Habakkuk 3 is the third (and the last) chapter of the

Book of Habakkuk The Book of Habakkuk is the eighth book of the 12 minor prophets of the Bible. It is attributed to the prophet Habakkuk, and was probably composed in the late 7th century BC. Of the three chapters in the book, the first two are a dialogue betwee ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

or the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet

Habakkuk Habakkuk, who was active around 612 BC, was a prophet whose oracles and prayer are recorded in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Almost al ...

, and is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets. This chapter records "Habakkuk's song", a poetic psalm "extolling God's triumphs."The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Augmented Third Edition, New Revised Standard Version, Indexed. Michael D. Coogan, Marc Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, Editors. Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2007. p. 1344 Hebrew Bible.

Text

The original text was written in

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. This chapter is divided into 19 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

tradition, which includes the

Codex Cairensis The Codex Cairensis (also: ''Codex Prophetarum Cairensis'', ''Cairo Codex of the Prophets'') is a Hebrew manuscript containing the complete text of the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im (Prophets). It has traditionally been described as "the oldest dated He ...

(895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916),

Aleppo Codex The Aleppo Codex ( he, כֶּתֶר אֲרָם צוֹבָא, romanized: , lit. 'Crown of Aleppo') is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the ...

(10th century),

Codex Leningradensis The Leningrad Codex ( la, Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book]; he, כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colopho ...

(1008). Fragments containing all verses of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the nor ...

, that is,

Wadi Murabba'at Wadi Murabba'at, also known as Nahal Darga, is a ravine cut by a seasonal stream which runs from the Judean desert east of Bethlehem past the Herodium down to the Dead Sea 18 km south of Khirbet Qumran in the West Bank. It was here in caves t ...

Minor Prophets (Mur88; MurXIIProph; 75-100 CE) with extant verses 1–19.Dead sea scrolls - Habakkuk
/ref> There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

(with a different verse numbering), made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the

version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

(S; BHK:

\mathfrak

^S; 4th century),

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century) and

Codex Marchalianus Codex Marchalianus designated by siglum Q is a 6th-century Greek manuscript copy of the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament) known as the Septuagint. The text was written on vellum in uncial letters. Palaeographically it ...

(Q;

\mathfrak

^Q; 6th century). Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Greek were found among the

, that is, Naḥal Ḥever 8Ḥev1 (8ḤevXII^gr); late 1st century BCE) with extant verses 8–15.

Verse 1

: ''A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.'' (KJV) * "Shigionoth" (Hebrew: שגינות from the root singular word שִׁגָּיוֹן ), the title could be rendered "wild, passionate song, with rapid changes of rhythm" or "a hymn."

Verse 19

: ''The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet,'' :: ''and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.'' : ''To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.'' (KJV)

Masoretic text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

: : : Transliteration: : ''

YHWH The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', '' he'', ''waw'', and '' ...

a·do·nai khi·li wai·ya·syem rag·lai ka·'ai·ya·lot'' :: ''we·'al ba·mo·tai yad·ri·khe·ni'' :''lam·na·tze·akh bin·gi·no·tai.''Habakkuk 3:19 in Hebrew
- Biblehub]

Verse 19 note

* The phrase "make my feet like hinds' feet" is similar to the phrases in Psalm 18:33 or * The last word of the verse (and of the Book of Habakkuk) נגינותי׃, ''neginotai'' is translated as "my stringed instruments", originally from plural form of the Hebrew word , , which is also found in the beginning of some psalms, namely

Psalm 4 Psalm 4 is the fourth psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English of the King James Version: "Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress." In Latin, it is known as "Cum invocarem". The ps ...

;

Psalm 6 Psalm 6 is the sixth psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure". In Latin, it is known as "Domine ne in furore tuo arguas me". Th ...

;

Psalm 54 Psalm 54 is the 54th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vul ...

;

Psalm 55 Psalm 55 is the 55th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version, "Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not thyself from my supplication". The Book of Psalms forms part of the ketuvim, the third section of the ...

;

Psalm 67 Psalm 67 is the 67th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us". In Latin, it is known as "Deus misereatur". In the slightly different ...

;

Psalm 76 Psalm 76 is the 76th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "In Judah is God known; His name is great in Israel". The Book of Psalms forms part of the ''Ketuvim'' section of the Hebrew Bible and part of the ...

Discussion

Some scholars suggest that Chapter 3 may be a later independent addition to the book, in part because it is not included among the Dead Sea Scrolls. However, this chapter does appear in all copies of the Septuagint, as well as in texts from as early as the 3rd century BC. This final chapter is a poetic praise of God, and has some similarities with texts found in the

Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology (a ...

. However, the fact that the third chapter is written in a different style, as a liturgical piece, does not necessarily mean that Habakkuk was not also its author. Its omission from the Dead Sea Scrolls is attributed to the inability of the

Qumran Qumran ( he, קומראן; ar, خربة قمران ') is an archaeological site in the West Bank managed by Israel's Qumran National Park. It is located on a dry marl plateau about from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli ...

sect to fit Habakkuk's theology with their own narrow viewpoint.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * *

External links

;Historic manuscripts:
The Commentary on Habakkuk Scroll
''The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls'', hosted by the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...

, Jerusalem. ;

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

translations:
Chavakuk – Habakkuk (Judaica Press)
translation ith_Rashi's_commentary.html" ;"title="Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentary">Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentarya
Chabad.org
;

translations:
''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English) * Various versions ;Further information
A Brief Introduction to The Prophecy of Habakkuk for Contemporary Readers
(Christian Perspective)
Introduction to the book of Habakkuk
from the NIV Study Bible
Introduction to the Book of Habakkuk
orward Movement Publications {{Book of Habakkuk 03