Little is known of Habakkuk’s life, other than that he lived in Judah in the early 600s B.C.E. His short book of prophecy, comprising three chapters and fifty-six verses, contains what the later rabbis (Makkot 24a) took to be the heart of Judaism: “The just shall live by faith” (2:4). Faith here means “trust,” trusting that the injustices decried by the prophet, especially the exploitation of the Jews at the hand of the Chaldeans, will come to an end through the saving power of God.
