Who Is Haby in the Bible? Exploring the Mysterious Figure of Wrath in Isaiah 26:20 and Habakkuk 3:4
Who is Haby in the Bible? The name Haby (חבי, ḥăbî) appears in some scholarly discussions of Isaiah 26:20 and Habakkuk 3:4, where it may refer not to a verb meaning “hide,” but to a mysterious divine or demonic figure associated with wrath. Although most translations render ḥăbî as the Hebrew imperative “hide yourself,” the linguist and scholar Cyrus H. Gordon proposed that it should instead be understood as a proper name—Haby—a possible remnant of an ancient mythological being.
This proposal connects Haby with Ugaritic and Canaanite sources, where a god or demon called ḥby appears in ritual texts. These associations raise profound questions about how the biblical writers adapted and reoriented mythological imagery to convey Yahweh’s sovereign control over all powers, including those once feared as chthonic or infernal.
1) The Biblical Passages: Isaiah 26:20 and Habakkuk 3:4
The first possible appearance of Haby is in Isaiah 26:20, which reads in most translations:
“Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself for a little while until the wrath has passed.”
Here, ḥăbî is normally understood as the imperative form of the Hebrew verb חבה (ḥābāh), “to hide.” Yet Gordon suggested reading it as a divine name, resulting in an alternative translation:
“Go, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you until Haby, the Wrath, has passed.”
If this reading is correct, Haby would not be an action but a being—a personified “wrath” under divine command, functioning as an agent of judgment.
The second reference appears in Habakkuk 3:4, a poetic theophany describing Yahweh’s march of judgment:
“His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there was ḥebyôn, his strength.”
Gordon again connects ḥebyôn to Haby, viewing it as a variation of the same name. In this view, Haby represents a divine or demonic power now subsumed under Yahweh’s authority—perhaps a mythic embodiment of destructive energy, tamed and directed by the God of Israel.
2) Haby in Ugaritic and Ancient Near Eastern Texts
Outside the Bible, the name ḥby appears in Ugaritic literature from ancient Syria (KTU 1.114:19–20). In this text, ḥby is described as “lord of horns and tail” (bʿl qrnm wḏnb), a vivid image that implies a hybrid or beastly form. The scene occurs during the marzēaḥ, a ritual feast of the god El. In the narrative, El becomes drunk, experiences a nightmarish vision, and sees ḥby, a grotesque or chthonic being who defiles him.
Scholars such as P. Xella and H. Spronk interpret this vision as symbolizing the underworld and the powers of death. The “horns and tail” imagery suggests that ḥby may have been associated with a bull-like or demonic creature, reflecting the ancient motif of chaos beasts or infernal gods.
In Ugaritic religion, such beings often occupied ambiguous roles—part divine, part monstrous, connected to fertility, death, and ecstatic ritual. Thus, ḥby may have represented a dark or wrathful aspect of divinity, a theme that finds echoes in the biblical association between God’s wrath and natural forces such as thunder, fire, and pestilence (Exodus 9:23; Nahum 1:6).
3) The Transmission of Myth into the Hebrew Bible
The transition from ḥby in Ugarit to ḥăbî in the Hebrew text of Isaiah or Habakkuk suggests how Israelite authors could reappropriate mythological motifs within a monotheistic framework. The imagery of wrath, horns, and radiant power common in ancient Near Eastern texts is redirected in the Hebrew Bible to express Yahweh’s absolute dominion.
Continuity and Transformation:
Continuity: The wrath-bearing figure remains, but its autonomy is lost. What was once a god or demon becomes a servant of Yahweh’s judgment.
Transformation: The “Lord of horns” imagery becomes symbolic of divine power—rays of light or horns from his hand in Habakkuk 3:4—an exalted, radiant display of glory rather than a monstrous form.
Purpose: The mythic imagery reinforces the theme that Yahweh alone commands both life and death, wrath and mercy.
