Gian Lorenzo Bernini, dit Le Bernin, Habacuc et l'Ange, sculpture
réalisée entre 1655 et 1661. Disposée dans une niche de la chapelle
Chigi en la basilique de Santa Maria del Popolo à Rome, la sculpture
représente le prophète Habacuc avec un ange de Dieu. Elle fait partie d'une
composition plus large, avec la sculpture Daniel et le Lion.
Saint Habacuc
Prophète (VIIe siècle av. J.-C.)
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/9398/Saint-Habacuc.html
.jpg)
Пророк Аввакум. Иконописец Терентий Фомин (?) Вологда
(уп. 1646–1670). Церковь Епифания Кипрского Кирилло-Белозерского монастыря
LIVRE D'HABAQUC
Chapitre I
01 LA PROCLAMATION de ce que le prophète Habacuc
a vu.
02 Combien de temps, Seigneur, vais-je appeler,
sans que tu entendes ? Crier vers toi :
« Violence ! », sans que tu sauves ?
03 Pourquoi me fais-tu voir le mal et regarder la
misère ? Devant moi, pillage et violence ; dispute et discorde se
déchaînent.
04 C’est pourquoi la loi est sans force et le
droit n’apparaît plus jamais ! Quand le méchant cerne le juste, alors le
droit apparaît faussé.
05 Voyez chez les nations, et regardez !
Soyez dans la stupeur et la stupéfaction ! Car je ferai en votre temps une
œuvre que vous ne croiriez pas, si on la racontait.
06 Oui, voici que je suscite les Chaldéens, la
nation impétueuse et farouche, qui parcourt les étendues de la terre pour
s’emparer des demeures d’autrui.
07 Elle est terrible et redoutable ; c’est
elle qui se donne son droit et sa grandeur.
08 Ses chevaux sont plus rapides que des
léopards, plus vifs que les loups du soir. Ses cavaliers bondissent, ils
arrivent de loin, ses cavaliers, ils volent, comme un aigle qui fond sur sa
proie.
09 Tous, ils arrivent pour la violence, leurs
faces tendues vers l’avant, tous ensemble ; ils ramassent les captifs
comme du sable.
10 Cette nation se moque des rois, les princes
sont pour elle un jouet : elle se joue de toutes les forteresses, par un
remblai de terre, elle les prend.
11 Puis le vent tourne, elle s’en va, la
criminelle ! Sa force est son dieu.
12 Seigneur, depuis les temps anciens, n’es-tu
pas mon Dieu, mon Saint, toi qui es immortel ? Seigneur, tu as établi les
Chaldéens pour exécuter le jugement ; tu en as fait un roc pour exercer le
châtiment.
13 Tes yeux sont trop purs pour voir le mal, tu
ne peux supporter la vue de l’oppression. Alors, pourquoi regardes-tu ces
perfides, pourquoi restes-tu silencieux quand le méchant engloutit l’homme juste ?
14 Tu traites les hommes comme les poissons de la
mer, et comme les reptiles que personne ne domine.
15 Le Chaldéen les pêche tous avec son hameçon,
les prend avec son filet, et les recueille dans ses nasses, ce qui le comble de
joie et d’allégresse !
16 Alors il offre des sacrifices à son filet, il
fait fumer de l’encens devant ses nasses, car il leur doit une prise abondante
et une nourriture copieuse.
17 N’arrêtera-t-il pas de vider son filet, de
massacrer sans pitié des nations ?
Chapitre II
01 Je vais me tenir à mon poste de garde, rester
debout sur mon rempart, guetter ce que Dieu me dira, et comment il répliquera à
mes plaintes.
02 Alors le Seigneur me répondit : Tu vas
mettre par écrit une vision, clairement, sur des tablettes, pour qu’on puisse
la lire couramment.
03 Car c’est encore une vision pour le temps
fixé ; elle tendra vers son accomplissement, et ne décevra pas. Si elle
paraît tarder, attends-la : elle viendra certainement, sans retard.
04 Celui qui est insolent n’a pas l’âme droite,
mais le juste vivra par sa fidélité.
05 Assurément, comme le vin est traître, l’homme
fort est orgueilleux, sans repos ; il ouvre large sa gorge comme les
enfers, il est comme la mort, jamais rassasié ; il entasse pour lui toutes
les nations, il ramasse pour lui tous les peuples.
