Habakkuk

This article is about Habakkuk, a biblical prophet. For other uses of the term, see Habakkuk (disambiguation).

File:Small habagoogh.jpg

Shrine of Habakkuk in Toyserkan, Iran.

Habakkuk or Havakuk (Hebrew: חֲבַקּוּק, Standard Ḥavaqquq Tiberian Ḥăḇaqqûq) was a prophet in the Hebrew Bible. He was the eighth of the twelve minor prophets and likely the author of the Book of Habakkuk, which bears his name.

Name and Etymology

The etymology of the name of Habakkuk is not clear. The name is possibly related to the Akkadian khabbaququ, the name of a fragrant plant, or the Hebrew root חבק, meaning "embrace".

Historical / Biographical Information

Practically nothing is known about Habakkuk's personal history, except for what can be inferred from the text of his book, which consists of five oracles about the Chaldeans (Babylonians) and a song of praise to God. Since the Chaldean rise to power is dated c. 612 B.C.E., it is assumed he was active about that time, making him an early contemporary of Jeremiah and Zephaniah. Jewish sources, however, do not group him with those two prophets, who are often placed together, so it is possible that he was slightly earlier than they. Because the final chapter of his book is a song, it is sometimes assumed in Jewish tradition that he was a member of the tribe of Levi, which served as musicians in Solomon's Temple.

The prophet Habakkuk is a largely enigmatic figure, discernible only through the oblique hints offered by the text itself. The evidence, as manifested by correspondences between prophetic laments and known historical occurrences, allow the text (and thereby the prophet) to be dated to "Judah in the first part of the Babylonian crisis, from around 608 to 598 B.C.E."

In terms of Habakkuk's station, many scholars suggest that he was a temple prophet, a representative of the organized Hebrew cult of the day. Koch summarizes the evidence for this position:

Habakkuk is one of the few literary prophets who is actually introduced as nabi [prophet] in the book's title. This probably means that he was an institutionalized cultic prophet. This fits in with remarks scattered throughout the book — for example that Habakkuk went up to a watchtower (in the temple?) in order to keep a look-out for a vision, and that Yahweh answered him there (2.1); or that his whole body trembled during his ecstatic reception of the word (3.16). In addition, the essential components even of his social criticism suggest that this belonged within a liturgical framework (cf. 1.2-11).

• Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization

The Organization's guide to the Hamedan Province states that Habakkuk was believed to be a guardian to the Temple of Solomon, and that he was captured by the Babylonians and remained in their prison for some years. After being freed by Cyrus the Great, he went to Ecbatana and remained there until he died, and was buried somewhere nearby, in what is today Toyserkan. Habakkuk is called both Habaghugh and Hayaghugh by the locals.

Habakkuk in Later Accounts

In addition, the prophet Habakkuk is also a secondary character in the story of Bel and the Dragon, a deuterocanonical postscript to the Book of Daniel. In it, God is utilizes the prophet as an instrument of his will, miraculously commanding him to offer sustenance to the book's beleaguered titular character:

Now there was in Judea a prophet called Habacuc [Habakkuk], and he had boiled pottage, and had broken bread in a bowl: and was going into the field, to carry it to the reapers.

And the angel of the Lord said to Habacuc: Carry the dinner which thou hast into Babylon to Daniel, who is in the lions' den.

And Habacuc said: Lord, I never saw Babylon, nor do I know the den.

And the angel of the Lord took him by the top of his head, and carried him by the hair of his head, and set him in Babylon over the den in the force of his spirit.

And Habacuc cried, saying: O Daniel, thou servant of God, take the dinner that God hath sent thee.

And Daniel said: Thou hast remembered me, O God, and thou hast not forsaken them that love thee.

And Daniel arose and ate. And the angel of the Lord presently set Habacuc again in his own place (Daniel 14: 32-38).

In the superscription of the Septuagint version of this account, Habakkuk is called "the son of Yeshua [Joshua/Jesus] of the tribe of Levi." However, given the relatively late composition of this apocryphal tale, there is no reason to assume the veracity of any biographical information contained in it.

Theology and Message

Habakkuk is unique among the prophets in that he openly questions the wisdom of God.^{[citation needed]} In the first part of the first chapter, the Prophet sees the injustice among his people and asks why God does not take action: "1:2 Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you 'Violence!' and will you not save?" - (World English Bible).

Posthumous Legacy

A mausoleum in the city of Toyserkan in the west of Iran is believed to be Habakkuk's burial place. It is protected by Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization.

On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, his feast day is December 2. He is commemorated with the other Minor prophets in the Calendar of saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on July 31.

See also

• Book of Habakkuk
• Persian Jews

External links

• Habbakuk in the Biblical Encyclopedia Tanakh Profiles (Hebrew/English) See also translations of names.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Bandstra, Barry L. Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Second Edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1999. ISBN 0534527272.
• Gigot, Francis E. "Habakkuk." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.
• Hiebert, Theodore. "Habakkuk." The New Interpreter's Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994-2004. ISBN 0687278201.
• Hirsch, Emil G. "Habakkuk." The Jewish Encyclopedia. 2002. Retrieved October 23, 2007.
• Koch, Klaus. The Prophets: The Babylonian and Persian Periods. Philidelphia: Fortress Press, 1982. ISBN 0800617568.
• Neuman, Abraham A. "Josippon and the Apocrypha." The Jewish Quarterly Review (New Series) 43:1 (July 1952), 1-26.

This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.

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