The Jewish sources on Chavakuk ("Habakkuk") are sparse. The Seder Olam
(Ch. 20) says that he prophesied in the days of King Menasheh; see also
Yalkut Shimoni on 2 Kings 21. The Zohar (1:7b) says that he was the son of
the Shunamite woman whose birth was predicted by the prophet Elisha, telling
her that after a year she would be embracing ("chovekes") a son (2 Kings 4:16).
The Talmud points out that Chavakuk distilled the 613 commandments of the
Torah into just one: "The righteous shall live by his faith" (Chavakuk 2:4;
see Makkos 23b). Chavakuk's prophecy is short (only 56 verses), but it
contains many beautiful passages;
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