06 Tous ne vont-ils pas proférer sur lui une
satire, des pamphlets et des énigmes contre lui ? Ils diront : Quel
malheur pour celui qui s’enrichit du bien des autres – Combien de temps
encore ? – et pour celui qui accumule des gages à son profit !
07 Ne vont-ils pas se dresser soudain, tes
créanciers, et se réveiller, ceux qui te feront trembler ? Par eux, tu
seras mis au pillage !
08 Comme tu as dépouillé de nombreuses nations,
tout le reste des peuples te dépouillera à cause du sang de l’homme, à cause de
la violence faite au pays, à la cité et à tous ses habitants.
09 Quel malheur pour celui qui réalise un profit
malhonnête pour sa maison, afin d’établir son nid sur la hauteur, pour échapper
à l’emprise du malheur !
10 C’est la honte de ta maison que tu as
décidée ; en éliminant de nombreux peuples, c’est ta propre vie qui
échoue.
11 Oui, du mur une pierre va crier, et de la
charpente, une poutre lui répondra.
12 Quel malheur pour celui qui bâtit une ville
dans le sang et fonde une cité sur le crime !
13 Ceci ne vient-il pas du Seigneur de l’univers
que les peuples se fatiguent pour du feu, que les nations s’exténuent pour le
néant ?
14 La connaissance de la gloire du Seigneur
remplira la terre, comme les eaux recouvrent le fond de la mer !
15 Quel malheur pour qui fait boire son prochain,
et lui verse du poison au point de l’enivrer, pour regarder sa nudité !
16 Tu t’es rassasié d’infamie plus que de
gloire ! À ton tour de boire et d’exhiber ton prépuce : sur toi se
renversera la coupe de la droite du Seigneur, et sur ta gloire,
l’ignominie !
17 Car la violence faite au Liban retombera sur
toi et le pillage des troupeaux t’effrayera, à cause du sang de l’homme, à
cause de la violence faite au pays, à la cité et à tous ses habitants.
18 À quoi sert une image sculptée pour que la
sculpte son auteur, une idole en métal qui enseigne le mensonge, pour qu’en
elles se confie l’auteur qui les fabrique ? Les faux dieux qu’il fait sont
muets.
19 Quel malheur pour celui qui dit au morceau de
bois : « Réveille-toi ! », à la pierre muette :
« Lève-toi ! », et qui dit : « Elle va enseigner ! »
Tout cela est plaqué d’or et d’argent, sans aucun souffle à l’intérieur !
20 Mais le Seigneur est dans son temple
saint : silence devant lui, terre entière !
Chapitre III
01 Prière du prophète Habacuc sur le mode des
complaintes.
02 Seigneur, j’ai entendu parler de toi ;
devant ton œuvre, Seigneur, j’ai craint ! Dans le cours des années,
fais-la revivre, dans le cours des années, fais-la connaître ! Quand tu
frémis de colère, tu te souviens d’avoir pitié.
03 Dieu vient de Témane et le saint, du Mont de
Parane ; sa majesté couvre les cieux, sa louange emplit la terre.
04 Son éclat est pareil à la lumière ; deux
rayons sortent de ses mains : là se tient cachée sa puissance. [
05 Devant lui marche la peste, et la fièvre met
ses pas dans les siens.
06 Il s’arrête, et la terre tremble, il regarde
et fait sursauter les nations. Les montagnes de toujours se disloquent, les
collines d’autrefois s’effondrent, qui furent autrefois des routes pour lui.
07 J’ai vu les tentes de Koushane dans la misère ;
les abris du pays de Madiane chancellent !
08 Est-ce contre les fleuves, Seigneur, que
flambe ta colère, contre les fleuves, contre la mer, ta fureur, pour que tu
montes sur tes chevaux, sur tes chars de victoire ?
09 Tu sors ton arc, tu le tiens en éveil, tu le
rassasies des traits de ta parole. Par des fleuves, tu ravines la terre.
