Hab 1:1 contains the heading not only to ch. 1 and 2, but to the whole book, of which ch. 3 forms an integral part. On the special heading in Hab 3:1, see the comm. on that verse. The prophet calls his writing a massà‚', or burden (see at Nah 1:1), because it announces heavy judgments upon the covenant nation and the imperial power.