Introduction to

Habakkuk writes his prophecy in and around the time of the Babylonian conquest and destruction of , circa 587 BCE. The meditates on the Jews’ corruption, and on the fact that God uses the Babylonians as The Book of Habakkuk instruments of divine judgment. Why, he questions, would God use a cruel and ruthless nation to punish those who are more righteous than them? This brief book ends with one of the ’s most striking affirmation of in the midst of terrible adversity, in 3:17-18.

Habakkuk the prophet is mentioned in Chapter 14 of ©2009, John G. Cunyus Daniel, which is found in the All Rights to the English and placed in the Translation Reserved www.JohnCunyus.com in most English . In Daniel, Habakkuk Latin text from “The Latin is serving in the Holy Land Vulgate.” Biblia Sacra Iuxta while Daniel is captive in Vulgatam Versionem, Fourth Babylon. God uses Habakkuk Revised Edition, edited by Roger Gryson, © 1994 Deutsche miraculously, to feed Daniel Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. Used during a time of trouble. by permission. The Book of Habakkuk, 2

The Book of Habakkuk lex et non pervenit usque ad finem iudicium quia impius :1 onus quod praevalet adversus iustum vidit Abacuc propheta propterea egreditur iudicium perversum The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw. Because of this, the law is torn apart, and judgment did 1:2 usquequo Domine not come through even to the clamabo et non exaudies end, because the lawless vociferabor ad te vim patiens prevails against the fair. For et non salvabis this reason, twisted judgment comes out. How long, Lord, will I cry out, and You will not hear? I 1:5 aspicite in gentibus et shout to You, suffering videte et admiramini et violence, and You will not obstupescite quia opus make secure. factum est in diebus vestris quod nemo credet cum 1:3 quare ostendisti mihi narrabitur iniquitatem et laborem videre praeda et iniustitia contra me “Look among nations and et factum est iudicium et see!1 And wonder and be contradictio potentior struck dumb, because a work has been done in your days Why have You shown me which no one will believe betrayal and labor? May the when it is told! plunder and unfairness against me be seen! 1:6 quia ecce ego suscitabo Judgment happened, yet Chaldeos gentem amaram et contradiction is stronger.

1 The “you” here is plural. In this 1:4 propter hoc lacerata est verse, God begins answering the prophet’s complaint.. The Book of Habakkuk, 3 velocem ambulantem super “Its horses are lighter than latitudinem terrae ut leopards and faster than possideat tabernacula non wolves at sunset. Its cavalry sua will be spread out, for its cavalry will come from far “For look! I will stir up the away. They will fly, like an Chaldeans,2 a bitter and swift eagle hurrying to eat. nation, marching over the land’s breadth so they can 1:9 omnes ad praedam possess dwellings which are venient facies eorum ventus not their own. urens et congregabit quasi harenam captivitatem 1:7 horribilis et terribilis est ex semet ipsa iudicium et “All will come to the prey. onus eius egredietur Their face is like burning wind, and it will gather “It is horrible and terrifying. captives like sand. Judgment comes from the nation itself, and its burden 1:10 et ipse de regibus will come out. triumphabit et tyranni ridiculi eius erunt ipse super 1:8 leviores pardis equi eius omnem munitionem ridebit et et velociores lupis vespertinis conportabit aggerem et et diffundentur equites eius capiet eam equites namque eius de longe venient volabunt quasi aquila “And it will triumph over festinans ad comedendum kings, and tyrants will be its objects of ridicule. It will laugh at all fortifications. It will heap up mounds and 2 is first mentioned in scripture at Genesis 11:28. In this instance, capture them. the Chaldeans are Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian army, sweeping across the desert to destroy Jerusalem and take Judah captive 1:11 tunc mutabitur spiritus in the 6th Century before Christ. The Book of Habakkuk, 4 et pertransibit et corruet Why do You not look on haec est fortitudo eius dei sui those working betrayal? And why are you silent toward the “Then, the spirit will be lawless devouring one fairer changed and will pass than himself? through, and fall. This is its god’s strength.” 1:14 et facies homines quasi pisces maris et quasi reptile 1:12 numquid non tu a non habens principem principio Domine Deus meus Sancte meus et non moriemur And will you make men like Domine in iudicium posuisti the sea’s fish, and like the eum et fortem ut corriperes reptile, having no leaders? fundasti eum 1:15 totum in hamo Are You not from the sublevavit traxit illud in beginning, Lord my God, my sagena sua et congregavit in holy One, and will we not rete suo super hoc laetabitur die? Lord, You appointed et exultabit him in judgment and established him in might, so He lifted up all with a hook, You may correct. and hauled it in his drag-net. And he gathered it in his net. 1:13 mundi sunt oculi tui ne Because of this, he will be videas malum et respicere ad happy and exult. iniquitatem non poteris quare non respicis super inique 1:16 propterea immolabit agentes et taces devorante sagenae suae et sacrificabit impio iustiorem se reti suo quia in ipsis incrassata est pars eius et Your eyes are pure. You will cibus eius electus not look on harm. You cannot look at treachery. For this reason, he will burn The Book of Habakkuk, 5 offerings to his dragnet, and :1 super sacrifice to his net, because custodiam meam stabo et by these his portion is figam gradum super fattened, and his food is munitionem et contemplabor choice. ut videam quid dicatur mihi et quid respondeam ad 1:17 propter hoc ergo arguentem me expandit sagenam suam et semper interficere gentes non I will stand on my watch, and parcet fix my step over the fortification. And I will Because of this, he casts his consider carefully, so I can net, and always to destroy see what will be said to me, nations. He will not spare. and what I can say to the One correcting me.

