HABAKKUK (Book)
This appears as the eighth among the twelve minor prophets. It is divided into three sections:
(a) First regret:
Their cry of protest against violence and iniquity, without God seeming to react (Hab. 1:2-4); iniquity triumphs. The Lord’s response: God raises up the Chaldeans (Hab. 1:5-10) who, guilty, will be punished in turn (Hab. 1:11).
(b) Second regret:
The kingdom of God will not fade away, and judgment will fall upon the Chaldeans (Hab. 1:12). However, a moral problem arises: God allows the Chaldeans to destroy, to put to death, those who are more righteous than them. How long will this state of affairs continue? (Hab. 1:13-17).
Response of the Lord: The Chaldeans are wicked and puffed up with pride; This fact alone is enough, in the eyes of believers, to announce the punishment that is coming to them (Hab. 1:11; Is. 10:12-16), as will also happen to all those who are like them. The righteous will live by faith (Hab. 2:1-4).
Thus, knowledge of this truth allows the resolution of the dilemma. Thus, the certainty that God will punish wickedness inspires the prophet to launch five anathemas, uttered against the proud power of the enemy, and considering five forms of iniquity (Hab. 2:5-20).
(c) Prayer of thanksgiving (Hab. 3:1-19): After an invocation of God’s mercy despite his wrath (Hab. 3:2), the prophet describes the glorious appearance of Jehovah, the stupefied terror of his enemies (Hab. 3:3-15), and then expresses the serene confidence of faith that rests on the Lord (Hab. 3:16-19).
This book, although not dated, evidently comes from the Chaldean period:
(a) The temple still stands (Hab. 2:20), where worship services accompanied by music are held (Heb. 3:19).
(b) This generation (Hab. 1:5, 6) has seen the rise of the Chaldeans to a colossal power among the nations, and the beginning of their cruel subjugation of the nations (Hab. 1:6 -17).
The Hebrews had already had relations with the Chaldeans for a long time. They attracted attention again when in the year 626 B.C. They managed to free themselves from the Assyrian yoke. They began their great conquests, taking first place among the nations, after the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC, and thanks to their victory over Egypt at Carchemish, in 605 BC.
It is assumed, from internal evidence, that Habakkuk prophesied during the reign of Jehoiakim (608-597 BC), but the date is difficult to specify. Most scholars place the prophecy in the early part of this reign, at the time of the battle of Carchemish, but it would be possible that his proclamation dates back to a few years before the fall of Nineveh.
In fact, the Chaldeans were already agitating in the year 626 BC. and, even before the sinking of Nineveh, the military operations underway were premonitions that this people was on the path to becoming a great world power. The Jewish prophets had announced with great anticipation that the Chaldeans would subdue Judah (Isa. 11:11; 39:6, 7; Mi. 4:10).
All nations knew the fierce character, love of war, cruelty, ability and combat methods of the Chaldeans.
Only the connoisseur of Hebrew can get an adequate idea of how magnificent Habakkuk’s literary style is.
His is a style in which the expressions are smooth, parallelistic, poetic; a master of the poetic, graphic and energetic style, according to Driver. Also the psalm of chap. 3 is of lyricism of the highest order, maintaining a rhythm and a use of images that allows the most demanding comparison with the best poetic productions of Hebrew literature.
The critical schools have harshly attacked the unity of the book, but on the basis of baseless presuppositions and speculations, and they differ greatly among themselves in their conclusions about the unity and dating of the different chapters and sections.
It may be noted that e.g. For example, the musical terms used are not post-exilic, but were already used in the Psalms.
Habakkuk is frequently cited in the NT in a way that underlines his theological importance (cf. Acts 13:41; Hab. 1:5; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38; Hab. 2: 4).
The Jews, like the Christian church, fully recognize the canonical character of this book. Among the famous Dead Sea scrolls, a commentary on Habakkuk was discovered, in which the community applied this book to their own historical circumstances.