Habakkuk

ON THE HOLY PROPHETS HABAKKUK AND MICAH

Habakkuk, Prophet in Judea (St.) Micah, Prophet in Judea (St.)

From various sources.

Section I. The relics of both discovered. Their feast day.

[1] The holy prophets Habakkuk and Micah are venerated by the Church of Jerusalem (whose Calendar Waddingus published in volume 3 of the Annales Minorum, at the year of Christ 1342) with a semi-double office on this day. Certain ancient manuscript Martyrologies mention Habakkuk alone on this day; the ancient Roman and other Latin ones mention both. Bede, Ado, Usuard, Rabanus, Notker, Bellinus The feast of Sts. Micah and Habakkuk, Maurolycus, Galesinius, and Canisius report that the relics of these holy prophets were discovered under Arcadius and Honorius; the Roman Martyrology says under Theodosius the Elder: "In Judea," it says, "the feast of the holy prophets Habakkuk and Micah, whose bodies were discovered by divine revelation under Theodosius the Elder." And rightly so, as is clear from Sozomen, Nicephorus, and others. We shall treat first of the Discovery, then of each prophet separately.

[2] Sozomen, book 7 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 28: "Habakkuk, and after him at no great interval Micah, foremost among the Prophets, appeared around this time. relics divinely revealed The bodies of both (as I have learned) were indicated through a divine vision in dreams to Sebennus, who was at that time Bishop of Eleutheropolis. The name of his city was Cela, which was formerly called Cila, in which Habakkuk was found. Barathsatia is a place about ten stadia distant from that city, in which was the sepulchre of Micah, which the locals called 'The Faithful Monument,' not knowing what they were saying, calling it Mephsameemana in their native tongue." These events, then, occurred most opportunely for the fame of Christian teaching under this reign. Cassiodorus, in the Tripartite History, book 9, chapter 49, paraphrasing from Sozomen: "The bodies of the prophets Habakkuk and Micah (as I have heard) were revealed at this time by divine revelation, when Zebenus then governed the Church of Eleutheropolis, in a village formerly called Ceila, in the estate of Berethasia, which was about ten stadia distant from the city. Near this place was the burial of Micah, which the provincials, not knowing what they were saying, called 'O faithful memorial.'"

[3] Nicephorus also narrates the same, book 12, chapter 48, who writes that Cela was formerly called Ceila, in agreement with Cassiodorus; where discovered and he calls the place where Micah was found Berathpasia, and the sepulchre was called by the inhabitants Nephsa meemana: but our Cornelius a Lapide, in the preface to Micah, writes Nephasa neemana, that is, "Faithful soul" or "Faithful body"; for "soul" is used metonymically for "body," even a dead one. Finally Nicephorus adds: "The Prophets, appearing in dreams to Zebenus, when revealed who they were." See Baronius, volume 5, year 406, near the end, although he acknowledges that the sacred relics had been found much earlier. Sigebert places this discovery in the year 396.

Section II. Which Micah is this Prophet?

[4] Epiphanius, On the Lives of the Prophets, chapter 13, and Dorotheus in his Synopsis, and others, consider that the Prophet Micah, sixth among the twelve minor prophets, is the same as the one who flourished under King Ahab. Two Prophet Micahs But they are refuted by the fact that the former was killed by Joram son of Ahab, as Epiphanius himself testifies, while this one prophesied under Jotham, easily 150 years later. the latter one But neither the names, nor the homelands, nor the tribes of the two Micahs agree. For that Micah in 3 Kings chapter 22 is called Michaihu, while this one is called Michah; although it can easily happen that names are rendered differently in different places; and examples abound in every language, and here the root letters are the same. But the former was from the tribe of Ephraim, as Epiphanius says, and probably from Samaria; while this one was born in the village of Morasthi in the tribe of Judah.

[5] About this Micah, our Cornelius a Lapide writes thus in the Preface to his commentary on Micah: "This Micah was a native of Morasthi, his homeland which was a small village in the tribe of Judah near Eleutheropolis, to its east. The Chaldean, Clarius, Arias, and Vatablus think it is the same as Maresa; for from Maresa or Mereset the Hebrew patronymic name Morasthi, that is, Morasthite, which is here attributed to Micah, seems to be derived. But St. Jerome teaches that Morasthi is the name of a place distinct from Maresa. sepulchre converted into a church Whence Jerome himself, in the Epitaph of Paula, writes that in his time the sepulchre of Micah existed there, and that it had been converted into a church which St. Paula visited for religious purposes." So also Adrichomius and others in the Description of the Holy Land; and so also Remigius, Haymo, Rupert, Hugh, and Lyranus here. "Micah was therefore a native of the tribe of Judah, not Ephraim, as Epiphanius, Isidore, and Dorotheus in his Synopsis thought: whence in chapter 1, verse 9, he says, 'It has come even to Judah, it has touched the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.' But of Maresa he speaks as of a foreign place, verse 15: 'Yet I will bring an heir to you, you who dwell in Maresa.'" Thus Cornelius.

