Who wrote the book of Habakkuk? Who was the author of Habakkuk?

Of Habakkuk the same holds good as with most of the other minor prophets; we know nothing of the particulars of his life. It does not matter much. God knows these holy men, whom He called to make known His will and the future, and He has kept the record of their lives, as He keeps the record of all of our lives.

His name means "to embrace," but it has the double meaning "to embrace" and "being embraced." He embraced his own people and embraced God in prayer, then "being embraced"--God answered him. Dr. Martin Luther gave a very striking definition of his name, which cannot be improved upon. "Habakkuk signifies an embracer, or one who embraces another, takes him into his arms. He embraces his people, and takes them to his arms, i.e., he comforts them and holds them up, as one embraces a weeping child, to quiet it with the assurance that if God wills it shall soon be better."

Habakkuk (an embrace). We have nothing in Scripture as to the personal history or parentage of this prophet, but plenty of tradition as to both, which is not of much value. It has been remarked that Jeremiah's great prophecy has been divided into two parts — the destruction of Jerusalem forming the break between the two — which we might term the moral and prophetic, and further, that Habakkuk takes up the moral side of the book of Jeremiah, as Zephaniah does the prophetic side.

We have neither note of time nor exact historical data as to when or where this prophecy was uttered and written. We should judge, however, from Habakkuk 1:5-6, which intimate the Chaldean invasion of Judea, that the vision of Habakkuk (Hab. 1 and 2) and his sublime and fervent prayer (Hab. 3) considerably preceded the rise of the Chaldeans, and that the southern kingdom of Palestine, probably Jerusalem, was the scene of the "vision" and "prayer." If Nahum announces the judgment of the proud Assyrian who destroyed the kingdom of Israel, Habakkuk on the other hand predicts the utter ruin of the Chaldeans, who in their day of power destroyed the kingdom of Judah. The distinctly moral character of the book, and the prophet's identification with the people in their confession of sin, and then in their turning to Jehovah and hoping in His mercy, are truths of priceless value to every true servant of God whose desire is to serve Him, His saints, and church.

Habakkuk, Obadiah and Malachi are the only three of the Minor Prophets of which we know nothing else but their names. Habakkuk together with Zechariah and Haggai however belong to the only prophets of Scripture who name themselves “prophet” (Hab. 1:1). Some connect Habakkuk’s name with an Assyrian name of a plant. But since Hieronymus a Father of the Church (who translated the Bible into Latin) Habakkuk’s name has been translated “embraced” or “embracer”.

The prayer of Habakkuk in chapter 3 being similar to a psalm with its title and conclusion (compare with the title/headings in Psalm 7 and Psalm 4) has led to the presumption that Habakkuk must have been a Levite in the temple service.

The most important hint to Habakkuk’s time of service and to the date of his book is found in chap. 1:6: “For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation”. Various critics of Habakkuk’s book also wanted to misinterpret the name of the Chaldeans (or Chaldees). But there is no reason to doubt that the Chaldeans are identical to the Babylonians. II Kings 25:1 mentions Nebuchadnezzar as king of Babylon and verse 4 of the same chapter mentions the Chaldees as his soldiers (compare with Is. 13:19; Ez. 12:13).

For the New-Babylonian Empire had been expanding constantly since 625 BC under Nabopolassar (625-605 BC). Nineveh the capital of the already weakening Assyrian Empire was conquered in 612 BC (see details in Nahum) and in 605 BC the battle of Carchemish took place in which the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians (compare with Jer. 46:2). With this the whole East was opened up to the Babylonians. Their cruel reputation was known everywhere. Shortly after this, Nebuchadnezzar attacked the kingdom of Judah (605 BC). In the following first deportation of the Jews to Babylon the princes of the nation were deported (2 Kings 20:18; 24:14; Dan. 1:3). The princes were exactly those who had oppressed the lower part of the population (Hab. 1:2-4). Upon the first attack of the Babylonians followed two more in 597 and 586 BC, which lead to Jerusalem’s destruction and to the Babylonian captivity of Judah. All this however had not yet taken place when the book of Habakkuk was written. Although we have no dates mentioned the time of writing could be pretty fixed between the time of Nineveh’s destruction and the first attack on Judah, which would be between 612 and 605 BC.

Habakkuk therefore was a contemporary of Jeremiah. Habakkuk also bears several similarities with Jeremiah, for example his sensitive nature and his grief over the condition of the people of God.

Habakkuk, an embrace.

Nothing is said of the prophet's ancestors, nor as to when he prophesied. He is generally placed in the time of Josiah or a little later: it was before the captivity of Judah, for that is foretold.

Hab. 1.

Nothing is said of the prophet's ancestors, nor as to when he prophesied. He is generally placed in the time of Josiah or a little later: it was before the captivity of Judah, for that is foretold.