10 Les montagnes t’ont vu : elles tremblent.
Une trombe d’eau a passé, l’Abîme a donné de la voix. Le soleil, là-haut, a
élevé ses mains,
11 la lune s’est arrêtée en sa demeure, à la
lueur de tes flèches qui volent, à la clarté des éclairs de ta lance.
12 Dans ton indignation, tu parcours la
terre ; dans ta colère, tu piétines des nations.]
13 Tu es sorti pour sauver ton peuple, pour
sauver ton messie. [Tu as décapité la maison du méchant, tu l’as dénudée de
fond en comble.
14 Tu as percé de ses traits le chef de ses
guerriers ; ils se déchaînaient pour me disperser, joyeusement, comme pour
dévorer dans leur repaire un malheureux.]
15 Tu as foulé, de tes chevaux, la mer et le
remous des eaux profondes.
16 J’ai entendu et mes entrailles ont
frémi ; à cette voix, mes lèvres tremblent, la carie pénètre mes os. Et
moi je frémis d’être là, d’attendre en silence le jour d’angoisse qui se lèvera
sur le peuple dressé contre nous.
17 Le figuier n’a pas fleuri ; pas de
récolte dans les vignes. Le fruit de l’olivier a déçu ; dans les champs,
plus de nourriture. L’enclos s’est vidé de ses brebis, et l’étable, de son
bétail.
18 Et moi, je bondis de joie dans le Seigneur,
j’exulte en Dieu, mon Sauveur !
19 Le Seigneur mon Dieu est ma force ; il me donne l’agilité du chamois, il me fait marcher dans les hauteurs. Au maître de chant. Sur les instruments à cordes.
SOURCE : https://www.aelf.org/bible/Ha/1
Bergen auf Rügen ( Vorpommern ). Marienkirche - Chor:
Fresken ( 12.Jhdt., restauriert 1896-1903 ) mit Darstellung des Propheten
Habakuk mit Zitat: "Der Gerechte wird seines Glaubens leben ( Hab. 2:4 ).
Photographie : Wolfgang Sauber
Habakkuk the Prophet
Also
known as
- Avvakoum
- Habacuc
- 2 December
- 15 January on
some calendars
Profile
Seventh century BC Old
Testament prophet in Judea during the time of the captivity.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/habakkuk-the-prophet/
Book of Saints – Habacuc
Article
(Habakkuk) (Saint)
Prophet (January 15) (5th century B.C.) One of the Twelve Lesser Prophets,
whose writings form part of the Canon of Scripture. He is said to have fled
into Egypt at the approach of Nabuchodonosor, to have later come back to
Palestine, to have died there, and to have been buried in his native place two
year3 before the return from the Captivity. His relics were discovered by
Bishop Zebbenus in the time of the Emperor Theodosius the Great (A.D. 379-A.D.
383); and churches have been dedicated to him in the Holy Land.
MLA Citation
- Monks of Ramsgate.
“Habacuc”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 11 May 2016. Web. 2 December
2020. <https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-habacuc/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-habacuc/
Jacopo Filippo Argenta e Martino da Modena, Abacuc, graduale XIII, 1480-1500 ca, Museo della Cattedrale
Habacuc (Habakkuk)
The eighth of the
Minor Prophets, who probably flourished towards the end of the seventh
century B.C.
Name and personal life
In the Hebrew text (i,1; iii, 1), the prophet's name
presents a doubly intensive form Hàbhàqqûq, which has not been preserved either
in the Septuagint: Ambakoum,
or in the Vulgate:
Habacuc. Its resemblance with the Assyrian hambakûku, which is the name of a
plant, is obvious. Its exact meaning cannot be ascertained: it is usually taken
to signify "embrace" and is at times explained as "ardent
embrace", on account of its intensive form. Of this prophet's birth-place,
parentage, and life we have no reliable information. The fact that in his book
he is twice called "the prophet" (i, 1;
iii, 1) leads indeed one to surmise that Habacuc held a recognized position
as prophet, but
it manifestly affords no distinct knowledge of
his person.
Again, some musical particulars connected with the Hebrew text of his Prayer (ch. iii)
may possibly suggest that he was a member of the Temple choir, and consequently
a Levite: but
most scholars regard this twofold inference as questionable. Hardly less
questionable is the view sometimes put forth, which identifies Habacuc with the
Judean prophet of
that name, who is described in the deuterocanonical fragment of Bel and the
Dragon (Daniel 14:32
sqq.), as miraculously carrying
a meal to Daniel in the lion's den.