2:2 et respondit mihi Dominus et dixit scribe visum et explana eum super tabulas ut percurrat qui legerit eum

And the Lord responded to me and said, “Write the vision and explain it on a tablet, so one who will read it may move through it quickly.

2:3 quia adhuc visus procul et apparebit in finem et non mentietur si moram fecerit expecta illum quia veniens veniet et non tardabit The Book of Habakkuk, 6

“For the vision is still far off, be satisfied. And he will yet it will appear at the end gather to himself all nations and will not . If it will and will pile up all peoples make a delay, wait for it, for himself. because, coming, it will come and not delay! 2:6 numquid non omnes isti super eum parabolam sument 2:4 ecce qui incredulus est et loquellam enigmatum eius non erit recta anima eius in et dicetur vae ei qui semet ipso iustus autem in multiplicat non sua usquequo fide sua vivet et adgravat contra se densum lutum “Look! One who disbelieves – his soul will not be right “Won’t all of them take up a within him. Yet the fair will parable over him and his live in his faith. cryptic speech? And it will be said, ‘Woe to him who 2:5 et quomodo vinum multiplies what isn’t his. potantem decipit sic erit vir How long also harsh grief superbus et non decorabitur weighs down against him!’ qui dilatavit quasi infernus animam suam et ipse quasi 2:7 numquid non repente mors et non adimpletur et consurgent qui mordeant te congregabit ad se omnes et suscitabuntur lacerantes te gentes et coacervabit ad se et eris in rapinam eis omnes populos “Won’t those who bite you “And just like wine deceives rise up quickly? And those a drinker, so the proud man tearing you will be aroused. will be. And he will not be And you will be like plunder honored, who has widened to them. his soul like the inferno. And he is like death and will not 2:8 quia tu spoliasti gentes The Book of Habakkuk, 7 multas spoliabunt te omnes chopped down many peoples, qui reliqui fuerint de populis and your soul sinned. propter sanguinem hominis et iniquitatem terrae civitatis et 2:11 quia lapis de pariete omnium habitantium in ea clamabit et lignum quod inter iuncturas aedificiorum est “Because you robbed many respondebit nations, all who will be left from the peoples will rob you “For the wall’s stone will cry – because of man’s blood out, and the wood which is and the treachery of the built between the beams will land’s cities, and of all its answer. inhabitants in it. 2:12 vae qui aedificat 2:9 vae qui congregat civitatem in sanguinibus et avaritiam malam domui suae praeparat urbem in iniquitate ut sit in excelso nidus eius et liberari se putat de manu “Woe to one who builds a mali city by blood, and prepares an urban area by betrayal! “Woe to one who gathers harmful greed to his house, 2:13 numquid non haec a so his nest can be on the Domino sunt exercituum height! And he thinks he is laborabunt enim populi in free from the harmful hand. multo igni et gentes in vacuum et deficient 2:10 cogitasti confusionem domui tuae concidisti “Are these not from the Lord populos multos et peccavit of armies? For peoples will anima tua labor in much fire, and nations in emptiness, and “You plotted confusion for they will falter. your own house. You The Book of Habakkuk, 8

