Habakkuk 3:15

15 viam fecisti in mari equis tuis in luto aquarum multarum

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 egressus es in salutem populi tui in salutem cum christo tuo percussisti caput de domo impii denudasti fundamentum usque ad collum semper
14 maledixisti sceptris eius capiti bellatorum eius venientibus ut turbo ad dispergendum me exultatio eorum sicut eius qui devorat pauperem in abscondito
15 viam fecisti in mari equis tuis in luto aquarum multarum
16 audivi et conturbatus est venter meus ad vocem contremuerunt labia mea ingrediatur putredo in ossibus meis et subter me scateat ut requiescam in die tribulationis ut ascendam ad populum accinctum nostrum
17 ficus enim non florebit et non erit germen in vineis mentietur opus olivae et arva non adferent cibum abscidetur de ovili pecus et non erit armentum in praesepibus
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.