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1. Inscription. 2. Introduction to “prayer” indicating its main content - the wrath and mercy of God, revealed to the prophet in the Epiphany, which was then depicted. 3–7. The terrible coming of God to earth from the south. 8. Transition to the next speech about the meaning of the terrible Epiphany. 9–15. Further depiction of the Epiphany with an explanation of its meaning. 16–19. The prophet accepts the prophecy communicated in Revelation with reverent faith and firm confidence in salvation. Hab.3:1. Prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, for singing. The name "prayer", Heb. tefillah, Greek προσευχη, lat. oratio, here, as in the inscription of several psalms, Ps 16:1, 86:1, 89:1, 101:1, 112:1, 71:20), has a general meaning: a song used for singing during Divine services (in this sense, in the just mentioned place Ps 72:20, all the psalms of David are called “prayers”, tefillot). Designated by the prophet at the time of writing for liturgical use, this song, undoubtedly, soon received such a use - thanks to the authority of the prophet, and his name forever remained in the inscription of his song (as in LXX Ps. 137:1 is inscribed with the names of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, and Ps. 72:1 - with the name of one prophet Zechariah) to distinguish it from other liturgical hymns, as an echo liturgical use of the third chapter of the book of the prophet. Habakkuk, is also the already mentioned influence of this chapter on Orthodox Christian worship, namely on the formation and structure of the fourth song of the canon, in the irmos and troparia of which literal expressions from Habakkuk III in the Greco-Slavic transmission are often heard. The meaning of the last word 1 tbsp. shigeyonot can only be defined tentatively, as in general the musical and liturgical terms in the inscriptions of the psalms are very dark in their meaning, and remained mysterious even for ancient translators. LXX convey the word in question with the general title of the song: μετα ωδης, which, according to the assumption of the blessed. Jerome, may mean that “the prophet prays for the coming of Christ and prophesies about Him with joy, psalm and song, so that, on the one hand, in prayer he diligently entreats the Father, and on the other hand, in song he praises the Father, who will send the Son, and the Son, who is to come” (p. 187). Blessed Jerome himself understands the word in question differently - he derives it from ch. step, to sin, and in its translation the Vulgate renders it pro ignorantiis, explaining in its commentary: “now the prophet repents and laments what he foolishly spoke; he asks for forgiveness in that he ignorantly did this in order to later receive mercy” (p. 186). Thus, according to the testimony of the same Jerome (p. 135), Aquila, Simiach and Quinta also conveyed this word. Some new commentators (Ewald, Delitzsch, Hitzig, Kleinert) are also inclined towards this production of this word, like the word shiggaion in Ps 7.1, giving it, however, a different meaning - cantio erratica, passionate song, dithyramb, and arguing that this name has no connection with the content of the prophecy. Accepting this last position as completely indisputable, we also agree with the philological analysis of the word in question by new scientists, as well as by the blessed. Jerome and in some other ancient translations, however, one should prefer the transmission LXX: canticle to all of them. It is possible, however, as some researchers suggest, that the LXX was read not by Shigeyonot, but by Neginot, as in Hebrew. t. Art. 19 of this chapter. Hab.3:2. Lord! I heard Your rumor and was afraid. Lord! complete Your work among the years, among the years reveal it; In anger, remember mercy. Difficulty understanding Art. 2nd lies in the lack of identification of the Jewish Masoretic text in this place and in the too noticeable difference from it in the LXX text; the Vulgate text here is closer to the Hebrew text than to the Greek. The opening words of the verse are: “Jehovah! I heard Your message, and I was afraid” are read in the same way in all texts. The meaning of the words in the application to the future judgment of the Chaldeans is conveyed by Blessed Theodoret: “I was filled with fear, O Lord, when I heard Your words; Having seen the justice of Your determination, having seen how You dispose of everything that is done truthfully, I remain in extreme surprise” (p. 