Habakkuk is one of the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Old Testament, the author of the short prophetic book that bears his name. The Orthodox tradition reckons him the eighth of the Twelve and, according to the synaxarion, descended from the Tribe of Simeon. He is commemorated by the Church on December 2.
His prophecy is dated by the synaxarion to around 650 B.C., while modern scholarship more often places his activity in the late seventh century B.C., making him an early contemporary of the prophets Jeremiah and Zephaniah. The Book of Habakkuk is unusual among the prophetic writings in that the prophet openly questions the working of God: it opens with his complaint over the prevalence of injustice, voices a series of woes against the Chaldeans (Babylonians), and closes with a song of praise to God in its third chapter.
Habakkuk foretold the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem, the Babylonian Captivity, and the later return of the captives to their homeland. His words "the righteous shall live by his faith" became, in the synaxarion's summary, the heart of his message of hope in God amid impending calamity. The third chapter of his book furnishes the Fourth Ode of the scriptural canon sung in the Orthodox services.
