Book of Habakkuk: Overview and Scholarly Commentary
3 chapters · 5 video commentaries · covered in 4 courses
The Book of Habakkuk is a prophetic book that grapples with the problem of divine justice, questioning why God allows the wicked to prosper and the righteous to suffer. It features a dialogue between the prophet and God, culminating in a vision of God's ultimate judgment and a psalm of faith.
AuthorThe book is attributed to the prophet Habakkuk, though little is known about him.
WrittenLate 7th or early 6th century BCE, likely during the rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
GenreProphetic oracle, lament, psalm
AudienceThe people of Judah, facing the threat of foreign invasion and internal injustice.
PurposeTo address the theological problem of evil and suffering, and to affirm God's ultimate sovereignty and justice.
Covered inJesus and the Old Testament · Judaism Before Jesus · The Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Literature of Ancient Israel · Bart D. Ehrman · YouTube
What our scholars get into
Our commentary on Habakkuk explores how this ancient text raises questions about righteous suffering that resonate with later apocalyptic literature, as Bart Ehrman discusses. We examine how the Dead Sea Scrolls community, in the *Pesher Habakkuk*, reinterpreted the prophet's words to speak directly to their own contemporary struggles, leaders, and enemies, demonstrating a unique understanding of prophetic inspiration where the meaning was revealed only to the Teacher of Righteousness. You'll also see how specific verses, like Habakkuk 2:4, became foundational for later New Testament authors like Paul, who consistently drew on a 'theological arsenal' of Old Testament texts to articulate his understanding of Jesus, as explored in *Jesus and the Old Testament*. We'll also touch on broader themes, such as the suggested southern origins of Yahweh, as discussed in *The Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Literature of Ancient Israel*.
Introduction drafted from the lecture transcripts by AI, pending the team's edit.
The Qumran community clearly possessed authoritative scriptures, as evidenced by their commentaries on certain texts, particularly from the Torah and the Prophets. They cited laws from the Torah as authoritative. Most surviving commentaries focus on prophetic books, including Psalms, which they considered prophecy, indicating a specific understanding of inspiration and canon.
Summarized by AI · Judaism Before Jesus · Lecture 12: The Dead Sea Scrolls · watch the clip
Background and context
Dead Sea Scrolls include interpretive works
The Pesher Habakkuk, an interpretive work from the Dead Sea Scrolls, demonstrates how ancient communities engaged with prophetic texts. It reinterprets the Book of Habakkuk, a 6th-7th century BCE prophecy, to make it directly relevant to the lives, leaders, and enemies of the Qumran community, highlighting their method of making ancient authoritative texts meaningful for their contemporary context.
Summarized by AI · The Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Literature of Ancient Israel · Lecture 27: The Biblical Canon (There Was No Canon) · watch the clip
Courses that cover Habakkuk
Jesus and the Old Testament
Judaism Before Jesus
The Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Literature of Ancient Israel
