Book of Habakkuk - Definition and Overview

The book of Habakkuk is a book of the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh.

It was presumably written by Habakkuk probably about B.C. 650-627, or a few years later.

This book consists of three chapters, the contents of which are thus comprehensively described: "When the prophet in spirit saw the formidable power of the Chaldeans approaching and menacing his land, and saw the great evils they would cause in Judea, he bore his complaints and doubts before God, the just and the pure (1:2-17). And on this occasion the future punishment of the Chaldeans was revealed to him (2). In the third chapter a presentiment of the destruction of his country, in the inspired heart of the prophet, contends with his hope that the enemy would be chastised." The third chapter is a sublime song dedicated "to the chief musician," and therefore intended apparently to be used in the worship of God. It is "unequalled in majesty and splendour of language and imagery."

External links

Online versions and translations of the Book of Habakkuk:

• Habakkuk at The Great Books (http://www.anova.org/sev/htm/hb/35_habakkuk.htm) (New Revised Standard Version)
• Habakkuk at Bible Gateway (http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?language=English&Version=NIV&passage=Habakkuk) (various versions)
• Habakkuk at Wikisource (http://wikisource.org/wiki/Bible%2C_English%2C_King_James%2C_Habakkuk) (Authorised King James Version)