Nahum

Overview

Nahum is a short prophetic poem announcing the fall of Nineveh, capital of the Assyrian Empire. It calls itself "the burden of Nineveh" and "the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite" (1:1). Nothing else is known of Nahum, and the location of Elkosh is uncertain. His name means "comfort", and the book is comfort for Judah: the oppressor will fall.

The book is set between two dated events it mentions or assumes. It refers to the fall of Thebes (No-Amon) to Assyria in 663 BC as past (3:8–10), and it looks forward to the destruction of Nineveh, which fell to the Babylonians and Medes in 612 BC. Assyria had destroyed Samaria and exiled the northern kingdom in 722 BC, and Sennacherib had devastated Judah and besieged Jerusalem in 701 BC. Nahum is in a sense the sequel to Jonah: a century earlier Nineveh had repented; now it faces judgement.

The book falls into three parts: a hymn to the LORD as the avenging judge and refuge of his people (chapter 1); a vivid picture of Nineveh's siege and fall (chapter 2); and a woe-oracle explaining why the "bloody city" falls (chapter 3).

Part 1 — The LORD the Judge and Refuge (chapter 1)

The avenging God (1:2–6). The book opens with a partial acrostic hymn. "God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth." Yet "the LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked" (1:3), echoing Exodus 34:6–7. His way is "in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet"; mountains quake and hills melt before him.

A stronghold for the faithful (1:7–11). "The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him" (1:7). But against his enemies he will make "an utter end". One who "imagineth evil against the LORD" has come out of Nineveh.

Good news for Judah (1:12–15). God has afflicted Judah, but will afflict her no more; he will break Assyria's yoke and burst her bonds. Nineveh's name and idols will be cut off. "Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!" (1:15; compare Isaiah 52:7). Judah may keep her feasts again, for "the wicked shall no more pass through thee".

Part 2 — The Siege and Fall of Nineveh (chapter 2)

The attack (2:1–5). "He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face." The attackers' shields are red and their warriors in scarlet; chariots "seem like torches" and "run like the lightnings". Meanwhile the LORD restores "the excellency of Jacob".

The collapse (2:6–10). "The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved." Nineveh is "like a pool of water", but its people flee: "Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back." The invaders loot silver and gold from endless stores. The city is "empty, and void, and waste", and every heart melts.

The lions' den (2:11–13). Assyria was a lion that tore prey for its cubs and filled its dens with plunder. "Where is the dwelling of the lions?" God declares, "Behold, I am against thee", and its chariots will burn and its messengers be heard no more.

Part 3 — Woe to the Bloody City (chapter 3)

The charge (3:1–7). "Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery." A rapid picture of battle follows: whip, wheels, prancing horses, flashing swords and countless dead. Nineveh is pictured as a seductive sorceress who sold nations through her charms. God will expose her shame, and no one will mourn her.

The lesson of Thebes (3:8–10). "Art thou better than populous No?" Thebes, protected by the Nile, with Ethiopia and Egypt as her strength, was still taken captive. Nineveh's defences will fare no better.

Ripe figs and locusts (3:11–17). Nineveh's fortresses are like fig trees with first-ripe figs, falling into the eater's mouth when shaken. Its gates stand open to the enemy and fire devours its bars. Its merchants are more than the stars, and its officials like locusts that camp in the hedges on a cold day and fly away when the sun rises.

The final lament (3:18–19). "Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria"; its nobles lie in the dust and its people are scattered on the mountains. "There is no healing of thy bruise." All who hear will clap their hands, "for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?"

Key themes, and the bridge to Habakkuk

• God's justice in history. The LORD is patient but not indifferent; violent empires answer to him.
• Comfort for the oppressed. Nineveh's fall is good news, a message of peace for a people long afflicted.
• Pride before the fall. Thebes and Nineveh both trusted walls and rivers; neither could stand against God's judgement.
• God's character. Nahum holds together God's slowness to anger and his refusal to clear the guilty, the same balance Jonah struggled with.

Nahum ends with a question rather than a promise, and history confirmed his vision: in 612 BC Nineveh was destroyed so completely that its site was later lost for centuries. But Assyria's fall made room for a new power, Babylon. Habakkuk takes up the harder question this raises: what happens when God uses a cruel nation to judge his own people?