INTRODUCTION TO

Habakkuk

HABAKKUK felt deeply the injustice of his society. He took his case to God, who explained his purposes to the prophet with the result that Habakkuk placed his faith solely in God (3:15-19). As today’s believers struggle with the problems of evil and godless societies, they, like Habakkuk, can be assured that God is in control. And they, like Habakkuk, must place their faith in the Lord.

AUTHOR

The identity of the prophet Habakkuk remains a mystery. As for his name, some have seen etymological relationships to an Assyrian plant called the hambaququ (e.g., Roberts 1991, Rudolph 1975) or to the Hebrew verb khabaq [TH2263, ZH2485] (“embrace”; cf. Bailey 1999). The former would suggest, as in rabbinic tradition, that Habakkuk may have lived and been educated in Assyria (Nineveh), while the latter could be taken to indicate that he was the son of the Shunammite woman who received Elisha’s promise that in the following year she would “be holding a son” (2 Kgs 4:16). The first suggestion is specious at best, and the second is historically impossible since Habakkuk would then have been born two centuries too early. The reading in one Septuagintal tradition of the first-century BC addition to Daniel titled Bel and the Dragon claims that Habakkuk was the “son of Jesus of the tribe of Levi” lacks historical validity. Indeed, other editions of this work fail to mention this relationship, and in the apocryphal Lives of the Prophets (ch 12), Habakkuk is linked with the tribe of Simeon. In any case, these books are late intertestamental works, and, as Craigie (1985:77) remarks, “There is little of historical value that can be drawn from this later reference.” Equally improbable is the conjecture some make by relating Habakkuk 2:1 with Isaiah 21:6, that the “watchman” Habakkuk is Isaiah’s prophetic successor.

DATE AND OCCASION OF WRITING

Habakkuk’s prophecy has been variously assigned to dates between the ninth century BC and the Maccabean period. Although critical scholars are divided as to late preexilic or exilic dates, evangelical scholars traditionally have favored the preexilic era. Taken at face value, Habakkuk’s short prophecy is set in a time of national upheaval characterized by gross social injustice (1:2-4) and by the imminent advent of the Babylonians (Chaldeans) as the foremost international power (1:5-11). These factors suggest a preexilic setting. A key factor in the discussion is the precise force of 1:5-6 (see commentary). There the Lord tells Habakkuk that he is going to raise up the Chaldeans as his agents of judgment. If this is to take place in the near future and to Habakkuk’s amazement, this would seem to imply that Habakkuk’s ministry is set in the early days of Josiah’s reign or slightly earlier. If the Chaldeans were already a power to be reckoned with, Habakkuk’s astonishment would not be as great.[93] Admittedly, Habakkuk could simply be amazed that God would use such a ferocious people.

Among evangelical scholars, three major positions have been articulated. (1) The majority date the prophecy to the time of Jehoiakim, whose godless disposition (2 Kgs 24:1-3; Jer 26:20-23) occasioned prophetic utterances of condemnation together with the threat of a Babylonian invasion (Jer 25). (2) Others (e.g., Pusey 1953) opt for a date in the reign of Josiah before the discovery of a copy of the law in 621 BC. Supporting this proposal as a time of social ills such as those Habakkuk describes is the apostasy that Josiah was called upon to correct from the earliest days of his reign (2 Chr 34:1-7), as well as the fact that the Temple’s restoration called for the king’s special attention. Indirect evidence comes from the widespread reforms and revival that followed upon finding the Book of the Law in 621 BC (2 Chr 34:23–35:19). (3) Still others (e.g., Keil 1954) defend a date in the time of Judah’s most wicked king, Manasseh. They cite the degraded moral and spiritual level of that time (2 Kgs 21:1-26; 2 Chr 33:1-10), an era whose debauchery was so pronounced that it drew God’s declaration that he would effect a total “disaster on Jerusalem and Judah” (2 Kgs 21:12). Supporting the third alternative is the clear scriptural indication of extreme wickedness during the reign of Manasseh. According to 2 Kings 21:1-18 and 2 Chronicles 33:1-9, that evil king not only reinstituted the loathsome Canaanite worship practices of Asherah and Baal (which Hezekiah, his father, had done away with) but also introduced a state astral cult. He built pagan altars in the outer courts and priests’ courts and placed an Asherah pole within the Temple itself. He also indulged in sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, as well as the abominable rites of infant sacrifice. A date for Habakkuk during Manasseh’s reign, which is supported by Jewish tradition, would be particularly attractive if it could be demonstrated that both Zephaniah and Jeremiah knew and utilized Habakkuk’s prophecy (cf. Hab 1:8 with Jer 4:13; 5:6; Hab 2:12 with Jer 22:13-17; Hab 2:13 with Jer 51:58; Hab 2:20 with Zeph 1:7). According to this scenario—in which Manasseh was carried away into captivity in the later part of his reign and subsequently repented and initiated several religious reforms—a date for the book shortly before the western campaigns of King Ashurbanipal of Assyria (652 BC and thereafter) would be a good estimate.