In this absence of authentic tradition, legend, not
only Jewish but also Christian,
has been singularly busy about the prophet Habacuc. It
has represented him as belonging to the tribe of Levi and as the son of a
certain Jesus; as the child of the Sunamite woman, whom Eliseus
restored to life (cf. 2 Kings 4:16 sqq.);
as the sentinel set by Isaias (cf. Isaiah 21:6;
and Habakkuk 2:1)
to watch for the fall of Babylon. According to the "Lives" of
the prophets,
one of which is ascribed to St. Epiphanius, and the
other to Dorotheus, Habacuc was of the tribe of Simeon, and a native of
Bethsocher, a town apparently in the tribe of Juda. In the same works it is
stated that when Nabuchodonosor came
to besiege Jerusalem,
the prophet fled
to Ostrakine (now Straki, on the Egyptian coast), whence
he returned only after the Chaldeans had withdrawn; that he then lived as a
husbandman in his native place, and died there two years before Cyrus's edict
of Restoration (538 B.C.). Different sites are also mentioned as his
burial-place. The exact amount of positive information embodied in these
conflicting legends cannot be determined at the present day. The Greek and
Latin Churches celebrate the feast of the prophet Habacuc on
15 January.
Contents of prophecy
Apart from its short title (i, 1) the Book of Habacuc
is commonly divided into two parts: the one (i,2-ii, 20) reads like a dramatic
dialogue between God and
His prophet; the
other (chap. iii) is a lyric ode, with the usual characteristics of a psalm.
The first part opens with Habacuc's lament to God over the protracted
iniquity of the land, and the persistent oppression of the just by the wicked,
so that there is neither law nor justice in Juda:
How long is the wicked thus destined to prosper? (i, 2-4). Yahweh replies (i,
5-11) that a new and startling display of His justice is about to
take place: already the Chaldeans — that swift, rapacious, terrible, race — are
being raised up, and they shall put an end to the wrongs of which the prophet has
complained. Then Habacuc remonstrates with Yahweh, the eternal and
righteous Ruler of the world, over the cruelties in which He allows the
Chaldeans to indulge (i, 12-17), and he confidently waits for a response to his
pleading (ii, 1). God's answer
(ii, 2-4) is in the form of a short oracle (verse 4),
which the prophet is
bidden to write down on a tablet that all may read it, and which foretells the
ultimate doom of the Chaldean invader. Content with this message, Habacuc
utters a taunting song, triumphantly made up of five "woes" which he
places with dramatic vividness on the lips of the nations whom the Chaldean has
conquered and desolated (ii, 5-20). The second part of the book (chap. iii)
bears the title: "A prayer of Habacuc,
the prophet, to
the music of Shigionot." Strictly speaking, only the second verse of this
chapter has the form of a prayer. The verses
following (3-16) describe a theophany in which Yahweh appears for
no other purpose than the salvation of His
people and the ruin of His enemies. The ode concludes with the declaration that
even though the blessings of
nature should fail in the day of dearth, the singer will rejoice in Yahweh (17-19).
Appended to chap. iii is the statement: "For the chief musician, on my
stringed instruments."
Date and authorship
Owing chiefly to the lack of reliable external
evidence, there has been in the past, and there is even now, a great diversity
of opinions concerning the date to which the prophecy of Habacuc should be
ascribed. Ancient rabbis, whose view is embodied in the Jewish chronicle
entitled Seder olam Rabbah, and is still accepted by many Catholic scholars (Kaulen, Zschokke,
Knabenbauer, Schenz, Cornely,
etc.), refer the composition of the book to the last years of Manasses's
reign. Clement of
Alexandria says that "Habacuc still prophesied in the time of
Sedecias" (599-588 B.C.), and St. Jerome ascribes
the prophecy to the time of the Babylonian Exile. Some
recent scholars (Delitzsch and Keil among Protestants, Danko,
Rheinke, Holzammer, and practically also Vigouroux, among Catholics, place it
under Josias (641-610 B.C.). Others refer it to the time of Joakim
(610-599 B.C.), either before Nabuchodonosor's victory
at Carchemish in 605 B.C. (Catholic: Schegg, Haneberg; Protestant: Schrader, S.
