Tkaciiinc. <ik the B(h)k. — Theologically, the different point of view of H. as compared with Jeremiah is observable. Jeremiah is so deeply impressed by the spectacle of his people's sin. that he regards the ChaKUeans almost exclusively as the instruments of judgment ; their destruction is seen by him only in the distant future, and is viewed rather as involved in God"s purpose to restore His people, than as a retribution for theii own tyranny and excesses. II., on the other liaiul, though not unmindful of .ludah's faults (1-"*), is engrossed chiefly by the thought of the cruelties and inhumanities of the oppressor ; it is these which, in his eyes, call for judgment, and the outraged nations of the earth execute it upon their tyrant. Further, II. is conscious of a problem, a moral difficulty, which is not the case with .leremiah." The wrong-doing of the ChaKUeans is more un- bearable than tlie evil it was meant to punish ; hence their continued successes seem to the prophet to be inconsistent with J""s righteousness, and it is the existence of this inconsistency which forms the motive of this book. Thus while Jeremiah bewailed the sins and coming misfortunes of his peojile, for their own sake, II. brooiied over the moral problems which the contemplation of them raised in his miml. The age, we may be sure, was to all the faithful servaiit.s of (Jod one of trial anil perplexity ; but. in virtue of their dilTeiviii temperaments and mental habits, the two conlein- jiorary iirophets weri' impressed by different luspects of il. "
The central and distinctive teaching of the book
• .fiTt'mfali, it I* true, t* vi-xct hy iho itrttUlfin of tho nro!*- porltv Hf till* wIcktMt 1 1'.'!*^), l>ut only Id »u fhr oa it ii* excinpIillfHl
HABAKKUK
HABAKKUK
lies ill the Ueclaration of 2* ; and, as indicated above, tlie true sense of this is, tlial while the Willi fxci'ssis of the tyrant carry in them the f{erin of certain ruin, the 'faithfulness' of the ritthleous (not his/((i7/i) will be to liini a principle of life. It is evident that this declaration is no solution of the iiioial anomaly which the prophet discerns. The Chaldiean init;ht indeed, in virtue of his very nature, be doomed ultimately to perish, but his empire survived for 70 yeare ; and meanwhile II. 's compatriots, so far from abidini; in peace and security, experienced the indescribable hardsliips of siei;e and exile. Hut • live ' i.s here u.sed in the full and pregnant .sense which it sometimes has in the l)T (e.f/. Kzk 18), of livinj; in the liftht and consciousness of the divine favour ; and what II. thus promises is not mere material prosperity, but the moral .security — of course often not unaccom- panieil by material benetits — which rishteousncss brings with it even in the midst of external cal.a- mities (cf. Is IK'*-'"), and the sense of divine approval which even then does not desert it. It is enough for the projihet if he can mitigate the ditficulty which pressed upon him, as it pressed no douVit upon many of his contemporaries, by recall- ing to them these two truths of (Jod's providence, the doom which, at least ultimately, overtakes the t\rant, and the moral security enjoyed by the righti'ous.
With regard to the use made of 2* in the NT, 'another man,' writes Wellhausen quaintly, 'has made the antithesis in this verse famous, by breath- ing into it another spirit.' Its .second clause is quoted, namely, twice by St. Paul (Ro 1", Gal V ; cf. also lie W'»), in the .sense, 'The just shall live by faith,' in support of his doctrine of justitication by "faith. This sense, whether it was intended or not by the LXX translators, whose version the apostle used, was at any rate one which the Greek word used by them permitted ; and it was accord- ingly adopted by St. Paul in his argument. But it is not the sense belonging to the Heb. '^J^"-?*.* The NT gives us here what is in reality a deveUip- ment of the prophet's thought. The apostle, familiar with the verse as it read in the LXX version, amplifies and spiritualizes the words of II., interpreting them in a sense which does not properly belong to them, but which, as it. was suggested, or permitted, by the Greek, fitted them in that form for use in bis argument, t
Litki;.\i:y and Textual CnAi:At'TEKisTics. — The literary power of H. is considerable. Though his book is a brief one, it is full of force ; his descriptions are graphic and powerful ; thought aiul expression are alike poetic ; he is still a master of the old classical style, terse, parallel- islic, and pregnant ; there is no trace of the often jirosaic diffusencss which manifests itself in the writings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. And if ch. ;i be his, be is, moreover, a lyric poet of high order ; the grand imagery and rhythmic flow of this ode will bear comparison with some of the finest pro- ductions of the Hebrew muse.
The text of H. is manifestly, in many places, more or less corrupt, — in some places, unfortun- ately, even beyond hope of restoration.
L'koKXDS likl.ATINO TO HABAKKUK. — Although, as said above, the prophet's personal life is in the t)T a blank, Jewish haggdddh found much to tell of him, — often, indeed, in defiance of chronology and historical probability. Thus, according to