Annotations for Habakkuk

1:2–4 Although Habakkuk is speaking to the people of Judah in the late seventh century BC, his statements regarding social injustice are quite similar to those made by Amos to the northern kingdom of Israel in the eighth century BC. Both prophets condemn the self-indulgent and corrupt leaders of their time (see the articles “Economic Changes and Social Classes in Eighth-Century BC Israel,” “Administration of Justice”). Accusations of social injustice are standard fare in Egyptian wisdom literature. The authors in this genre attempt to hold the leadership of the nation to a very high standard, and feel it is essential for the survival of their culture that corruption be exposed and dealt with by the highest powers. Thus in the period of the Middle Kingdom (2050–1800 BC), a text entitled “Dispute Over Suicide” was composed to expose those social ills that had nearly destroyed Egyptian society during the recently completed First Intermediate Period (2258–2050 BC). The man who asks for the release of death through suicide complains that “everyone is a thief,” “hearts are covetous” and “crimes outrage no one.” Also during this time of instability, the tale of the “Eloquent Peasant” speaks of the need for Egypt’s administrators to check the actions of lawmakers who “approve of robbery” and inspectors who “condone corruption.” He calls on judges not to accept bribes or tolerate perjury. In the ancient Near East justice was the most basic and necessary characteristic of society. It was the job of the king to maintain justice (see notes on Ps 72; Isa 1:17). To an even greater extent, the covenant required that Israel strictly maintain justice on both a personal and societal level.

1:6 the Babylonians. The Chaldeans, who are first mentioned in Mesopotamian sources in the ninth century BC. Although related ethnically to the other Aramean tribes of southern Babylonia, they had a distinct tribal structure. As the Assyrian Empire began to weaken, Chaldean leaders, including Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar, eventually gained their independence and established the Neo-Babylonian dynasty after 625 BC. Nebuchadnezzar inherited this powerful state in 605 BC, becoming its most famous king. He literally rebuilt the city of Babylon and solidified Babylonian control throughout the Near East, and he even attacked Egypt (albeit unsuccessfully). His long reign lasted until 562 BC. He was briefly succeeded by three descendants, who reigned a total of six years. The last king of the dynasty was Nabonidus, who had apparently been a high official during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. He reigned until 539 BC, when Babylon was captured by the Medo-Persians under Cyrus the Great.

1:9 intent on violence. The Assyrian annals are filled with accounts of their rampaging armies that ruthlessly smashed all opposition and took thousands of prisoners. Spear-wielding cavalry were employed as a shock force, leading the charge in battle ahead of the infantry. Their mobility was also useful in wooded country where archers were ineffective. The kings were also fond of describing themselves with bestial powers: Sennacherib “raged like a lion” as he ordered an invasion of Babylonia and set out before a mighty host “like a mighty wild ox.” They also attempted to frighten their opponents with a rhetoric of intimidation, such as that used by King Sargon II, who boasted that he had “poured out his awe-inspiring radiance upon all lands,” or by Ashurnasirpal II, whose enemies were said to cringe before the splendor of his weapons. This strategy has been termed the “ideology of terror.” Exemplary punishments were often used to instill fear, including flaying alive, impalement, cutting off body parts and burning alive.

1:10 earthen ramps. See the article “Siege Warfare.”

1:11 strength is their god. The ultimate indictment of the Neo-Babylonians is their utter disregard for law and the sovereignty of other nations and their rulers, and their single-minded mission to garner loot as they “sweep past like the wind” through an area, overwhelming it with their fierce horsemen and chariots. The translation of this phrase is uncertain and a number of alternatives have been suggested. If the NIV translation is retained, the charge may reflect the pain of those faced with the rapine committed by invading armies, despite the fact that Babylonian inscriptions invariably give credit for military victories to the strength provided to kings by their gods. Thus Nabopolassar extols Nabu and Marduk for aiding him to remove the Assyrian yoke from his land.

