Albert Barnes Commentary Habakkuk 3:1

"A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to Shigionoth." — Habakkuk 3:1 (ASV)

A prayer of Habakkuk - The “prayer” of the prophet, in the strictest sense of the word, is contained in the words of Habakkuk 3:2. The rest is, in its form, praise and thanksgiving, chiefly for God’s past mercies in the deliverance from Egypt and the entering into the promised land. But thanksgiving is an essential part of prayer, and Hannah is said to have “prayed,” whereas the hymn which followed is throughout one thanksgiving.

Because these former deliverances were also images of things to come, of every deliverance afterward, and, especially, of that complete divine deliverance which our Lord Jesus Christ performed for us from the power of Satan (1 Corinthians 10:11), the whole is one prayer: “Do, O Lord, as You have done of old; forsake not Your own works. Such were Your deeds once; fulfill them now, all which they foreshadowed.” It is then a prayer for the manifestation of God’s power, and with it the destruction of His enemies, from that time forward to the Day of Judgment.

Cyril: “Having completed the discourse about Babylon, and having announced beforehand most clearly, that those who destroyed the holy city and carried Israel captive shall be severely punished, he passes suitably to the mystery of Christ, and from the redemption which took place partially in one nation, he carries on the discourse to that universal redemption, by which the remnant of Israel, and no less the whole world has been saved.”

Upon Shigionoth - The title, “Shiggaion,” occurs only once besides (Psalms 7:0). “Upon,” in the titles of the Psalms, is used with the instrument, the melody, or the first words of the hymn whose melody has been adopted. The first two are mentioned by a Jewish Commentator (Tanchum) with others, “in his delight,” or “his errors,” in the sense that God will forgive them. This, which the versions and Jewish commentators mostly adopt, would be a good sense, but is hardly consistent with the Hebrew usage. “Shiggaion of David,” as a title of a Psalm, must necessarily describe the Psalm itself, as “Mismor of David,” “Michtam of David,” “Tephillah of David,” “Maschil of David.” But “Shiggaion,” as a “great error,” is not a title; nor does it suit the character of the Psalm, which relates to calumny, not to error.

It probably, then, means a psalm with music expressive of strong emotion, “erratic” or “dithyrambic.” Habakkuk’s title, “on Shigionoth” (plural), then would mean “upon,” or (as we should say) “set to” music of psalms of this sort.

The number “three” remarkably predominates in this psalm (Habakkuk 3:6 has 15 words, in five combinations of three words; Habakkuk 3:3 and Habakkuk 3:10 have 12 words, in four threes; Habakkuk 3:4, Habakkuk 3:9, and Habakkuk 3:19 have 9 words, in three threes; Habakkuk 3:5, Habakkuk 3:12, Habakkuk 3:15, and Habakkuk 3:18 have 6 words, in two threes; Habakkuk 3:17 is divided into 4-3-3-4-3-3; Habakkuk 3:8Isaiah 3-3-3-3-2; Habakkuk 3:11Isaiah 4-3-3; and Habakkuk 3:16Isaiah 3-3-3-2-2-2-3). This forces itself on every reader. Delitzsch quotes Meor Enaim (i. 60): “The prayer of Habakkuk goes on threes.”

Yet this occurs in such a way that long measures are succeeded by very short ones.