Davidson, König, Strack, Driver, etc.); while others, mostly out-and-out rationalists, ascribe it
to the time after the ruin of the Holy City by the Chaldeans. As might be
expected, these various views do not enjoy the same amount of probability, when
they are tested by the actual contents of the Book of Habacuc. Of them all, the
one adopted by St.
Jerome, and which is now that propounded by many rationalists, is
decidedly the least probable: to ascribe, as that view does, the book to the
Exile, is, on the one hand, to admit for the text of Habacuc an historical
background to which there is no real reference in the prophecy, and, on the
other, to ignore the prophet's distinct
references to events connected with the period before the Babylonian Captivity (cf.
i, 2-4, 6, etc.). All the other opinions have their respective degrees of
probability, so that it is no easy matter to choose among them. It seems,
however, that the view which ascribes the book to 605-600 B.C. "is
best in harmony with the historical circumstances under which the Chaldeans are
presented in the prophecy of Habacuc, viz. as a scourge which is imminent for
Juda, and as oppressors whom all know have already
entered upon the inheritance of their predecessors" (Van Hoonacker).
During the nineteenth century, objections have
oftentimes been made against the genuineness of certain portions of the Book of
Habacuc. In the first part of the work, the objections have been especially
directed against i, 5-11. But, however formidable they may appear at first
sight, the difficulties turn out to be really weak, on a closer inspection; and
in point of fact, the great majority of critics look upon them as not decisive.
The arguments urged against the genuineness of chapter ii, 9-20, are of less
weight still. Only in reference to chapter iii, which forms the second part of
the book, can there be a serious controversy as to its authorship by Habacuc.
Many critics treat the whole chapter as a late and independent poem, with no
allusions to the circumstances of Habacuc's time, and still bearing in
its liturgical heading
and musical directions (vv. 3, 9, 13, 19) distinct marks of the collection of
sacred songs from which it was taken. According to them, it was appended to the
Book of Habacuc because it had already been ascribed to him in the title, just
as certain psalms are still referred in the Septuagint and in
the Vulgate to
some prophets.
Others, indeed in smaller number, but also with greater probability, regard
only the last part of the chapter iii, 17-19 as a later addition to Habacuc's
work: in reference to this last part only does it appear true to say that it
has no definite allusions to the circumstances of Habacuc's time. All things
considered, it seems that the question whether chapter iii be an original
portion of the prophecy of Habacuc, or an independent poem appended to it at a
later date, cannot be answered with certainty: too little is
known in a positive manner concerning the actual circumstances in the midst of
which Habacuc composed his work, to enable one to feel confident that this
portion of it must or must not be ascribed to the same author as the rest of
the book.
Literary and textual features
In the composition of his book, Habacuc displays a
literary power which has often been admired. His diction is rich and classical,
and his imagery is striking and appropriate. The dialogue between God and him is
highly oratorical, and exhibits to a larger extent than is commonly supposed,
the parallelism of thought and expression which is the distinctive feature
of Hebrew poetry.
The Mashal or taunting song of five "woes" which follows
the dialogue, is placed with powerful dramatic effect on the lips of the
nations whom the Chaldeans have cruelly oppressed. The lyric ode with which the
book concludes, compares favourably in respect to imagery and rhythm with the
best productions of Hebrew
poetry. These literary beauties enable us to realize that Habacuc was a
writer of high order. They also cause us to regret that the original text of
his prophecy should not have come down to us in all its primitive perfection.
As a matter of fact, recent interpreters of the book have noticed and pointed
out numerous alterations, especially in the line of additions, which have crept
in the Hebrew text of the prophecy of Habacuc, and render it at times very
obscure. Only a fair number of those alterations can be corrected by a close
study of the context; by a careful comparison of the text with the ancient
versions, especially the Septuagint; by an
application of the rules of Hebrew parallelism, etc.
In the other places, the primitive reading has disappeared and cannot be
recovered, except conjecturally, by the means which Biblical criticism affords
in the present day.