1:12 Rock. The use of this title as an attribute of deity is found in personal names both in the Bible (e.g., Elizur, “my God is a Rock” [Nu 1:5]) and in Amorite personal names in the Mari texts (e.g., Suri-Dagan).

1:15 hooks . . . net . . . dragnet. Nineteenth-century BC Egyptian wall paintings from Beni Hasan depict fishermen using spears, hook and line, as well as dragnets made of woven baskets (see Eze 12:13; Am 4:2). Rulers, in their propagandistic pronouncements, employed proverbs or metaphors to depict their strength. Thus they were capable of trapping their enemies like fish or birds in a net (see Hos 5:1). The use of a net filled with fish is found in the account of Pharaoh Thutmose III’s victory at Megiddo. He refers to his enemies “lying prostrate like fishes in the bulge of a net.” As seen in the Mari texts, the gods assist the king to overcome treacherous enemies, promising to gather Babylon “into the net” and assuring him that the ruler of Eshnunna will be collected “into a net with which I will surround him.”

2:2 Write down the revelation . . . on tablets. Like Isaiah (Isa 30:8), the prophet is commanded to write down his oracle. See the articles “Literacy,” “Books and Literacy,” “Scrolls in the Ancient World.” a herald may run with it. The idea of running with a message suggests its urgency or importance. What is unclear is whether the one who reads the message is a “herald” (with NIV), whose task is to run from location to location reading aloud his proclamation, or whether it refers to anyone who reads the message (see NIV text note). In the former, the inscribed tablets would be entrusted to a professional. In the latter, the inscription would be set up in a public place, and as individuals would read it, they would run off to spread the news. Preference lies with the former since the text here speaks of tablets. Publicly posted inscriptions would usually be on steles. Professional messengers were a common fixture in royal courts, such as those at ancient Mari and Babylon. They were needed as “runners” to carry their lord’s commands (see Jer 36:4–6 for Baruch’s mission as Jeremiah’s scribe and messenger).

2:18 an image that teaches lies. This represents Habakkuk’s charge that priests and kings manipulate people by making the idol speak or pronounce an oracle in the name of the god. This is not suggesting deception. The images were believed to communicate through the oracles that were given in the practice of extispicy—reading omens from the entrails of sacrificed animals (see the article “Extispicy”). The omens, however, were the result of the interpretations of the divination experts and could therefore easily be used for manipulation.

2:19 lifeless stone. The archives of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon contain a text dealing with the theological problem of crafting a divine image. The king asks, “Whose right is it . . . to create gods and goddesses . . . Is it the right of deaf and blind human beings who are ignorant of themselves?” He then calls on the gods to send an omen to indicate when and how these images are to be created and to endow the craftsmen with divine knowledge and skill. Once an image was shaped, the rituals of mouth-washing and “opening the mouth” were initiated in Babylon to transform a fabricated object into the physical embodiment of the god. Both rituals were predicated on the belief in a divine collaboration between the gods and the craftsmen to create through “inspirational cooperation” a divine statue. The “Opening the Mouth and the Eyes” ritual also purified the image and restored its sanctity after coming into contact with impurity or an improper ritual act. See the article “Making an Idol.”

3:1 shigionoth. The hymnic character of ch. 3 is expressed by the inclusion of a superscription, the use of the rubric Selah (see NIV text note on v. 3), and a colophon (v. 19b). While the meaning of shigionoth is uncertain, it is related to shagah (“to go astray”), suggesting a lament or possibly a song with uneven meter (see Ps 7:1). If a linguistic connection can be made with Akkadian shegu, then its usage, in the form shigu, in a prayer to Marduk indicates a sense of emotion and supplication, perhaps accompanied by a whimpering sound.

