John Calvin Commentary Habakkuk 3:15

"Thou didst tread the sea with thy horses, The heap of mighty waters." — Habakkuk 3:15 (ASV)

Some read, “You have trodden your horses in the sea;” but that is a grammatical error, which is quite evident. Others read, “You have trodden in the sea by your horses.” But what need is there to seek such strained explanations, since the verb דרך, darek, means to go or to march?

The Prophet’s meaning is by no means doubtful—that God would make a way for Himself in the sea, and on His own horses. How? Even when great waters were gathered into a mass. The Prophet again refers to the history of the passage through the Red Sea, for it was a work of God, as has been said, worthy of being remembered above all other works. It is therefore no wonder that the Prophet dwells so much on setting forth this great miracle.

Thou then didst make a way for thy horses—where? in the sea, which was contrary to nature. And then he adds, The heap of waters: for the waters had been gathered together, and a firm and thick mass appeared, which was not according to nature; for we know that water is a fluid, and that hardly a drop of water can stand without flowing.

How then was it that He stopped the course of the Jordan, and that the Red Sea was divided?

These were evidences of God’s incomprehensible power, and these rightly ought to have added courage to the faithful, knowing, as they should have, that nothing could have opposed their salvation that God could easily remove whenever He pleased.

It follows—