Charles Ellicott Commentary Habakkuk 3:14

"Thou didst pierce with his own staves the head of his warriors: They came as a whirlwind to scatter me; Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly." — Habakkuk 3:14 (ASV)

Thou dost strike through with his staves ... — Better, You do pierce with his (namely, your anointed people’s) spears the head of his (the enemy’s) princes, when they sweep by to scatter me abroad, when they exult as if to devour the afflicted secretly.

The first clause is very obscure. Matteh means not only “spear,” but also “rod,” “stem,” or “tribe” ; and the word which we translate “princes” may also, perhaps, mean “villages” .

It is also uncertain to whom the possessive pronouns attached to these substantives refer. In the last clause, we are reminded of several passages in the Psalms, notably Psalms 10:9, Psalms 14:4, and Psalms 17:12.