The Old Testament Book of Habakkuk

The Book of Habakkuk is one of the twelve Minor Prophets in the Old Testament. It presents a dialogue between the prophet Habakkuk and God, focusing on deep…

Habakkuk is the only prophet to devote his entire work to the question of the justice of God’s government of the world. In the Bible as a whole, only Job delivers a more pointed challenge to divine rule. Habakkuk’s challenge is set up as a dialogue between the prophet and God, in which Habakkuk’s opening complaint about injustices in Judean society (Hab 1:2–4) is followed in Hab 1:5–11 by God’s promise that the perpetrators will be punished by invading Chaldeans, i.e., Babylonians. Habakkuk’s second complaint about the violence of the Chaldeans themselves (Hab 1:12–2:1) is followed by a second…