Although final certainty as to the date of the book is elusive, Habakkuk’s prophecies would seem to have had their greatest force either in the early period of Josiah’s rule or in the time of Manasseh. The former would make Habakkuk and Zephaniah contemporaries; the latter would have the prophet contemporary with Nahum. Either view would date the prophecy in the time of the reign of King Ashurbanipal (668–626 BC), during the Pax Assyriaca of the Neo-Assyrian era (see Introduction to Nahum).

The book has its origin in recounting the prophet’s intense personal experience with God. Specifically, it records Habakkuk’s spiritual perplexities as to God’s seeming indifference in an era of moral decay and spiritual apostasy and God’s patient responses to his prophet. The book rehearses Habakkuk’s experience with God, which came as a climax to his spiritual wrestling and relates the prophet’s transformation from a person questioning God to one fully depending on him.

AUDIENCE

Whichever proposed preexilic date for the book is settled upon, Habakkuk obviously wrote for the people of Judahite society at large as well as the faithful remnant. He wanted them to understand both the coming judgment for the present sin and apostasy of their society and God’s ultimate goal for his covenant nation. Both groups needed to be challenged: Would they remain faithful to God in the face of severe danger? Did they understand that this danger was imminently real? Had the lesson of the fall of the northern kingdom in the previous century been forgotten? When the enemy did arrive, would the people of Judah be cast on a sea of doubt as Habakkuk initially was?

CANONICITY AND TEXTUAL HISTORY

Habakkuk’s canonicity is not an issue. As one of the twelve Minor Prophets, Habakkuk enjoyed full acceptance as part of the Old Testament canon. The declaration of Armerding (1985:496) is apropos: “Habakkuk was early grouped with the other so-called Minor Prophets in the Book of the Twelve (attested as such in Sir 49:10— c. 190 BC), the acceptance of which is never questioned, either in Jewish or Christian circles.”[94]

The Masoretic Text of Habakkuk contains many difficulties. In addition to the obscurities in the third chapter (in which Albright proposed more than three dozen “corrections”),[95] several hapax legomena occur elsewhere (e.g., 1:4, 9; 2:11). There are also grammatical (2:4) and scribal (2:16) problems. It is no wonder, then, that the text of the Septuagint differs often from that of the Masoretic Text. In addition, significant differences from the Masoretic Text have been noted in 1QpHab. Thus Wurthwein remarks: “Some sixty examples of its deviations from M [the Hebrew text] which are more than purely orthographical (e.g., scriptio plena) are cited in the third apparatus of BHK.”[96]

However, one must not overly dramatize the textual difficulties. In addition to Albright’s pioneering efforts, many have labored successfully in bringing better understanding to the consonantal text of the third chapter. As for the variation between the Masoretic Text and 1QpHab, although the evidence points to some fluidity in the Hebrew textual tradition (a condition that was soon altered with the adoption of the MT), one must not set aside the traditional text in too cavalier a fashion. Thus, one may say with Robertson (1990:42), “Although some of the LXX readings may support the text of Qumran over against the MT, that fact alone does not automatically mean that the LXX reading is to be regarded as the preferred text. In general, the text . . . is well preserved in the Masoretic tradition.”

LITERARY STYLE

Habakkuk could not understand the gross sin of Judah nor God’s seeming indifference to the rampant corruption he saw all around him (1:2-4). This problem is developed in a dialogue format in the first two chapters as Habakkuk rehearses God’s answers (1:5-11; 2:2-20) to his perplexities (1:2-4; 1:12–2:1). The dialogue comes to a climactic conclusion (3:16-19) after Habakkuk’s contemplation and utilization of an ancient epic-like victory psalm recording God’s deliverance of his people from Egypt, his preservation of them through the time of their wilderness wanderings, and his triumphal leadership in their conquest of the Promised Land (3:3-15).[97]

The first two chapters utilize common prophetic subgenres, the prophet’s questions being cast in the form of a lament, while the second of God’s answers is composed of a series of taunt songs. The overall structure of the third chapter may be viewed as a prayer psalm (tepillah [TH8605, ZH9525], 3:1; cf. Pss 17, 86, 90, 102, 143). Indeed, many of the features common to this type of poetry are present: an opening cry/statement of praise, an attestation of reverence/trust (3:2a), petition/problem (3:2b), praise and exaltation of God (3:3-15), statement of trust and confidence in God (3:16-18), and concluding note of praise (3:19).

