HABAKKUK

(Ha·bakʹkuk) [embrace (of love); ardent embrace].

Hebrew prophet of Judah and writer of the Bible book bearing his name. (Hab. 1:1; 3:1) From the book’s closing notation (“To the director on my stringed instruments”) and the dirge in chapter three, it has been inferred that Habakkuk was a Levitical temple musician. But the words following Habakkuk 3:19 do not make that certain, and dirges were also taken up by persons other than Levites. (2 Sam. 1:17, 18) While there are various traditions about Habakkuk, these are unreliable, and the Scriptures themselves furnish no information concerning the prophet’s parentage, tribe, circumstances in life or his death. Evidence in the book of Habakkuk seems to indicate that he prophesied early in the reign of Jehoiakim, before the Judean king became vassal to Babylon in 620 B.C.E.—2 Ki. 24:1; see HABAKKUK, BOOK OF.