A Prophecy of Divine justice and mercy

This prophecy begins abruptly and without any indication of date: "The burden that Habakkuk, the Prophet, saw."

Plan and Divisions of Habakkuk

A. Chapter 1-2. A dialogue between the Prophet and God.

Habakkuk 1:2-4. The Prophet's question: why is sin and injustice tolerated?

Habakkuk 1:5-11. The Divine answer: a fearful vengeance will be taken by God at the hands of His instruments, the Chaldeans.

Habakkuk 1:12 -to- 2:1. The Prophet's second question: but why at the hands of the Chaldeans, for they are worse than the Jews?

Habakkuk 2:2-20. The Divine answer: A Redeemer will come; men must believe and trust; the instrument will in its turn be punished for its greed and violence.

B. Chapter 3. The Divine justice and mercy.

Habakkuk 3:1-7. In imagery borrowed from the description in Deuteronomy 33:2, etc., of God coming to give the Law, the Prophet depicts the divine Majesty coming to judge the world.

Habakkuk 3:8-15. The judgment of the wicked which shall bring about the salvation of God's people.

Habakkuk 3:16-19. The dispositions in which to await that judgment, i.e. faith and trust.

Date of the Prophecy of Habakkuk

The Chaldeans who are here described as the instruments of the divine wrath, were originally a tribe dwelling in the marshy district near the mouth of the Euphrates, known as Bit-Jakin. Practically the earliest mention we have of them is in the history of Merodach-Baladan the enemy of Assyria, and the would-be ally of Ezechias. He appears as king of the Chaldeans from about 721-709 B.C. On the death of Assurbanipal, in 626 B.C., Nabopolassar the Chaldean became king of the Chaldeans, and the founder of the Neo-Babylonian Empire; he was succeeded by Nabuchodonosor the Great, 605 B.C.

From all this it would seem that the Chaldeans can hardly have been known much before the end of the eighth century B.C. And Habakkuk apparently presents them as unknown, except vaguely, to the Jews of his time; hence they could not have been conceived of as a menace. These considerations make it exceedingly difficult to identify the Habakkuk of Daniel 14:32, with the author of the prophecy, for the former lived under the Neo-Babylonian empire, i.e. under the Chaldeans; at the same time it is clear that the Prophet cannot have lived before the close of the eighth century. The chief vices which he bewails among the Jews are violence and injustice, 1:2-4 (the idolatry mentioned in 2:18-19, is of course that of the Chaldeans); hence it has been held that the period of Manasses' repentance, circa 650-640. will best accord with the prophecy. The temple is still standing, 2:20, and it is noteworthy that the Prophet shows a remarkable knowledge of the Psalter, thus compare:

Habakkuk 2:18-19 and Psalm 113:4-8;

Habakkuk 2:20 and Psalm 10:4;

Habakkuk 3:3 and Psalm 71:19;

Habakkuk 3:9 and Psalm 7:13;

Habakkuk 3:11 and Psalm 17:15;

Habakkuk 3:13 and Psalm 88:36-38;

Habakkuk 3:14 and Psalm 9:9;

Habakkuk 3:19 and Psalm 17:2, 24.

These parallels are, of course, mostly in chapter 3, which contains the wonderful hymn. This hymn is of particular interest because it is the only place outside the Psalter where we find the musical terms of the latter preserved to us; thus in the title we have the term Shigionoth, the "pro ignorantiis," of the Vulgate, cf. Psalm 7:1. The musical term Selah appears in 1:9 and 1:13, though it is omitted in the Vulgate and in the Douay version; in the last verse the words "the conqueror" and "singing psalms," should probably be rendered "for the chief musician, on my stringed instruments," they are a musical direction to, the singers, cf. s.v. Psalter.

Points of Interest in Habakkuk

In Habakkuk 1:12, we have an instance of a change made by the Scribes of the Second Temple who changed "and Thou shalt not die" into "and we shall not die"; this was done from motives of reverence. In 3:2, where the Vulgate and Douay read, in accordance with Hebrew text, "in the midst of the years bring it to life," the Septuagint has "in the midst of the two living things thou wilt be known," a rendering which has given rise to the presence of the ox and the ass familiar to us in the Christmas Crib. Some of Habakkuk's phrases have passed into proverbs, e.g. 2:2 and 2:4, the latter is quoted three times by St. Paul; see also 2:11.

In many passages the Douay translation is almost unintelligible, and recourse must be had to the Revised version.

Little is known of the person of Habakkuk. It is usual to identify him with the Habakkuk of Daniel 14, but, as shown above, it is hard to support this identification. St. Epiphanius says that he fled into Egypt to Ostracine after the fall of the city in 588, and died in 538. According to the LXX, Daniel 14, viz. "Bel and the Dragon," was taken "from the prophecy of Habakkuk the son of Josue, of the tribe of Levi."


by
Very Rev. Hugh Pope, O.P., S.T.M.
Doctor in Sacred Scripture,
Member of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, and
late Professor of New Testament Exegesis at the Collegio Angelico, Rome.