Habakkuk 1:9

For violence. “Violence,” the previously mentioned sin of Judah (see on v. 2), will now be the punishment inflicted upon Judah by the Chaldeans. Sup up. Heb. megammath, a word whose meaning is obscure. It occurs only here in the OT, and owing to the uncertainty of its definition, the whole clause has been translated in many different ways in the various versions. East wind. See on Jer. 4:11; 18:17. The Hebrew word translated “east wind” may also be translated “eastward.” As the sand. A figure indicating the large number of prisoners and the spoils that would be taken. This quite naturally agrees with the previous figure of the dreaded “east wind” with its columns of wind-blown sand.