Inner-biblical Allusion in Habakkuk ’ s אשמ ( Hab 1 : 1-2 : 20 ) and Utterances Concerning Babylon in Isaiah 13-23 ( Isa 13 : 1-14 : 23

Inner-biblical allusions in Habakkuk’s אשמ (Hab 1:1-2:20) and תואשמ concerning Babylon in Isaiah 13-23 (Isa 13:1-14:23; 21:1-10) suggest a shared circle of tradition and the reinterpretation of prophetic messages in developing social and political circumstances. Habakkuk’s אשמ condemns violent behaviour (1:5-11, 12-17; 2:5-20), but with the exception of םידשכה (“the Chaldeans”) in 1:5, shows a surprising reluctance to name the perpetrators of violence overtly. An analysis of inner-biblical allusions in Hab 1:1-2:20 and Isa 13:1-14:23; 21:1-10 – where Babylonian arrogance is overtly condemned – facilitates a contextual interpretation of both prophetic corpora, throws light on the identity of “the wicked” in Habakkuk, and makes an (original) exilic setting for Hab 1-2 a distinct possibility. Habakkuk’s אשמ might be deliberately vague about the identity of the wicked because of their ominous presence in the concrete living conditions of its audience.

originating in the divine sphere directed to the human sphere. 4The ‫תפלה‬ is indefinite, hypothetically one amongst many prayers, and as a prayer, it is directed from the human sphere to the divine sphere.In Habakkuk's ‫משא‬ communication is "top-down," in his ‫תפלה‬ it occurs "bottom-up."Each superscript suggests its own social context and mode of reception, while the combination of the two genres creates a third social context and mode of reception. 5In a ‫,משא‬ receivers of the message expect a specific people/group to be the "target" for divine intervention. 6In a ‫,תפלה‬ receivers expect a supplicant to pray fervently for divine intervention and confess his/her complete dependence upon YHWH. 7Habakkuk's ‫משא‬ (1:1-2:20) is the explicit subject of this study.I hypothesize that the ‫משא‬ originated under specific social and historical circumstances and that inner-biblical allusions in the ‫משא‬ and anti-Babylonian utterances in Isaiah's ‫משאות‬ concerning the nations (Isa 13-23) provide hints to reconstruct these circumstances.
The second observation is the absence in Habakkuk's ‫משא‬ of any name of a people/group/person as the cause for divine intervention.Prophetic figures in the Hebrew Bible are usually not reticent in denouncing perpetrators of social and political evil.Some random examples illustrate the point.Amos denounces inner-Israelite injustice when he calls the privileged women of Samaria "you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria… who oppress the poor and crush the needy" (Am 4:1).Obadiah promises the Edomites that "everyone in Esau's mountains will be cut down in the slaughter'" (Ob 8-9).Israel/Judah's archenemies, Assyria and Babylonia, are singled out for harsh judgement.Nahum tells the king of Assyria that he will be fatally wounded and that "everyone who hears the news about you claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?" (Nah 3:18-19).In Isaiah, YHWH warns the Assyrians: "I will crush the Assyrian in my land; on my mountains I will trample him down" (Isa 14:25).The Babylonians receive a similar warning: "Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians' pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah" (Isa 13:19).
However, the perpetrators of violence are, with the single exception of 1:6's ‫הכשדים‬ "the Chaldeans," never overtly identified. 8The reference to "the 8 ‫כשדים‬ occurs 87 times in the Hebrew Bible.In Genesis (11:28, 31; 15:7) it qualifies the city Ur, ("Ur of the Chaldeans").In Job (1:1) it refers to bands of marauders and in Daniel (2:2, 4, 5, 10; 4:4; 5:7, 11) to Babylonian sages.Elsewhere the term refers to the Neo-Babylonian Empire founded by Nabopolasser in 625 BCE.In 612 BCE the Babylonians conquered Nineveh and destroyed the power of the Assyrian Empire.In 605 BCE they defeated an Egyptian army at Charchemish and since then directly influenced events in Judah.Upon Nabopolasser's death in 605 BCE his son, Nebuchadrezzar became king and during his reign (605-556 BCE) the empire reached the zenith of its power.Nebuchadrezzar invaded Judah in 598/7, 587/6 and 582 BCE and deported large numbers of Judeans to Babylonia.The invasion of 587/6 also led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, causing an existential crisis in Judean society and shattering the traditional belief in the inviolability of the temple and the enduring nature of the Davidic royal dynasty (cf.Jer 7:1-29).Cf.Marvin A. Sweeney, The Twelve  Prophets, Volume 2 (Berit Olam; Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2000), 454-6; John Chaldeans" and their ensuing description as ‫והנמהר‬ ‫המר‬ ‫הגוי‬ "the bitter and the impetuous nation" (1:6) identify them as the subject of the violent acts described in 1:6-11.These acts are not condemned.On the contrary, Hab 1:5-6 implies that, astonishing as it may seem, YHWH is the driving force behind the Chaldeans' military success (cf. ‫כי-הנני‬ ‫את-הכשדים‬ ‫מקים‬ "yes behold, I am raising the Chaldeans").Elsewhere in the book, ‫רשע‬ is used as designation for the perpetrators of violence, twice in 1:1-2:20 in opposition to the noun ‫צדיק‬ (1:4, 13) and once in 3:13. 9A feature of the book not properly appreciated is that it does not contain a single reference to "the" wicked.In all three cases, ‫רשע‬ occurs as an indefinite noun.The book does not focus on the identity of the wicked, but rather on the question why wickedness persists. 10is is confirmed by other vague references to the perpetrators of violence.In 1:13, YHWH is accused of looking upon ‫בגדים‬ "treacherous ones."In 2:4, one would expect the expression ‫יחיה‬ ‫באמונתו‬ ‫וצדיק‬ "but a righteous person, by his/its faithfulness will live" (2:4b) to be balanced by an antithetical statement regarding "a wicked person" (cf.1:4, 13).However, the enigmatic expression ‫בו‬ ‫נפשו‬ ‫ישרה‬ ‫לא‬ ‫עפלה‬ ‫הנה‬ "behold, puffed up, not straight is his innermost being in him" occurs. 11Habakkuk 2:5 mentions ‫יהיר‬ ‫גבר‬ "an arrogant person" who is deceived by ‫היין‬ "the wine," and whose insatiable appetite to "gather to himself all the nations" and to "collect to himself all the peoples" is likened to ‫.שאול‬This "arrogant person" becomes the object of a ‫משל‬ "proverb" or ‫חידות‬ ‫מליצה‬ "satire (containing) riddles" uttered by the very same nations (2:6) by means of five ‫-הוי‬ D.W. Watts, Isaiah 1-33 (WBC; Revised Edition; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 241-2 for brief historical surveys of these eventful times.9 Cf.‫את-הצדיק‬ ‫מכתיר‬ ‫רשע‬ ‫כי‬ "indeed, wickedness surrounds the righteous" (1:4); ‫ממנו‬ ‫צדיק‬ ‫רשע‬ ‫בבלע‬ ‫תחריש‬ "(why) are you silent when a wicked person devours someone more righteous than himself?" (1:13); ‫מחצת‬ ‫יהוה‬ ‫מבית‬ ‫ראש‬ "you smashed the head/leader from the wicked's house" (3:13). 10Jeanette Mathews, Performing Habakkuk: Faithful Re-enactment in the Midst of Crisis (Eugene: Pickwick, 2012), 207 translates 1:4c with "For wickedness surrounds the righteous one."She contends that the "inclusion of both object marker and definite article in conjunction with ‫הצדיק‬ in v. 4 suggests that the righteous one is a specific group or a specific individual… (I)n its original context… ‫ה‬ ‫צ‬ ‫דיק‬ may well have been a reference to the prophet himself as a representative of the innocent righteous.Taking cognizance of the contrast between the use of the definite article for ‫צדיק‬ and the lack of article for ‫,רשע‬ this translation removes the need for precise identification of ‫רשע‬ by translating ‫צדיק‬ as the righteous one and ‫רשע‬ with the generic term wickedness in both Hab 1:4 and 1:13" (Mathews, Performing Habakkuk, 208-9). 11Countless emendations of this phrase have been proposed; cf.Francis I. Andersen, Habakkuk (AB; New York: Doubleday, 2001), 208-16; Aron Pinker, "Habakkuk 2.4: An Ethical Paradigm or a Political Observation?"JSOT 32 (2007): 91-112.In the present context, I cannot discuss the difficult verse in detail.Below I will argue that the general gist of the verse is clear.It promises the destruction of Babylonian arrogance, but life for the righteous clinging to the trustworthiness of YHWH's revelation (2:2-3).exclamations (2:6-20).The arrogant person is defined as ‫לא-לו‬ ‫המרבה‬ "someone who increases what is not his" and ‫עבטיט‬ ‫עליו‬ ‫מכביד‬ "someone who makes himself glorious by pledges" (2:6); ‫לביתו‬ ‫רע‬ ‫בצע‬ ‫בצע‬ "someone who gains wicked profit for his house" (2:9); ‫בדמים‬ ‫עיר‬ ‫בנה‬ "someone who builds a city with blood" and ‫בעולה‬ ‫קריה‬ ‫כונן‬ "someone who establishes a town with violence" (2:12); ‫משקה‬ ‫רעהו‬ "someone who makes his neighbour drink" and ‫חמתך‬ ‫מספח‬ "you who mix your intoxicating drink" (2:15); ‫דומה‬ ‫לאבן‬ ‫עורי‬ ‫הקיצה‬ ‫לעץ‬ ‫אמר‬ "someone who orders a piece of wood: 'awake!', 'arise!' to a silent stone" (2:18).However, the arrogant person's identity is not revealed. 12 Habakkuk's history of interpretation this peculiarity has been a crucial issue; consequently, the problem of the identity of the wicked received much attention. 13Currently a "consensus" seems to have emerged regarding this issue, namely that the ‫צדיק‬ in Habakkuk refer to pious Judeans, while two parties are involved in the designation ‫,רשע‬ namely Judean evildoers and the Babylonians.The consensus is modified by scholars maintaining that the ‫רשע‬ in the book can consistently be identified with the Babylonians and that Habakkuk "originally protested to YHWH concerning the evil brought about by the emergence of Babylon as an enemy to Judah, and was subsequently surprised to learn that YHWH was responsible for the rise of Babylon." 14 Broadly speaking, the activity of the prophet (not necessarily the book) is placed between the last years of Josiah (640-609 BCE) and the reign of Jehoiakim (609-598 BCE) and Jehoachin (598 BCE).
In synchronic readings of the book, it is assumed that 1:2-4 is a prophetic lament about an inner-Judean conflict between the ‫צדיק‬ and the ‫רשע‬ or to the devastating effect of wickedness upon society in general.In 1:5-11 the Chaldeans are announced as YHWH's instrument to "correct" wickedness.Their excessive violence, however, enhances the disintegration of society, hence they become the object of the prophet's renewed lament about violence (1:12-17).In 2:1-20 12 According to Marvin A. Sweeney, "Habakkuk, Book of," ABD 3, 1-6 "the identity of the oppressor presupposed by the woe-oracles of 2:5-20" is a "major problem" in the book. 13Cf.Peter Jöcken, Das Buch Habakkuk: Darstellung der Geschichte seiner kritischen Erforschung mit einer eigenen Beurteilung (BBB 48; Köln/Bonn: Peter  Hanstein, 1977) for the book's research history up to the late 1970's.Jöcken's work illustrates the close relationship between questions regarding the book's date and the identification of the wicked (1:4, 13; 3:13) and the righteous (1:4, 13; 2:4).According to Oskar Dangl, "Habakkuk in Recent Research," CR:BS 9 (2001): 131-68 research now focuses on more than this single issue, yet a substantial part of his overview of Habakkuk research is dedicated to questions regarding the identity of the actors and the historical foundation of the book (pp.139-44). 14Sweeney, Twelve Prophets, 455.Such a reading enhances the prominent theodicy theme in the book, a "debate that would have taken place in Judean society beginning in 605 B.C.E.when Judah became a vassal of Babylon."YHWH announces the destruction of this wicked empire.Synchronic readings often presuppose that time elapsed between the prophetic activity recorded in 1:2-11 and 1:12-2:20.Adherents of diachronic readings propose that Habakkuk consists of a pre-exilic kernel lamenting and denouncing inner-Judean social atrocities associated with the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin.Intertextual links between Habakkuk and Jeremiah's description of these kings' reigns (cf.Jer 22:11-30) are cited as proof of this position.This kernel was expanded and re-interpreted in various redactional phases during the late preexilic, exilic, and post-exilic periods.A rebuttal of inner-Judean injustices has thus been transformed into an anti-Babylonian and anti-imperialistic book. 15e present study approaches the problem of the "vague" references to the perpetrators of violence in Habakkuk from another vantage point, arguing that inner-biblical allusions provide a hint to the identity of the perpetrators of violence in Habakkuk's ‫מש‬ ‫א‬ .Previously, I made the following cursory remarks with regard to the book of Habakkuk: 16 The book shows a curious reluctance to identify the wicked.Habakkuk 1:1 classifies the following material as a ‫,משא‬ but never reveals against whom it is directed...The wicked remains a mysterious character.Yet there are hints that the Babylonians are the object of the scorn, the nation on whom imminent doom is pronounced.The main indicator is the many parallels between Hab 2 and oracles of doom in Isaiah directed against the Babylonians (cf.Isa 13-14; 21:1-10).Might the reluctance to identify the wicked be an indication that the lived space of the prophet is severely threatened, might he even be in exile, among the very people whose violent behaviour is repeatedly condemned?Might it be an indication that covert identification of the wicked has been necessitated by their proximity to the prophet?I now substantiate these cursory remarks in two ways.First, I give a brief overview of intertextual links between the books of Isaiah and Habakkuk in  132-54 (152-3).
defence of the thesis that the book of Habakkuk can be associated with tradition circles responsible for the redaction and compilation of the book of Isaiah. 17Second, I discuss unrecognised or under-emphasised thematic allusions in Habakkuk's ‫משא‬ ( Hab 1:1-2:20) and Isaiah's ‫משאות‬ concerning Babylon (Isa  13:1-14:23; 21:1-10) to defend the following thesis: Habakkuk 1:1-2:20 is linked to the Isaiah tradition and displays concerns of the exilic community.It condemns the arrogant behaviour of the Babylonian tyrant and expects the soon to be realised eschatological intervention of YHWH in world history and his final victory against the wicked tyrant.Habakkuk's ‫משא‬ is closer in time and space to the tyrant than the anti-Babylonian passages in Isaiah, hence it is circumspect regarding the identity of the perpetrator, but vehement in its condemnation of Judah's archenemy.and Floyd, Writings and Speech, 65-81.The composition of prophetic scrolls points to the "production of the idea of 'prophecy' as an institution of divine guidance of national history" (Davies, "Pen of Iron," 77, italics original).That prophecy could express itself in written form "simply indicate[s] the adaptation of this divinatory phenomenon to a succession of different socio-cultural situations" (Floyd, "Prophecy and Writing," 481).Matthijs J. de Jong, "Biblical Prophecy-A Scribal Enterprise.The Old Testament Prophecy of Unconditional Judgement Considered as a Literary Phenomenon," VT 61 (2011): 39-70 argues that "the literary core of the biblical prophetic books does not present the message of a historical prophet but a scribal reinterpretation of a prophetic legacy."It was "the scribal reception, revision, and elaboration of this legacy that gave rise to 'biblical prophecy' and prompted the development of the prophetic books" (p.65).Cf. also Martti Nissinen, "How Prophecy Became Literature," SJOT 19 (2005): 153-72; ibid., "Since When Do Prophets Write?" in In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes: Studies in the Biblical Text in Honour of Anneli Aejmelaeus (ed.Michael Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985), 464 argues that "tenuous or dangerous political situations encouraged the obscuring of revolutionary oracular contents."He identifies two examples of "innerbiblical cryptographic techniques" in Jeremiah.Using the atbash technique well known from later Jewish sources, he identifies "the meaningless ‫ששך‬ in Jer.25:26 and 51:41" The present study falls in the broad field of so-called "intertextual" analysis, which can be defined as "the way that scripture uses scripture." 19Spatial constraints do not allow for a discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of different approaches to intertextual analysis in biblical studies. 20ethodologically speaking, identification of intertextual links can be classified as either "reader-orientated" or "author-intended." 21The first is a purely synchronic exercise, the latter a diachronic attempt to identify deliberate links between different biblical texts and to determine the direction of influence and hence the relative dating of perceived intertexts. 22My careful avoidance of the term "intertextuality" and deliberate use of the term "inner-biblical allusion" in as a cryptogram for ‫ב‬ ‫בל‬ .Similarly, the equally mysterious ‫קמי‬ ‫לב‬ "the heart of those rising against me" in Jer 51:1 yields ‫כשדים‬ "Chaldeans," as the Targum correctly understood it.I propose similar circumstances for the book of Habakkuk.It is significant that the five taunt songs in Hab 2:6-20 are designated ‫משל‬ "a taunt song" and ‫הידות‬ ‫מליצה‬ "an allusive expression (containing) riddles."According to V. Hamp ‫ה"‬ ‫ִידָּׂ‬ ‫ח‬ chîdāh," in TDOT 4, 320-3 "in Hab 2:6, the context suggests that māshāl has the meaning "taunt song," and m e lîtsê chîdhôth are "riddling taunts" (p.322).The nouns ‫,משל‬ ‫,מליצה‬ and ‫חידה‬ occur together in Prov 1:9 (Mathews, Habakkuk, 132).The ‫-הוי‬ exclamations are intentionally opaque regarding the identity of the perpetrator, but unequivocal regarding his ultimate destiny. 19  Brill, 2012), 505-35, argues that "insofar as biblical scholars aim and claim to be reconstructing specific relationships between a given biblical text and earlier texts, the proper term for this type of inquiry is reconstruction of 'influence,' not 'intertextuality'" (p.522).Russell L. Meek, "Intertextuality, Inner-Biblical Exegesis, and Inner-Biblical Allusion: The Ethics of a Methodology," Bib 95 (2014): 280-91 indicates that "intertextuality" is used as "label for all investigations into literary relationships between various texts" (p.280).He pleads for a more nuanced use of terminology and argues that the term "intertextuality" should be avoided "when attempting to demonstrateor presupposing -an intentional, historical relationship between texts" (p.291). 22Cf.Tull, "Intertextuality," 59-66; Miller, "Intertextuality," 294-98.For discussions and applications of such criteria, cf.David Carr, "Method in Determination of Direction of Dependence: An Empirical Test of Criteria Applied to Exodus 34,11-26   (FAT 52; Tübingen: MohrSiebeck, 2011), 4-35.this study's title suggest that I engage in an analysis of "author-intended" allusions in Habakkuk's ‫משא‬ (Hab 1:1-2:20) and Isaiah's ‫משאות‬ concerning Babylon (Isa 13:1-14:27; 21:1-10).23I use allusion as an umbrella term to designate an author's intentional evoking of another text with which his/her audience is acquainted.The "connotations of the evoked text interact with the alluding text."24
The redactional additions focus upon Babylonian imperialism.In Isa 10:14 the prophet denounces the Assyrians' attempt to "gather" ‫)אסף(‬ all nations, as Habakkuk did with the Babylonians (cf.‫כל-הגוים‬ ‫אליו‬ ‫ויאסף‬ "and he gathered to himself all the nations" in 2:5).In Hab 2:7 the perpetrators of violence are accused that they "plundered" ‫)שלות(‬ many nations, while in Isaiah the Assyrians are sent "to seize prey" ‫שלל(‬ ‫;לשלל‬ Isa 10:6; cf.8:4).The nations ‫)גוים(‬ labouring ‫)יגע(‬ for the sake of fire and the peoples ‫)לאמים(‬ becoming wary ( ‫יעף‬ ) for the sake of vanity while the earth is filled ‫)תמלא(‬ with the glory of YHWH ‫יהוה(‬ ‫,כבוד‬ Hab 2:13-14) echo the phrase ‫כבודו‬ ‫כל-הארץ‬ ‫מלא‬ "the whole earth is full of his glory" 42 Dietrich,[205][206][207][208] According to Dietrich, "Habakuk -ein Jesajaschüler," 213  The three superscripts share the designation ‫.משא‬As a superscript, ‫משא‬ occurs exclusively in the prophetic corpus and it is indicative of a specific prophetic literary genre "that designates a type of prophetic discourse in which the prophet attempts to delineate divine actions in human affairs."54 Itis 53 The expression ‫מדבר-ים‬ "desert of the sea" in Isa 21:1a has been the object of countless emendations; cf.Hans Wildberger, Jesaja 2. Teilband: Jesaja 13-27 (BKAT X/2; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1978), 763-4.‫מדבר‬ occurs again in the actual prophetic utterance (21:1b).According to Marvin A. Sweeney, Isaiah 1-39  (FOTL 16; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 280, in Akkadian sources the expression mat tamti "Land of the Sea" designates the swampy area in the south of Babylonia ruled by the Babylonian Merodach-baladan when he fled Babylon after Sargon II conquered the city in 710 BCE.Merodach-baladan is identified as a member of the bal kur tam "dynasty of the Sealand."The Akkadian kur designates a border area and corresponds to Hebrew ‫.מדבר‬ Brevard S. Childs, Isaiah (OTL; Louisville: Westminster John Knox,  2001), 152 regards ‫מדבר-ים‬ as "an appropriate Hebrew designation for the border areas ruled by Merodach-baladan."Childs, Isaiah, 150-51, identifies two redactional layers in Isa 21:1-10.The first dates from the eighth century when Assyria attacked Judah's ally, Merodach-baladan.Isaiah foresees Babylon's defeat.In the sixth century Isaiah's message is reapplied to the imminent destruction of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (Isa 21:9).According to Ulrich F. Berges, The Book of Isaiah: Its Composition and Final  Form (trans.M. C. Lind; Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2012), 138 n78, the Akkadian mat tamti is not rendered by ‫ים‬ ‫ארץ‬ "because the key word ‫מדבר‬ from the oracle (v.1b) should not be lacking in the title; cf.‫חזיון‬ in 22.1, 5." 54 Sweeney,Twelve Prophets,460.especially prominent in the utterances concerning nations in Isa 13-23, where it occurs ten times.55 Itoccurs one more time in Isaiah, once in Nahum, Habakkuk, and Malachi, and twice in Zechariah.56The "topic of a maśśāʼ is… always some person, group, situation, or event" and it is "based on a particular revelation (given to the prophet) of the divine intention or of a forthcoming divine action."57It carries undertones of judgment and implies that Yhwh is about to intervene in the history of the nations and/or his people.58These utterances "are directed primarily to Israel and designed to explain events in the world of affairs as an act of Yahweh."59Significantly, in Hab 1:1 the object of the ‫משא‬ is not stated.It is, in fact, the only ‫משא‬ without any explicit object.60This has implications for any consideration of intertextual links between Habakkuk and the other prophetic ‫.משאות‬ Michael Thompson quite rightly argues that "this word finds its most consistent employment in the oracles against the nations in Isa 13-23," which implies that "(p)erhaps we are intended to understand that a concern in Habakkuk is with a word of judgement against a foreign nation."61

YHWH and the rise and fall of empires
A second shared theme is that of YHWH as ultimate director of international affairs and his crucial role in the rise and fall of the Babylonian Empire.
plane of world history.Taking the statement purely at face value, nothing overtly negative is said against the Chaldeans.A completely different picture emerges in Isa 13:17.Now YHWH is overtly stirring an enemy against the Babylonian Empire.Both contexts suggest YHWH's ultimate control over the destiny of all peoples, not only Israel.However, in Habakkuk his control over the Babylonians contains no condemnation of their violent behaviour, while Isaiah predicts the destruction of Babylon's pride (13:19).Significantly, in Isa 41:25 the verb ‫עור‬ is used to indicate that YHWH is stirring Cyrus as the ultimate agent of Babylon's downfall and the salvation of his people. 62The same motif is prominently present in Jer 50-51.The Chaldean ascendency pronounced in Hab 1:6 is predicted to to a disastrous end in Isa 13:17, and the theme is fully developed in Isa 40-48 and Jer 50-51. 63

3
The prophet as watchman arrogant person ‫יהיר(‬ ‫)גבר‬ is being misled ‫)בוגד(‬ by the intoxicating lust for power ‫)היין(‬ and "he will not succeed" ‫ינוה(‬ ‫.)ולא‬In Hab 2:4-5 and in the ‫-הוי‬exclamations in 2:6-20 the identity of the arrogant person is not revealed.The theme of arrogance is also present in the ‫בבל‬ ‫משא‬ in Isa 13:1-14:23, but there the identity of the haughty is no secret.The theme of arrogance plays a central role in the announcement of the ‫יהוה‬ ‫יום‬ in Isa 13:6-22.In Isa 13:11 YHWH pronounces: ‫רעה‬ ‫על-תבל‬ ‫ופקדתי‬ I will visit evil upon the world, and upon the wicked their sins.‫זדים‬ ‫גאון‬ ‫והשבתי‬ I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty, ‫אשפיל׃‬ ‫עריצים‬ ‫וגאות‬ and the pride of the ruthless I will bring down.

‫בבל‬ ‫והיתה‬ ‫ממלכות‬ ‫צבי‬
Babylon will bethe glory of kingdoms, ‫כשדים‬ ‫גאון‬ ‫תפארת‬ the splendour of the pride of the Chaldeans -‫ואת-עמרה׃‬ ‫את-סדם‬ ‫אלהים‬ ‫כמהפכת‬ like a destruction by Sodom and Gomorrah!In Isa 14:4, the object of YHWH's wrath is defined even more precisely.It is "the king of Babel" ( ‫מלך‬ ‫בבל‬ ) whose power is broken (14:4-8) and who descends into ‫שאול‬ (14:9) to the astonishment of the "kings of the nations" already residing in that grim place.They identify the reason for his descent into ‫שאול‬ in Isa 14:11: "Your arrogance ‫,)גאונך(‬ the noise of your harps, has been brought down to ‫".שאול‬The "defeater of nations" regarded himself as the "morning star, son of dawn" (14:12) and proclaimed: "To heaven I will ascend, above the divine stars I will raise my throne, I will sit on the mountain of assembly, the uppermost regions of Ṣāpôn, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will compare to the Most High" (14:13-14). 67But pride will have a fall, as the "kings of the nations" proclaim: "However, to ‫שאול‬ you were brought down, to the innermost of the pit" (14:15).Babylon's fall is finally confirmed by YHWH in 14:22: is likened to ‫.שאול‬He has an insatiable appetite (cf.Isa 5:14) to "gather to himself all nations" and to "collect to himself all peoples."But Hab 2:6 warns that pride will have a fall.The very same nations will "lift up a proverb/taunt" ‫ישאו(‬ ‫)משל‬ and a "derisive riddle" ‫חידות(‬ ‫)מליצה‬ against him. 69This "proverb" or "derisive riddle" finds specific expression in the five ‫-הוי‬exclamations, a genre especially associated with death and mourning rites.The subjected nations are taunting the tyrant to ‫,שאול‬ so to speak.Significantly, the same imagery occurs in Isa 14:4 where people "in suffering and turmoil" due to Babylonian tyranny are assured that the day will soon dawn when YHWH will "give you rest… from the severe bondage that bounded you."Then "you will lift up this proverb/taunt against the king of Babylon and say" ‫ואמרת(‬ ‫בבל‬ ‫על-מלך‬ ‫הזה‬ ‫המשל‬ ‫,ונשאת‬ 14:4).The taunt (Isa 14:4-21), introduced by ‫איך‬ (14:4, 12)a term also associated with death and mourning ritesimplies the humiliation, indeed the total annihilation of the Babylonian king.The "oppressor has come to an end" and "his fury has ended" (14:4), "YHWH has broken the rod of the wicked, the sceptre of rulers" (14:5) to bring "rest" to all the earth, even to the "cedars of Lebanon" because "now that you lie down, no woodcutter ascends against us" (14:8; cf.Hab 2:17).In Isa 14:9 ‫שאול‬ itself is astir to accept the arrogant tyrant in its midst.When Hab 2:5-6 and Isa 14:4-21 are read as inter-texts, ‫שאול‬ meets ‫,שאול‬ the Babylonian king suffers the ultimate humiliation of not being granted the honour of a proper burial (Isa 14:19-20).
It has already been pointed out that this verse is virtually identical to Isa 11:9, occurring in an eschatological passage with a distinct "Israel-centring." 70he climax of Habakkuk's ‫-הוי‬exclamations occurs in Hab 2:20:

‫ויהוה‬ ‫בהיכל‬ ‫קדשו‬
But YHWH is in his holy temple, ‫מפניו‬ ‫הס‬ ‫כל-הארץ‬ ‫׃‬ hush before him, all the earth!This text, appearing in almost identical guise in Zeph 1:7 and Zech 2:17, focuses exclusively on YHWH's omnipotence in the seat of his power, his "holy temple."It implies the total annihilation of wickedness, and a new destination for the lamenting prophet: "Amid the turmoil of his lived experience as victim of violence (1:2-17) and spectator of incredible hardship (2:5-17), his imagined space becomes one of hushed reverence and peace… He has arrived at-centre!" 71similar focus on YHWH's central role in the destruction of the wicked Babylonians and their king is apparent in Isaiah's ‫משאות‬ concerning Babylon.Isaiah 13:1-14:2 plays an important role in this "centring" of YHWH.The announcement of the terrible day of YHWH (13:6-22) which will lead to the complete destruction of Babylon (cf.13:19-22) at the hand of an army of "holy ones" mustered by ‫יהוה‬ ‫צבאות‬ as "the instruments of his indignation to destroy all the earth" (13:3-5) is framed by passages focusing on YHWH at-centre.In 13:2 this army, collected from "a distant land, from the end of heavens," is invited to "enter the gates of the nobles." 72The ‫יהוה‬ ‫יום‬ announcement is concluded in 14:1-3 by a passage focusing on the reversal of the fate of Jacob/Israel.YHWH will once again "have compassion" upon them, "choose" Israel and "settle them in their land" together with the "sojourner" who will "attach themselves to the house of Jacob."A complete reversal of roles will take place.Israel will take possession of the nations in "the land of YHWH as manservants and maidservants," they will "make captives of their captors" and they "will rule over their oppressors."The possession of the Babylonians, on the other hand, will be completely destroyed (14:22-23).Significantly, in Isa 13:11 and 14:5, the destruction of the ‫רשעים‬ is explicitly announced. 73To the ‫בבל‬ ‫משא‬ is appended the assurance that what YHWH has planned will materialize; nobody can thwart it (14:24-27).In Isaiah, as in Habakkuk, the manifestation of YHWH's power atcentre implies life for the ‫צדיקים‬ and the total annihilation of the ‫.רשעים‬ Thematic parallels between Habakkuk's ‫משא‬ (1:1-2:20) and Isaiah's Babylon-‫משאות‬ (13:1-14:23; 21:1-10) suggest more than a "reader-orientated" perception of intertextual links.The constellation of motifs and themes is indicative of "author-intended" linking.Determining the direction of influence becomes a difficult task when we work with "layered" texts like those that we undoubtedly encounter in the Hebrew Bible, even more so when a book like Isaiah with a long and complicated history of redaction and composition is involved. 74Constraints of time and space dictate that I can only make cursory suggestions regarding the direction of influence between Hab 1-2 and Isa 13:1-14:23, 21:1-10. 75rrifying Babylonian judge is himself brought before a new judge of all the earth."Seitz argues that the correspondence between ‫מעיר‬ ‫הנני‬ "indeed, I am stirring up" in 13:17 and ‫העירותי‬ "I have raised up" in 41:25 points to YHWH's stirring up of the Medes and Persians under Cyrus against Babylon. 73According to Roberts, First Isaiah, 197-8 this judgement "is directed against the world's evil, against the wicked for their sin, against the pride of the insolent and the haughtiness of the violent (v.11), but the result will be to leave a very small, rarified human remnant (v.12), which suggests how few righteous the prophet envisioned." 74For an overview of theories regarding the redaction and composition of Isaiah, cf.
Berges, Book of Isaiah, 1-37. 75A detailed discussion of the so-called "oracles against foreign nations" is not possible in the present context.Texts usually included under this label are Isa 13-27; Jer 46-51; Ezek 25-32; Zeph 2; Amos 1-2; Obadiah and Nahum.The label is unfortunate, since the prophetic messages contained in them are not necessarily directed against the nations, nor are they concerned exclusively with foreign nations.Cf.John B. Geyer, Mythology and Lament: Studies in the Oracles about the Nations (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004) for a detailed study of these oracles.Geyer argues that it is safer to speak of these texts as "oracles about the nations rather than as oracles against the nations" (p.3).Cf.Watts, Isaiah 1-33, for a brief discussion of these oracles with an Isaiah 13-27 should not be interpreted as two independent units (the oracles against the nations, 13-23, and the so-called Isaiah-apocalypse, 24-27), but rather as a compositional unit with a distinctly eschatological perspective.Isaiah 24 closes a series of ten ‫משאות‬ rather than introduces an apocalypse. 76The ten ‫משאות‬ constitute a deliberately structured literary unit with Isa 20:1-6, the short narrative of prophet Isaiah appearing naked in public for three years, at the centre of the composition.Berges dates the episode to the Philistine revolt against Assyria in 713-711 BCE and regards the symbolic action as "a warning against blind trust in Egyptian help against Assyria". 77The passage is preceded and followed by two series of five ‫.משאות‬The sequence is Babylon (13:1), Philistia (14:28), Moab (15:1), Damascus (17:1) and Egypt (19:1) before and Babylon (21:1), Dumah (21:11), Arabia (21:13), Jerusalem (22:1) and Tyre (23:1) after the symbolic action. 78The last ‫משא‬ in each sequence is followed by a series of six ‫ביום‬ "on that day" utterances. 79All of this is indicative of deliberate composition. 80is composition is the result of a long process of redaction and composition dating from the eighth to the fifth century. 81Parts of the utterances against Philistia (14:28), Damascus (17), Cush (18), Egypt (19) and Jerusalem  (20, 22)   237-51; Seitz, Isaiah 1-39, 115-27; Sweeney, Isaiah 1-39, 212-7; Childs, Isaiah, 113-6; Tull, Isaiah 1-39, 255-61; Berges, Book of Isaiah, 123-61; Ulrich F. Berges, Isaiah:  The Prophet and his Book (transl.P. Sumpter; Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2012), 37-39.Habakkuk is rarely discussed in the context of the utterances concerning nations, in spite of the fact that it shares the designation ‫משא‬ with Isaiah and Nahum.Habakkuk is deliberately juxtaposed to Nahum as divine utterances directed against the arrogance of the two successive ancient Near Eastern empires responsible for the fall of the northern and southern kingdoms of the Israelite people respectively. 76Seitz; Isaiah 1-39, 116-9; Tull, Isaiah 1-39, 258; Berges, Book of Isaiah, 123-4. 77Berges, Book of Isaiah, 129. 78 In the second series, the ‫משאות‬ designations are more cryptic than in the first series, cf.‫מדבר-ים‬ ‫משא‬ "an utterance concerning the desert of the sea" in 21:1; ‫חזון‬ ‫גיא‬ ‫משא‬ "an utterance concerning the valley of visions" in 22:1.In both cases the superscript is related to a word in the actual prophetic utterance, cf.‫ממדבר‬ "from the wilderness" in 21:1; ‫ב‬ ‫חזיון‬ ‫גי‬ in 22:5; cf.Cf. 19:16,18,19,21,23,24 after the Egypt-oracle and 25:9; 26:1; 27:1, 2, 12, 13 after the Tyre-oracle. 80 Watts, Isaiah 1-33, 225-6;Willem A. M. Beuken, Jesaja 13-27 (HThKAT;Freiburg: Herder, 2007), 23-25;Berges, Book of Isaiah, 126;81 Watts, Isaiah 1-33, 226-7;Beuken, Jesaja 13-27, 26-9.tradition to new lived experiences under Persian hegemony.On the other hand, Habakkuk's reticence to overtly identify the violent tyrant of his time suggests that Habakkuk preserves an earlier phase of the tradition.Habakkuk shares with Isa 13-27 the eschatological perspective, strong anti-imperialist and antioppressor sentiments, the focus on the motif of the centrality of Zion and YHWH's omnipresence and omnipotence and the notion of the inevitable annihilation of wickedness, 87 but Habakkuk does not express these sentiments openly and aggressively.I hypothesize that it reflects different lived experiences of the Isaiah tradents.Habakkuk represents an earlier phase when the Babylonians were still in power and Isaiah 13-27 a later stage when the Babylonians had already lost power and were no longer a physical threat.However, they became the symbol of the existence of violence and tyranny, oppression and suffering.Their demise was as urgently longed for in Habakkuk as in Isaiah.

E CONCLUSION
The point of departure in this study was the reticence in the book Habakkuk to overtly identify the perpetrators of violence so prominent in the little booklet.I hypothesized that an intertextual reading might elucidate possible context(s) that might help to explain this characteristic of the book.A summary of "readerorientated" approaches to intertextual links between Habakkuk and the Isaiah of Jerusalem tradition and an analysis of "author-intended" thematic links between Habakkuk's ‫משא‬ and the two ‫משאות‬ against Babylon in Isa 13:1-14:23 and 21:1-10 provided ample evidence to support the thesis that the book of Habakkuk can be located in the scribal traditions associated with the redaction and composition of the book of Isaiah.The fact that these two specific anti-Babylonian utterances contain Motivkonstellationen that are shared with Hab 1:1-2:20 suggest that the Babylonians are the perpetrators of violence in the book of Habakkuk.The two literary contexts have a shared tradition-historical and scribal tradition.The development of this tradition from the eighth to the fifth century explains the "vague" references to the Babylonians in Hab 1:1-2:20.Habakkuk represents an earlier stage in the development of the eschatological expectation that YHWH is about to conclusively and comprehensively intervene in the cosmos.The Babylonians were still in power and their very presence complicated overt identification of the perpetrators of violence.It suggests that Habakkuk's ‫משא‬ (1:1-2:20) by and large reflects the concerns of the exilic community.
Jeremiah.It indicates that "YHWH is identified with Persia, i.e., YHWH directs the Persian Empire to carry out the punishment" against the nations on his behalf (p.xix). 87Cf.Berges, Book of Isaiah, 137-61 for a detailed discussion of these themes in Isaiah 13-27.
18 17 Contra Charles D. Isbell, "The Limmûddîm in the Book of Isaiah," JSOT 34 (2009): 99-109 I do not propose the existence of a hypothetical "school" of Isaiah-disciples faithfully transmitting their master's initial oral messages and eventually committing them to writing.I concur with Michael H. Floyd, "Prophecy and Writing in Habakkuk 2,1-5," ZAW 105 (1993): 462-81 that "the phenomenon of prophecy cut across various sectors of Israelite society to intersect with the institution of scribal academies well before the time of the exile" (p.480); cf.ibid., "'Write the revelation!' (Hab 2:2): Reimagining the Cultural History of Prophecy," in Writings and Speech in Israelite and Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy (ed.E. Ben Zvi and M. H. Floyd; SBLSS 10; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2000), 103-43; Joachim Schaper, "Exilic and Post-exilic Prophecy and the Orality/Literacy Problem," VT 55 (2005): 324-42.I depart form the presupposition that prophecy is both an oral and literary phenomenon; cf.Philip R. Davies, "'Pen of Iron, Point of Diamond' (Jer 17:1): Prophecy as Writing," in Ben Zvi n58 ‫היין‬ in Hab 2:5 is a scribal error for ‫.הוי‬The close relationship between Hab 2:5 and Isa 5:11-19 prompts Dietrich to emend the text of Habakkuk.Shared themes betweenIsa 13:1-14:23; 21:1-10 and Hab 1:1-2:20 in general and Hab 2:1-20 in particular suggest a close connection between these two specific contexts.In the following discussion, I focus on six themes where Habakkuk and Isaiah share a tradition, but the Isaiah contexts state explicitly what is implicit in the Habakkuk context.1Thegenre designation ‫משא‬The superscripts in Hab 1:1, Isa 13:1 and Isa 21:1 are an obvious starting place for our intertextual investigation.