2:14 quia replebitur terra ut 2:17 quia iniquitas Libani cognoscat gloriam Domini operiet te et vastitas quasi aquae operientes mare animalium deterrebit eos de sanguinibus hominis et “For the land will be filled, iniquitate terrae et civitatis that it may know the Lord’s et omnium habitantium in ea glory, like waters covering the sea. “For Lebanon’s treacheries will cover you. For the living 2:15 vae qui potum dat things’ devastation will amico suo mittens fel suum et frighten them, from bloody inebrians ut aspiciat men and from the iniquity of nuditatem eius land and city and all living in it. “Woe to one who gives his friend a drink, sending his 2:18 quid prodest sculptile bile and intoxicating him, so quia sculpsit illud fictor suus he can look at his nakedness! conflatile et imaginem falsam quia speravit in figmento 2:16 repletus est ignominia fictor eius ut faceret pro gloria bibe tu quoque et simulacra muta consopire circumdabit te calix dexterae Domini et “What benefit is the sculpted vomitus ignominiae super statue, because its maker gloriam tuam shaped it as an idol and a false image? For its maker “He is filled with shame for hoped in a handmade thing, glory. You drink likewise, so he could make voiceless and be put to sleep! The cup idols. of the Lord’s right hand will surround you, and shame’s 2:19 vae qui dicit ligno vomit will be over your glory. expergiscere surge lapidi tacenti numquid ipse docere The Book of Habakkuk, 9 poterit ecce iste coopertus est :1 oratio auro et argento et omnis Abacuc prophetae pro spiritus non est in visceribus ignorationibus eius The prophet Habakkuk’s “Woe to one who says to prayer, for the ignorant ones. wood, ‘Wake up!’ and to dumb rock, ‘Rise up!’ It 3:2 Domine audivi can’t teach, can it? Look, it auditionem tuam et timui is covered with gold and Domine opus tuum in medio silver, yet no breath is in its annorum vivifica illud in insides. medio annorum notum facies cum iratus fueris 2:20 Dominus autem in misericordiae recordaberis templo sancto suo sileat a facie eius omnis terra Lord, I heard Your sound and was afraid. Lord, Your work “But the Lord is in His holy is in the middle of years. temple. Let all the land be Make it alive in the middle of silent before His face.” years! You will make it known. When You become angry, remember mercy!

3:3 Deus ab austro veniet et Sanctus de monte Pharan semper operuit caelos gloria eius et laudis eius plena est terra

God will come from the south, and the Holy from The Book of Habakkuk, 10 mount Pharan.3 His glory always has covered the skies, He stood, and measured the and the land is full of His land. He looked, and nations praise. dissolved, and age-old mountains were moved. The 3:4 splendor eius ut lux erit world’s hills bent down cornua in manibus eius ibi before His eternity’s paths. abscondita est fortitudo eius 3:7 pro iniquitate vidi His splendor is like light. His tentoria Aethiopiae strength will be in His hands. turbabuntur pelles terrae There His might is hidden. Madian

