Habakkuk Introduction-Authorship and Recipients

Like Haggai, we know next to nothing about the prophet Habakkuk since the book which bears his name simply records his name and that he was a prophet.

His name does have meaning.

However, there is great conjecture among scholars as to the real meaning of his name.

Most scholars trace his name to the Hebrew verb ḥāḇaq, “to fold one’s hands or to embrace.”[1]

Unfortunately, there is no consensus as to whether it should be understood in a passive or active sense.

Is he an “embracer” or the “one who is embraced?”

Some like Luther chose the active sense in that Habakkuk embraced his people to comfort them.

Jerome viewed the name in a passive sense in that Habakkuk embraced the problem of divine justice and the presence of evil in the world.

Other scholars view the passive sense by viewing Habakkuk was being embraced by God.

Recent scholarship has found the word h̬ambaququ in Akkadian literature in texts from Mesopotamia which indicate it was the name of a garden plant.

Thus, some believe Habakkuk’s name demonstrates the influence of Assyria and Babylonia on the Israelites, or that Habakkuk was of a mixed Israelite and Assyrian marriage.[2]

Though, we don’t know the true meaning of his name, we do know that Habakkuk was a prophet.

However, the life and ministry of Habakkuk are a mystery since the Scriptures do not identify his parentage or genealogy.

This sets him apart from most of the prophets of Israel since most provide in their prophecies a personal genealogy or geographical origin or royal contemporaries (Isa 1:1; Jer 1:1–3; Ezek 1:1–3; Hos 1:1; Joel 1:1; Amos 1:1; Jonah 1:1; Mic 1:1; Nah 1:1; Zeph 1:1; Zech 1:1.).

Thus, the book of Habakkuk is similar to the books of Obadiah, Haggai and Malachi.

We also have no idea of when and where he died.

Despite this lack of information on Habakkuk, some have contended that he could have very well been a musician of the Levitical office which is indicated by the last statement in his book, “For the director of music. On my stringed instruments” (Hab. 3:19).

Jewish literature has brought stories which cannot be substantiated and some have been proven to be myth.

In the apocryphal book, Bel and the Dragon, Habakkuk is described as the son of Jeshua and from the tribe of Levi.

In his legend, he was supposedly commanded by an angel to take a meal to Daniel, who had been cast into the lion’s den.

Habakkuk complains that he does not know the location of the lion’s den.

Consequently, an angel transports him by a lock of his hair to the lion’s den to minister to Daniel.

Rabbinic tradition suggests he was the son of a Shunamite woman in 2 Kings 4, whom Elisha restored to life.

This legend was apparently based exclusively on the meaning the prophet’s name, which we noted earlier.

Elisha prophesied to the Shunamite woman that she would embrace her son again (2 Kings 4:16).

Therefore, we do know that Habakkuk was an ordained prophet who might have been a Levitical musician.

He also appeared to be very well educated and zealous for God since he writes in a poetic literary style, which suggests this.

The contents of his book reveals his zeal for God’s holiness.

As we noted, the book of Habakkuk stands in the eighth position among “The Twelve” or Minor Prophets in both the Masoretic and Greek texts.

It follows Nahum and precedes Zephaniah.

These twelve books cover a period of approximately three hundred years, from 760 B.C. to approximately 450 B.C., ending with Malachi.

Except for the book of Jonah, these books all identify the author in a heading.

They are arranged in the biblical canon chronologically with the exception of Joel and Obadiah.

Hosea, Amos, Jonah and Micah were written in the eighth century B.C.

Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah were penned in the seventh century B.C. Joel, Obadiah, Haggai and Zechariah were composed in the sixth century B.C. while Malachi was written in the fifth century B.C.

In the Hebrew Bible, the Minor Prophets were treated as a unity.

Though they share similar themes, each are distinct literary units with distinct messages.

These twelve books are called “minor” not because they are less important in inspiration and reliability than the “major” prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, but rather mainly because they are short in length in comparison to the latter books.

In fact, as we noted Haggai is the second shortest book in the Old Testament with Obadiah being the shortest.

As we noted, Habakkuk was a prophet from the kingdom of Judah.

An inspired prophet could be identified using the tests for prophets in Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:14-22.

Moses wrote the Pentateuch (Ex. 17:14; 24:4-7; 34:27; Deut. 31:9,22,24; Ezra 7:6; Ps. 103:7; Josh. 8:31, 23:6; I Kings 2:3).

Some prophets clearly state that they were ordered to write (Jer. 30:2; Ezek. 43:11; Is. 8:1) and each of the Twelve Minor Prophets call themselves prophets.

The historical books were written by prophets (I Chron. 29:29; II Chron. 9:29; 12:15; 13:22; 20:34; 32:32; 33:19).

Daniel accepted the book of Jeremiah as scripture (Dan. 9:2) and Joshua received Moses’ writing as Scripture (Josh. 1:26) and Isaiah and Micah accepted each other's writings as scripture contemporaneously (Is. 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-4).

Solomon, Samuel, Daniel, Isaiah and Ezekiel all had dreams and visions, which squares with God’s description of a prophet (Deut. 13:1; Num. 12:6-8).

The noun prophetes in the Greek New Testament refers to the Old Testament prophets of Israel who were the authorized spokesmen for God and proclaimed His will, purpose and plan (See Hebrews 1:1-2).

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament Scriptures (See 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

There were a number of activities that the prophets of God were involved in such as communicating doctrine, issuing judgments, communicating future events, serving in the Temple, performing miracles, proclaiming Messianic prophecies, and interceding through prayer for the people (Hab. 3).

An inspired prophet could be identified using the tests for prophets in Deut. 13:1-5; 18:14-22.

The New Testament quotes the Old Testament over six hundred times (all of the Old Testament books are quoted except Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon and Acts 2:30 and Matthew 24:15 identify David and Daniel as prophets).

Not only did the apostles learn from the Old Testament Scriptures and quote them extensively in their writings but also our Lord did as well.

After His resurrection from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ employed the Old Testament Scriptures to instruct His disciples that the Messiah had to die and rise again from the dead (See Luke 24:44-47).

The prophets of God who were sent to Israel were in effect covenant enforcers in the sense that they called the people to repent by confessing their sins to God to be restored to fellowship with God and they also exhorted them to obedience to God to maintain that fellowship with God.

By rejecting this message, Israel put themselves under divine discipline.

The fact that God sent the prophets to warn Israel reveals that God did not want to judge the nation and in fact loved the nation.

It appears the citizens of the southern kingdom of Judah at the end of the seventh century B.C. were the recipients of the book of Habakkuk even though the prophet does not identify specifically the recipients of his book since it is a record of his dialogue with the God of Israel.

Specifically, the recipients would be those in the nation who had remained faithful to the God of Israel by remaining obedient to the Mosaic Law since Habakkuk issues his first complaint to God regarding those in his nation who were not faithful to the Mosaic covenant.

[1] Blue, J. R. (1985). Habakkuk. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1505). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[2] Blue, J. R. (1985). Habakkuk. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1505). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.