HABAKKUK
Meaning of name uncertain
In Assyrian is the name of a plant
Could be a nickname
Dead Sea Scrolls include a copy of 1st two chapters of book
Along with commentary
Is additional proof that Ch. 3 is a late addition
As book now stands it deals with question of THEODICY
Why does God allow evil to prevail over goodness??
Book probably developed in 4 stages:
1) ca. 600 Habakkuk delivered an oracle on rise of
Babylonian (Chaldean) power (1:6-11, 14-17)
2) after 500 an Editor added a psalm about internal strife
and oppression (1:2-4, 12a, 2:1-4)
3) ca. 300 and Editor added woes of 2:5-20 quoting from
Isaiah and Jeremiah
4) ca. ? Chapter 3 was added as further answer to
questions of Chapter 1
Generally:
Chapter 1 asks question of Theodicy
Chapter 2 answers the question
Chapter 3 a great poetic tribute to God and the rewards of
faith
More specifically:
Chapters 1 & 2 a confusing mix of a complaint about
evil, an oracle about punishment of Israel, and a list of
woes against the instruments of punishment.
Chapter 3 a psalm added later to the book.
Chapter 1:
1:1-4 Raises the basic question of Theodicy
Oh Why?? - sounds like Job, etc.
1:1-4 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will
not listen?
Or cry to you, "Violence!" and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at
trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me; strife and
contention arise.
So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails,
The wicked surround the righteous therefore
judgment comes forth perverted.
1:5-11 is probably a later insertion
It interrupts thought of 1-4
Probably refers to Babylonians (Chaldeans) but some
read it as Assyria, Persia, Greeks, etc.
5 Look at the nations, and see! Be astonished! Be
astounded! For a work is being done in your days
that you would not believe if you were told.
6 For I am rousing the Chaldeans, that fierce and
impetuous nation, who march through the breadth
of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
7 Dread and fearsome are they; their justice and dignity
proceed from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, more menacing
than wolves at dusk; their horses charge. Their
horsemen come from far away; they fly like an
eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come for violence, with faces pressing
forward; they gather captives like sand.
10
At kings they scoff, and of rulers they make sport.
They laugh at every fortress, and heap up earth to
take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind; they transgress
and become guilty; their own might is their god!
1:12-13 Returns to original question with a classic statement of theodicy in verse 13
12 Are you not from of old, O Lord my God, my Holy
One? You shall not die. O Lord, you have
marked them for judgment; and you, O Rock,
have established them for punishment.
13 Your eyes are too pure to behold evil, and you
cannot look on wrongdoing; why do you look
on the treacherous, and are silent when the
wicked swallow those more righteous than
they?
1: 14-17 Seems to go back to image of marauding Babylonians and frustration
14 You have made people like the fish of the sea, like
crawling things that have no ruler.
15 The enemy brings all of them up with a hook; he
drags them out with his net, he gathers them
in his seine; so he rejoices and exults.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes
offerings to his seine; for by them his portion
is lavish, and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net, and destroying
nations without mercy?
Chapter 2 tries to answer question of Chapter 1
Verses 1-4 may be a poem inserted by a late editor
1 I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on
the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he
will say to me, and what he will answer
concerning my complaint.
(It requires effort by Habakkuk he must station himself on a tower and "look" for the answer)
2 Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the
vision: make it plain on tablets, so that a runner
may read it.
(Must write down the answer so anyone and everyone can know it. The word translated "tablets" is the same word used to describe what the ten commandments was written on)
3 For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it
speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems
to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will
not delay.
(Be patient, the answer is coming!)
4 Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faith.
(Hebrew of this passage is very obscure but we get the idea. Word translated "faith" usually means "moral steadfastness."
2:5-20 Is a series of woes patterned after Isa 5:8-22 with verse 5 being the transition
5 Moreover, wealth is treacherous; the arrogant do not
endure. They open their throats wide as Sheol;
like Death they never have enough. They gather
all nations for themselves, and collect all peoples
as their own.
