the wicked and completely destroyed his followers.
14 Your arrows pierced the commander of his army when it came like a storm to scatter us, gloating like those who secretly oppress the poor.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses, and the mighty waters foamed.
16 I hear all this, and I tremble; my lips quiver with fear. My body goes limp, and my feet stumble beneath me. I will quietly wait for the time to come when God will punish those who attack us.
17 Even though the fig trees have no fruit and no grapes grow on the vines, even though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no grain, even though the sheep all die and the cattle stalls are empty,
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.