Habakkuk. By Steven J Duby

Steven J. Duby’s commentary on Habakkuk is the latest volume to be published in a splendid commentary series (ITC) that gives the opportunity for exegesis and theology fruitfully to interact and be mutually enriched, with previous contributors including Christopher Seitz (on Joel). The commentary is predicated on belief in the divine authority and theological coherence of Scripture, and Duby displays both exegetical finesse and theological profundity as he brings out the meaning of Habakkuk for the church. The commentary provides a detailed verse-by-verse explanation of the Hebrew text of Habakkuk (with due notice of other textual traditions as relevant), and it is focused on the theological content of the book. Both historical context and canonical context are taken into account, and these not viewed as needing to be set at loggerheads. Duby argues that the context of the prophecy includes the writing’s place within the Twelve (situated as it is between Nahum and Zephaniah) and its wider thematic and textual links with the rest of the Old Testament and with the New Testament.