Prophetical teaching
Most of the religious and moral truths that can be
noticed in this short prophecy are not peculiar to it. They form part of the
common message which the prophets of old
were charged to convey to God's chosen
people. Like the other prophets, Habacuc is the
champion of ethical monotheism. For him, as
for them, Yahweh alone
is the living God (ii,
18-20); He is the Eternal and Holy One (i, 12), the Supreme Ruler of the
Universe (i, 6, 17; ii, 5 sqq.; iii, 2-16), Whose word cannot fail to obtain
its effect (ii, 3), and Whose glory will be acknowledged by all nations (ii,
14). In his eyes, as in those of the other prophets, Israel is God's chosen people
whose unrighteousness He is bound to visit with a signal punishment (i, 2-4).
The special people, whom it was Habacuc's own mission to announce to his
contemporaries as the instruments of Yahweh's judgment,
were the Chaldeans, who will overthrow everything, even Juda and Jerusalem, in their
victorious march (i, 6 sqq.). This was indeed at the time an incredible
prediction (i, 5), for was not Juda God's kingdom and
the Chaldean a world-power characterized by overweening pride and tyranny?
Was not therefore Juda the "just" to be saved, and the Chaldean
really the "wicked" to be destroyed? The answer to this difficulty is
found in the distich (ii, 4) which contains the central and distinctive
teaching of the book. Its oracular form bespeaks a principle of wider import
than the actual circumstances in the midst of which it was revealed to
the prophet, a
general law, as we would say, of God's providence in
the government of the world: the wicked carries in himself the germs of his own
destruction; the believer, on the contrary, those of eternal life. It is
because of this, that Habacuc applies the oracle not only to
the Chaldeans of his time who are threatening the existence of God's kingdom on
earth, but also to all the nations opposed to that kingdom who will likewise be
reduced to naught (ii, 5-13), and solemnly declares that "the earth shall
be filled with the knowledge of
the glory of Yahweh,
as the waters cover the sea" (ii, 15). It is because of this truly Messianic import
that the second part of Habacuc's oracle (ii, 4b) is
repeatedly treated in the New Testament writings
(Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38) as
being verified in the inner condition of the believers of the New Law.
Sources
COMMENTARIES: CATHOLIC:--SHEGG (2nd ed., Ratisbon,
1862); RHEINKE (Brixen, 1870); TROCHON (Paris, 1883); KNABENBAUER (Paris,
1886); NON-CATHOLIC:--DELITZSCH (Leipzig, 1843); VON ORELLI (Eng. tr.
Edinburgh, 1893); KLEINERT (Leipzig, 1893); WELLHAUSEN (3rd ed., Berlin, 1898);
DAVIDSON (Cambridge, 1899); MARTI (Freiburg im Br., 1904); NOWACK (2nd ed.,
Göttingen, 1904); DUHM (Tübingen, 1906); VAN HOONACKER (Paris, 1908).
Gigot, Francis. "Habacuc
(Habakkuk)." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York:
Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 1 Dec.
2020 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07097a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for
New Advent by Thomas J. Bress.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. June
1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal
Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
.jpg)
Juan Correa de Vivar (1510–1566). El profeta Habacuc, 15333-1535, 89 X 44, Museo del Prado , Depositado en el Museum of Santa Cruz
Sant' Abacuc Profeta
VII-VI secolo a.C.
È annoverato tra i profeti minori
dell'Antico Testamento. Denominazione dovuta solo alla brevità dei suoi
scritti, ma non all'importanza secondaria del suo messaggio. Di Abacuc
ignoriamo quasi tutto, ma alcune allusioni presenti nel libro biblico a lui
attribuito, composto di solo tre capitoli, ci fa ipotizzare una sua
collocazione cronologica all'epoca dell'avversario di Geremia, re Ioiakim, che
succedette nel 609 a.C. al giusto e sfortunato re Giosia, ucciso in battaglia
dal faraone Necao. Questo profeta si contraddistingue per il suo stile
brillante e icastico. Dal libretto di Abacuc occorre però scorporare il terzo
ed ultimo capitolo: secondo gli studiosi esso contiene infatti un inno arcaico,
forse composto ben prima, nel X secolo a.C.. Il personaggio Abacuc ricompare
però nell'Antico Testamento in un racconto miracolistico e leggendario del
libro di Daniele (14,3 1-42). (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Abacuc
= amplesso ardente, dall'ebraico
Martirologio
Romano: Commemorazione di sant’Abacuc, profeta, che davanti all’iniquità e
alla violenza degli uomini preannunciò il giudizio di Dio, ma anche la sua
misericordia, proclamando: «Il giusto vivrà per la sua fede».
