Chapter 1

1 This is the oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw: 2 How long, Lord, must I cry for help? But you do not listen! I call out to you, “Violence!” But you do not deliver!⁠ 3 Why do you force me to witness injustice? Why do you put up with wrongdoing? Destruction and violence confront me; conflict is present and one must endure strife. 4 For this reason the law lacks power, and justice is never carried out. Indeed, the wicked intimidate the innocent. For this reason justice is perverted. 5 “Look at the nations and pay attention!⁠ You will be shocked and amazed! For I will do something in your lifetime that you will not believe even though you are forewarned. 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. 11 They sweep by like the wind and pass on. But the one who considers himself a god will be held guilty.”⁠ 12 Lord, you have been active from ancient times; my sovereign God, we will not die³⁵.⁠ Lord, you have made them your instrument of judgment. Protector, you have appointed them as your instrument of punishment. 13 You are too just to tolerate evil; you are unable to condone wrongdoing. So why do you put up with such treacherous people? Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour those more righteous than they are?⁠ 14 You made people like fish in the sea, like animals in the sea that have no ruler. 15 The Babylonian tyrant pulls them all up with a fishhook; he hauls them in with his throw net. When he catches them in his dragnet, he is very happy. 16 Because of his success he offers sacrifices to his throw net and burns incense to his dragnet; for because of them he has plenty of food and more than enough to eat. 17 Will he then continue to fill and empty his throw net? Will he always destroy nations and spare none?

Texts in conversation

Compare Habakkuk 1:8 and Jeremiah 4:13

Hebrew Bible

Summary

Jeremiah and Habakkuk compare invading armies to swift horses, based on a tradition where horses were connected to violent, divine punishment. Jeremiah compares the enemy’s advance to clouds and eagles, while Habakkuk emphasizes their speed and ferocity.

Passages

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.

600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Habakkuk

Jeremiah 4:13

Hebrew Bible

11 At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind will sweep down from the hilltops in the wilderness on my dear people. It will not be a gentle breeze for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff. 12 No, a wind too strong for that will come at my bidding. Yes, even now I, myself, am calling down judgment on them. 13 Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds. The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind. His horses move more swiftly than eagles.” I cry out, “We are doomed, for we will be destroyed!” 14 O people of Jerusalem, wash your hearts of evil so that you may yet be delivered. How long will you continue to harbor up wicked schemes within you? 15 For messengers are coming, heralding disaster, from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim.

500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jeremiah

References

"... The proposition that horses inflicted death blows in battle is also supported by ancient literary evidence. For example, the battle inscription of Ramesses III (1187–1156), which describes the war against the Sea Peoples (ca. 1187), reads: “The horses were quivering in every part of their bodies, prepared to crush the foreign countries under their hoofs.” According to the Deuteronomistic History, Queen Jezebel of Israel dies in Jezreel under the hooves of Jehu’s chariot horses: “They threw her down; and her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled her” (2 Kings 9:33). The biblical text also identifies horses as tools of God’s punishment with hooves as sharp as flint (Isaiah 5:28) and mentions death by trampling underfoot: “you were left lying unburied, like a trampled corpse [in] the clothing of slain, gashed by the sword” (Isaiah 14:19). Presumably from the late eighth century or early seventh century, the prophet Micah writes, “For I will give you horns of iron and provide you with hooves of bronze and you will crush the many peoples” (Micah 4:13). Generally dated to the late seventh century, the prophet Habakkuk describes the Babylonian army horses as “swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk” (Habakkuk 1:8) ..."

Deborah O’Daniel Cantrell, The Horsemen of Israel: Horses and Chariotry in Monarchic Israel (Ninth–Eighth Centuries B.C.E.), HACL 1 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011), 29–31.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Habakkuk3 chapters

Compare Habakkuk 1:8 and Jeremiah 4:13

Summary

Passages

Habakkuk 1:8

Jeremiah 4:13

References

Your feedback

Leave a comment

Glossary

Search the Library