32). Then in the Greek text and glory. translation words not readable in other texts follow: κατενοησα τα εργα Σου και εξεστην᾿ενμεσω δυο ζωωνγνωσθηση. glory: “Having understood Your works and was horrified, you were called to the midst of two animals.” The first half of the expression constitutes a variation of the opening words of the verse; as pleonasm, probably not in the original text, these words are omitted in many Greek codes (for example, 22, 36, 42, 49, 51, 62, 86, 91, 95, 97, 130, 147, 165, 228, 238, 240, 310, 311 in Golmes). The second part of the above expression represents a peculiar rendering of the Hebrew: poolkha bekerev shanim hayegu “revive your creation at the age of half-life,” cf. Vulg.: opus tuum, in medio annorurn vivifica illud. But which animals are being talked about here, opinions are very different. Blessed Theodoret says: “Some meant angels and men by two animals; others are those from the disembodied forces that are close to God’s glory - the Cherubim and Seraphim; and some are Jews and Babylonians. But it seems to me that the prophet is not talking about two animals, but about two lives, present and future, in the midst of which the righteous Judge appears” (p. 32). According to the testimony of Blessed Jerome, “the simple interpretation and common idea refers this passage to the Savior, because He was known at the time of the crucifixion in the midst of two thieves (Mark 15; John 19)” or better - “that in the primitive church, which was composed of circumcision and uncircumcision, the Savior was called and became an object of faith for the two nations surrounding him from here and there. There are also those who by animals understand the two Testaments, Old and New, which are truly spiritualized and have life, which breathe and through which the Lord will be known” (p. 189). The corresponding expressions of the Hebrew text and the Vulgate express the general idea - the prayer of the prophet for the revival (as in Ps. 79:15, 19) or restoration in Israel of the work of God's grace, i.e. - in the historical sense, about the restoration of the Old Testament theocracy after the Babylonian captivity, and in the representative sense - about the work of the redemption of people by the Coming Messiah. The final part of the verse expresses the idea that runs through the entire biblical teaching about God, that in his relations with the world and people God is guided most of all by His goodness and mercy, and that He “remains good and merciful even when he punishes people: “When you confuse people in punishments, and then, led by mercy, you again change their disastrous state” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 32). Thus, with all the differences in the reading of Art. 2 according to various texts, the general messianic idea of ​​the verse is preserved, which, in any case, contains a prophetic foreshadowing of the Coming Messiah. Next Epiphany, v. 3 and further depicts His very coming in the future. Hab.3:3. God is coming from Teman, and the Holy One is coming from Mount Paran. His majesty covered the heavens, and the earth was filled with His glory. The prophet depicts the future appearance of God in images and pictures that took place during the appearance of God during the Sinai legislation (Exodus 19.18; Deut. 4.11), which event, due to its extreme importance for the entire religious-national life of Israel and all mankind, is repeatedly remembered by the sacred biblical writers (Deut. 33.2; Judges 5.4; Ps. 67:8–9). According to the prophetic image, “God is coming from Teman, and the Holy One is coming from Mount Paran. His majesty covered the heavens, and the earth was filled with His glory” (verse 3). Feman, Heb. teman, - a region or locality in Idumea (Am 1.12; Jer 49.7, 20, etc.), precisely in its northwestern part (Ezek 25.13), but at the same time this word has in Hebrew. language has a common noun meaning: south, and in this sense it is conveyed in Theodotion’s translation and in some codices (LXX-ti απο λιβος ηξει, code. 62, 86, 147 by Golmes), as well as in the Vulgate (ab austro). "Paran" - Hebrew. paran, is the proper name of the desert area south of Palestine, between the desert of Sur in the west and the Gulf of Egypt in the east (Gen. 21.21; Num. 10.12, etc.); here, as in Deuteronomy 33.2, we are not talking about the whole desert of Paran, but only about the mountain of this name. In the accepted text of the LXX, in addition to the name Paran, there are two more words that have no