Habakkuk 3:4 "And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power."
Lets be honest, this verse sounds a little ridiculous right? "horns coming out of his hand"????
But we as Christians should see that the "horns" are the NAILS IN JESUS HANDS! His power was hidden in the sacrifice He made for humanity.
Bashful Bible translators, quick to invent alternate meanings that are not so "out there," sheepishly change "horns" to "rays," due to being embarrassed by the foolish sounding phrasing.
Although it is not perfect, this is one passage where the KJV really outshines all of the other translations. Sometimes the KJV just takes off the filter in such a beautiful way.
I like the BibleHub tool that is linked below. It lists 20 translations for the verse you put in you can see the flexibility and differences that are possible when translating Hebrew words that sometimes have multiple meanings as well as examine the Hebrew/Greek of an individual word. The Hebrew word "qeren" (Strong's #7161) has been translated 70 times as "horn" but ONLY ONCE as "rays." The translators invented a FAKE MEANING just because they were ashamed of the silly-sounding phrase "he had horns coming out of his hand." We have to be careful with Bible translations, knowing how groupthink and bias from the human translators can enter in.
My friend Dedric, under the inspiration of God's Spirit, said it best......
But where did the enemy creep in? Through the translation of the Bible. So you have a Holy Bible that has been translated by sinful men and when they read something that convicted them they translated by leaving something out and replacing it with something similar, or saying they are making it easy to read by using words to justify a sentence. Today's thought is you can tell the sin in a person and the spirit they operate in by the translation of the word they use.
For today we use your NIV translation before the throne. The spirit language you send God is you are Not In Value or plain English you are worthless to preach or teach the Gospel because instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to teach you to read you opt for something easier. This is not working hard but finding a easier way out to understand through human wisdom a Holy Spirit. With that said you have allowed people to manipulate you into buying that garbage so that is the first book you must burn at the apostles feet for it was written in witchcraft says The Holy Ghost for they have added and taken away without permission and their souls are required in hell.
Got to admit, I do love the mental imagery of wheelbarrows of cursed NIV Bibles being taken to be burned in a bonfire! The NIV translators thought they knew better than apostle Paul and “corrected” his war of the “flesh vs. spirit” to make it say “sinful nature” instead of flesh. Because of their theological assumption that the body has to be good because it was created by God, and due to the translators’ belief in the false doctrine of Original Sin. Let's not even get started on the Message 'Bible,' and how some Christians will use it as “a devotional, just not for study”; that is its own topic!
Habakkuk may have hesitated before releasing such a silly sounding word as he received. But as a prophet he knew he had to release the prophecy God gave him, not matter how ridiculous it may have sounded. Christ had not come to earth yet, and Habakkuk did not know that the crucifixion would take place and the Roman soldiers would pierce Christ's hands with long thick nails. Christ's disciple Thomas, refused to believe his master had been resurrected, until being forced to see empirical evidence that is.
John 20:25-29
25 .....So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" 27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing."
28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"
29 Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Even in his resurrected form, being restored from all other wounds, Christ retains the marks of the nails in his hands. It is a permanent sign of his sacrifice, and of his authority over creation. Christ had nails pass though his hands, and this is where his power truly "was hidden": the power of redemption which was hidden in Christ but is now revealed for all the world. Just as Thomas battled his inner doubt over having to believe something ridiculous, Habakkuk also had the face the same demon. The difference is that Habakkuk chose to release the prophecy as he received it from God, without withdrawing it or changing it out of fear that he would be called a madman. Habakkuk overcame the trial of doubt, whereas Thomas is known for all generations as the "doubter" with the same permanently attached to his name.
Will you believe and share the words God gives you like Habakkuk? Or try to change it into something that makes sense, like the modern Bible translators did to Habakkuk's prophecy? Or bury yourself in the comfort zone of the faithless life as doubting Thomas chose. Christ rebuked Thomas, basically saying that he will be without much reward in heaven due to his lack of faith and like the one whose works are burned up, he should be lucky he even gets to heaven himself. He is not "blessed" like the others who believe ahead of time, before it is obvious and in front of their faces.
To end, here are some other Old Testament Bible verses about Christ's piercing. Hidden prophecies of the sacrifice He would make on the cross:
Psalm 22:16 For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;
Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
Zechariah 12:10 then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.