Habakkuk – Chapter 1 – Minor Prophets By Rabbi Gail Diamond

Habakkuk

Introduction and Chapter 1

Part 1 – Who is Habakkuk?

Questions for discussion: Look at Habakkuk 1:1. What, if anything, can we learn about Habakkuk from the verse.

Now consider the text below from the Talmud Megillah 15a. Using Ulla’s perspective, what can we learn about Habakkuk?

Based on your reading of Chapter 1, what kind of person do you think Habakkuk was?

Babylonian Talmud, Megillah, 15a

תלמוד בבלי מסכת מגילה דף טו עמוד א

דאמר עולא: כל מקום ששמו ושם אביו בנביאות – בידוע שהוא נביא בן נביא. שמו ולא שם אביו – בידוע שהוא נביא ולא בן נביא. שמו ושם עירו מפורש – בידוע שהוא מאותה העיר, שמו ולא שם עירו – בידוע שהוא מירושלים.

Ulla said, “Wherever his [a prophets] name is given along with that of his father in prophecy, we know that he was a prophet son of a prophet. Where his own name is given but not that of his father, we know that he was a prophet but not the son of a prophet. Where his name and the name of his town are specified, we know that he came from that town. Where his name is given but not that of his town, we know that he was from Jerusalem.”

Part 2 – When did Habakkuk write?

Review the Timeline of Judaean Kings and events in the 8th-6th centuries BCE

Seder Olam Rabbah (the Great Order of the World), is a Hebrew text from the 2nd century CE that describes the timeline of the world from creation. Seder Olam refers to the dating of Habakkuk as follows:

סדר עולם רבה (ליינר) פרק כ

יואל ונחום וחבקוק נתנבאו בימי מנשה, ומפני שלא היה מנשה כשר, לא נקראו על שמו.

Joel, Nahum and Habakkuk prophesied in the days of Manasseh, and because Manasseh was not kasher [the word means fit, here probably meaning pious], they [the books] were not called by [did not mention] his name.

Question for discussion: Can you see any evidence in Chapter 1 that supports the idea that Habakkuk prophesied from 699–643, at least 30 years before the rise of Babylonian power?

In the Da’at Mikra Commentary, Menachem Bula considers two verses from Habakkuk, Chapter 1 to be of importance in setting Habakkuk’s date.

Question for discussion: Review verses five and six. What do you think they can tell us about when Habakkuk prophesied?

Part 3 – Understanding Chapter 1

Review Chapter 1, verses 1-4.

Question for discussion:

What is Habakkuk’s central complaint? Is this a general or specific lament?

Why do you think JPS chooses to translate the word Torah in verse 4 as decision? See Radaks commentary below for a different explanation.

Radak on verse 4

רד”ק חבקוק פרק א פסוק ד

(ד) על כן – לפי שאין אתה עושה דין ברשעים תרפה התורה ותחלש כי רבים מרפים ידיהם ממנה ולפי שרואים הצלחת הרשעים ורעת הצדיקים:

Therefore Because You do not do justice with the wicked, Torah will weaken, because many will remove their hands from it because they see the success of the wicked and the bad things that happen to the righteous.

How does Radak’s interpretation of the word Torah in verse 4 differ from the JPS translation? Which do you think is the Pshat, plain meaning?

Rashi on verse 5

רש”י חבקוק פרק א פסוק ה

ה) לא תאמינו כי יסופר – זאת לכם אשר אני מקים את הכשדים העם אשר לא היה כדאי להבראות כמו שנאמר (ישעיה כג:יג) זה העם לא היה הם אחד משלשה דברים שהקב”ה כביכול מתחרט על בריאתם ועתה יקום ויהיה מר ונמהר לרוץ וללכת למרחבי ארצות:

You would not believe if it were told. This is for you that I am raising up the Chaldeans, a people who is was not worthwhile to create, as it is written in Isaiah 23:13, Behold the land of Chaldea this is a people that was not. They are one of three things that the Holy Blessed One, as it were, regrets their creation, and now they will rise up and be a fierce, impetuous nation, who cross the earths wide spaces.

Rashi is basing himself here on Midrash found in the Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 52b and in the Jerusalem Talmud Taanit Chapter 3, Halacha 4. The passages discuss four and three things, respectively, that G-d regrets creating.

Questions for discussion:

How is Rashis comment supported by Habakkuk chapter 1, verses 5-11? Why might Hashem have regretted creating the Babylonians?

What else do learn about the Babylonians from verses 5-11? Is there anything surprising here? How does the nature of the Babylonians influence Habakkuk’s complaint?

Reviewing verses 12-13, is this a new complaint or a reprise of one that has already been stated? To which other vers
es of the chapter do these verses connect?

Reviewing verses 14-17, why do you think Habakkuk chooses the metaphor of fish in a net? What does this image convey to you? What aspect of the Babylonian conquest might it highlight?

Part 4 - Conclusion

Questions for discussion:

Reviewing what you have studied, what conclusions can you draw about Habakkuk?

How is his prophecy so far similar or different to what one would expect from a prophet?

What do you think will happen next in the book?

How do you think Habakkuks complaint might apply to our own time?