3:3 Teman . . . Mount Paran. Teman is a place-name associated with Edom (Jer 49:7; Ob 9) and is an indicator in this text of God, (qadosh) “the Holy One,” whose epiphany arises from the east (cf. Ps 78:26). The name also appears in the Kuntillet Ajrud inscription in association with Yahweh. This verse is the only place in the Bible where Teman and Paran are paralleled, since the former is associated with Esau (Ge 36:15) and the latter with Ishmael (Ge 21:21). The Desert of Paran generally refers to the area between Mount Sinai and the oasis of Kadesh Barnea, but its usage suggests a wider range of territory, extending to the east of the Arabah in the vicinity of Teman (see Nu 10:12; 1Sa 25:1).

3:4 His splendor was like the sunrise. God’s “glory” is worn like a garment (see Ps 104:1). It may also be a form of divine armor; Marduk in the Enuma Elish is “garbed in a ghastly armored garment . . . His head covered with terrifying auras.” Once the obscuring clouds are swept away (compare the rays of the Aten in the Egyptian hymn that “dispel the dark”), a virtual light show accompanies God’s approach, with lightning and fire streaking from his hand and obscuring any attempts to anthropomorphize or minutely describe God’s visage. Evidence of the solar aspects of Yahweh worship have appeared on a 700 BC bulla inscribed with “Yaho has shown forth,” as well as in personal names containing the element zerah (“shining forth”). Phrases similar to those in this verse occur in Babylonian hymns describing theophanies (compare “Shamash has shone forth on the foundation of heaven . . . Shamash has filled the lands with his heavenly splendor”).

3:5 Plague . . . pestilence. Yahweh goes forth accompanied by a retinue of forces, including beams of light as well as the destructive elements mentioned here (cf. Dt 33:2). Some have interpreted pestilence and plague in this verse as living creatures since at least the second one is found as a divine name in Canaanite contexts. Some Ugaritic texts describe Baal as having attendants, and Akkadian texts describe Marduk accompanied by other gods who go before and behind him. A similar depiction is also found in the Mesopotamian epic “Erra and Ishum,” where Erra, a god of war and plague, has seven minor deities as his companions, each of whom contributes to the devastation of the lands he chooses to attack. Similarly, in Dt 32:23–24 the calamities heaped on a disobedient people by Yahweh include arrows (comparable to the metaphor for the fever brought by the plague-god Rashaph), pestilence and plague.

3:7 Cushan. This ethnic term, possibly a subgroup of the Midianites (see notes on Ex 2:15; Nu 12:1), refers to a pastoral nomadic group, and it appears only in this text. Kushu is mentioned in Egyptian texts from the Middle Bronze Age referring to a people in the southern Transjordanian region. Habakkuk here predicts the route of the divine warrior from his holy mountain to attack the Babylonians.

3:8 rage against the sea. While there are some similarities in this verse to Ugaritic literature, especially in the Baal Cycle stories about Baal and his conflict with the sea-god Yamm, (see the articles “Baal,” “Chaos Monsters”) it is unlikely that there is a direct, compositional or thematic reliance on them in Habakkuk. Thus the pairing of naharim (“rivers”) with yam (“sea”) is only suggestive of the cosmic struggle found between the gods Baal and Yamm in Ugaritic literature. In fact the only direct parallel in Ugaritic with the word pair in Hab 3:8 is found in a nonconflict passage, and this may be an indication that the prophet is referring not to the Ugaritic cosmic battle motif but to a metaphoric usage of “river” and “sea” as traditional enemies of Yahweh in the trek from Egypt across the Red Sea and then across the Jordan River.

3:9–11 bow . . . arrows . . . flying arrows . . . flashing spear. One common understanding of the role of the deity in the ancient Near East was that of divine warrior (see the article “Divine Warfare”).

3:12 you strode through the earth. The song at this point is a call for a theophany in which Yahweh will manifest divine power to save the people. This strident characteristic of the divine warrior is found in the Akkadian phrase alakki ili, “the gait of a god.”

3:17 fig . . . grapes . . . olive . . . sheep . . . cattle. The prophet provides a basic list of those products and livestock that form the basis of the ancient economy. They would have been the objects taken by rampaging armies and given as tribute and taxes, leaving the land barren.