The word “shigionoth” appears only once in the Bible, in the opening verse of the book of Habakkuk: “The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.” (Habakkuk 1:1-4 ESV)
The precise meaning of “shigionoth” is uncertain. It is most commonly translated as “an erratic writing” or “a rambling poem.” Here are some of the main theories about what this unusual word means in the context of Habakkuk:
1. A particular style of music, song, or poem. In the superscription to Habakkuk, shigionoth may indicate that the book was meant to be sung or chanted. Some think it refers to a passionate, emotional style of music that was to accompany the prophecy.
2. A highly emotional prophetic utterance. The prophecy that follows is riddled with complaint, lament, and woe concerning the violence and injustice that Habakkuk saw in Judah. Thus shigionoth may point to the heightened emotion and ecstatic state involved in Habakkuk’s visionary experience.
3. Deranged or wild speech. This interpretation understands shigionoth as referring to the strange, even confusing nature of Habakkuk’s prophetic pronouncements that follow. The calamity and destruction that Habakkuk envisions verges on the absurd and beyond comprehension.
4. A lament. Shigionoth may indicate a lament genre, typical of prophets who were interceding and pleading with God on behalf of their people. Habakkuk’s complaints have a lament quality.
5. Irregular or uncontrolled speech. Some see shigionoth as implying uncontrolled or frenzied speech. Habakkuk is so perplexed by his vision that it comes out in sporadic bursts.
6. Plural of the musical instrument called a “shiggaion.” This translates the term as a technical one referring to a musical instrument like a lyre, dulcimer or lute that would accompany such a prophetic lament.
7. Derivative of a Akkadian term indicating a crying or lamentation. If so, it links Habakkuk’s prophecy to other ancient Near Eastern laments.
In summary, the unique word “shigionoth” that introduces the book of Habakkuk likely conveys a meaning connected to the musical, lyrical, lamenting, and emotionally charged nature of the prophecy that follows. The ecstatic, perplexing, passionate poetic prophecy is meant to be sung, chanted, wailed. Habakkuk is so utterly disturbed by his troubling visions of injustice, wrong, strife, and wickedness triumphing over the righteous that he cries out to Yahweh in a wild, uncontrolled prophetic lament, desperately pleading for an answer. While we cannot be certain of its precise meaning, “shigionoth” powerfully sets the intense, lyric tone for Habakkuk’s agonizing prophetic engagement with God over the problem of unpunished evil in Judah.
Now let’s take a closer look at the prophecy that follows this superscription in order to understand Habakkuk’s shigionoth lament in its context. Structurally, the book divides into three sections, each marking a stage in the prophet’s dialogue with God:
I. Habakkuk’s First Complaint (1:1-4)
The book opens with Habakkuk’s desperate lament over the violence, injustice, strife, and wickedness that he sees rampant in Judah (1:2-4). The law is “paralyzed” or “numbed” and “justice never goes forth”, while the wicked surround the righteous. The language is highly charged and emotive, reflecting the prophet’s agitation and dismay at the unchecked evil thriving in his society.
Habakkuk’s complaint is directed toward Yahweh – “How long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?” (1:2) He is perplexed and indignant that God appears indifferent to the moral decay, interpersonal cruelty, and systemic injustice. This leads to his shigionoth cry.
II. The Lord’s Answer (1:5-11)
In response, the Lord surprisingly reveals to Habakkuk that he is preparing to act through the feared Babylonians (Chaldeans) who will advance in terrifying power to execute judgment against Judah (1:5-11). This will be Habakkuk’s unwelcome answer.
III. Habakkuk’s Second Complaint (1:12 – 2:1)
Aghast at God’s solution, Habakkuk objects that Babylon is even more wicked than Judah (1:12-17). He vows to stay in the watchtower and “watch to see what he will say to me” (2:1). This leads to a second shigionoth lament at God’s proposed resolution.
IV. The Lord’s Second Answer (2:2-20)
God reassures Habakkuk that Babylon will themselves be judged in due time (2:2-20). The proud and violent never ultimately prevail. The righteous live by faith and await the fulfillment of the vision (2:3-4).
V. Habakkuk’s Prayer (3:1-19)
Finally, Habakkuk offers a prayer-psalm, affirming trust in God’s sovereign power and deliverance (3:1-19). He expresses awe at God’s mighty acts of salvation despite present troubles. The book ends with a declaration of faith in God’s eternal providence.
Some key themes emerge from Habakkuk that help shed light on his shigionoth prophecy:
1. Lament – The book is riddled with complaint and lament language directed at God. Habakkuk is wrestling with God over the problem of evil and a seeming lack of justice.
