Book Review: Habbakkuk [CSC]

Reviewing commentaries is a tricky business – particularly for me as a generalist, and an in-publisher editor of commentaries! I tend to offer my review based on the format and content of the volume, and it’s utility or otherwise to preachers and pastors. Occasionally I’ll digress into particularly theological or stylistic quirks.

Habakkuk CSC Book Review

Today I’m reviewing a very interesting commentary, in a new(ish) series, the Christian Standard Commentary, from Holman Reference. I say new(ish) as it is a spiritual successor, at least in part, to the New American Commentary series – and whilst most volumes are new, it seems to be a similar level to that. I found this volume interesting and helpful – having initially been somewhat surprised to see a nearly 400 page commentary on a book of the Bible that is around 1000 words long in English! However, once one takes into account the comemntary’s structure, this starts to make sense. After 22 pages of front matter (Series Introduction, Author’s Preface, and Abbreviations), we are treated to an introduction of over 100 pages (!), and around 330 pages of commentary proper (including Excursus on the New Testament Use of Habakkuk 2:4). There are 12 pages of bibliography, six pages of a Name Index, and 17 pages of Scripture Index. To say this is a fairly comprehensive commentary is something of and understatement – but at the outset of my review I’d also note that it is to Maxwell Booth’s credit that it is a very readable commentary. As I said on Twitter, ‘Does the world need (another) 400ish page commentary, on Habakkuk? Well this is a feast – Christological, missiological, canonically aware and very readable for something so well researched. A gem’.

The author notes in her introduction that, perhaps surprisingly, she views the book through a missilogical lens, which might not be what readers of Habakkuk are expecting: “The book plays a significant role in the unfolding metanarrative of God’s mission, which points to the centrality of Christ. Habakkuk 2:13-14 stands as a beautiful description of the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Habakkuk’s emphasis on the eschatological goal of that mission – a purified world overflowing with the knowledge of God’s glory – is the answer to the prophet’s heartfelt plea to understand life from the middle of the story” (p. xvi). Maxwell Booth continues this theme in her introduction, noting that “The Lord accomplished his mission not in spite of pagan kings bent on ruling the world; rather, he used their labor to set the stage for the birth of the King and the inauguration of his own kingdom” (p. 28). Lest readers of this review think Maxwell Booth over-focuses on mission, I would say that her introduction does a very strong job of introducing the text of Habakkuk, and offers plenty of food for thought around the prophetic literature more generally. For example, “The role of a biblical prophet was more forthteller than foreteller…. The book of Habakkuk falls under the overarching genre of poetic prophecy… Life most prophetic books, Habakkuk also contains a number of different subgenres…” (p. 41). There is also a fascinating sustained discussion of the structure of Habakkuk, with Maxwell Booth suggesting that “A careful structural analysis is important not just because it yields an appropriate outline for the book but because it contributes to understanding the theological message of the text” (p. 53). Her ‘big idea’, sustained throughout the commentary in a compelling way, is that Habakkuk is composed of a “Concentric Literary Triptych” (p. 64), with three panels: Dialogue, Woe Oracles, and Prayer/Psalm.

The focus on Habakkuk uniquely (many commentaries include the book with other ‘Minor Prophets’) is not, however, at the expense of wider awareness. For example, she notes that engaging the Book of the Twelve, whether as a literary unit or just as a corpus, has value: “There are benefits in reading these twelve prophetic books both as individual book and as a plurality since together they trace the unfolding relationship between the Lord and Israel and her neighbours” (p. 81). This is followed by a helpful discussion of overlapping themes in the The Twelve, as well as where these themes find resonance in other parts of the Old Testament in particular (some will particularly appreciate the charts that pepper this commentary!). This is expanded into the lengthy Excursus on the New Testament Use of Habakkuk 2:4, in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews (p. 188-196), which Maxwell Booth rather beautifully sums up thusly: “When we ponder the immeasurable impact of these three Hebrew words across the pages of Christian history, it is no wonder the Lord instructed Habakkuk to record the vision carefully” (p. 195).

I appreciated how Maxwell Booth drew visceral links between the rich language of the latter part of Habakkuk 3, and the way it can impact the mission of the church, particularly around Gospel proclamation, today: “Each generation needs to hear that their cravings point to a deeper hunger and thirst that nothing can fill by the gospel of the one who is himself both Living Water and Bread of Life…” (p. 200). Perhaps, despite the reputation of prophetic books to be complex and impenetrable, the emphasis in Habakkuk’s vision is towards reality, not fantasy. “The living God of Israel is diametrically opposed to that of a graven image” (p. 253). And yet imager is vitally important, because it points to reality. I’ve noted Maxwell Booth’s proposal for the structure of the book of Habakkuk, and this line summarizes it: “In the first panel Habakkuk had mistakenly thought the Lord was doing nothing; by the final panel he stood in awe of a God actively involved in the affairs of humanity” (p. 268). The concluding words of the commentary aptly sum it up – “At the appointed time, the vision came. God the Son stepped down into human flesh and walked the dusty pathways of Judah in sandaled feet that needed washing… On an appointed day in the future, the risen Lord will return a final time as the Divine Warrior, crushing Satan and destroying the ultimate house of wickedness. The Lord will reign forever, his glory will fill the earth, and every redeemed person in every place will know him…” (p. 347).

I hope this review has demonstrated that a longer commentary on a shorter book of the Bible can be a wonderful thing. I think that Maxwell Booth has done a service to the church in calmly and carefully providing a deeply theological, deeply missiological, real and canonically sensitive reading of the book of Habakkuk. I hope that it is widely read, and that it will become a ‘Standard’ (Series title pun very much intended) commentary on this provocative, vital and fascinating ‘Minor Prophet’.

 

5/5

 

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