3:5 ante faciem eius ibit I saw Ethiopia’s tents for mors et egredietur diabolus treachery. The pelts of ante pedes eius Midian’s5 land will be troubled. Death went before His face, and the devil4 will go out 3:8 numquid in fluminibus before His feet. iratus es Domine aut in fluminibus furor tuus vel in 3:6 stetit et mensus est mari indignatio tua quia terram aspexit et dissolvit ascendes super equos tuos et gentes et contriti sunt montes quadrigae tuae salvatio saeculi incurvati sunt colles mundi ab itineribus You aren’t angry with the aeternitatis eius rivers, Lord, are you? Or is your fury against rivers, or your indignation against the 3 Mount Pharan, in the desert sea? For You mount up on between Israel and Egypt, first appears in scripture in Genesis 14:6.

4 This is the first use of the word “diabolus,” devil, in the Latin Old 5 Midian is first mentioned in Testament. scripture at Genesis 25:2. The Book of Habakkuk, 11

Your horses, and security is light. They will go in the Your chariot. flashing splendor of Your spear. 3:9 suscitans suscitabis arcum tuum iuramenta 3:12 in fremitu conculcabis tribubus quae locutus es terram in furore semper fluvios scindes terrae obstupefacies gentes

Rousing, You will rouse You will trample the land Your bow, the oath which with a roar. You will stun You spoke to the tribes. You nations in fury. tear in two the land’s rivers. 3:13 egressus es in salutem 3:10 viderunt te et doluerunt populi tui in salutem cum montes gurges aquarum christo tuo percussisti caput transiit dedit abyssus vocem de domo impii denudasti suam altitudo manus suas fundamentum usque ad levavit collum semper

Mountains saw You and were You came out in Your pained. Raging waters people’s security, with Your passed away. The abyss Christ in security. You sounded its voice. Depth struck the lawless house’s lifted up its hands. head. You stripped the foundation, even to the 3:11 sol et luna steterunt in throat, always. habitaculo suo in luce sagittarum tuarum ibunt in 3:14 maledixisti sceptris splendore fulgurantis hastae eius capiti bellatorum eius tuae venientibus ut turbo ad dispergendum me exultatio Sun and moon stood in their eorum sicut eius qui devorat dwelling, in Your arrows’ pauperem in abscondito The Book of Habakkuk, 12

3:17 ficus enim non florebit You cursed his scepter, his et non erit germen in vineis warriors’ head, who are mentietur opus olivae et arva coming like a tornado to non adferent cibum scatter me. His exultation is abscidetur de ovili pecus et like his who devours the poor non erit armentum in in secret. praesepibus

3:15 viam fecisti in mari For the fig tree will not equis tuis in luto aquarum flower, and no bud will be on multarum the vines. The olive’s work will deceive, and the You made Your horses a way farmland will not bring food. in the sea, in the clay of The flock will be taken away many waters. from the fold and no cattle will be in the stalls. 3:16 audivi et conturbatus est venter meus ad vocem 3:18 ego autem in Domino contremuerunt labia mea gaudebo exultabo in Deo ingrediatur putredo in Iesu meo ossibus meis et subter me scateat ut requiescam in die But I will rejoice in the Lord. tribulationis ut ascendam ad I will exult in my God.6 populum accinctum nostrum 3:19 Dominus Deus I heard, and my gut was fortitudo mea et ponet pedes troubled. My lips trembled at meos quasi cervorum et the voice. Rot may come into my bones and bubble out under me, so I can rest in 6 The Hebrew reads y[i(v.yI trouble’s day, so I can climb yheîl{aBe, customarily, “God my Savior.” up to our people around. y[i(v.yI is pronounced “Yeshua,” which is also the Hebrew name, Jesus. Jerome translates it as a name. The Book of Habakkuk, 13 super excelsa mea deducet me victori in psalmis canentem

The Lord God is my strength. And He will make my feet like the deer’s. And He will lead me out triumphant on my high places, singing .