Habakkuk’s assembly of eclectic genres presents a challenge for determining the book’s structure. In 1934, Lund and Walker argued chiasmus was the key to unlocking Habakkuk’s structure. Despite their painstaking attempts to map out chiasm in every single strophe of the book, succeeding scholars did not follow their lead.
In 1979, Childs concluded most scholars had reached a consensus: the structure of Habakkuk consists of three divisions: 1:1—2:4(5); 2:6-20; 3:1-19. A survey of later tripartite structural proposals indicates widespread disagreement concerning the beginning of the second section (e.g., Floyd, Robertson, Ko, Roberts, Shepherd, Amerding, Bailey, Lim).
Childs’s tripartite “consensus” proved premature since many subsequent scholars have embraced a two-part structure based on the superscriptions in 1:1 and 3:1 (e.g., Sweeney, Széles, Patterson, Bruce, Bullock, Thomas, Renz, Snyman). Even so, various outlines subdivide these two sections differently. Apparently, the structure of Habakkuk remains a riddle.
Since there is no consensus, does the structure and outline of Habakkuk really matter? I would argue it is very important: the prophet intentionally arranged his material to underscore the theological center of his message and to convey that message to his original and subsequent audiences.
Regardless of proposed structural differences, many commentators locate the primary message of Habakkuk in the verse(s) surrounding 2:4b, “the righteous will live by faith” (e.g., Thomas, Smith, Prior, Robertson, Széles). Some scholars (Wendland, Dorsey) offer structural evidence that points to 2:4 as the theological center, but the resulting asymmetry is unconvincing. Undoubtedly, the canonical significance of 2:4b—quoted three times in the NT—has influenced scholars’ conclusions. Setting aside the preconception of 2:4 as the theological center allows us to analyze Habakkuk with fresh eyes.
In a forthcoming volume (Habakkuk, Christian Standard Commentary, June 15), I propose that Habakkuk is a concentric literary triptych arranged around the structural, verbal, and conceptual parallels on display in the central panel (2:6-20). This chiastic panel (E:F:G:F’:E’; in contrast to Lund’s K:L:K’:L’) also exhibits the characteristics of a “rhetorical helix” or “spiral parallelism” (as defined by NT scholar, John Breck). The middle woe (2:12-14) is the structural center of the entire book. Its content explains the prophet’s shift to a theocentric worldview throughout the remainder of the book. The concentric parallelism emanating from the center of the middle panel highlights the contrasts between each pair of the four parallel sections of the outer panels. The proposed structure also untangles several stubborn knots in Habakkuk that have engendered much debate.
As significant as 2:4a is, faith is the penultimate goal. One day faith will be sight, and the grounding for that faith is found in 2:13–14. These verses describe the fulfillment of God’s overarching mission. The revelation of God’s ultimate eschatological goal—a purified world overflowing with the knowledge of his glory—is the answer to the prophet’s heartfelt plea to understand life from the middle of the story.
A careful literary analysis of Habakkuk solves the riddle of Habakkuk’s structure and, more importantly, reveals the true theological centerpiece of the prophet’s message.