Texts in Conversation
Habakkuk depicts the Babylonian army as swift as eagles, echoing the covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28 where a distant nation descends like an eagle as punishment. Habakkuk presents this threat of invasion not as random violence but as the realization of the covenant warnings.
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Deuteronomy 28:49
Hebrew Bible
47 “Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, 48 instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. They will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. 49 The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth as the eagle swoops down50, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed. They will not leave you with any grain, new wine, olive oil, calves of your herds, or lambs of your flocks until they have destroyed you.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Habakkuk 1:8
Hebrew Bible
6 Look, I am about to empower the Babylonians, that ruthless and greedy nation. They sweep across the surface of the earth, seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them. 7 They are frightening and terrifying; they decide for themselves what is right. 8 Their horses are faster than leopards and more alert than wolves in the desert. Their horses gallop, their horses come a great distance; like eagles25 they swoop down quickly to devour their prey. 9 All of them intend to do violence; every face is determined. They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand. 10 They mock kings and laugh at rulers. They laugh at every fortified city; they build siege ramps and capture them.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The best biblical parallel to the eagle metaphor is Isaiah 46:11, in which Cyrus (compare 41:2, 44:28, 45:1) is implicitly spoken of as “a bird of prey from the east.” See also Jeremiah 49:22, in which Yahweh is described as attacking Bozrah “like an eagle” his wings outspread. Additionally, several biblical passages speak of invasionary forces as being like eagles (Deuteronomy 28:49, Jeremiah 4:13, Habakkuk 1:8, Lamentations 4:19). Extrabiblically, in Esarhaddon’s account of his rise to power (Nin A i 67–68), the Assyrian king describes himself as “spreading my wings like a flying eagle to repel my enemies” (Martti Nissinen, Prophets and Prophecy in the Ancient Near East, 140). Compare CAD I/J 211–12 which cites a passage from Assurnasirpal II’s annals that describes his warriors as flying like birds against the enemy ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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