Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Habakkuk 3:5 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 5. 5Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse places pestilence before and burning plague behind the advancing theophany.
The Holy One comes from the south with hidden radiance
This verse is one part of that explanation in Habakkuk 3:3-7. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Habakkuk 3:3-7
Read Habakkuk 3:5 with 3:3-7. This verse places pestilence before and burning plague behind the advancing theophany. The full unit establishes this movement: In visionary prayer, God comes from the southern wilderness with hidden radiance and creation-shaking power; plague, mountains, and nations tremble before the Holy One.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The remembered divine approach answers the prayer by locating present fear inside Israel's larger memory of God's powerful action. Within that movement, this verse places pestilence before and burning plague behind the advancing theophany.
Read Habakkuk 3:3–7 together
Why these verses belong together: Southern approach, radiance, plague, creation shaking, and trembling nations make one theophanic approach scene.
Verse 3. 3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
Verse 4. 4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.
Verse 5. 5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.
Verse 6. 6 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.
Verse 7. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
What Remains True
The poem depicts terrifying judgment without giving readers diagnostic certainty about disease.
How It Can Shape Life
- Respond to outbreaks with care and evidence, not prophetic blame.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Habakkuk 3:3-7 — The Holy One Approaches and Creation TremblesSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The second disease term is rare and may denote fever, plague, or fiery force.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and canonical verse coverage.
Exact location: Habakkuk 3:3-7, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Habakkuk
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, repeated terms, clause relationships, and base forms behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Hab.xml, 3:3-7
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Habakkuk with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, Hebrew, text-critical, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Habakkuk PDF, printed pp. 1774-1775, translation and notes on 3:3-7
Open source ↗