The Babylonian World - Historia Antigua

— Baruch A. Levine —
Habakkuk’s antipathy to the Chaldeans pervades his prophecies. References to the
cruelty of the invaders also appear in Kings and Jeremiah, but the tone of Habakkuk’s
oracle rather recalls First Isaiah and Nahum, who condemned the hubris of the
Assyrians and their rapacity. Here is Habakkuk’s characterization of the Chaldeans,
one that goes beyond descriptiveness to voice a strong moral judgment against them:
For behold, I am stirring up the Chaldeans,
That fierce and impetuous nation;
That marches to the broad expanses of the earth;
To seize habitations not his own.
He is terrifying and dreadful.
He makes his own laws and rules.
His horses are swifter than leopards;
They are sharper than wolves of the steppe.
His cavalry is deployed; his cavalry comes from afar;
They fly like a vulture, in a hurry to devour.
He comes for the sole purpose of violence.
Their course is set like the east wind.
He amasses captives as numerous as the sand!
He trifles with kings; rulers are a plaything for him.
He makes light of every fortified town;
He heaps up earth, and captures it!
Then he passes on like a wind sweeping by;
And ascribes his might to his god
(Hab 1: 6–11) 5
One could compose a commentary on Habakkuk’s oracle comprised of citations
from Babylonian royal inscriptions, showing how the prophecy resonates with their
long-held ideology. In the Nabopolassar Epic we read, in an often-quoted passage,
how Bel confers sovereignty on Nabopolassar, the founder of the Neo-Babylonian
dynasty, at his coronation. The king accepts the charge:
“With the standard I shall constantly conquer [your] enemies, I shall place [your]
throne in Babylon.” . . . The officers in their joy [exclaimed]: “O lord, O king,
may you live forever! [May you conquer] the land of [your] enemies! May the
king of the gods, Marduk, rejoice in you . . .!”
(Grayson 1975: 84–85, lines 7–8, 16–18)
In Habakkuk, chapter 2, the prophet receives his answer in the form of a divine
assurance that a righteous Israel will survive, while the evil empire will be brought
to justice. Thus, Hab 2: 2–4, and following:
Then Yahweh answered me, saying:
Inscribe a vision; write distinctly on the tablets,
So that readers may race through it.
For the prophecy is a witness for the set time,
A testimony for the specified period
558