Habakkuk 3:13 (DBY)

Passage

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, For the salvation of thine anointed; Thou didst smite off the head from the house of the wicked, Laying bare the foundation even to the neck. Selah.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 3:11 The sun [and] moon stood still in their habitation, At the light of thine arrows which shot forth, At the shining of thy glittering spear.

Habakkuk 3:12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, Thou didst thresh the nations in anger.

Habakkuk 3:13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, For the salvation of thine anointed; Thou didst smite off the head from the house of the wicked, Laying bare the foundation even to the neck. Selah.

Habakkuk 3:14 Thou didst strike through with his own spears the head of his leaders: They came out as a whirlwind to scatter me, Whose exulting was as to devour the afflicted secretly.

Habakkuk 3:15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thy horses, The heap of great waters.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "wentest", "forth", "salvation", "people", "thine", and "anointed". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "wentest", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "Thou didst march through the land in..." into verse 14's "Thou didst strike through with his own...", so "thou" and "wentest" belong inside that flow. In Habakkuk context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "wentest" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.