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I have some questions to ask :

1) what does [דבר ] mean? Does it mean cholera? or plague? Or does it mean all kinds of Infectious and contagious diseases?

2) what is the exact translation of [לפניו ילך דבר ויצא רשף לרגליו׃ ].

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  • See Shabbat 17b in the name of Rav Nachman bar Yitzchok
    – Yaacov Deane
    Commented Jul 6, 2017 at 18:14
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    Reshef seems to be a kind of demon. see devarim 32:24. It is possible that Habakkuk is describing a specific plague that was known to be caused by Reshef. see also wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resheph was a deity associated with plague (or a personification of plague) in ancient Canaanite religion.
    – Bach
    Commented Jul 6, 2017 at 18:28

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1) Metzudas Zion translates דבר as מגפה and so does the Even Shoshan Concordance. Google translates מגפה as epidemic and that is how the English dictionaries translate “Pestilence”. So it does not seem to be a specific illness.

2) Translating the possuk: לפניו ילך דבר ויצא רשף לרגליו

Sefaria translates the possuk as

“Pestilence marches before Him, And plague comes forth at His heels.”

Malbim says

רשף. הרשף יציין הכחות הרוחניות זיקי אש המביאים את הדבר, מצייר כאילו הרשף הולך קרוב לרגליו, ושולח את הדבר שהוא הולך לפניו מרחוק

רשף represents the spritual forces which bring the pestilence. It is as if the רשף goes close to his feet and sends the דבר on in advance.

Chabad Tanach: translates the possuk as:

“A pestilence went before Him, and sparks went out at His feet.”

This is probably based on Rashi who comments on וְיֵצֵא רֶשֶׁף לְרַגְלָיו :

Fiery angels came with Him to Sinai.

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  • The Hebrew word reshef can mean "spark" or "flame." See my answer and also this Wiktionary entry.
    – ezra
    Commented Jul 6, 2017 at 21:41
  • @ezra Thank you, yes. Meaning no. 4 in Wiktionary is "burning heat, fever, plague".
    – Avrohom Yitzchok
    Commented Jul 7, 2017 at 10:26
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The Metzudat Tzion writes that the word means an epidemic or a plague. I believe many others follow his opinion because many translations use the word plague or pestilence in the passuk.

So the translation of the passuk should go something like this:

:לְפָנָיו יֵלֶךְ דָּבֶר וְיֵצֵא רֶשֶׁף לְרַגְלָיו

A plague went before Him, and a flame went out at His feet.

The word רשף can mean spark or flame.

Rashi, however, believes the word refers to the Malach HaMavet, which came before HaKadosh Baruch Hu and protested as to why He was giving the Torah to Bnei Yisrael when He knew they would betray Him at the end of forty days. He draws this conclusion from the Midrash Aggadah.

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According to R. Tanhum haYerushalmi, דבר does not mean a specific disease, but pestilence and mortality, the general punishments that reach the wicked and the enemies who oppose Israel.

He interprets reshef as sparks of fire but says that are some who interpret reshef as having the same meaning as דבר. Interestingly, he mention that some say that it means "arrows" (heb. רִשְׁפֵי) that are compared to sparks in Tehilim 76:4. According to this the translation would be something like the following:

Pestilence marches before Him, And sparks of fire (firebolt) comes forth at His feet.

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