R. D. Haak and others note that such imagery demonstrates how mythic language is not foreign to the Bible; rather, it is purified and subordinated to the revelation of Israel’s God. In this sense, “Haby the Wrath” may represent an old divine force now harnessed by the covenant God for righteous judgment.
4) Theological Implications: Wrath as a Servant of God
If Haby is indeed a remnant of mythic language, his transformation in Scripture illustrates a profound theological truth: even wrath and destruction serve the purposes of divine justice. In the biblical worldview, God’s wrath is not arbitrary rage but holy response to sin and evil.
In Isaiah 26, God’s people are told to retreat and wait “until the wrath has passed.” The imagery evokes the Passover night, when the destroyer moved through Egypt but spared those under God’s protection (Exodus 12:23). Likewise, in Habakkuk 3, divine radiance and wrath march together to bring salvation to the faithful and destruction to the proud.
Thus, what in ancient myth might have been a chaotic, autonomous force becomes in biblical theology a subordinate servant of divine order. Wrath, once personified as Haby, is now Yahweh’s tool—terrible but righteous.
This pattern anticipates the New Testament revelation of divine wrath satisfied in Christ. The “cup of wrath” (Isaiah 51:17; Revelation 14:10) that humanity deserves is taken up and drained by Jesus (Matthew 26:39). Through him, wrath is not erased but fulfilled and transformed into redemption.
5) Haby, the Forerunner of the Devil? Evaluating the Proposal
Gordon’s suggestion that Haby represents an early form of the Devil is provocative but speculative. The connection between ḥby, with its horns and infernal associations, and later depictions of Satan as horned or beastlike, is intriguing but uncertain.
Scholars such as Spronk caution that no direct historical line connects the Ugaritic ḥby to the biblical Satan. Rather, the resemblance reflects shared symbolic language: horns for power, tail for impurity, darkness for chaos. The Hebrew Bible does not portray Satan as an independent deity but as a creature under divine authority (Job 1:6–12).
Still, the development of infernal imagery from the ancient Near East into later Jewish and Christian thought shows a continuum of theological reflection. Ancient myths of chthonic beings gave visual form to the reality of evil. In Scripture, these forms are subordinated to the moral universe of Yahweh, whose holiness exposes and overcomes all darkness.
6) From Myth to Meaning: The Biblical Reorientation of Power
In the end, whether Haby was a real mythic figure or simply a poetic term for “wrath,” its inclusion in the biblical tradition underscores a fundamental truth: God’s sovereignty encompasses even the forces of destruction. What pagan cultures feared as independent spirits or demons, Israel’s prophets redefined as instruments in the hand of the one true God.
This reorientation mirrors the larger biblical movement from chaos to order, from multiplicity of powers to covenantal monotheism. In this theological transformation, even the imagery of wrath—once a terrifying, personified power—is brought under divine control. Yahweh alone commands wrath, and He alone restrains it.
Key Summary Points
Haby (חבי) may originally derive from an Ugaritic deity or demon associated with horns, tail, and the underworld.
In Isaiah 26:20 and Habakkuk 3:4, the term could reference this being reinterpreted as “Haby, the Wrath”, now at Yahweh’s command.
The imagery reflects the assimilation of ancient mythic motifs into biblical theology, emphasizing divine sovereignty.
Wrath, once autonomous, becomes God’s righteous instrument of judgment and purification.
Later associations between Haby and Satan are speculative but reveal how biblical imagery shaped later theology.
Ultimately, the transformation of Haby illustrates the biblical pattern: even the powers of darkness serve the purposes of divine justice.
Bible Verses about Wrath and God’s Power
“Come, my people, enter your chambers... until the wrath has passed.” (Isaiah 26:20)
“His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand.” (Habakkuk 3:4)
“For behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind.” (Isaiah 66:15)
“Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger?” (Nahum 1:6)
“The Lord is slow to anger but great in power.” (Nahum 1:3)
“You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under your feet.” (Malachi 4:3)
“The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness.” (Romans 1:18)
“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19)
“He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.” (Revelation 19:15)
“In righteousness he judges and makes war.” (Revelation 19:11)