correspondence in the Hebrew text - κατασκιου δασεος, in many codes the Greek. text (for example, 23, 42, 49, 51, 68, 91, 97, 158, 228, 238, 239, 240 in Golmes) the name F. is completely omitted, as in the famous: “from the mountain of the shaded thicket.” Blessed Jerome, on behalf of one Jew, notes to Art. 3: “Bethlehem, where the Savior was born, is in the south; This is what the words mean: the Lord will come from the south, that is, he will be born in Bethlehem and rise from there. And since He who was born in Bethlehem once gave the law on Mount Sinai, He is the Holy One who comes from Mount Paran, because Paran is a place adjacent to Mount Sinai” (p. 193). Likewise, Blessed Theodoret says: “The Prophet predicts and foretells the incarnation of God and our Savior, which took place in Bethlehem, which lies to the south; or Liba, from Jerusalem. And he calls Jerusalem itself the overshadowed mountain, which in ancient times abounded in many different gifts, was overshadowed by a cloud and was under the roof of the heavenly God” (p. 33). – Worth in Euro. i.e. in the middle of the verse the word sela (even lower in vv. 9 and 13, and also used 71 times in the psalms), Greek. διαψαλμα, - in its etymology and in its meaning it is unclear; It is usually considered a musical term, denoting a pause in singing and under. (see Sommer – Biblische Abhandiungen. In d. I, Erklarung des Sela, s. 1–84). The second part of the verse depicts the glory, the majesty of the Lord appearing; His glory and glorification should fill the whole earth (cf. Ps 8:1–2; Is 6.3). “For the only begotten word of God, having become man, destroyed the darkness of ignorance, enlightened people with the rays of the knowledge of God, and taught everyone that God is the Creator of heaven, earth and everything” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 33). Hab.3:4. Its shine is like sunlight; from the hand of His rays, and here is the hiding place of His power! Art. 4 depicts the external, extremely brilliant setting of the coming appearance of God: and of all material nature, only the bright light of the sun can bring closer to understanding the heavenly majesty of the Epiphany; at the same time, the rays of the sun, like disrobing the appearance of God (cf. Ps 103.2), are likened, as is usually the case in Arabic poetry, to horns (cf. Ex 34.29; Ps 21.1). Needless to say, how fitting this image is in a proposal to Christ, the Sun of Truth. The last words of Art. 4 – instead of Heb. vesham hivion uzzo, Vulg ibi abscondita est fortitudo ejus, Russian. synod.: “and here is the hiding place of His power”, - LXX have: και εθετο αγαπησιν κραταιανιαχυος αυτου, glor.: “and make love the sovereign of your fortress”, from where it is clear that the blessed one notices. Jerome that, according to the reading of LXX, “even these words should be understood in relation to Christ, (namely) that for this purpose God the Father covered the heavens with His power, and filled the earth with praises, and made His Radiance like light, and placed the kingdom in the hand of His Son, in order to encourage people to love His Beloved and to love not with weak love, but firmly and strongly” (Blessed Jerome, p. 196–197). Hab.3:5–7. A plague goes before His face, and a burning wind follows His steps. He stood and shook the earth; He looked up and made the nations tremble; the age-old mountains disintegrated, the primeval hills fell; His ways are eternal. I saw the tents of Ethiopia sad; the tents of the land of Midian shook. Art. 5–7 indicate various terrible phenomena accompanying the appearance of God in the world, and the images of these phenomena are very common in other sacred scriptures. So, for Art. 5, speaking of the plague of Heb. deber, and murderous heat, Heb. Having decided, the parallels are Exodus 9.3 and Deut 32.24. In the LXX text the word deber, apparently read as dabar, the word (which was always possible in the absence of vocalization) is rendered through λογος, the word; otherwise it is transferred to Greco-slav. text and second half of Art. 5. Blessed Jerome notes: “if, according to LXX, we read: The word will go before him, and in his footsteps will go out into the fields, then this means that the word of God before His coming, which is allegorically now called a face, will precede Him and prepare the hearts of believers in order to correct the wrong and level the uneven, and so that the soul of the listener, as if similar to a cultivated field, can perceive the