Habakkuk lives in Judah at the end of the seventh century BC, after the destruction of the northern kingdom, Israel. He brings to God all his concerns about the future of the southern kingdom, Judah. Habakkuk's three chapter lament is similar to those of Isaiah long before him and of his contemporary, Micah.
Habakkuk 1:1-3, "Why do you tolerate injustice?"
The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.
How long, O LORD, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, "Violence!"
but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Unlike other prophetic books, in this one, the prophet speaks first, addressing God and pleading for an answer. The book begins with "How long?" announcing a lament of parallel lines. Habakkuk complains about the violence and injustice of Judah and asks God why He allows evil to triumph. The rest of the book will wrestle with this lament and with God's response.
The Hebrew word chamas, "violence', appears six times in this book and fourteen times in the psalms (for example, Psalm 140.)
Habakkuk 1: 4, Paralyzed law
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
Habakkuk is especially frustrated with injustice in Judah. Violence and conflict paralyze the standard routes to justice, blocking the law from its rightful task.
Habakkuk 1:5-7, "Be amazed"
"Look at the nations and watch--
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.
I am raising up the Babylonians,
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwelling places not their own.
They are a feared and dreaded people;
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
The injustice in Judah will be met by the fearful Babylonians, who will sweep over the ancient Near East, including Judah. The Babylonians have their own view of justice -- it merely promotes the power of Babylon.
Nabopolassar rose to control of Babylon in 626 BC and began to consolidate power over Assyria. In 605 BC, his son, Nebuchadnezzar, considerably expanded the power of Babylon. Armerding suggests that this passage was then most likely written prior to 605 BC.
The Hebrew text has rhythmic wordplay in hammar wə·han·nim·hār; ("bitter and hasty"), translated here as "ruthless and impetuous".
Habakkuk 1:8-11, The horror of the Babylonians
Their horses are swifter than leopards,
fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like a vulture swooping to devour;
they all come bent on violence.
Their hordes advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners like sand.
They deride kings and scoff at rulers.
They laugh at all fortified cities;
they build earthen ramps and capture them.
Then they sweep past like the wind and go on--
guilty men, whose own strength is their god."
The Babylonian army is swift and powerful. Their opponents react in terror as they approach. Central to the evil of Babylon is their worship of their own brutality and power -- that military power "is their god."
Habakkuk has asked God to intervene in Judah. But this answer, bringing in the Babylonians, is not the answer that he wants!
Habakkuk 1:12, An everlasting Rock
O LORD, are you not from everlasting?
My God, my Holy One, we will not die.
O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment;
O Rock, you have ordained them to punish.
These four parallel lines repeat Habakkuk's trust in YHWH's longterm "everlasting" covenant plan.
Habakkuk 1:13, Why the Babylonians?
Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrong.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent
while the wicked swallow up those
more righteous than themselves?
Habakkuk persists with his questions. Why does YHWH allow the Babylonians to execute justice? Why allow the wicked to destroy the wicked? Where is God's righteousness in this plan?
Habakkuk 1:14-17, Fishhooks
You have made men like fish in the sea,
like sea creatures that have no ruler.
The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks,
he catches them in his net,
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
and so he rejoices and is glad.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and burns incense to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
and enjoys the choicest food.
Is he to keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy?
Poor mortal men are impotent before God's justice. They are like fish dragged out of the sea by fishhooks. Yet when the Babylonians drag out the Israelites, the Babylonians will then sacrifice to their pagan gods. When they pull humans in with their dragnet, they make sacrifices to their nets! What is good in that?
If we view Habbakuk 1:12-2:1 as a single passage (as does Armerding, p. 505), then Habakkuk's cry begins and ends with worship. He praises God in verses 12-13a, cries out "Why?" in verses 13b-17, and then in 2:1 commits himself again to faithfulness and worship.
Some Random Thoughts
The Hebrew word for violence, chamas, survives in Aramaic as hamas, meaning "zeal." In modern times, that word has also become equated with the Palestinian group Hamas, which officially takes its name as an Aramaic acronym for "Islamic Resistance Movement."
First published July 24, 2025; updated July 24, 2025
No comments:
Post a Comment