The Prophet Habakkuk

The Prophecy of Habakkuk

"The story of Habakkuk was composed during the time of the Great Babylonian victory at Carchemish and Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Judah" (Harris 332). It was written between the years of about 600 and 587B.C.E. "Habakkuk was a cult prophet; he raised doubts about divine justice and God's treatment of the wicked" (Jerome 261). "These were hard times for Habakkuk's people. It was times of war in which his people were being invaded by the Assyrians, during the kingdom of Judah". "The interesting thing about the eighth minor prophet Habakkuk is that he is the only prophet to ask God WHY". "All his questions start with why except his first question "How long oh lord" (Wigoder 245). "The musical form of the prayer in chapter 3 shows that Habakkuk might have been a Levite attached to the temple" (Alexander 452). Habakkuk questions God because Habakkuk's people are suffering in the hands of others and God isn't doing any thing about it.

The name Habakkuk comes from the Akkadian word meaning "to embrace" or "clinging to." (Bergent 529) This is interesting because the whole book of Habakkuk asks God "why" and questions Him, it never says anything about him clinging to or embracing him in any way.

Habakkuk is said to have been a professional prophet of the temple in the 7th century. Little is known, but him being a professional prophet might mean that Habakkuk was a man of wealth, a man of nobility. Habakkuk prophesized right after the prophet Nahum. Habakkuk, even though he was a minor prophet, might have been one of the most knowledgeable prophets. This shows because god tells him to write down his visions, while most people during this time were illiterate. Habakkuk probably knew a great deal about God because when he talked to him he asked him so many questions.