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General Information:
Habakkuk continues to describe his vision of Yahweh. The last sentence in this verse is difficult to translate. Read each of the translationNotes on that sentence below to see different ways to translate it.
You went out for the salvation of your people
The word "salvation" can be translated with a verb. Alternate translation: "You went out to save your people" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-abstractnouns)
your anointed one
"the one whom you have anointed." Here this phrase refers to one whom Yahweh has chosen. Possible meanings are 1) "the people you have chosen" or "the nation you have chosen" or 2) "the king you have chosen."
You shatter the head of the house of the wicked to lay bare from the base up to the neck
Possible meanings are 1) killing the leader and destroying the people is spoken of as if someone were destroying a house. Here the leader is the head, that is, the roof of the house; and "base" and "neck" represent other parts of the house. Alternate translation: "You destroy the roof of the wicked house and demolish the rest of the building" or "You kill the leader of the wicked nation and completely destroy the nation" or 2) Killing the leader and removing honor and power from the people is spoken of as if someone were shattering a person's head and stripping off all of his clothes. Here the leader is the "head," and "house" represents the people who are the body. Alternate translation: "The wicked people and their leader are like a man whose head you crush and whose body you strip naked from foot to neck" or "You kill the leader of the wicked people and completely remove all of the people's power" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)