Structure, Genre, and Intent in the Book of Habakkuk

Abstract

In his Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (London and Philadelphia, 1979), p. 448, Brevard Childs reports that modern biblical scholarship has reached a censensus concerning the structure of the book of Habakkuk. Following the superscription in Hab. i 1, the first major section is Hab. i 1-ii 4(5), a unity frequently described as a dialogue between the prophet and God, which consists of a complaint in Hab. i 2-4; a divine response in Hab. i 5-11; a second complaint in i 12-17; and a divine answer in Hab. ii 1-4. The second major section is Hab. ii (5) 6-20, a series of woe oracles directed against an unnamed oppressor. The third major section is Hab. iii 1-19, a concluding psalm, which many scholars view as an independent composition that was added to Hab. i-ii. Despite this consensus, there remain a number of persistent problems in the interpretation of the book. There is widespread disagreement concerning the genre of the work, which is variously described as a liturgical composition,' a prophetic imitation of a cultic liturgy,2 a report of a visionary experience,3 and a wisdom