Sun and moon stood still in their places at the flash of Your flying arrows, at the brightness of Your shining spear.
Parallel translations
- WEB The sun and moon stood still in the sky, at the light of your arrows as they went, at the shining of your glittering spear.
- KJV The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.
- NKJV The sun and moon stood still in their habitation; At the light of Your arrows they went, At the shining of Your glittering spear.
- NASB Sun and moon stood in their lofty places; They went away at the light of Your arrows, At the radiance of Your flashing spear.
- NLT The sun and moon stood still in the sky as your brilliant arrows flew and your glittering spear flashed.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The sun and moon stand still in the sky before the brilliance of God's arrows and spear. It recalls God's power to halt the heavens in service of His people's deliverance.
Overview
The celestial bodies are stilled by the flashing light of God's weapons, evoking the day the sun stood still in Joshua's battle. Even the great lights of heaven yield before the surpassing glory of God in action. This image underscores that all creation, including the cosmos, serves the saving purposes of the divine warrior who fights for His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 144:5–6Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
- Josh 10:11–13As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by the swords of the Israelites.
- Ps 18:12–14From the brightness of His presence His clouds advanced—hailstones and coals of fire.
- Isa 28:21For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task.
- Isa 38:8I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.
- Ps 77:17–18The clouds poured down water; the skies resounded with thunder; Your arrows flashed back and forth.
- Ps 19:4their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
'The righteous shall live by his faith' (2:4) becomes a cornerstone of the gospel in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews — the faith that lays hold of Christ.
How Habakkuk 3:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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