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.
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.
- BSB Sun and moon stood still in their places at the flash of Your flying arrows, at the brightness of Your shining 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 144:5–6Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
- Josh 10:11–13And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.
- Ps 18:12–14At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
- Isa 28:21For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
- Isa 38:8Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
- Ps 77:17–18The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.
- Ps 19:4Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle 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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