[6] prophecies And with a few words interjected: "The subject of Micah is to censure the idolatry and the vices born from it, and especially the oppression of the poor, both in Samaria and Jerusalem; that is, of both the ten tribes and the two. And because Samaria first gave rise to the idolatry of the calves and communicated it to Judah under the impious King Ahaz, he first threatens the destruction of Samaria by the Assyrians, then the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; and he foretells the slaughter and captivity of the people, especially of the princes, both civil and ecclesiastical, who were the people's leaders in crime. After these sad things, as is customary, he adds joyful ones; and consoles the same people, promising a happy return from Babylon through Cyrus, and a happier return from sin, death, and hell to grace, life, and the Church, both militant and triumphant, through Christ, whom he predicts will be born in Bethlehem."

[7] Consult our Francisco Ribera and other interpreters who discuss individual points more fully, and Jacobus Salianus at the year of the world 3290. The Greek Menaea have him on the 14th of August, but confuse him with the other, and therefore write that he prophesied for very many years, yet (which may seem ridiculous) that he was killed by Joram. "Micah," they say, confusedly merged with the former by some "was the son of Joram, born at Borate, from the tribe of Ephraim, and he prophesied for eighty-four years: he preceded the birth of Christ by six hundred and six years: and he did many things for Ahab, King of Judah, by whose son Joram he was put to death, hanged, because he rebuked his impiety and that of his ancestors. Having died, he was buried at Morathe, alone in his own land, near the cemetery of the Enakim; his tomb is well known." But the Menologion assigns the feast of the Prophet Micah, one of the twelve minor prophets, to the 14th of August, and that of the other from the tribe of Ephraim to the 5th of January.

Section III. Was Habakkuk one or two prophets?

[8] Epiphanius, Dorotheus, Isidore, and others, along with the German Martyrology, acknowledge only one Habakkuk, the one who is counted eighth among the minor prophets, Was there one or two Habakkuks? and who was carried by an angel to Daniel in the lions' den. The contrary view is held, with many others, by our Jacobus Salianus, at the year of the world 3327, the 19th of Hezekiah, and elsewhere; with whom Cornelius seems to agree, in the preface to Habakkuk, and other interpreters. The same Cornelius, on Daniel chapter 14, verse 32, writes thus: "Note that although at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, many Jews were taken to Babylon, and others fled to Egypt or to other regions; nevertheless some remained or returned to Judea, among whom was this Habakkuk. You may ask: Was this the same Habakkuk who was one of the twelve minor Prophets? St. Jerome seems to affirm this in his preface to Habakkuk, as do Epiphanius and Dorotheus in his Synopsis, Pererius, and Pintus here. But Torniel and others deny it, and this seems more true. For our Habakkuk here was later than the other. For that one lived before the Babylonian captivity; indeed he predicted it: but this one lived after it, under Evilmerodach: unless you say he lived to a very advanced age. For if you suppose him to have been 75 or 80 years old at this time, he could have been one and the same; whence both this one and that one are called Prophet."

[9] To us indeed it seems much more probable that they were different persons; however, since the matter is not entirely certain, we shall not distinguish them here. his tribe The Menaea of December 2: "Habakkuk was from the tribe of Simeon, the son of Saphati. He foresaw the captivity, and greatly bewailed the storming of the temple and the city of Jerusalem. exile When Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem, the Prophet fled to Ostracena and remained among the Israelites. When the Chaldeans returned, he went to the remnants of the Jews who had stayed in Jerusalem and in Egypt, and served the harvesters of his ancestral field. food brought to Daniel When he had received lunch, he announced to his people: 'I am going to a distant region and will return immediately.' If however I am delayed, bring lunch to the harvesters. Snatched thence in haste to Babylon, he brought food to the prophet Daniel, who was in the lions' den. And suddenly he stood again among his harvesters at lunch, and told no one anything of what had happened. Daniel 14 He also understood that the people would soon return from Babylon, and died two years before the return, and was buried in his own field. He portended to the Jews that they would see a great light in the temple and behold the glory of God; he also predicted the destruction of the temple, which would come about through a nation coming from the West. At that time also the veil of the Dabir prophecies would be torn into small rents, and two capitals of columns would be carried away, and no one would know where they lay hidden. These things would be carried by angels into the wilderness, where the ark of the testament was first established. And at the end thereof the Lord would be recognized, who would illuminate those whom the serpent pursues from the beginning."

[10] Epiphanius relates nearly the same in his Lives of the Prophets, chapter 18. Dorotheus, On the Life and Death of the Prophets: "He is the eighth. He too received by divine gift the power to prophesy about the resurrection of Christ, speaking in this manner: 'Look, you scoffers, behold and wonder, and be destroyed, because I work a work in your days which you will not believe if anyone tells you.' Habakkuk 1:5 Paul fittingly applied this oracle to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ at Antioch in Pisidia. Acts 13:41 This Habakkuk was from the tribe of Simeon, from the field of Bithicuchar." The rest agrees closely with what Epiphanius records. Isidore, On the Life and Death of Saints, chapter 47: "Habakkuk, of the tribe of Symeon, time of death was born in the field of Bethacat, and died two years before the return of the children of Israel from captivity, in the field of Sabarta." One who wishes to find more may consult the interpreters of Sacred Scripture, on Daniel chapter 14 and on the Prophecy of Habakkuk itself.

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