spiritual seed” (p. 198). Blessed Jerome himself, regarding his decision, accepts the opinion of the Jews of his time, who revered Rezeph by the name of the prince of demons (like Beelzebub (Matthew 12.24), who, in the form of a serpent, seduced Eve in paradise and received his very name from a curse pronounced by God (as one crawling on the belly), and in the Vulgate he conveys the second half of Art. 5th like this: et egredietur diabolus ante pedes ejus, seeing here a foreshadowing of the forty-day temptation of the Lord by the devil in the desert (pp. 197–198). But it seems better to stay with the immediate, literal sense of the Hebrew. Masoretic text. “With all that was said (in vv. 3-7), the Prophet showed us the ineffable power of God; because after God’s intention the deed itself follows; Having only willed (this was expressed by the prophet in the words: a hundred and a hundred) He shakes the earth, crushes the human race, tears apart the mountains, makes the hills melt like wax. God does this and similar things for the benefit of people. For the prophet calls works processions; The cross means what was said and brought salvation to all people. The Lord Christ stood on it, and shook the earth, set in motion and dissolved the mountains, struck with terror the demons, destroyed the churches on the mountains and hills, having determined this from the beginning to the end of the world, fulfilling it in the last days” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 34). Note Art. 7 about Midian and Hushan (probably a tribe close and related to the Midianites) has a historical basis in the facts of the defeat of the Midianites under Moses (Numbers 31.7) and Gideon (Judges 7.21). Hab.3:8. Has Your anger kindled against the rivers, O Lord? Is it Thy indignation on the rivers, or Thy wrath on the sea, that Thou hast mounted Thy horses, Thy chariots of salvation? The question contained here in the sense of the previously described formidable phenomena does not have the meaning of a real question requiring an appropriate answer, but rather is a poetic device - a pause common in biblical poetic works (cf. Gen. 49.14; Judges 5.12; Ps. 67:20, 17.21), serving as a transition to the depiction of a new theophany. The general meaning of the verse and especially its second half is that, according to the biblical view, the elements of nature and all its individual phenomena serve the purposes of the Divine world government (cf. Ps. 103:4, 17.11), while the very image of chariots and horses was borrowed by the prophet from the history of the miraculous passage of the Jews through the Red Sea (Ex. 14:25–26, 15:3–4). “Just as You dried up the Jordan and the Red Sea, fighting for us, not because you were angry with the rivers and the sea, and not because inanimate objects could in any way incur (Your) anger; so now, mounting Your chariots, grasping your bow, You will give salvation to Your people, and forever fulfill the oaths that You swore to our fathers and the peoples” (Blessed Jerome, p. 202). On the contrary (contrary to the opinion of biblical scholars of the rationalist school, such as: Gunkel, Marty), there is no hint of a mythological struggle of the elements, for example. the myth of Assyriology about Tiamat (the abyss, chaos) is not noticed in the words of the prophet. Hab.3:9–15. You have drawn Your bow according to the oath promise given to the tribes. You cut the earth with streams: Seeing You, the mountains trembled, the waters rushed; the abyss gave its voice, raised its hands high; the sun and the moon stood still in their place before the light of Your flying arrows, before the radiance of Your sparkling spears: You walk through the earth in anger and trample the nations in indignation: You come forward for the salvation of Your people, for the salvation of Your anointed. You crush the head of the wicked house, stripping it bare from the foundation to the top. You pierce the head of his leaders with his spears, when they rushed like a whirlwind to defeat me, in joy, as if thinking to devour the poor man secretly: You and Your horses paved the way across the sea, through the abyss of great waters. The general meaning of this section is clear: as can be seen from Art. 12th, here is the answer to the question (Hab. 3:8) about the meaning and basis of elemental phenomena, majestic and destructive, which accompany the appearance of God in the world: God’s wrath is directed not at the sea and rivers, but at people, namely against the