On the other hand, while it is evident, from the con- stant use of the future tense in speaking of the Chal- dican desolations (i, 5, G, 12), that the prophet must have written before the invasion of Nebuchachiezzar, which rendered Jchoiakim tributary to the king of Bab- ylon (2 Kings xxiv, I), B.C. GOG, yet it is equally clear from t:h. ii, 3 that the prophecy did not long precede the fulfilment ; and as there seem to be no references to the reigns of Josiah or Jehoahaz (B.C. 609), and as the no- tices of the corruption of the period agree with the be- ginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, we cannot be far astray in assigning B.C. 608 as the approximate date of this book.
2. Instead of looking upon the prophecy as an organic whole, KosenmiiUer divided it into three parts corre- sponding to the chapters, and assigned the first chapter to the reign of Jehoiakim, the second to that of Jehoia- chin, and the third to that of Zedekial), when Jerusalem was besieged for the third time by Nebuchadnezzar. Kalinsky ( r«^2V. Chubuc. ei Kah.) makes foiu: divisions.
HABAKKUK
and refers the prophecy not to Nebuchadnezzar, but to Esarhaddon. But in such an arbitrary arrangement the true character of the composition as a perfectlj' de- veloped poem is entirely lost sight of.
The prophet commences bj' anuomicing his office and important mission (i, 1). He bewails the corruption and social ilisorganization by wliich he is surrounded, and cries to Jehovah for help (i, 2-4). Next follows the reply of the Ucity, threatening swift vengeance (i, 5-11). The prophet, transferring himself to the near future foreshadowed in the divine threatenmgs, sees the rapacity and boastftd impiety of the Clialdsean hosts, but, contident that God has only employed them as the instruments of correction, assumes (ii, 1) an attitude of hopeful expectancy, and waits to see the issue. He re- ceives the divine command to write in an enduring form the vision of God's retributive justice as revealed to his projjhetic eye (ii, 2, 3). The doom of the Chaldfeans is first foretold in general terms (ii. 4-0), and the announce- ment is tnllowed by a series of denunciations pronounced upon them by the nations who had suffered from their oppression (ii, 6-20). The strophical arrangement of these "woes" is a remarkable feature of the jirophecy. They are distributed in strophes of three verses each, characterized by a certain regularity of structure. The first four commence with a '"Woe!" and close with a verse beginning with "'S (for). The first verse of each of these contains the character of the sin, the second the development of the woe, while the third is confirmatory of the woe denounced. The fifth stro])he differs from the others in form in having a verse introductory to the Avoe. The prominent vices of the Chaldfeans' character, as delineated in i, 5-11, arc made the subjects of sepa- rate denunciations: their insatiable ambition (ii, G-8), their covctousness (ii, 9-11), cruelty ii, 12-14), dnmk- enness (ii, 15-17), and idolatry (ii, 18-20). The whole concludes with the magnificent psalm in chap, iii, " Hab- akkiik's Pindaric ode" (Ewald), a composition unrival- led for boldness of conception, sublimity of thought, and majesty of diction. This constitutes, in DeUtzsch's opinion, "the second grand division of the entire proph- ecy', as the subjective reflex of the two subdivisions of the first, and the IjTical recapitulation of the whole." It is the echo of the feelings aroused in the prophet's mind by the divine answers to his appeals ; fear in an- ticipation of the threatened judgments, and thankfid- ness and joy at the promised retribution. But, though intimately connected with the former part of the proph- ecy, it is in itself a perfect whole, as is sufficiently evi- dent from its l\Tical character, and the musical airange- ment by which it was adapted for use in the Temple service.
3. The style of this prophet has always been much ad- mired. Lowth {De Poesi Uebrceo?: p. 287) says : " Po- eticus est Habaccuci stylus; sed maxime in oda, quae inter absolutissimas in eo genere merito numerari po- test." Eichhorn, De Wette, and Kosenmiiller are loud in their praise of Habakkuk's style ; the first giving a detailed and animated analysis of the construction of his prophecies {Eiufeifuiif/ in das A. Test, iii, 333). He equals the most eminent prophets of the Old Testament —Joel, Amos, Nahum, Isaiah ; and the ode in ch. iii may be placed in competition with Psa. xviii and Ixviii for originality and sublimity. His figures are all great, happily chosen, and properly drawn out. His denunci- ations are terrible, his derision bitter, his consolation cheering. Instances occur of borrowed ideas (iii, 19 ; comp. Psa, xviii, 34 : ii, G ; comp. Isa. xiv, 7 : ii, 14 ; comp. Isa. xi, 9) ; but he makes them his own in drawing them out in his peculiar manner. With all the boldness and fervor of his imagination, his language is pure and his verse melodious. Eichhorn, indeed, gives a considera- ble number of words which he considers to be pecidiar to this prophet, and sXipposes him to have formed new words or altered existing ones, to sound more energetic or feeble, as the sentiments to be expressed might re- quire ; but his list neeiLs sifting, as De Wette observes