2. Waiting – A key lesson is the need to wait faithfully on God’s timing and purposes despite circumstances. Justice may seem delayed but it is not forgotten.
3. God’s Sovereignty – In the end, Habakkuk learns to rest and trust in God’s sovereign wisdom and care over human evil and suffering.
4. Faith – True righteousness comes through ongoing faith and fidelity to God, not by human standards. The righteous live by faith (2:4)
In light of these themes, the opening shigionoth signals a coming prophetic lament voicing agony over the state of injustice and questioning of God’s ways. Yet after this wresting, Habakkuk learns to wait on divine providence. Ultimately he gains perspective on the need for unquestioning faith in God’s sovereign direction of human affairs. Habakkuk models how to voice lament, gain divine insight, and achieve renewed trust.
Now let’s examine some of the key verses throughout Habakkuk that provide additional context and insight into the meaning and purpose of his shigionoth prophecy:
Habakkuk 1:2-4
How long, O Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
These opening verses offer details about the injustice and violence that prompted Habakkuk’s passionate shigionoth lament. He feels that God is not answering his cries for help or intervening to save the oppressed from the wicked. The law is “paralyzed” or “benumbed” and “justice never prevails”, leaving the righteous to be surrounded and afflicted by the wicked. Habakkuk cannot understand why God is allowing such rampant immorality, cruelty, and corruption in Judah. This propels him into an ecstatic prophetic complaint directed at God.
Habakkuk 1:5-11
“Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.
I am raising up the Babylonians,
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwellings not their own.
They are a feared and dreaded people;
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
Their horses are swifter than leopards,
fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners like sand.
They mock kings
and scoff at rulers.
They laugh at all fortified cities;
by building earthen ramps they capture them.
Then they sweep past like the wind and
go on—
guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”
Here God reveals that he plans to raise up the Babylonians to execute his judgment on wicked Judah. The ferocity and military might of the Babylonians is vividly described, but they are presented as even more ungodly than the people of Judah, mocking kings and rulers, powered by their own strength rather than God’s. Habakkuk is understandably appalled at the prospect of God unleashing this vicious pagan nation on his people.
Habakkuk 1:12-2:1
Lord, are you not from everlasting?
My God, my Holy One, you will never die.
You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment;
you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.
Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
You have made people like the fish in the sea,
like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks,
he catches them in his net,
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
and so he rejoices and is glad.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and burns incense to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
and enjoys the choicest food.
Is he to keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy?
I will stand at my watch
and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
In this second lament, Habakkuk directly challenges God’s decision to use the Babylonians to judge Judah. He appeals to God’s everlasting, holy nature, arguing that God cannot tolerate wrongdoing or remain silent in the face of the treachery of the wicked Babylonians who victimize the more righteous Judahites. Habakkuk vividly compares the cruelty of the Babylonians to someone heartlessly catching fish indiscriminately in a large net. He asks if God will allow the Babylonians to continue their merciless domination of nations. Perplexed by God’s logic, Habakkuk declares that he will stay in the watchtower, waiting for God’s response. This prophetic complaint leads up to the final shigionoth answer from God.
Habakkuk 2:2-4
Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it.
For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come
and will not delay.
“See, the enemy is puffed up;
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness
God instructs Habakkuk to write down the coming revelation plainly, so that the message will certainly be fulfilled in God’s appointed time. He affirms that the wicked Babylonians are indeed puffed up with arrogant ambitions. But ultimately the righteous (remnant in Judah) will endure and prevail through their steady faith and fidelity to God. This key verse introduces the important biblical theme that righteousness comes through faith, rather than selfish ambition or false piety. Faith and steadfast trust in God are foundational.
Habakkuk 3:16-19
I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
In the end, Habakkuk determines to wait patiently and faithfully for God’s resolution even in the midst of national calamity. He expresses steadfast trust in God’s power and salvation, even if all else fails. Despite present troubles, he will rejoice in God’s providential control. This is the ultimate lesson – unquestioning belief in God’s sovereign direction of human affairs.
In summary, while the meaning of “shigionoth” may remain ambiguous, the passionate, lyrical prophecy that follows clearly conveys Habakkuk’s emotive wrestling with God over the prevalence of evil and the appropriateness of Babylonian judgment. He boldly brings his confusion, objection and lament before God. Eventually Habakkuk accepts through faith that despite present injustices, God indeed has ultimate control and purposes for the judgment of nations. The shigionoth signals that Habakkuk’s prophecy will be a wild, fervent, lamenting complaint directed toward God, leading to renewed understanding and affirmation of God’s mysterious providence.