The Meaning of Habakkuk 3:6 Explained

Habakkuk 3:6

KJV: He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.

YLT: He hath stood, and He measureth earth, He hath seen, and He shaketh off nations, And scatter themselves do mountains of antiquity, Bowed have the hills of old, The ways of old are His.

Darby: He stood, and measured the earth; He beheld, and discomfited the nations; And the eternal mountains were scattered, The everlasting hills gave way: His ways are everlasting.

ASV: He stood, and measured the earth; He beheld, and drove asunder the nations; And the eternal mountains were scattered; The everlasting hills did bow; His goings were as of old.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He stood,  and measured  the earth:  he beheld,  and drove asunder  the nations;  and the everlasting  mountains  were scattered,  the perpetual  hills  did bow:  his ways  [are] everlasting. 

What does Habakkuk 3:6 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Standing like the sun at its zenith, God surveyed the whole earth. His downward look, like sunrays, caused the nations to tremble. His glance was enough to make the permanent mountains shatter and the ancient hills collapse. He always causes these reactions since His ways are eternal. What a contrast He is to lifeless idols (cf. Habakkuk 2:18-19)!

Context Summary

Habakkuk 3:1-19 - The Faith That Is Invincible
This psalm was intended to be sung by the captives during the Exile, which was near. In Habakkuk 3:3-15 there is a recital of the great events in the past. First Sinai, then the victories and deliverances of the book of Judges, the passage of the Red Sea and Jordan, the divine vengeance on the oppressors. But the prophet could not contemplate the future of the Chosen People without dismay. He longed to be at rest before those terrible Chaldean hosts burst upon the land. At the close he breaks into a sublime refrain which has been the solace and song of myriads of believers. If all God's gifts failed he would still possess the Giver. He could still triumph in God. Indeed, the divine Savior and Friend is often more apparent when the fields and the farmsteads are bare [source]

Chapter Summary: Habakkuk 3

1  Habakkuk, in his prayer, trembles at God's majesty
17  The confidence of his faith

What do the individual words in Habakkuk 3:6 mean?

He stood and measured the earth He looked and startled the nations and were scattered the mountains everlasting bowed The hills perpetual ways [are] everlasting His
עָמַ֣ד ׀ וַיְמֹ֣דֶד אֶ֗רֶץ רָאָה֙ וַיַּתֵּ֣ר גּוֹיִ֔ם וַיִּתְפֹּֽצְצוּ֙ הַרְרֵי־ עַ֔ד שַׁח֖וּ גִּבְע֣וֹת עוֹלָ֑ם הֲלִיכ֥וֹת עוֹלָ֖ם לֽוֹ

עָמַ֣ד ׀  He  stood 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: עָמַד  
Sense: to stand, remain, endure, take one’s stand.
וַיְמֹ֣דֶד  and  measured 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מָדַד  
Sense: to measure, stretch.
אֶ֗רֶץ  the  earth 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
רָאָה֙  He  looked 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
וַיַּתֵּ֣ר  and  startled 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נָתַר 
Sense: to start up, tremble, shake, spring up.
גּוֹיִ֔ם  the  nations 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: גֹּוי 
Sense: nation, people.
וַיִּתְפֹּֽצְצוּ֙  and  were  scattered 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hitpael, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: פּוּץ 
Sense: to scatter, be dispersed, be scattered.
הַרְרֵי־  the  mountains 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: הַר  
Sense: mountain, hill, hill country, mount.
עַ֔ד  everlasting 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַד  
Sense: perpetuity, for ever, continuing future.
שַׁח֖וּ  bowed 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: שָׁחַח 
Sense: to bow, crouch, bow down, be bowed down.
גִּבְע֣וֹת  The  hills 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: גִּבְעָה  
Sense: hill.
עוֹלָ֑ם  perpetual 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹולָם  
Sense: long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world.
הֲלִיכ֥וֹת  ways  [are] 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: הֲלִיכָה  
Sense: going, doing, travelling company, way.
עוֹלָ֖ם  everlasting 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹולָם  
Sense: long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world.
לֽוֹ  His 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular