Habakkuk 2:4 and the Resurrection of Jesus

Introduction

If asked to sum up the gospel in a nutshell, many Christians would answer with John 3:16.  I think that Habakkuk 2:4 should also be in the running.  This may be odd given that it is an Old Testament verse, but it is quoted three times in the New Testament (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; and Hebrews 10:38).  I think that this verse is wrongly understood by most evangelicals, and though I have commented on it on my website, I want to flesh out the meaning some more here.  I contend that as used by Paul, Habakkuk 2:4 refers to the death and resurrection of Jesus and therefore of all Christians generally.

Original Context

The book of Habakkuk begins with a dialogue between the prophet and God:

• 1:2-4 complaint by prophet
• 1:5-11 God answers
• 1:12-2:1 second complaint by prophet
• 2:2-20 God answers

In the first complaint, Habakkuk questions why God allows the wicked in Judah to surround the righteous (1:4).  He claims that because of God's inaction the law (torah) fails (1:4).  It fails because the law (Deuteronomy in this case?) promises reward for obedience and punishment for disobedience.

God responds by noting that he will punish the wicked in Judah by raising up the Chaldeans (Babylonians).

This does not please Habakkuk because he still questions why the wicked (the Babylonians) are allowed to devour the righteous (1:13).  The righteous in this case being the victims in the first complaint?

God responds by promising that the Babylonians are doomed.  In the midst of this response God promises that the righteous by faithfulness will live (2:4).  The context favors the interpretation that life is a reward for the faithfulness of the righteous, just as punishment is the reward for wickedness (there are five woes on the wicked in 2:6-20).  There is no thought about different paths to righteousness, one of them being faith, which is how most Christians would interpret the sentence: "the righteous lives by faith".  The Jewish Publication Society translates 2:4 along the lines I advocate:

the righteous man is rewarded with life for his fidelity

Paul's and Hebrew's Christocentric Reading of Habakkuk 2:4

I contend that Paul interpreted Habakkuk 2:4 Christologically: the righteous man (Jesus) is rewarded with life (resurrection) for his fidelity (death on the cross).  This is what I claim is the Gospel in a nutshell.  I will now lay out the argument drawing on Douglas A. Campbell's work.  I present seven arguments.

(1) Paul uses "the righteous one" (o dikaios) in his quotation.  Paul often refers to Jesus with an arthrous construction.
(2) o dikaios is also a Christological title elsewhere in the New Testament (Acts 7:52; 22:14; 3:14; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 2:1)
(3) Evidence in Hebrews (10:37-38): the book of Hebrews quotes Habakkuk 2:3-4 and the text that author used (LXX) probably already has a messianic interpretation ("the one who is coming", "my righteous one").  The context of Hebrews also favors the interpretation that life is a reward for faithfulness.
(4) In the Wisdom of Solomon, a work Paul probably knew, there is "a righteous man" who suffers and is granted life by God.
(5) If Paul draws the key phrase "by means of faithfulness" (ek pisteos) from Habakkuk 2:4, then this explains why he may have eliminated a pronoun from the LXX.  [The LXXb reads: "the righteous out of my faithfulness shall live".]  It concerns Jesus' faithfulness.
(6) Messianic reading delivers on what Paul says in Romans 1:2-4, which mentions the resurrection and the predictions of the prophets!  If Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17 is interpreted Christologically then we have a perfect example of what Paul stated in 1:2-4.
(7) That Paul could interpret Scripture Christologically is not a stretch.  I may add that Leviticus 18:5 ought to be interpreted Christologically too.

Importance of the Christological Reading

We can now settle the dispute whether ek pisteos modifies the righteous or life.  It modifies life because Paul would not suggest Jesus was righteous by faith.  Paul uses the phrase ek pisteos only in Galatians and Romans and he quotes Habakkuk 2:4 only in Galatians and Romans.  This is strong evidence that elsewhere in Paul's thought ek pisteos refers to Jesus' faithfulness!  This has devastating theological consequences (see my website).  This helps make my case that it is Jesus' obedience that atones and not his animal-like sacrifice.  It also serves as a perfect example for Christians, we too will be rewarded with eternal life for our faithfulness.  This also gives us a smooth interpretation of Romans 1:17:

The righteousness of God is being revealed through it [the gospel] by means of [Jesus'] fidelity and for [our] fidelity, as it is written, 'The righteous one, be means of fidelity, will live.'