Contents of this article
I. Introductory Remark
II. Outline of 1QpHab
III. Contents of 1QpHab
IV. What the Scholars are saying
V. Importance of 1QpHab
I. Introductory Remark
The Habakkuk Commentary begins with a lament from Habakkuk to God, complaining about the suffering his people are enduring because of their sins. In God’s response He revels to Habakkuk a vision of the last days and the destruction of those who have not kept His commandments. Intermittently between the verses there is a commentary that explains each verse as it relates to the history of the Qumran.
II. Outline of 1QpHab
I. Habakkuk's petitions to God
A. How long must wickedness overcome righteousness?
B. Unfaithful people, rejecters of the word, unbelievers in the covenant of God will not even hear God's message in the end days because of their unbeliefII. Destruction of Israel
A. Chaldeans (also referred to as the Kittim and the Romans) rise up and destroy all the land and its inhabitants
B. Nation is destroyed because of the sins of its inhabitants
C. God executes judgment fairly, still in controlIII. Revealing of God’s vision to Habakkuk of the last days
A. Observes of the Law, those faithful to His teachings, delivered
B. Wicked Priest, participators in his destruction of lives and those who led people astray, punished by God in the end
C. Wicked Priest seeks to destroy the Teacher; delivered by God in the end
III. Contents of the Document
The Habakkuk Commentary deals with a fulfillment of God's prophecy regarding his elect people. It begins with a plea from Hubakkuk to God on behalf of the sufferings of his people. Hubakkuk cannot understand why righteous people are being destroyed by unrighteous people. He witnesses the destruction of his nation by a people referred to as the Chaldeans whom He thought were going to deliver his people. The Chaldeans (also referred to as the Kittims and the Romans destroys the land and capture its rulers. It seems that a Wicked Priest who has deceived the people influences the Kittim. They thought that he would follow the Teacher of Righteousness, who is in the position of authority at this time. The Wicked Priest however, rebels against the teachings of the Law and seeks to exile and destroy the Teacher of Righteousness and his followers. God revels to Habakkuk a vision of what will take place in the last days and instructs him to write it down. God will punish the wicked, those who have not kept His law, idol worshippers and the Wicked Priest. He will punish them with the same kind of punishments they inflicted on others. God will reward The Teacher of Righteousness and his followers and those who keep his Laws.
IV. What the Scholars are Saying
Most of the debate concerning the Habbakuk Commentary centers around the identification of the key personalities (the "Teacher of Righteousness and the Wicked Priest sometimes may be referred to as "Man of Lies"); events, and chronology. In A.N. Gilkes' The Impact of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the author alludes to the fact that some of the skeptical remarks which have been made by Professor T. H. Gaster, who is a noted scholar in the translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the author finds justifiable.
The author and Gaster remarks that some of the descriptions and interpretations of the Teacher of Righteousness and the Wicked Priest have been "extravagant" as well as "premature and futile." The author also discusses the fact that the reference to the "guilt ridden Council House" may be the Roman Senate. There is speculation about the reference to the "House of Absalom" in verse 13. According to the authors, it could be David's son, or the Absalom who the Man of Lies refers to as the Wicked Priest.
Another debate the author uses to justify the history of the Commentary is the fact that since Aristobulus I (104-103 B.C.) was the first of the Maccabean dynasty to use the title of King, and " that the events mentioned in this passage seems to have taken place before 104 B.C." In Verse 7, the author states that the "Wicked Priest came to a sticky end; someone inflicted horrible pains upon his body." The author contends that since there is a gap in the manuscript that the "him" the passage refers to is really the Teacher of Righteousness. The author suggests that some dramatic event took place on the Day of Atonement. He guesses that it was probably the Priest who "took advantage of the difference in the Qumran calendar and caught the Brotherhood at their devotions". In conclusion the author informs us that he interprets the Teacher of Righteousness to be a priest with the gift of prophecy who was attacked treacherously by the Man of Lies. When this Man of Lies was accused or chastised he was not helped by the House of Abaslom. The Wicked Priest in the end was delivered by God into the hands of his enemies and punished because of his evil attacks upon God's elect.
