Habakkuk 1:1-Superscription of the book of Habakkuk

Habakkuk 1:1 The following is the message which God revealed to Habakkuk the prophet: 1:2 How long, Lord, must I cry for help? But you do not listen! I call out to you, “Violence!” But you do not intervene! 1:3 Why do you force me to witness injustice? Why do you put up with wrongdoing? Destruction and violence confront me; conflict is present and one must endure strife. 1:4 For this reason the law lacks power, and justice is never carried out. Indeed, the wicked intimidate the innocent. For this reason justice is perverted. (NET)

Habakkuk 1:1 contains the superscription or title to the book and identifies the prophet Habakkuk as the recipient of a message.

Habakkuk identifies himself as “the prophet” (articular form of the noun nā·ḇî(ʾ)), which expresses the fact that he represented God and received a message from the God of Israel, which he in turn was to communicate to the citizens of the kingdom of Judah in 605 B.C. during the reign of Jehoiakim.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

Now, in Habakkuk 1:1, Habakkuk asserts that he saw a message, which doesn’t make sense.

However, we must remember that when he says this, he means that he saw the Lord, the God of Israel communicate this message to the assembly of angels in His throne room.

This “oracle” or “message” (mǎś·śā(ʾ)) is used here as a technical expression introducing a message from the Lord.

Specifically, the word refers to a prophetic utterance with emphasis upon the content of the prophecy.

Here it refers to the prophetic utterance which Habakkuk saw the Lord communicate to the angels in His throne room, which the prophet was to communicate to the citizens of Judah.

In Habakkuk 1:1, “saw” is the verb ḥā·zā(h) which means “to see a vision” but in the sense that the prophet Habakkuk saw the Lord communicate a message to the assembly of angelic beings (1 Kgs. 22:19; Isa. 6; Jer. 1:11; Ezek. 1).

Habakkuk was then sent by the Lord to communicate this message to the citizens of the southern kingdom of Judah.

Therefore, this verb ḥā·zā(h) means to see a vision in the sense that Habakkuk saw the Lord speaking in a vision to the angelic beings and which message he was sent by the Lord to communicate to the citizens of the southern kingdom of Judah.

Francis Andersen writes “The title of the book of Habakkuk describes the maśśāʾ as something seen in a vision, rather than heard. It should be remembered, however, that the prophetic vision was an experience in which the prophet typically saw the Lord in the divine assembly (1 Kgs 22:19; Isaiah 6; Jer 1:11; Ezekiel 1; etc.) and so was able to hear what the Lord said…The verb and the cognate noun ḥāzôn have definite connotations of a visionary perception, such as would come to a prophet in a state of ecstasy. It would seem that such an experience often took the form of participation in the divine assembly.”[1]

I am of the conviction that Habakkuk was written in 605 B.C. during the reign of Jehoiakim since Habakkuk 1:6 records the God of Israel informing the prophet Habakkuk that He was about to empower the Babylonians to be His instrument to judge the unfaithful in the kingdom of Judah.

Thus, the text says that this attack had not yet taken place and was imminent.

Also, the contents of Habakkuk 1:7-11 indicate that the Babylonians already possessed a fierce reputation which was feared in Habakkuk’s culture.

We know from secular history and biblical history that the Babylonians launched three attacks of the kingdom of Judah, namely, in 605, 597 and 586 B.C.

Consequently, the book of Habakkuk must have been written just prior to the first of three Babylonian invasions led by Nebuchadnezzar which took place in 605 B.C.

The book of Habakkuk consists of four parts:

(I) God Responds to Habakkuk’s complaint that He has not judged unrepentant, apostate individuals in the kingdom of Judah (1:2-11).

(A) Habakkuk complains to God about His failure to judge unrepentant, apostate individuals in the kingdom of Judah (1:2-4).

(B) God responds to this complaint by informing the prophet that He will send the Babylonians as His instruments to judge these unrepentant, apostate Judeans (1:5-11).

(II) God responds to Habakkuk’s complaint that He will use the Babylonians to judge his unrepentant, apostate countrymen (1:12-2:20).

(A) Habakkuk responds by questioning God’s choice of the Babylonians who he considers more wicked than these unrepentant, apostate Jews (1:12-17).

(B) Habakkuk waits for an answer from God (2:1) who responds by assuring Habakkuk that He will also judge the Babylonians for their unrepentant wicked behavior (2:2-20).

(III) The Lord gives the prophet a vision of Himself as the Divine Warrior (3:1-15).

(IV) Habakkuk confesses his confidence that the Lord will execute justice (3:16-19).

[1] Andersen, F. I. (2008). Habakkuk: a new translation with introduction and commentary (Vol. 25, p. 88). New Haven; London: Yale University Press.