The sun and moon stood still in their habitation; At the light of Your arrows they went, At the shining of Your 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.
- 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.
- BSB Sun and moon stood still in their places at the flash of Your flying arrows, at the brightness of Your shining 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, Yahweh, and come down. Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.
- Josh 10:11–13As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth Horon, Yahweh hurled down great stones from the sky on them to Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the children of Israel killed with the sword.
- Ps 18:12–14At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire.
- Isa 28:21For Yahweh will rise up as on Mount Perazim. He will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his unusual work, and bring to pass his act, his extraordinary act.
- Isa 38:8Behold, I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down on the sundial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down.”’”
- Ps 77:17–18The clouds poured out water. The skies resounded with thunder. Your arrows also flashed around.
- Ps 19:4Their voice has gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.