Charles Ellicott Commentary Habakkuk 1:8

"Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their horsemen press proudly on: yea, their horsemen come from far; they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour." — Habakkuk 1:8 (ASV)

Are more fierce. —Better, are sharper. This is the literal meaning of the verb. The ideas intended are those of activity and ferocity, both prompted by hunger.

The evening wolf coming out of his lair to find prey is elsewhere an illustration of ravenous greediness. (See Zephaniah 3:3 and Psalms 59:7.) In Jeremiah 5:6, God’s punishment is likened to a wolf of the evening and a lion out of the forest.Jeremiah 4:13, his chariots shall be as a whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles, is similar to Habakkuk 1:8, but it is not necessary to regard it either as its original or its echo. Both passages are to some extent based on 2 Samuel 1:23.