Historical Setting & Literary Genre
Historical Setting of Habakkuk
Based on Habakkuk 1:6, that mentions the rise of the Babylonians – or Chaldeans – Habakkuk’s conversation with God occurs in the latter third of the seventh century B.C., the final decades of the kingdom of Judah. The nation had just experienced the glorious days of King Josiah, who had instituted reforms that brought revival to the people and restored the worship of Yahweh among the people in 641-609 B.C (see 2 Kings 22-24). However, Josiah died in battle in 609 B.C. at the hand of Necho II, the Egyptian Pharaoh.
Who’s on the throne of Judah during Habakkuk’s book?
Following Josiah’s death, the Egyptians placed Josiah’s son, Jehoiakim, on the throne. During his reign (609-597 B.C.), Habakkuk witnessed his people waver in their loyalty to God. Thomas writes in Faith Amid the Ruins: The Book of Habakkuk, “Based on the dark, negative tone of Habakkuk 1:2-4, it is most likely that Habakkuk’s prophecies fit within the general time period of Jehoiakim’s reign. In this waning phase of the Judaean kingdom, the prophet gets a fresh word that God will bring judgment against his people and city and that this judgment will be a ‘work’ no one will believe (1:5).”[1]
God’s plan for judgment raises questions for Habakkuk as he wonders how God could use the Babylonians – a nation that will not give God the glory but will attribute their success to their false gods (Habakkuk 1:15-17) – as His form of judgment and prompts Habakkuk to cry out to God in his distress for God to help and to act.
Literary Genre
The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Revised and Expanded indicates that “Habakkuk is written in Hebrew poetry. The Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook explains that the book contains prophetic dialogue, woes, and prayer written in Hebrew poetry. The handbook states:
As a prophetic writer, Habakkuk included materials in an unusual format, although he included classic elements of “forth telling” and “foretelling. His “forth telling” included great declarations of God’s attributes as well as woes on the wicked. His “foretelling” predicted both near events (Judah’s devastation by Chaldea, fulfilled in 586 B.C.), as well as the more remote event of the destruction of Chaldea (fulfilled in 539 B.C. by the Persians).[2]
Habakkuk has a variety of literary genres
However, in Tyndale’s Old Testament Commentary, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah: An Introduction and Commentary, the authors indicate a variety of literary genres are used in the book of Habakkuk. They write:
The headings for the two main parts of the book (1:1 and 3:1) indicate the genres used as being a prophetic announcement in 1:2-2:20 and a psalm of complaint in 3:1-19. Other literary genres found in the first part of the book are the complaints of the prophet (1:2-4, 12-17) and the woe oracles (2:5-19); and in the second part of book, a psalm of complaint or lament (3:1-19).[3]
What about the 3rd Chapter of Habakkuk?
Other issues related to literary construction of Habakkuk include whether the third chapter was part of the original book or if it was added later. Snyman writes in Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah: An Introduction and Commentary:
In the Qumran manuscripts written as a pesher (IQpHab) on the book of Habakkuk there is commentary on only the first two chapters; chapter 3 is omitted. This has given rise to the question whether the last chapter of the book should be viewed as a later addition. It has been argued that the last verse of chapter 2 can be viewed as a perfect ending to the book: after all the complaints voiced by the prophet have been answered extensively by yhwh in chapter 2, and the book concludes that it is now best to be silent in the awesome presence of yhwh in his temple. A second argument is that the style and literary genre used in chapter 3 is totally different from that in the first two chapters.[4]
Habakkuk as Poetry
Thomas writes in his commentary, Habakkuk: Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary [THOTC]:
Several features in the poetry— form, repetition, use and adaptation of traditional material, and imagery— inform the meaning of Habakkuk. Unlike Haggai and Zechariah 9– 14, our book is entirely composed in poetic verse. Meier rightly says that poetry in prophetic texts is significant for several reasons, not the least being that poetic form is informative for comprehension of the prophetic message. Attending to the poetry of Habakkuk remains vital for comprehension of its theology.[5]
Literary genres within the Poetry of Habakkuk
The book of Habakkuk, while its overall genre is poetry, contains several different literary genres within the poetry.
- There is prophetic writing in that a prophet, namely Habakkuk, communicates God’s message to the people of Judah.
- One can also find wisdom literature in that Habakkuk addresses some of the deep question of life, including his attempt to understand God’s character and actions in light of the evil and suffering that Judah would face.
- There is also a feeling of lamentation as Habakkuk cries out to God in his grief and sorrow.
- The reader also finds a complaint in the book as the writer complains that God has failed to judge the unrepentant and disobedient people of Judah. But then when God tells Habakkuk that He has chosen the Babylonians to carry out His judgement against Judah, Habakkuk complains about God’s plans for judging the nation.
- Then at the end of book, there is prayer that closely resembles many of the Psalms.
[1] Thomas, Faith Amid the Ruins, 8.
[2] Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook, 278.
[3] S. D. Snyman, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah: An Introduction and Commentary, edited by David G. Firth and Tremper Longman III. (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 49
[4] Ibid., 48-49.
[5] Thomas, Habakkuk, 35
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