Nei primi giorni del tempo d'Avvento, il 2 dicembre, il nuovo Martyrologium Romanum pone la “memoria di Sant'Abacuc profeta”, annoverato tra i profeti minori dell'Antico Testamento per la brevità dei suoi scritti, ma non per la secondarietà del suo messaggio, e dunque non meno importante al cospetto di Dio.
Di Abacuc ignoriamo purtroppo quasi tutto, persino il significato del suo nome, forse corrispondente a quello di una pianta acquatica o di un'ortensia. Alcune allusioni presenti nel piccolo libro biblico a lui attribuito, composto di solo tre capitoli, ci fa ipotizzare una sua collocazione cronologica all'epoca dell'avversario di Geremia, re Ioiakim, che succedette nel 609 a.C. al giusto e sfortunato re Giosia, ucciso in battaglia dal faraone Necao.Questa fu un'epoca drammatica per il regno di Giuda, giunto quasi alla sua fine, mentre risuonava la voce del profeta Geremia. Il Signore sta infatti per inviare “i Caldei (cioè i Babilonesi), un popolo feroce e impetuoso […], feroce e terribile”, desideroso di imporre “il suo diritto e la sua grandezza”, dotato di cavalli “più veloci dei leopardi e più agili dei lupi della sera” e di cavalieri che “volano come aquila che piomba per divorare, avanzano solo per la rapina..., ammassano i prigionieri come la sabbia” (Abacuc 1,6-9).Questo profeta si contraddistingue per il suo stile brillante e icastico, tanto che un commentatore ha osato definire il suo libretto “uno dei più attraenti della Bibbia”, “per l'armoniosa bellezza di alcuni passi, perla nobiltà e la sincerità dell'accento”.
Il passo che però ha reso popolare Abacuc presso il cristianesimo si compone in ebraico di sole tre parole: saddfq be'emunatòjihjeh, cioè “il giusto vivrà per la sua fede” (2,4). Il senso inteso dal profeta è assai semplice: chi confida in Dio restandogli fedele, salverà la propria vita, mentre invece “soccomberà chi non ha l'animo retto”. L'apostolo Paolo assunse poi questa frase a sintesi della Lettera ai Romani, base della sua teologia circa la giustificazione attraverso la fede: “Colui che è giusto (giustificato) per la fede, costui vivrà»(1,17).Dal librettodi Abacuc, seppur breve, occorre però scorporare il terzo ed ultimo capitolo: secondo gli studiosi esso contiene infatti un inno arcaico, forse composto ben prima, nel X secolo a.C.. Questo potente testo mette in scena una terribile epifania divina volta a sconvolgere l'universo. Il Signore irrompe nella scena scavalcando monti e seminando panico, preceduto da una terrificante avanguardia, la Peste personificata, e seguito da una retroguardia alquanto paurosa, la Febbre ardente. Nulla si può opporre al divino Arciere intento a scagliare lampi come frecce. Su questo devastato orizzonte spunta però fortunatamente un'aurora di speranza e di gioia: “il Signore Dio è la mia forza, egli rende i miei piedi come quelli delle cerve e sulle alture mi fa camminare” (3,19).Il personaggio Abacuc ricompare però nell'Antico Testamento in un racconto miracolistico e leggendario del libro di Daniele (14,3 1-42). Avendo preparato un giorno una minestra e portandola in campagna ai mietitori, un angelo “lo afferrò per i capelli e con la velocità del vento lo trasferì in Babilonia e lo posò sull'orlo della fossa dei leoni” ove era confinato Daniele. “Gridò Abacuc: Daniele, Daniele, prendi il cibo che Dio ti ha mandato!”. Daniele si sfamò, “mentre l'angelo di Dio riportava subito Abacuc” in Giudea, sempre miracolosamente per via aerea. Questa leggenda non può però che costituire una bizzarra forma di solidarietà tra profeti.
Autore: Fabio Arduino