Chaldeans and people like them, who angered God with their wickedness, peoples. But understanding the details is difficult due to the difference between the Hebrew and Greek texts. Without going into a detailed comparison and reconciliation of both texts, we will limit ourselves to a brief analysis and explanation of the content of the prophet’s speech in this section. Art. 9–11, judging by the images contained here, resemble the story of the miraculous passage of the Jews through the Red Sea under Moses (Hab. 3, see Exodus 14.21) and through the Jordan before the occupation of Palestine under Joshua (Joshua 3.16), as well as the miraculous solstice under him (Hab. 3, see Joshua 10.13). This reminder is intended to revive in the listeners or readers of the prophet the consciousness of the boundless omnipotence of God, the irresistible power of Jehovah in the fight against nations hostile to the chosen people of God (Hab. 3:12), and individual, different times, heralds of Divine truth from among them. “And during uprisings against the preachers sent by You to the nations, You, says the prophet, have ineffable power, abounding in all sorts of punitive weapons, although with one baptism you can corrupt the whole earth with its inhabitants, yet you will remain long-suffering” (Blessed Theodoret, pp. 36-37). In verse 18, finally, the goal of the entire Epiphany is clearly and definitely indicated: the salvation of the anointed one or anointed ones of God. Under the name of the anointed one, Heb. Mashiach, according to biblical usage here, as in very many other places, can be understood as the king of the Jews, since the kings of the Jews, as appointed by God, were usually called by this name (1 Sam. 2:10, 35, 12:3, 5, 16:6, 24:7, 11; Ps. 2:2, 17:51, 19:7; Lamentations 4.20, etc.). But since the last Jewish kings were people unworthy of their theocratic calling, then under this honorable and sacred name it is more natural to understand the entire people of God, moreover, more in its idea than in concrete reality. Such a broad meaning of the term in question was generally known to the Old Testament, where, in addition to kings, the patriarchs - the ancestors of the Jewish people (Ps. 105:15), later the high priests (Lev. 4:3, 5, 16), and even later and in one place only the Persian king Cyrus (Is. 45:1) were also called anointed. About the entire Jewish people this name is apparently used in Ps 88:39, 52 (cf. Ps 83:10), and also, probably, in the place under consideration. Finally, in the perspective of prophetic contemplation, the name Mashiach, Messiah, Christ, more than once refers to the coming Christ the Savior (see Ps 2:2; see John 1:41, 4:25), as well as all His followers, as participants in His anointing. In this sense, blessed Theodoret notes to Art. 13: “the prophet calls anointed those who were worthy of the calling, who accepted the preaching with faith, and who were made worthy of the grace of the Divine Spirit” (p. 37). Second half of Art. 13 expresses the idea of ​​​​the protection of God's Providence to His chosen ones through the punishment of their wicked enemies - closest to the Chaldeans. The idea of ​​the inevitability of God’s punishment for the enemies and enslavers of God’s people also dominates in the following verses, 14 and 15. The meaning of Art. 14 Blessed Theodoret paraphrases as follows: “When Your power becomes clear to all people; then those invested with high power will come to such fear that not with boldness, but in secrecy and secretly they will begin to express their opposition, so that others will rightly liken them to a beggar who does not dare to eat food openly, but chews it without opening his lips” (p. 37). Contents of Art. 15 closely resembles the second half of v. 8. Hab.3:16–19. I heard, and my insides trembled; at the news of this my lips trembled, pain penetrated into my bones, and the place beneath me trembled; but I must be calm in the day of disaster, when the plunderer comes against my people: Even though the fig tree did not blossom, and there was no fruit on the vines, and the olive tree failed, and the field yielded no food, even though there were no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, -: but even then I will rejoice in the Lord and be glad in the God of my salvation: The Lord God is my strength: He will make my feet like a deer’s, and He will lead me to my heights! At the conclusion of his “prayer,” and at the same time his entire book, the prophet depicts his impressions