Habakkuk 3:8 (WEB)

Passage

Was Yahweh displeased with the rivers? Was your anger against the rivers, or your wrath against the sea, that you rode on your horses, on your chariots of salvation?

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 3:6 He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains were crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.

Habakkuk 3:7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction. The dwellings of the land of Midian trembled.

Habakkuk 3:8 Was Yahweh displeased with the rivers? Was your anger against the rivers, or your wrath against the sea, that you rode on your horses, on your chariots of salvation?

Habakkuk 3:9 You uncovered your bow. You called for your sworn arrows. Selah. You split the earth with rivers.

Habakkuk 3:10 The mountains saw you, and were afraid. The storm of waters passed by. The deep roared and lifted up its hands on high.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "yahweh", "displeased", "rivers", "anger", "against", and "wrath". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "yahweh" and "displeased", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "I saw the tents of Cushan in..." into verse 9's "You uncovered your bow You called for...", so "yahweh" and "displeased" 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 "yahweh" and "displeased" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.