In anticipation of Paul’s use of
this verse in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11, it is worth asking whether
Habakkuk uses אֱמוּנָה to signify trust. Most or nearly all
occurrences of אֱמוּנָה demand taking the word to highlight
something like faithfulness, steadfastness, or firmness rather than
concentrating on trust per se. There may be an exception, though, in the use of
the cognate noun אֵמוּן in Isaiah 26:2–4: ‘Open the gates, so the
righteous [צַדִּיק] nation keeping אֱמֻנִים
[a plural form of אֵמוּן] will enter. The inclination of the one
being upheld you preserve in the highest peace. For in you he is trusting [בָּטוּחַ]. Trust [בִּטְחוּ] in YHWH forever. For
in YHWH is the rock of ages.’ The righteous nation is the nation that continues
in אֱמֻנִים, which is parallel with trusting in YHWH.
It is possible here that the noun אֱמֻנִים is essentially
equivalent to trust. Alternatively, if אֱמֻנִים should be translated
steadfastness or firmness, then the thing in which the nation is steadfast is
precisely trust in YHWH. In other words, it is possible to conceive of
steadfastness being focused not on just any facet of life before God but
particularly on persistence in the habit of trusting. This is a point of some
significance for Habakkuk 2:4b. Even if one concludes that אֱמוּנָה
must be translated ‘steadfastness’ or ‘firmness’, that does not yet settle a
crucial question: steadfast with respect to what? If the contrast in Habakkuk
2:4–5 between the person with אֱמוּנָה and the person full
of pride implies that the person with אֱמוּנָה relies upon or trusts
in God rather than his own strength or prowess, then the person with אֱמוּנָה is ‘steadfast’ or persistent precisely in looking away from
himself and trusting in God’s promises.
Second, the LXX translates the
Hebrew אֱמוּנָה with the Greek πίστις. In the LXX, πίστις can signify faithfulness, loyalty,
or honesty (e.g., Deut. 32:20; 1 Sam. 26:23; 2 Kgs 12:16; 22:7; 2 Esdras 5:1;
Ps 32:4; Prov. 12:17, 22; 14:22; Jer. 5:3; 9:3; 15:18; 40:6;) or a duty or
pledge entrusted to someone (1 Chron. 9:22, 26, 31; 3 Macc. 3:10). The usage in
4 Maccabees, though, suggests that the significance of πίστις can include not only loyalty but
also trust in God (4 Macc. 15:24; 16:22; 17:2). If πίστις in the ἐκ πίστεώς μου of Habakkuk 2:4b is taken to signify
faithfulness or loyalty, then one could take the genitive μου to be a genitive of possession (i.e.,
the righteous by God’s faithfulness
will live). Alternatively, if the πίστις
in the ἐκ πίστεώς μου is taken to signify trust, then
one could take the genitive μου
to be an objective genitive (i.e., the righteous by trust in God will live).
Third, the treatment of Habakkuk
2:4b in 1QpHab appears to construe אֱמוּנָה as a matter of
believing in or trusting someone, where the relevant part of the text—באמונתו (‘by his faith’)—is interpreted to mean בעבור עמלם ואמנתם
במורה הצדק (‘on account of their toil and their faith in [ב]
the Teacher of Righteousness’). The point is not that the Qumran community were
correct in their beliefs about the ‘Teacher of Righteousness’. Rather, the
point is that apparently the word אֱמוּנָה was susceptible to
being read as ‘trust’ even apart from the influence of Paul’s ministry. (Steven
J. Duby, Habakkuk [The International
Theological Commentary on the Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments; London:
T&T Clark, 2025], 101-3)
