Habakkuk 1:8 (YLT)

Passage

Swifter than leopards have been its horses, And sharper than evening wolves, And increased have its horsemen, Even its horsemen from afar come in, They fly as an eagle, hasting to consume.

Nearby Context

Habakkuk 1:6 For, lo, I am raising up the Chaldeans, The bitter and hasty nation, That is going to the broad places of earth, To occupy tabernacles not its own.

Habakkuk 1:7 Terrible and fearful it <FI>is<Fi> , From itself its judgment and its excellency go forth.

Habakkuk 1:8 Swifter than leopards have been its horses, And sharper than evening wolves, And increased have its horsemen, Even its horsemen from afar come in, They fly as an eagle, hasting to consume.

Habakkuk 1:9 Wholly for violence it doth come in, Their faces swallowing up the east wind, And it doth gather as the sand a captivity.

Habakkuk 1:10 And at kings it doth scoff, And princes <FI>are<Fi> a laughter to it, At every fenced place it doth laugh, And it heapeth up dust, and captureth it.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "swifter", "than", "leopards", "been", "horses", "sharper", and "evening". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "swifter" and "than", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "Terrible and fearful it FI is Fi..." into verse 9's "Wholly for violence it doth come in...", so "swifter" and "than" 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 "swifter" and "than" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.