In Volume Two of The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible by Merrill C. Tenney the author makes these comments about the Habakkuk Commentary. First he states that the Commentary presents a "twofold problem in that the pesher is obviously later in date than the book itself.' The author also states that "if the commentary portions are to be dated before 100 B.C., then this Commentary becomes the earliest external evidence for the text of the canonical book." The author suggests that in order to date the pesher one must identify the Kittim. He agrees that they have been identified with a lot of different parties including: the military might of Alexander Janneus (103-76 B.C.); the occupation forces of the Roman period in Palestine including the first Jewish War (A.D. 66-70) and the Christian Crusaders of the medieval period. The author explains how the Commentary is presented with the commentator citing short sections of Habakkuk and then explaining them eschatologically in term of the history of the Qumran brotherhood. He author also informs us that there was a third chapter, which contained a poem, but it was not admitted to the commentary because it was "unsuited to the exegetical aims of the sect." The author also informs us that there is a lot of discussion regarding the opposition of a wicked priest and the ruthless Kittim This author, as does the others, also gives points to consider regarding the identities of The Wicked Priest. The author believes that he could have been either Alexander Jannaeus or Aristobulus II. There is also uncertainty as to who the Righteous Teacher was and if Kittim can be identified with the Romans. The author identifies Kittim with the Roman army. The author suggests that the reference to the Wicked Priest was to the Office of the High Priest in Jerusalem since he was described as "ruling in Israel" and bearing the "true name." While the author, like the rest of the interpreters cannot agree on who these characters are in the Commentary, the author agrees that there was a "specific clash" between the Righteous teacher and the Jerusalem High Priesthood that occurred at some point in the early history of this sect.
In Dead Sea Scrolls the Untold Story by Kenneth Hanson, the author refers to the Habakkuk Commentary as "a series of cryptic ramblings on the Biblical book of Habakkuk." He also suggests that it is difficult reading because few people are familiar with the book of Habakkuk. The author compares the book of Habakkuk with the Commentary and states that the book of Habakkuk speaks of "impending doom of the ancient Israelite kingdom, as it was about to be destroyed by the powerful Babylonian empire." Habakkuk's Commentary , the author suggests is more an "apocalyptic work regarding the end of days, than a straightforward explanation of what the Biblical book is all about." The author informs us that the passages of the Habakkuk Commentary begin with what the Biblical prophet actually wrote, but then reinterprets the message to say: "This is what he really Meant." The author suggests that the Qumran writer refers back to a prophet who lived more than six centuries earlier; yet he is convinced that this same prophet is actually speaking of the Qumaran sect-not the national fate of Israel. In the passage "They have rejected the Torah" the author suggests that they are speaking about the "enemies of the Qumran sect, and that the cult or Qumran was so exclusive that anyone who was not a member was considered an enemy; one of the "Sons of Darkness." The author further suggests that the writer was writing in code when he spoke of the Babylonians being the "powerful empire, which destroyed ancient Judea in the year 586 B.C." He also states that Habakkuk was really referring to a group called Kittim, who the author agrees has never been identified by modern scholars. The author also suggests that the Kittims were the Romans who "ultimately conquered and subdued the territory of Judea under the general Pompey, in the year 66 B.C.," and that the Romans (Kittims) brought about the final end of the sect in the year 68 A.D.
James C. VanderKam in his book The Dead Sea Scrolls Today informs us that the poem in Habakkuk is not explained because it did not "serve the interpreters purposes." He also states that there is room at the end of the manuscript for more material but suggests that the interpreter "wrote as much as he intended." This author agrees that the Qumran commentator, in speaking about the Chaldeans in the Commentary on Habakkuk, interprets them as the Kittim, a name apparently meant for the Romans. The author suggests that the "Liar" mentioned Vs. I:17, could be a member of the community who did not want to accept what the Teacher of Righteousness came to say. In the Commentary on Hab. 1:13b, which read "O traitors, why do you stare and stay silent when the wicked swallows up one more righteous than he?" The author states that the interpretation speaks of the House of Absalom and the members of its council who didn’t defend the Teacher of Righteousness when he was being Chastised and didn't give him any help against the "Liar." The interpreters understanding of the Chaldeans is that they are the Kittim, a term that referred to people who came from the sea to the west of Palestine. The author suggests that the Kittims are the Romans, "whose leaders (the consuls) changed yearly and were under the control of the Senate (House of Guilt)." In (Hab 1:16) the author states that the prophet says that "the enemy sacrifices to his net and burn incense to their seine: interpreted this means that they sacrificed to their standards and worship their weapons of war." The author informs us that worship of standards is a clear reference to a Roman practice. Another point I want to mention is that the author suggests that the Wicked Priest mentioned in the Commentary on Habakkuk may have been a High Priest.
Vanderkam suggests that at one time the Wicked Priest and the Teacher of Righteousness may have been on friendly terms than later mentioned. The interpreter says that the Wicked Priest pursues the Teacher of Righteousness to the house of his exile that he might "swallow him with his venomous fury." He also on the Day of Atonement, appears before them to cause them to stumble on the "Day of Fasting." The author suggests that since the Teacher was pursued to his house of exile there is an indication that he departs from his normal home to another place. The author guesses that this place was Qumram. The author suggests that "if the Wicked Priest was the reigning high priest but pursued the Teacher to his place of exile on the Day of Atonement, the two must have observed the holiday on different days." The reason, the author states, is that the Wicked Priest would be to busy on this day with work at the temple.
The author states that this is one of the first clues that a "different calendar was one matter that separated the Teacher and the Wicked Priest." "The author suggests that given the archeological levels at Qumran that the Wicked Priest was either Jonathan the Maccabee or his brother Simon and that a number of causes besides the calendar dispute caused the Teacher to separate from the larger Jewish community. The author suggests that if the Wicked Priest, that the commentary speaks about, is Jonathan the Maccabee, than his forceful arrival into office caused the Teacher of Righteousness to lose the opportunity to put his teachings into effect. The author also suggests that the Teacher believed that his teachings were revealed to him by God and decided that he had not choice but to separate from the "corrupt and powerful high priest" who was in charge at that time.
In The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation by Michael Wise, Martin Abegg, Jr., & Edward Cook, it is suggested that "almost all of the Dead Sea Scrolls that are not themselves copies of biblical books are still connected in some way with the Scriptures of Israel." According to these authors, the writers (interpreters) of the Commentary on Habakkuk saw their own group history in words of Scripture foretold long ago. They were, however cautious about naming names which is why they used symbolic titles with biblical overtones for the Teacher of Righteousness, the Wicked Priest, and the Man of Lies. According to the writers, the "Qumran writer uses the biblical book as a pattern to understand his own times." These writers agree with the fact that Israel is threatened by a foreign power called the "Kittim. The writers suggest that the identification of the Kittim as the Romans and their arrival in Israel took place in 63 BC and that the Commentary on Habakkuk must have been written around that time. The writers suggests that all of the statements in these first two chapters of Habakkuk are made to refer to the fact that Israel is suffering from internal strife between the Wicked Priest and the Teacher of Righteousness.
The writers also enter the debate about who the Commentary is referring to by the "family of Absalom." He suggests he could be either the biblical son of King David who revolted against his father, or an Israelite nobleman named Absalom in the first century B.C., who was the uncle and father-in-law of Aristobulus II. The authors also makes mention of the fact that the reference to the Kittim sacrifice to their "standards" (military insignia bearing likeness of the god s or of divinized kings, mounted on a staff) indicates that the Kittims are Romans since there is documentation that the Romans legions burned incense to their standards. In the section of the Commentary dealing with "final judgment" the authors suggest that their may have been both a present and future Teacher of Righteousness that the sect believed in who were not one and the same. The authors informs us that the Wicked Priest was both a priest and a "ruler of Israel" and that he may have been one of the Hasmonean priest-kings of the second and first centuries B.C. The authors also agree that the Wicked Priest was originally a figure that the Teacher and his followers could trust. "He had a reputation for reliability, and literally was called by the name of "truth" but then proved himself to be proud, selfish and greedy." The final point I wish to make is that the authors agree that the Priest would not be hunting the exciled Teacher on the Day of Atonement, since that was a holy day and the Priest had important ritual duties to perform. The author comes to the conclusion that the Day of Atonement must have been celebrated according to the sectarian calendar.
V. Importance of the Document
This Document is important for a number of reasons: 1) It is one of the main sources for the study of the origins of Qumran, the Essene Bible exegesis and prophecy theology of the sect; 2) The Habakkuk Commentary is the only Biblical text, thusfar, that offers both text and then a commentary on the text, which gives us an understanding as to how other individuals or communities interpreted the Bible of their time.
The Commentary has references to the historical situation of the author's own time; 3) The Habakkuk Commentary was one of the first scrolls recovered from the caves arousing new interest in the form and substance of Biblical prophecy. The Commentary is an apocalyptic work regarding the end times which gives us an understanding of the methods of the Old Testament Prophets. In analyzing the writings and spellings of the Scrolls we can get an ideal as to what the date is of the scroll. In comparing it with other known examples of early Hebrew writings, especially with the writing of other Qumram texts we can possibly date it back to the second-first century B.C.; 4) The Commentary is important because it is a testament to the faithfulness of God as well as the faithfulness of those who believe in God and obey His Word. We see that those who "hunger and thirst after righteousness" have always suffered great distress and oppression by unrighteous people and nations. God however will execute judgment on the wicked and the oppressors of those who follow his word, and he will deliver and reward those who are faithful to His teachings and His Teachers of Righteousness (including Jesus Christ);. and 5) For me as a Christian it was important to understand Bible prophecy and how it can be predicted and see proof of its fulfillment, as evidenced by the Habakkuk Commentary. It also gives me insight as to what was taking place during that period of history in the lives of the people. Finally It gives me hope. As Christians, we are going to suffer but God expect us to remain faithful to him in all things and even "giving thanks" as we go through our trials and tribulations. When we can still remain faithful and still give God the praise as Habbakuk does, then we see as witnessed in the Commentary that God will reward our faithfulness.