Habbakuk

HABBAKUK, was of the Tribe of Simeon, and a native of Bethzacar, if the Author of the Lives of the Epiphan. & Doroth. de vita & morte Propheta-rum.Prophets is to be credited. As he observed, that Nebuchadnezzar advanced towards Jerusalem, and foresaw that he would take it, he made his escape to Ostracin in Arabia, near the lake Sirbon: there he lived some time. But the Chal-dæans having made themselves masters of Jerusalem, and being on the way to their own Country, Habbakuk returned into Judæa; while the rest of the Jews, who had not been carried away to Baby-lon, after the death of Gedaliah, fled into Egypt. He busied himself in cultivating his fields; and as he was one day preparing to carry his reapers their dinner, he heard a voice, commanding him Dan. xiv.to carry that provision to Daniel¹, which he designed for his labourers. He excused himself upon his being a stranger both to Daniel and to Babylon. But the Angel of the Lord suddenly transported him by the hair of the head into the City, with what he had provided for his people in the field; which as soon as he had set before Daniel, who was shut up in the lions den, the same hand which convey’d him to Babylon, carried him back again into Judæa. There he died, and was buried two years before the In the year of the World 3466, before J. C. 534, before the Vulgar Æra 538.end of the captivity.

He is reported to be the author of several Prophecies, which are not to be found among those which we receive as canonical. It is said, that he foretold the approaching return of his people from their captivity; that a time would come, when there should be a great light seen in the Temple, and they should there contemplate the Glory of the Lord, (meaning the Messiah;) that the City of Jerusalem should be destroyed by a certain people, who should come from the West, (that is to say, by the Romans;) that then the vail, called Dabir, should be rent in two parts; that the chapiters of the two pillars should be carried away by Angels, and concealed in the wilderness, in the same place where, a little before the captivity, the Tabernacle of the Covenant was hidden.

The stories of Susanna, of Bel and the Dragon, and that of his transportation to Babylon, are said likewise to be his, which are inserted among the Works of Daniel, but are not in the Hebrew². There is no other foundation for all this, than an inscription, which was read formerly in some Greek copies, and in these terms, The Prophecies of Abacum, Priest of Judah, of the Tribe of Levi. Others³ have affirmed, that this Abacum, Priest in the Tribe of Judah, was a person very different from the Prophet, whose writings are in our hands. Habbakuk’s tomb was shewn formerly at Bethzacar, Keila, Echela⁴, or Gabbatha. The same thing is probably meant by these four places. It is certain, that they were very near one another, and in the neighbourhood of Eleu-theropolis. Sozomen speaks⁵ of the discovery which was made of his body at Bethzacar, in the time of Theodosius the Elder.

The Works of Habbakuk, which are indisputably his, are contained in three chapters. In these the Prophet complains very pathetically of the disorders, which he observed Hab. i. 2, 3, 4. Hab. i. 5—10.in the kingdom of Judah. God reveals to him, that he would in a very short time punish them in a very terrible manner by the arms of the Chaldæans. He afterwards foretels the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar, his metamorphosis and death; and Ibid. vs. 7, 8—12.as the Prophet was offended at the prosperities of this idolatrous Prince, God discovers to him what would happen after his death Hab. i. 13. & ii. 1, 2, &c. Ibid. c. ii. vs. 9, 10, 11. Ibid. 12, 13, 14.to the Chaldæans. He then foretels, that the vast designs of Je-hoiakim should be frustrated. He speaks against a Prince, who built with blood and iniquity; this probably was the King of Tyre. He accuses another King with having intoxicated his friend in order to discover his nakedness. This we take to be the King of Egypt, Ibid. vs. 15, 16, 17.who ingaged Zedekiah King of Judah to revolt from Nebuchad-nezzar.

Habbakuk being full of these ideas, composed Hab. iii.a song, wherein he shews, that God is mindful of his mercy, when he is most angry; he extols the great wonders, which God formerly wrought in favour of his people; he hopes that God will shew him his brethren in their captivity, but will deliver him out of it, and give him the swiftness and agility of an hind, that he may fly to the Mountains, and escape from the hands of the Chaldæans, at the time when they shall ravage Judæa. These characters all agree perfectly with what we have said concerning the life of this Prophet. He prophesied not long before the kingdom of Judah was destroyed, at the same time as Jeremiah. He abode in Judæa, while the rest of the Jews were in captivity at Babylon, and died, as we have said, two years before the return of the Jews In the year of the World 3455, before J. C. 545, before the Vulgar Æra 549.under Zerubbabel.

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