Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Argumentum
St. Jerome in the Prologue says: "Habakkuk, either because he is the beloved of the Lord, is called 'embrace,' or because he enters into a contest and struggle, and (so to speak) a wrestling match with God, he received the name of one who embraces, that is, one who wrestles (for Habakkuk is derived from the Hebrew chahak, or hahak, meaning to embrace, to clasp, to hold tight). For no one dared with so bold a voice to provoke God to a disputation about justice, and to say: Why in human affairs and in the governance of this world does such great iniquity prevail!"
The same in the Helmeted Prologue, which is prefixed to the Bible: "Habakkuk," he says, "a strong and unyielding wrestler, stands upon his watch and plants his feet upon the rampart, so that he may contemplate Christ on the cross, and say: His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. His splendor shall be as the light; horns are in His hands: there is His strength hidden."
The Chaldean Paraphrast relates that Habakkuk was the dead son of the Shunammite woman, whom Elisha restored to life (2 Kings 4:36). But the chronology contradicts this: for Elisha flourished under Jehoshaphat, while Habakkuk lived long after, under Manasseh. Isidore and Epiphanius in the Life of Habakkuk relate that he was from the tribe of Simeon, from the district of Bithicucar, or as Epiphanius names it, Bezzochar. The Hebrews in the Seder Olam hold that Nahum, Joel, and Habakkuk prophesied under Manasseh, but that he did not name Manasseh on account of his impiety and crimes. But in the prooemium to Nahum I showed that Nahum prophesied after the destruction of Samaria, which occurred in the 6th year of Hezekiah, and before the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib, which occurred in the 14th year of Hezekiah. Therefore Nahum prophesied between the 6th and 14th year of Hezekiah; hence Habakkuk seems to have prophesied around the same time. So says Ribera in the Prooemium. The more common opinion, however, is that Habakkuk prophesied before Zephaniah and Jeremiah, shortly after Nahum, under Manasseh. So the Hebrews, Guevara, a Castro, Vatablus, Clarius, Arias, and others. It seems therefore that Habakkuk was one of those Prophets whom God sent to Manasseh, to reprove him for his impie- ties might convict him, 2 Kings 21:10. Some think, such as St. Jerome, Remigius, Albert, Hugh, and Lyra, that Habakkuk after the destruction of Jerusalem directly and expressly prophesied the destruction of Babylon and the Chaldeans, just as Nahum, who preceded him, prophesied the destruction of Nineveh and the Chaldeans. But I say: expressly Habakkuk takes up the burden against Judah and Jerusalem and their destruction by the Chaldeans; consequently, however, he also foretells the destruction of the Chaldeans themselves by Cyrus and the Persians. For the Prophets are accustomed to append joyful things to sorrowful ones, and to console after threats. So here Habakkuk, to comfort the Jews who were to be ravaged by the Chaldeans and carried off to Babylon, foretells that the Chaldeans likewise after 70 years would be destroyed by Cyrus, and then the Jews would be freed from Babylon and return to their homeland. So St. Gregory Nazianzen, Oration I Apologetical, and there Elias of Crete, St. Chrysostom, Book II On Providence, Theodoret, Theophylact, and Guevara. Furthermore, from Cyrus the liberator, following the example of Isaiah (ch. 45:8), he rises to Christ the Redeemer; and to Him, in chapter 3, he composes a notable canticle, in which he graphically depicts and celebrates His nativity, life, passion, resurrection, and second coming for judgment, in which He will condemn the wicked and bless the righteous. For the liberation of the Jews from Babylon was a type of the liberation of mankind from the slavery of sin, the devil, and hell. For Judea, that is, the promised land, is a type of the heavenly homeland; the Chaldeans of demons; the Jews of the human race; Jesus son of Josedec, Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Cyrus the destroyer of Babylon and champion of the Jews, bore the figure of Christ, King and High Priest, our Redeemer.
From this it follows that this Habakkuk prophesied before the destruction of Jerusalem, and consequently is not the same as the Habakkuk who was snatched through the air by an angel and transported from Judea to Babylon, where he brought a meal to Daniel (chapter 14:32), who had been cast into the lions' den, as St. Jerome supposes in the Prologue, relying not so much on his own opinion as on that of the Hebrews. For that Habakkuk lived long after the destruction of Jerusalem, when the Jews were already living as captives in Babylon; but our Habakkuk lived before the destruction, for he prophesied it saying in chapter 1:6: "Behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift nation, marching over the breadth of the earth, to possess dwellings not their own," etc. Add that Daniel was cast into the lions' den under Evilmerodach, who succeeded his father Nebuchadnezzar on the throne; and Nebuchadnezzar reigned 44 years, and before him Josiah reigned in Judah 31 years, before him Amon two years, before Amon Manasseh 55 years, before Manasseh Hezekiah 29 years. Suppose Habakkuk began to prophesy at the end of Hezekiah's reign, or, as the Hebrews say, under Manasseh, and that he was then 30 years old (for before the thirtieth year among the Hebrews ordinarily no one was permitted to teach or prophesy), and add the years of the kings just listed, and you will calculate that Habakkuk would have far surpassed his hundredth year, if he were one and the same as the Habakkuk of Daniel.
But this does not seem probable, namely that a man decrepit at that age would carry a meal to the harvesters. Therefore, just as there were two prophets named Micah and two named Obadiah, as I said in their Prooemiums, so also there were two Prophets having the same name Habakkuk.
Finally, Habakkuk is recorded as inscribed in the catalog of Saints on January 15, where this is said about him: "In Judea, the feast of the holy prophets Habakkuk and Micah, whose bodies were discovered under Theodosius the Elder by divine revelation."