(language is very obscure. Some versions have "wine" rather than "wealth"
6 Shall not everyone taunt such people and, with
mocking riddles, say about them, "Alas for
you who heap up what is not your own!"
How long will you load yourselves with goods
taken in pledge?
7 Will not your own creditors suddenly rise, and
those who make you tremble wake up?
Then you will be booty for them.
8 Because you have plundered many nations, all
that survive of the peoples shall plunder you -
because of human bloodshed, and violence to
the earth, to cities and all who live in them.
(Oppression breeds rebellion!)
9 "Alas for you who get evil gain for your houses,
setting your nest on high to be safe from the
reach of harm!"
10 You have devised shame for your house by cutting
off many peoples; you have forfeited your life.
11 The very stones will cry out from the wall, and the
plaster will respond from the woodwork.
(There is no way to hide from justice)
12 "Alas for you who build a town by bloodshed, and
found a city on iniquity!"
13 Is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor
only to feed the flames, and nations weary
themselves for nothing?
14 But the earth will be filled with the knowledge of
the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the
sea.
15 "Alas for you who make your neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath until they are drunk,
in order to gaze on their nakedness!"
16 You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.
Drink, you yourself, and stagger! The cup in
the Lords right hand will come around to
you, and shame will come upon your glory!
(He who degrades another, degrades himself)
17 For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm
you; the destruction of the animals will terrify
you because of human bloodshed and
violence to the earth, to cities and all who live
in them.
(cruelty will result in a return of cruelty)
18 What use is an idol once its maker has shaped it
a cast image, a teacher of lies? For its maker
trusts in what has been made, though the product
is only an idol that cannot speak!
19 Alas for you who say to the wood, "Wake up!" to
silent stone, "Rouse yourself!" Can it teach?
See, it is gold and silver plated, and there is no
breath in it at all.
(Idols are useless)
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth
keep silence before him!
(Famous quote. Be patient and faithful. Reminiscent of 2:1-4)
Chapter 3 is a Psalm of Praise
Almost certainly a late addition to book
Verses 1-16 full of images of a warrior God
Verses 17-19 are High Point of Book
We do not have to wait for our rewards
Faith allows us to enjoy God even in face of evil!
1 A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk according to
Shigionoth.
2 O Lord, I have heard of your renown, and I stand in
awe, O Lord, of your work.
In our own time revive it: in our own time make it
known; in wrath may you remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount
Paran. His glory covered the heavens, and the
earth was full of his praise.
4 The brightness was like the sun; rays came forth from
his hand, where his power lay hidden.
5 Before him went pestilence, and plague followed
close behind.
6 He stopped and shook the earth; he looked and made
the nations tremble. The eternal mountains were
shattered; along his ancient pathways the
everlasting hills sank low.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan under affliction; the
tent curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8 Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord? Or your
anger against the rivers, or your rage against the
sea, when you drove your horses, your
chariots to victory?
9 You brandished your naked bow, sated were the
arrows at your command. You split the earth
with rivers.
10 The mountains saw you, and writhed; a torrent of
water swept by; the deep gave forth it voice.
The sun raised high its hands;
11 the moon stood still in its exalted place, at the
light of your arrows speeding by, at the gleam
of your flashing spear.
12 In fury you trod the earth,
in anger you trampled nations.
13 You came forth to save your people, to save your
anointed. You crushed the head of the wicked
house, laying it bare from foundation to roof.
14 You pierced with his own arrows the head of the
warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter
us, gloating as if ready to devour the poor
who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with horses, churning the
mighty waters.
16 I hear, and I tremble within;
my lips quiver at the sound.
Rottenness enters into my bones,
and my steps tremble beneath me.
I wait quietly for the day of calamity
to come upon the people who attack us.
Verses 17-19 are finest contribution of book
17 Though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines:
though the produce of the olive fails
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
and makes me tread upon the heights.
(One does not have to wait for rewards. Faith allows one to enjoy God even in the face of evil!)