of the Epiphany, as well as the feelings and thoughts evoked by it and the entire content of the prophecy in general. The first impression of the vision and revelation received by the prophet is the impression of horror and trembling covering the entire being (Hab. 3:16), just as this was exactly the impression of the visions on the prophet Daniel (Dan. 8:18, 27, 10:8). At the same time, the horror that gripped the prophet, and which he mentioned at the beginning of his prayer (Hab. 3:2), was caused not only by the supernatural and heavenly nature of the Epiphany, but also by the formidable nature of the events foreshadowed by him, closely and fatally affecting the fate of his native people: “moved by compassion for the foreigners, he came into awe and fear from the predictions expressed in the prayer” (blessed Theodoret, p. 38). But as a true messenger of the decrees and destinies of God, the prophet knows and proclaims to people that next to the horror of disasters there should be a calm of hope in God and His unceasing mercy in the midst of wrath (Hab. 3:16, cf. Isa. 14:13, 57:18). This is not enough: in the following verses, 17–19, the prophet, as a true teacher of faith and morals, holiness and goodness, expresses the sublime thought that God should be glorified even in the midst of the greatest disasters. In Art. 17, the prophet paints a picture of the greatest and most sensitive life deprivations and difficulties: the prophet foresees the proximity of a time when the inhabitants of Palestine, this land boiling with honey and milk, will experience - on the occasion of the invasion of enemies - an extreme lack of essential items of life for the biblical Jews: there will be no products of garden culture - fruits of the fig tree, grapevine and olive, no fruits of agriculture and fields, no products of livestock breeding - a vivid picture of the desolation of the holy land, reminiscent of a similar image of it in the prophet Joel at the time of national disaster, an invasion of locusts (Joel 1.17–20). But even under such difficult conditions of existence, despite the full burden of the people’s disasters, the prophet Habakkuk, like the prophet Micah in similar circumstances (Micah 7.7), expresses strong faith in Jehovah God, perfect hope in Him and complete devotion to Him, and therefore expresses complete readiness to praise Him (Hab. 3:18–19). Here, as in many other biblical places (for example, Ps. 72:25–26), clear and obvious evidence is given of the absolute value of the religious good, the good of communion with God, and true religion in general: no matter what misadventures a person may be subjected to, the duty “to serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in Him with trembling” remains in full force (Ps. 2.11). And whoever, like the prophet, is imbued with this conviction will, like him, acquire grace-filled strength for his religious feat, and will exclaim with the prophet: “The Lord God is my strength: He will make my feet like a deer’s, and will lead me to my heights (i.e., to the height of salvation)” (Hab. 3:19), i.e. That is, “God will strengthen the weakness of my nature, and will make sure that, like a deer, I will trample on snakes and scorpions and spirits of evil, until I ascend to the height of virtue and sing a victorious song to my Savior and Creator” (Blessed Theodoret, pp. 39–40). Regarding the general meaning of the “prayer” of the prophet Avvakum, Blessed Theodoret notes: “I know that others, understanding the entire prayer of Avvakum historically, claimed that the prophet predicted this about the return from Babylon. I will not contradict if anyone wants to believe that this is educationally predicted about those who returned from captivity; because such an understanding is in accordance with my interpretation; if the Old Testament is truly a real prototype of the New Testament. But I would consider it incongruous with anything, when reality prevails and the shadow is covered by the body, to understand a prophecy about something else that does not quite correspond to it...” (p. 40). From this remark of a church teacher, an authoritative interpreter of Holy Scripture, it follows that both elements - historical and typological in explaining the content of the “prayer”, as well as the entire book of the prophet Habakkuk - must find their uniform, harmoniously combined application. The same rule must be observed when interpreting other prophecies of the Old Testament. You might be interested in: