< Previous | Contents | Next >

HABAKKUK, PROPHECIES OF were probably written about B.C. 650-627, or, as some think, a few years later. This book consists of three chapters, the contents of which are thus comprehensively described: “When the prophet in spirit saw the formidable power of the Chaldeans approaching and menacing his land, and saw the great evils they would cause in Judea, he bore his complaints and doubts before Jehovah, the just and the pure (1:2-17). And on this occasion the future punishment of the Chaldeans was revealed to him (2). In the third chapter a presentiment of the destruction of his country, in the inspired heart of the prophet, contends with his hope that the enemy would be chastised.” The third chapter is a sublime song dedicated “to the chief musician,” and therefore intended apparently to be used in the worship of God. It is “unequalled in majesty and splendour of language and imagery.”

The passage in 2:4, “The just shall live by his faith,” is quoted by the apostle in Romans 1:17. (Comp. Galatians 3:12; Hebrews 10:37, 38.)

HABERGEON an Old English word for breastplate. In Job 41:26 (Hebrews shiryah) it is properly a “coat of mail;” the Revised Version has “pointed shaft.” In Exodus 28:32, 39:23, it denotes a military garment strongly and thickly woven and covered with mail round the neck and breast. Such linen corselets have been found in Egypt. The word used in these verses is tahra, which is of Egyptian origin. The Revised Version, however, renders it by “coat of mail.” (See ARMOUR.)

HABITATION God is the habitation of his people, who find rest and safety in him (Psalm 71:3; 91:9). Justice and judgment are the habitation of God’s throne (Psalm 89:14, Hebrews mekhon, “foundation”), because all his acts are founded on justice and judgment. (See Psalm 132:5, 13; Ephesians 2:22, of Canaan, Jerusalem, and the temple as God’s