on the other hand, though not unmindful of Judah’s faults (i. 2 – 4 ), is engrossed
chiefly by the thought of the cruelties and inhumanities of the oppressor...
Further, Habakkuk is conscious of a problem, a moral difficulty, which is not
the case with Jeremiah.^3 The wrongdoing of the Chaldeans is more unbearable
than the evil it was meant to punish.
(Driver 1906 : 61 , with deletions)In some respects, the vision of Habakkuk is to the Babylonian destruction of Judah
and Jerusalem what the vision of Nahum is to the Assyrian scourge, in terms of the
rage directed at the oppressive enemy. The difference is that Nahum is talking about
past suffering, and is already celebrating the downfall of the oppressor and his long
awaited punishment. Habakkuk is at a different point in time, and can only offer
assurances regarding the future, when the Chaldeans will be called to account. Then,
too, there is no reference to the issue of divine justice for Israel in the vision of
Nahum, only to divine vengeance finally unleashed against the enemies of Israel. For
his part, Habakkuk parts company with the consensus view that Israel’s sins alone
are responsible for Israel’s suffering by applying the issue of divine justice to the
national destiny. As Driver implies in his note, we observe in Habakkuk a subtle
transaction. Resonating with Jeremiah’s personal complaint, wherein he cites the
prosperity of his wicked opponents as a miscarriage of divine justice, Habakkuk
accuses Yahweh of the same injustice with respect to the whole people of Israel, who
are, after all, more righteous (or at least, less wicked!) than the Chaldeans.
Thus, Jer 12 : 1 (in the personal context):
You are (too) righteous, Yahweh, that I should dispute with you!
But I must lay down the law to you (misˇpa ̄t.îm adabbe ̄r ôta ̄k)!
Why does the way of the wicked prosper;
Why are all the perpetrators of treachery so well off?Compare Habakkuk 1 : 12 – 13 (in the collective context):
Are you not from of old, O Yahweh,
My God, my Holy-being; You do not die!^4
Yahweh, for imposing justice you appointed him;
O Rock, for disciplining did you establish him
Too pure of sight to look upon evil,
You, who do not countenance wrongdoing –
Why do you countenance the treacherous,
Remain silent as the wicked devours
One more righteous than he?Yahweh had given power to the Chaldeans for a purpose, to restore order to a
lawless Judean society, but that objective was now being compromised by a lawless
conqueror who was destroying that very society. Once again we encounter the theme
of Babylonia as Yahweh’s instrument for punishing Israel, but this time there is
prophetic protest against Yahweh’s management of the world order.
— The view from Jerusalem —