Richard Whitekettle, «How the Sheep of Judah Became Fish: Habakkuk 1,14 and the Davidic Monarchy.», Vol. 96 (2015) 273-281
In Hab 1,14, Habakkuk complained that God had made the human targets of Babylonian aggression to be like leaderless aquatic animals. Aquatic animals are leaderless, not because they have a leader who is absent or inept, but because they simply have no leaders. Habakkuk was complaining then that God had made the targets of Babylonian aggression to have no governance system of their own. He was complaining, therefore, about the cataclysm of 586 BCE, when the native political system in Judah - the Davidic monarchy and its administrative apparatus - ceased to exist and the people of Judah were absorbed into the Babylonian Empire.
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ANIMADVERSIONES
How the Sheep of Judah Became Fish:
Habakkuk 1,14 and the Davidic Monarchy
I. The Complaint of Habakkuk 1,14
In Hab 1,2-4, Habakkuk or his tradents (hereafter simply Habakkuk)
complain about injustice, lawlessness, the oppression of the righteous by
the wicked, and God’s seeming toleration of it all. Following Habakkuk’s
complaint, God announces that he is sending the Chaldeans to sweep over
the land in a destructive rampage (1,5-11). Following God’s announce-
ment, Habakkuk complains that by using the Chaldeans as an instrument
of judgment God uses those who are wicked to punish those who are more
righteous, and he bemoans the destructive behavior of the Chaldeans and
God’s seeming toleration of it all (1,12-17).
The mention of the Chaldeans (i.e., the Babylonians) and of the de-
struction they bring indicates that these passages in Habakkuk 1 are con-
cerned with the events of the late 600s/early 500s BCE ― the time of the
emergence and flourishing of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the final
years of the Kingdom of Judah 1.
Trying to tie the passages in Habakkuk 1 to specific dates, reigns, and
circumstances within the general time frame of the late 600s/early 500s
1
R.L. SMITH, Micah-Malachi (WBC 32; Waco, TX 1984) 94-95; J.J.M.
ROBERTS, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL; Louisville, KY 1991)
82-84; F.I. ANDERSEN, Habakkuk. A New Translation with Introduction and
Commentary (AB 25; New York 2001) 22-27; O.P. ROBERTSON, The Books
of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (NICOT; Grand Rapids, MI 1990) 30,
34-38; M.A. SWEENEY, The Twelve Prophets (ed. D.W. COTTER) (Berit Olam;
Collegeville, MN 2000) II, 453-56, 461, 464-65; M.H. FLOYD, Minor
Prophets. Part 2 (FOTL 22; Grand Rapids, MI 2000) 84, 87, 100, 107; F.F.
BRUCE, “Habakkuk”, The Minor Prophets. An Exegetical and Expository
Commentary (ed. T.E. MCCOMISKEY) (Grand Rapids, MI 1993) II, 831, 834,
847; C.-A. KELLER, “Habacuc”, Michée, Nahoum, Habacuc, Sophonie (eds.
R. VUILLEUMIER – C.-A. KELLER) (CAT 11b; Genève 21990) 139-140, 148-
149; W. BAILEY, “Habakkuk”, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (eds.
K.L. BARKER – W. BAILEY) (NAC 20; Nashville, TN 1999) 246, 259-260; L. PER-
LITT, Die Propheten Nahum, Habakukk, Zephanja (ATD 25/I; Göttingen 2004)
41-42; R.D. HAAK, Habakkuk (VTS 44; Leiden 1992), 130-155; K. ELLIGER, Das
Buch der zwölf Kleinen Propheten II. Die Propheten Nahum, Habakuk,
Zephanja, Haggai, Zacharja, Maleachi (ATD 25; Göttingen 1964) 23-25.
BIBLICA 96.2 (2015) 273-281
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