Habakkuk the prophet asked the Holy One, Blessed is He: “Master of the Universe, if one person learns much and another little, will their reward be equal in the World to Come?” The Holy One, Blessed is He, replied: “No, each will be rewarded according to his ways.” Since Habakkuk spoke additional words and asked why the righteous appear to be punished and the wicked appear to be rewarded, the Lord showed him all the measures of Divine justice that had been revealed to Moses, the father of wisdom and the father of prophets, who had asked a similar question. He showed him the weights and scales of Divine justice (Tanna d’Bei Eliyahu Zuta 12).
Six hundred thirteen precepts were told to Moses on Sinai. Habakkuk came and stressed one principle: “The righteous man shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4) (Makkot 24a).
There are four who prayed and spoke harshly to the Lord out of their love for Israel: Jeremiah, Habakkuk, David, and Moses (Shocher Tov 90:2).


Sometimes the world can be revealed in breve. Habakkuk occupies only three chapters of the Bible, but his stirring prophecies and exalted language of prayer are reminiscent of the book of Psalms. Pathos, liturgy, disappointment, fear, anxiety - these classic themes of our suffering people are delivered by Habakkuk with a particular Jewish note of ululation.
The Chaldeans, relatives of the Arameans, are this prophet’s focal point. But beyond the specifics lies the eternal question: Why, O God, does evil surmount the good? Put in a modern context: Why do good things happen to bad people? Interestingly, Habakkuk posits an answer: In the end of days, the wicked will fall, but “the righteous shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).
The last of Habakkuk’s parables illustrates the fate of idolaters: Woe unto him that saith to the wood: ‘Awake,’ To the dumb stone: ‘Arise!’ Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
But the Lord is in His holy temple;
Let all the earth keep silence before Him (Habakkuk 2:19-20).
In exquisite contrast, chapter three commences immediately with the prophet’s supplications. It is a sophisticated, humble, Psalm-like entreaty to the Lord in the hope of evoking both His compassion and His blessing. The themes of God’s Creation, God’s Redemption of Israel, and His punishment of the wicked resonate throughout the succinct liturgy. Habakkuk explicates, poetically, the anxiety of his people in face of such unmitigated evil, but finally, exultantly, he invokes an unshakable trust and faith in the Lord:
God, the Lord, is my strength,
And He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet.
And He maketh me to walk upon my high places (Habakkuk 3:19).
Reversing the typology of the book of Psalms, Habakkuk ends his book with a formal dedication:
“For the Leader. With my string-music” (Habakkuk 3:19). As if we didn’t know. Habakkuk has struck the perfect chord.