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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274 RICHARD WHITEKETTLE
has proved to be extremely difficult. As has been observed, “ … the lan-
guage [in Habakkuk 1] is elusive in that it is somewhat specific, but not
precise enough to be attached to any identifiable historical event; at the
same time, it is somewhat general, but not abstract enough to be detached
from historical particulars” 2. There is, however, one detail in Habakkuk 1,
a detail which has gone unnoticed, which does tie a particular passage to
a specific event during the late 600s/early 500s.
As part of his second complaint about God’s actions (Hab 1,12-17),
Habakkuk makes the following statement to God 3:
1,14a You have made people like fish (~yh ygd),
1,14b like other aquatic animals (fmr) that have
no ruler over them.
The characterization of fish and other aquatic animals as being lead-
erless has been understood as a reference to their helplessness and vul-
nerability at the hands of fisherfolk, a situation which is described in the
verses that follow (1,15-17) 4. And since the statement in 1,14 is in the
form of a human/animal simile, the leaderlessness of fish and other
aquatic animals (hereafter simply aquatic animals) has been understood
as a reference to the helplessness and vulnerability of people at the hands
of the Babylonians (i.e., the wicked fisherfolk in 1,15-17).
While it is undoubtedly true that the leaderlessness of aquatic animals
was meant to convey helplessness and vulnerability, there is another nu-
2
ANDERSEN, Habakkuk, 174.
3
The fmr-animals in 1,14b have been variously identified as non-fish
aquatic animals, land animals that crawl/creep, or both. See R. WHITEKETTLE,
“Like a Fish and Shrimp Out of Water: Identifying the Dāg and Remeś Ani-
mals of Habakkuk 1:14”, Bulletin for Biblical Research 24 (2014) 491-503.
Everything said in this paper holds true regardless of which identification is
followed.
4
BAILEY, “Habakkuk”, 315; SWEENEY, The Twelve, 468; BRUCE, “Habakkuk”,
854; ROBERTSON, The Books, 162; SMITH, Micah, 104; FLOYD, Minor
Prophets, 109; ANDERSEN, Habakkuk, 184; PERLITT, Die Propheten, 60; J. GOLDIN-
GAY, “Habakkuk”, Minor Prophets II (eds. J. GOLDINGAY – P.J. SCALISE) (Un-
derstanding the Bible Commentary Series; Grand Rapids, MI 2012) 64; R.D.
PATTERSON, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (Wycliffe Exegetical Commen-
tary; Chicago, IL 1991) 159; M. DELCOR, “Habacuc”, Les petits prophètes.
II: Michée, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonie, Aggée, Zacharie, Malachie (eds. A.
DEISSLER – M. DELCOR) (SB[PC] Tome 8, Partie 1; Paris 1964) 412; C.F.
KEIL, The Twelve Minor Prophets, Volume 2 (tran. J. MARTIN) (K&D 25;
Grand Rapids, MI 1951) 66; D. DEDEN, De Kleine Profeten (Roermond en
Maaseik 1953) 261; B. DUHM, Das Buch Habakuk. Text, Übersetzung und
Erklärung (Tübingen 1906) 35.
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