The Book of Habakkuk
Habakkuk is the 35th book of the Bible, with 3 chapters and 56 verses. It is traditionally attributed to Habakkuk.
Chapters
Overview of Habakkuk
Embrace, the eighth of the twelve minor prophets. Of his personal history we have no reliable information. He was probably a member of the Levitical choir. He was contemporary with Jeremiah and Zephaniah.
From Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897). More in the Bible Dictionary →
Habakkuk chapter summaries
| Chapter | What happens |
|---|---|
| Habakkuk 1 | The wickedness of the land. The fearful vengeance to be executed. (1-11) · These judgments to be inflicted by a nation more wicked than themselves. (12-17) |
| Habakkuk 2 | Habakkuk must wait in faith. (1-4) · Judgments upon the Chaldeans. (5-14) · Also upon drunkenness and idolatry. (15-20) |
| Habakkuk 3 | The prophet beseeches God for his people. (1-2) · He calls to mind former deliverances. (3-15) · His firm trust in the Divine mercy. (16-19) |
Chapter outlines from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary.
Key verses in Habakkuk
- Habakkuk 2:2
And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
- Habakkuk 2:3
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
- Habakkuk 2:15
Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
- Habakkuk 3:2
O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
- Habakkuk 2:14
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
- Habakkuk 3:17
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
- Habakkuk 3:19
The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
- Habakkuk 1:6
For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
Introduction to Habakkuk — Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary
INTRODUCTION
Habakkuk, from a Hebrew root meaning to "embrace," denoting a "favorite" (namely, of God) and a "struggler" (for his country's good). Some ancient authors represent him as belonging to the tribe of Levi; others [Pseudo Epiphanius], to that of Simeon. The inscription to Bel and the dragon in the Septuagint asserts the former; and Ha 3:19 perhaps favors this. Eusebius [Ecclesiastical History, 7.29] states that in his time Habakkuk's tomb was shown at Celia in Palestine. The time seems to have been about 610 B.C. For the Chaldeans attacked Jerusalem in the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim, 605 B.C. (2Ki 24:1; 2Ch 36:6; Jr 46:2; 36:9). And Habakkuk (Ha 1:5, 6, &c.) speaks of the Chaldeans as about to invade Judah, but not as having actually done so. In the second chapter he proceeds to comfort his people by foretelling the humiliation of their conquerors, and that the vision will soon have its fulfilment. In the third chapter the prophet in a sublime ode celebrates the deliverances wrought by Jehovah for His people in times past, as the ground of assurance, notwithstanding all their existing calamities, that He will deliver them again. Ha 3:16 shows that the invader is still coming, and not yet arrived; so that the whole refers to the invasion in Jehoiakim's times, not those under Jehoiachin and Zedekiah. The Apocryphal appendix to Daniel states that he lived to see the Babylonian exile (588 B.C.), which accords with his prophesying early in Jehoiakim's reign, about 610 B.C. The position of the book immediately after Nahum is appropriate; as Nahum treated of the judgments of the Lord on Assyria, for its violence against Israel, so Habakkuk, those inflicted by, and on, the Chaldeans for the same reason. The style is poetical and sublime. The parallelisms are generally regular. Borrowed ideas occur (compare Ha 3:19, with Psa 18:33; Ha 2:6, with Is 14:4; Ha 2:14, with Is 11:9). The ancient catalogues imply that his book is part of the canon of Scripture. In the New Testament, Ro 1:17 quotes Ha 2:4 (though not naming him); compare also Ga 3:11; He 10:38. Ac 13:40, 41 quotes Ha 1:5. One or two Hebrew words peculiar to Habakkuk occur (Ha 1:9; 2:6, 16).Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871) · public domain
Introduction to Habakkuk — Adam Clarke's Commentary
Introduction
The prophet enters very abruptly on his subject, his spirit being greatly indignant at the rapid progress of vice and impiety, Hab 1:1-4. Upon which God is introduced threatening very awful and sudden judgments to be indicted by the ministry of the Chaldeans, Hab 1:5-10. The Babylonians attribute their wonderful successes to their idols, Hab 1:11. The prophet then, making a sudden transition, expostulates with God (probably personating the Jews) for permitting a nation much more wicked than themselves, as they supposed, to oppress and devour them, as fishers and foulers do their prey, Hab 1:12-17. We know little of this prophet; for what we find in the ancients concerning him is evidently fabulous, as well as that which appears in the Apocrypha. He was probably of the tribe of Simeon, and a native of Beth-zacar. It is very likely that he lived after the destruction of Nineveh, as he speaks of the Chaldeans, but makes no mention of the Assyrians. And he appears also to have prophesied before the Jewish captivity, see Hab 1:5; Hab 2:1; Hab 3:2, Hab 3:16-19; and therefore Abp. Newcome thinks he may be placed in the reign of Jehoiakim, between the years 606 b.c. and 598 b.c. As a poet, Habakkuk holds a high rank among the Hebrew prophets. The beautiful connection between the parts of his prophecy, its diction, imagery, spirit, and sublimity, cannot be too much admired; and his hymn, chap. 3, is allowed by the best judges to be a masterpiece of its kind. See Lowth's Praelect. xxi., xxviii.Adam Clarke (1831) · public domain