Limitless Word
You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the land of wickedness. You stripped them head to foot. Selah.
Habakkuk 3:13 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.
  • BSB You went forth for the salvation of Your people, to save Your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked and stripped him from head to toe. Selah
  • NKJV You went forth for the salvation of Your people, For salvation with Your Anointed. You struck the head from the house of the wicked, By laying bare from foundation to neck. Selah
  • NASB You went forth for the salvation of Your people, For the salvation of Your anointed. You smashed the head of the house of evil To uncover him from foot to neck. Selah
  • NLT You went out to rescue your chosen people, to save your anointed ones. You crushed the heads of the wicked and stripped their bones from head to toe.

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

God goes forth to save His people and His anointed, crushing the head of the house of wickedness. It declares that God's mighty acts aim at the salvation of His people and the defeat of evil.

Overview

The purpose of all this divine warfare is salvation, deliverance for God's people and His 'anointed' (His chosen king or nation). The crushing of the wicked one's head echoes the promise of Genesis 3:15. Many Christians have long seen here a foreshadowing of Christ, God's ultimate Anointed One, who saves His people and crushes the head of the serpent, decisively defeating sin, death, and the devil.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 21

  • Ps 110:6He will judge among the nations. He will heap up dead bodies. He will crush the ruler of the whole earth.
  • Ps 105:15“Don’t touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!”
  • Exod 15:1–2Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said, “I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
  • Josh 10:42Joshua took all these kings and their land at one time, because Yahweh, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
  • Josh 10:24When they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who went with him, “Come near. Put your feet on the necks of these kings.” They came near, and put their feet on their necks.
  • Josh 10:11As 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.
  • Josh 11:8Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them, and chased them to great Sidon, and to Misrephoth Maim, and to the valley of Mizpah eastward. They struck them until they left them no one remaining.
  • Josh 11:12Joshua captured all the cities of those kings, with their kings, and he struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed them; as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded.
  • Ps 68:19–23Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens, even the God who is our salvation. Selah.
  • Exod 14:13–14Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again.
  • Ps 28:8Yahweh is their strength. He is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
  • Ps 20:6Now I know that Yahweh saves his anointed. He will answer him from his holy heaven, with the saving strength of his right hand.
  • Ps 77:20You led your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
  • Ps 68:7God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness... Selah.
  • Ps 74:13–14You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
  • Exod 12:29–30At midnight, Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of livestock.
  • Ps 18:37–45I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them. Neither will I turn again until they are consumed.
  • Ps 89:19–21Then you spoke in vision to your saints, and said, “I have given strength to the warrior. I have exalted a young man from the people.
  • Ps 99:6Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel among those who call on his name; they called on Yahweh, and he answered them.
  • Ps 105:26He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
  • Isa 63:11Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among them?”

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Habakkuk videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Habakkuk 3:13YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HabakkukMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 3:13 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.