The Background of
Habakkuk 2:4 and Its Early Reception
Traditionally,
Habakkuk is set within the twilight of the Assyrian Empire. The prophet
wrestles with the problem of God supporting the violent conquest of the Chaldeans
(cf. 1;5-11a: “I am rousing the Chaldeans” in 1:6 NRSV). Habakkuk recognizes
that the Lord does this to reprove his wayward people (1:12). But he feels
justified in questioning this divine act: “Your eyes are too pure to behold
evil, and you cannot look at wrongdoing; why do you look on the treacherous,
and are silent when the wicked swallow those more righteous than they?” (1:13
NRSV; cf. 2:1). The Lord responds by telling Habakkuk to record a vision. The
people of God must wait for the “appointed time” that will demonstrate the
justice of God (the righteousness of God!) that will come at just the
right time. Theodore Hiebert succinctly summarizes the central concern of
this prophetic book:
At a time when the
wicked are in control, when the vision describing God’s intention to
reestablish justice has not yet become a reality, Habakkuk is called in the
interim to trust God’s assurances and to remain faithful . . . Habakkuk is
directed to maintain a faithful commitment to God’s justice and to persist in
its principles, even when such justice appears to be absent in the world around
him. Such is the message of God’s second response. (Theodore Hiebert, “The Book
of Habakkuk,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible, ed. Leander E. Keck [Nashville:
Abingdon, 1997], 7:623-55 at 642)
Given that what is visible
to Israel is oppression and bloodshed, they are called upon to trust God
despite the appearances (hence the focus on vision in 2:2-3). So to summarize,
“Those who do not lose faith, who remain faithful, even when there seems to be
no reason to do so” will survive and see God’s righteousness prevail.
What is the meaning
of אמונה in 2:4? Daniel
Harrington makes the sensible case that it refers to “trust in God,” not simply
as a belief, but as a whole-life reliance on the righteousness of God and the
surety of his promises of deliverance (Daniel J. Harrington, “Paul’s Use of the
Old Testament in Romans,” Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations 4
[2009]:1-8 at 2-3).
The Septuagint text
of 2:4 reads a bit differently than the Masoretic Text: ο δε δικαιος εκ πιστεως μου ζησεται. This
refers to the righteous on living by my (μου) faithfulness/trust. Desta Heliso
explains that the Masoretic Text/Septuagint difference may have resulted from a
Hebrew Vorlage actually including the first-person pronoun.
Alternatively it may have been a mechanical error, as the Hebrew suffixes yod
and waw look similar. Or the difference may have been deliberate—after all,
it is rather common for the Old Testament to refer to God’s faithfulness
(Deut 32:4; Ps 36:5; Isa 11:5; 25:1; Lam 3:23) (Desta Heliso, Pistis and the
Righteous One: A Study of Romans 1:17 against the Background of Scripture and
Second Temple Jewish Literature, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen
Testament 235 [Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007], 52-53).
The Qumranic Habakkuk
Pesher refers to Hab 2:4b and apparently follows the Masoretic Text: “And the
righteous will live by his trust.” 1QpHab 7.17-8.3 offers this interpretation:
this statement “concerns all those who observe Torah in the House of Judah,
whom God will save from the house of judgement on account of their tribulation and
their fidelity to the Righteous Teacher.” In the early rabbinic literature, Hab
2:4b was used as a cornerstone for Jewish covenantal fidelity:
R. Simlai said, “Six
hundred and thirteen commandments were given to Moses . . . Then David came and
reduced them to eleven [Ps 15]. Then came Isaiah and reduced them to six [Isa 33:15].
Then came Micah and reduced them to three [Mic 6:8]. Then Isaiah [Isa 56:1].
Then came Amos, and reduced them to one, as it is said, ‘Seek me and live’
[Amos 5:4]. Or one may then say, then came Habakkuk [2:4] and reduced them to
one, as it is said, ‘The righteous shall live by his faith[fulness].” (b. Mak.
23b)
And, of course, we
see Hab 2:4b three times in the New Testament; besides Rom 1:17 it is also
cited by Paul in Gal 3:11 pertaining to the way of trust represented by Abraham
(3:9), in contrast to the way of Torah works, which bears a curse (3:10-11).
Paul explicitly states that Torah is not εκ πιστεως; rather the Abrahamic πιστις way comes with the
promise of the Spirit (3:14).
In Heb 10 the author
calls the readers to persevere in faith (10:22-23) and to turn away from sin
(10:26). He reminds them of their initial courage and resilience in the midst
of persecution (10:32-34). So they are reminded to persevere, and Hab 2:3-4 is
cited. The focus is on the righteous one not “shrinking back” (10:39). The text
of Heb 10:38 is similar to Hab 2:4 LXX:
ο δε δικαιος μου εκ
πιστεως ζησεται. (Heb 10:38)
ο δε δικαιος εκ πιστεως μου ζησεται (Hab 2:4 LXX)
Μου appears with ο δε δικαιος such that it reads “my
righteous one” rather than “my faith(fulness).” Ultimately the point that
Hebrews is making is rather transparent: “The righteous one is the Christian
who demonstrates faithfulness to God as he moves toward the goal of life,
eschatologically understood” (William Lane, Hebrews 9-13). (Nijay K
Gupta, Paul and the Language of Faith [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans,
2020], 360-63)