Something of Habakkuk’s literary ability may be seen in his use of simile and metaphor. The Babylonians’ greed is likened to death (2:5). Babylon’s cavalry is compared to the fierceness of evening wolves and vultures seeking their prey; their advance, to the swiftness of cheetahs (1:8). Their captives are portrayed as fish caught in a net (1:14-15). Several graphic images appear in the oracles of chapter 2, such as metonymy (2:5), allegory (2:15-16), personification (2:11), rhetorical question (2:13, 18), and several cases of alliteration and assonance (2:6, 7, 15, 18).[98]

MAJOR THEMES

Central to the message of Habakkuk is the theme of faith.[99] In the face of life’s inequities and perplexities, will one’s faith waver or remain steadfast? Today, as in Habakkuk’s day, the injustices and immorality of corrupt, secular, and idolatrous societies make it seem as though life is less than fair, and therefore one could be tempted to wonder whether God really is sufficient for the vicissitudes of life (1:1-4). Hence, several themes in Habakkuk deal with divine justice, such as the problems of human sin and suffering in their relation to divine sovereignty, and the problems of morality and social justice in the face of the demand for holiness. These come through most forcefully in Habakkuk’s second encounter with God (1:12–2:20). In that section Habakkuk decries God’s use of a “less holy” instrument (the Babylonians) to chastise God’s people for their unholy actions and is told plainly that a person needs to leave such cases to God. The Lord will, in turn, deal with that unholy instrument, but meanwhile the righteous person is to live a life of faith (2:4) and devotion (2:20), being mindful of God’s ultimate purposes (2:14).

A theme woven in with Habakkuk’s spiritual quest is the necessity of prayer. Indeed, as Thompson (1993:53) points out, “It is surely significant that so much of the book of Habakkuk is expressed in the terms and language of prayer. . . . It is as if for this prophet the prophetical and woe oracles serve a somewhat subservient function to those prayers that are employed to express what are the most significant parts of the prophet’s burden.”

Habakkuk’s doubts had led him to come to God and share his thoughts and perplexities with him. A caring and patient God answered his prophet’s perplexities and communicated to him something of his parameters of operation (2:4) and even allowed him to see something of the Lord’s dynamic dealing with injustice and oppression—whether in fresh theophany, in contemplation of an earlier appearance of God handed down in epic tradition, or both. Here, once again, one finds the dynamic theme of the Divine Warrior (3:3-15), who, in triumphing over evil, gives victory to his followers so they may live secure and faithful lives (3:16-19).[100]

THEOLOGICAL CONCERNS

Habakkuk told his readers certain facts concerning God’s person and work. He informed his readers that the everlasting (1:12; 3:3, 6) God of glory (2:14; 3:3-4) is sovereign over all individuals and nations (1:5, 14; 2:6-20; 3:3-15), guiding them according to his predetermined purpose to bring glory to himself (2:14). God is a God of holiness (1:12-13; 2:20; 3:3) and justice (1:12-13; 2:4) who, although he judges godlessness and injustice (1:2-11; 2:5-19; 3:12-15), mercifully tempers his righteous anger against sin (3:2, 8, 12).

A God of omnipotence (3:4-7, 8-15), he works for the deliverance and salvation of his people (3:13, 18). A God of revelation (1:1; 2:2-3), he hears the cries and prayers (1:2-4, 12-17; 2:1; 3:1-2) of his own and answers them (1:5-11; 2:4-20; 3:3-15). As a result of these dialogues, Habakkuk came to learn that the issues of life and death rest with God. Similarly, the righteous individual will, by faith (2:4-5), come to realize that God is sufficient for every situation (3:16-19).

OUTLINE

Superscription (1:1)

I.   The Prophet’s Perplexities and God’s Explanations (1:2–2:20)

A.   First Perplexity: How Can God Disregard Judah’s Sin? (1:2-4)

B.   First Explanation: God Will Judge Judah through the Babylonians (1:5-11)

C.   Second Perplexity: How Can God Employ the Wicked Babylonians? (1:12–2:1)

D.   Second Explanation: God Controls All Nations according to His Purposes (2:2-20)

1.   Preliminary instructions and guiding principles (2:2-4)

2.   The first taunt: the plundering Babylonians will be despoiled (2:5-8)

3.   The second taunt: the plotting Babylonians will be denounced (2:9-11)

4.   The third taunt: the pillaging Babylonians will be destroyed (2:12-14)

5.   The fourth taunt: the perverting Babylonians will be disgraced (2:15-17)

6.   The fifth taunt: the polytheistic Babylonians will be deserted by their idols (2:18-20)

II.   The Prophet’s Prayer and God’s Exaltation (3:1-19)

A.   The Prophet’s Prayer for the Redeemer’s Pity (3:1-2)

B.   The Prophet’s Praise of the Redeemer’s Person (3:3-15)

1.   The Redeemer’s coming (3:3-7)

2.   The Redeemer’s conquest (3:8-15)

C.   The Prophet’s Pledge to the Redeemer’s Purposes (3:16-19)

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