Charles Ellicott Commentary Habakkuk 3:8

"Was Jehovah displeased with the rivers? Was thine anger against the rivers, Or thy wrath against the sea, That thou didst ride upon thy horses, Upon thy chariots of salvation?" — Habakkuk 3:8 (ASV)

Was the Lord displeased? —Better, Is it with the rivers Jehovah is enraged? Is Your anger against the rivers? Is Your wrath against the sea—that You (thus) ride upon Your horses, that Your chariots (thus appear) for deliverance?

Of salvation. —Better, for salvation, or for deliverance. The allusion is obviously to Israel’s miraculous passage through the Red Sea and the Jordan. The “horses” and “chariots,” which are here the symbols of Divine might, are all the more fitting in view of Exodus 14 (see Habakkuk 3:14 and following), where Pharaoh, pursued with “horses and chariots,” only to find Jehovah Himself arrayed against him.