Today’s Reading is Habakkuk 2:1-20.
The second half of Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted by some of the earliest Christian writers. Although this passage is only three words in the original Hebrew (וְצַדִּ֖יק בֶּאֱמוּנָת֥וֹ יִחְיֶֽה׃) Paul the Apostle quotes this verse twice in his epistles, in Romans 1:17 and again in Galatians 3:11. In doing so, Paul extends Habakkuk’s original concept of righteous living at the present time into a future life. The same verse is quoted in Hebrews 10:37-38, where Habakkuk’s vision is tied to Christ and used to comfort the church during a period of persecution.
One needs to keep in mind that a צַדִּ֖יק is not just a good guy or a nice person but a title given to personalities in Jewish tradition considered righteous, such as Biblical figures and later spiritual masters.
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