AUTHOR. Some have inferred from his Psalm, chapter 3, and the direction to the chief musician, that he was a chorister in the temple; but this is purely conjectural.

DATE uncertain. The prophet evidently lived in the Chaldean period. Many scholars fix the time of the prophecy during the reign of Jehoiakim.

MAIN THEME, The Mysteries of Providence.

KEY VERSE
# Hab 1:3

SYNOPSIS.
The book opens with the prophet in perplexity over the mystery of unpunished evil in the world. The first two chapters are mainly composed of a dialogue between Habakkuk and Jehovah.

(1) The prophet complains to God that he sees sinful violence on every hand, yet no punishment is visited upon the evildoers # Hab 1:1-4
(2) He receives a reply revealing the divine plan of using the Chaldeans as a swift and terrible instrument of judgment upon the wicked nations # Hab 1:5-11
(3) Still the moral problem is unanswered in the mind of the prophet. How can a holy God use these wicked heathen to waste and destroy people more righteous than they? Are the wrong and violence to continue forever? # Hab 1:12-17
(4) The prophet ascends his watch-tower to look over the world. He receives the reply of Jehovah, and is told the Purpose of God is soon to be fulfilled, and is encouraged to wait for it, # Hab 2:1-3 Then follows the sentence that has been a watchword in the Christian Church
# Hab 2:4
(5) Content with the new light received, the prophet utters a series of five woes against

THE DISHONESTY  # Hab 2:6

THE COVETOUSNESS  # Hab 2:9

THE BLOODY BUILDING ENTERPRISES # Hab 2:12

THE DEBAUCHERY # Hab 2:15

and THE IDOLATRY of the great world-power # Hab 2:18-20

(6) Finally he utters a sublime prayer (or psalm of praise), speaking of the majesty and glory of Jehovah and declaring his unwavering trust in the divine plans # Hab 3:1-19

NOTABLE PASSAGES.
The Morning Star of the Reformation # Hab 2:4 Ro 1:17 Heb 10:38
The Triumph of Missions # Hab 2:14
The Woe to the Drunkard-maker # Hab 2:15

An All-conquering Faith. # Hab 3:17,18