John Calvin Commentary Habakkuk 3:10

"The mountains saw thee, and were afraid; The tempest of waters passed by; The deep uttered its voice, And lifted up its hands on high." — Habakkuk 3:10 (ASV)

Habakkuk proceeds with the history of the people’s redemption. We have said what his object was, namely, that the people, though in an extreme state of calamity, might still entertain hope of God’s favor; for He did not become a Redeemer for the race of Abraham for only one time, but so that He might continue the same favor to them until the end.

He says that mountains had seen and grieved. Some explain this allegorically as referring to kings, and say that they grieved when envy preyed on them; but this view is too strained. The Prophet, I have no doubt, simply means that the mountains obeyed God, so as to open a way for His people.

At the same time, the verb חול, chul, signifies not only to grieve but also to bring forth, and then to fall and to remain in the same place. We might then with no less appropriateness read it this way—the mountains saw You, and were still, or fell down; that is, they were subservient to Your command and did not intercept the way of Your people.

I think the real meaning of the Prophet is that God had formerly imprinted on all the elements evident marks of His paternal favor, so that the posterity of Abraham might always confide in Him as their Deliverer in all their distresses; and even the context requires this meaning, for he adds next:

The stream or the inundation of waters, and so forth: and this second part cannot be explained allegorically. We then see that the meaning of the words is that God removed all obstacles, so that neither mountains, nor waters, nor sea, nor rivers, blocked the passage of the people. He now says that the inundation of waters had passed away.

This applies both to Jordan and to the Red Sea. God separated the Red Sea, so that the waters stood apart, contrary to the laws of nature. The same thing happened to Jordan, for the flowing of the water was stopped, and a way was opened, so that the people passed over dry-shod into the land of Canaan.

Thus, what is said by the Prophet took place: the stream of waters passed away. We indeed know that the abundance of waters in the sea and in the rivers is so great that they cannot be dried up. Therefore, when waters disappear, it is something beyond the course of nature. The Prophet, therefore, records this miracle so that the faithful might know that, even if the whole world were resisting, their salvation would still be certain, for the Lord can overcome whatever obstacles there may be.

He then attributes life to waters, for he says that the abyss gave its voice, and also that the deep lifted up its hands; or that the abyss, with uplifted hands, was ready to obey God. It is a striking personification; for though the abyss is devoid of intelligence and cannot speak, yet the Prophet says that the abyss, with its voice and uplifted hands, testified its obedience when God willed for His people to pass through to the promised land.

When we are eager to testify our obedience, we do this both with our voice and in our gesture. When anyone is willing to do what is commanded, he says, “Here I am,” or “I promise to do this.”

Just as servants, then, respond to others, so the Prophet says that a voice was uttered by the abyss. The abyss indeed uttered no voice, but the event itself surpassed all voices.

Now, when a large group of people meets together, they raise their hands, for their consent cannot be understood except by the extending of hands; and from this practice came the term 'hand-extending,' χειροτονια.

The Prophet now uses this analogy and says that the abyss raised up its hands; that is, it shows its consent by this gesture. Just as people declare by this sign that they will do what they are commanded, so also the abyss lifted up its hands. If we read, The deep raised up its hands, the meaning will be the same.