“You brandished
Your naked bow!
Overflowing arrows
Were at your command.”
Selah
This hymn of Habakkuk talked about a bow ready to shoot many arrows, since there were more than enough arrows for this empty bow. Then we have the psalmist pause for mediation with Selah, reminding us that this was a chant or hymn being sung.
“Look!
A people
Is coming
From the north.
A mighty nation
With many kings
Is stirring
From the farthest parts
Of the earth.
They lay hold of bow.
They have spears.
They are cruel.
They have no mercy.
Their sound is
Like the roaring sea.
They ride on horses.
They are equipped
Like a warrior for battle,
Against you.
O daughter!
Babylon!
The king of Babylon
Heard news of them.
His hands fall helpless.
Anguish seized him.
He had pain
Like a woman in labor.’”
This section is almost word for word from chapter 6 of this work about the coming invasion of Israel. Yahweh here tells the Babylonians that an invasion is coming from the northern country, but it was actually the eastern Persians. This invader was a great nation coming from far away, but it actually was right next to them. They had bows and arrows along with spears. They were a cruel merciless well equipped group whose horses made the sounds of a roaring sea. When the king of the Babylonians heard the news of this invasion, he felt helpless and anguished. He had pains like a woman in labor. Yahweh called Babylon “daughter,” a name that he had called Israel earlier in this work.
“Who is this?
Who is rising like the Nile?
Who is like rivers
Whose waters surge?
Egypt rises
Like the Nile.
They are
Like rivers
Whose waters surge.
It said.
Let me rise!
Let me cover the earth!
Let me destroy cities!
Let me destroy their inhabitants!
Advance!
O horses!
Dash madly!
O chariots!
Let the warriors go forth!
Men of Ethiopia!
Men of Put
Who carry the shield!
Men of Lud,
Who draw the bow!”
The Egyptians had originally thought that they would have the waters of the Nile River, or their power, take over the Babylonians, but the reverse was true. They wanted to be like rivers surging forth. They wanted to destroy other cities and their inhabitants. They had horses and chariots to carry out their mission as they advanced. They had the people from Ethiopia and Somalia. They had the people of Put, the Libyans, and Lud, the Lydians, who had shields and were good at bows and arrows. However, all this great might was turned back by the Babylonians.
“Thus says Yahweh.
‘See!
A people is coming
From the north country.
A great nation is stirring
From the farthest parts of the earth.
They grasp the bow.
They grasp the javelin spear.
They are cruel.
They have no mercy.
Their sound is
Like the roaring sea.
They ride on horses.
They are equipped
Like a warrior for battle,
Against you,
O daughter Zion!’”
Yahweh, via Jeremiah, tells them of the invasion coming from the north country. This invader was a great nation coming from far away that had bows and arrows along with spears. They were a cruel merciless group that made the sounds of a roaring sea. These well equipped warriors would be riding on their horses in battle against Zion.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 