Nahum 1:1-3:19

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Summary[edit]

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Relationship to Old Testament. Nahum is one of the "Twelve Minor Prophets" of the Old Testament. The relationship of Nahum to the Old Testament as a whole, and to the other minor prophets in particular, is discussed at Old Testament: Organization.

Story. Nahum consists of a series of four speeches or addresses to different audiences (a complete outline appears below):

  • Nahum 1:2-10: To Judah and Assyria: God is mighty. He is a powerful and just protecting of those who rely upon him.
  • Nahum 1:11-15: To Judah. God will deliver you from Assyria.
  • Nahum 2:1-3:17: To Assyria. Suffer as you have oppressed others.
  • Nahum 3:18-19: To the Assyrian king. You are weak. When the Lord brings all of this to pass, the Assyrian king will be revealed as weak and unable to protect those who have looked to him.

Message. Themes, symbols, and doctrinal points emphasized in Nahum include:

  • God is a powerful and just protector, and by comparison even the king of mighty Assyria is weak.
  • God will deliver Judah and will punish Assyria for its harsh treatment of other nations, including Israel.

Historical setting[edit]

This heading should be brief and explain facts about the historical setting that will help a reader to understand the book. Click the link above and to the right to edit or add content to this heading. →

Israel spent much of its existence caught between two great powers, one to the south and another to the north. As these two great powers struggled for supremacy, Israel and its small neighbors struggled just to survive. The great power to the south was always Egypt, which benefited from the Nile River's annual floods. During the time that Israel was divided into two kingdoms, the great power to the north was Assyria with its capitol at Ninevah. The Assyrians were particularly cruel and were very much feared.

During about the reign of king Jeroboam II over the Northern Kingdom of Israel (793-753 BC),[1] Jonah warned Ninevah to repent in order to avoid destruction. The city did repent and was spared (Jonah 1:1-2; 3:5-10). In the latter part of Jeroboam II's reign, during 768-753 BC,[2] Amos likewise warned the Northern Kingdom to repent in order to avoid destruction (Amos 7:7-9). The Northern Kingdom did not repent, and in 723 BC Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom and scattered its Ten Tribes so that they became lost.[3] Sixty years later Assyria's reach had grown sufficiently to briefly conquer the great Egyptian city and sometimes capitol at Thebes (now Luxor) in 663 BC.[4] At some point after the fall of Thebes (scholars disagree as to exactly when),[5] Nahum simply announced that Ninevah would likewise fall. Although Nahum explained the causes of Ninevah's impending destruction, he did not, as Jonah did, expressly call upon the city to repent of those causes. Nahum's prophecy was subsequently fulfilled in 612 BC, fifty years after the fall of Thebes, when the Assyrian capitol Ninevah was conquered by an army of Babylonians and Medes (Persians).[6]

A broader treatment of the history of ancient Israel, including Nahum, is found at Old Testament: Historical Overview.

Discussion[edit]

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Nahum[edit]

  • Nahum: Identification of four addresses. The first address, which is directed to both Judah and Assyria jointly (1:2-10), uses second person masculine plural forms of address. The two middle addresses, directed individually to Judah (1:11-15) and then to Assyria (2:1-17), each use second person feminine singular forms of address (except in 1:14). The last address, directed to the Assyrian king (3:5-17), uses second person masculine singular forms of address.[7] These shifts in audience help to identify breaks between major units of thought in Nahum.
  • Nahum: Nahum ends with woe rather than blessing. Nahum ends with a pronouncement of woe upon Assyria. This differs from the usual pattern in which the promise of Israel's deliverance comes last.
  • It has been noted that Obadiah prophesied the destruction of Edom; Amos, the Northern Kingdom of Israel; Zephaniah, the Southern Kingdom of Judah; Ezekiel, Egypt; Nahum, Assyria; Jeremiah, Babylon; and Daniel the rise and fall of several world powers including Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, followed by the eventual setting up of the kingdom of God.

Nahum 1:1-10: Address #1 to Judah and Assyria[edit]

  • Nahum 1:2-10. Chapter 1a contains the first of the four addresses in Nahum. This opening address is directed jointly to both Judah and Assyria.[8]
This opening address can be understood simply as: God is mightier than the elements (3b-5a). He is mightier than his enemies (2-3a, 5b-6, 8-10). And he is a strong hold or refuge for those who trust in him (7).
  • Nahum 1:3. Verse 1:3 is a reference to Ex 34:6-7, which recites God's qualities of justice and mercy.
  • Nahum 1:6-8. These verses are introduced with the double question: Who can stand before the Lord's indignation? Who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? This question is followed by an affirmation that the Lord cares for those who trust in him but pours out overwhelming fury upon his enemies.
  • Nahum 1:9-10. Verses 1:9-10 are introduced with the question: What do ye imagine against the Lord? This question is followed by an affirmation that the Lord will utterly devour those who oppose him.

Nahum 1:11-15: Address #2 to Judah[edit]

  • Nahum 1:11-15. Chapter 1b contains the second of the four addresses in Nahum. This one is directed to Judah.[9] This address can be outlined as follows:
a. Judah has imagined wicked counsel about the Lord (1:11)
b. Lord says to Judah: no more afflicted, oppressors cut down (1:12-13)
b. Lord says to the Assyrian king: you shall be cut off (1:14)
a. Judah should celebrate, wickedness shall not return (1:15)
This passage can be understood as declaring that God will deliver Judah from Assyria.
  • Nahum 1:11, 15. Verses 11 and 15 both use the Hebrew word "belial," which means evil or worthless in a generalized way (as distinguished from personified evil).[10] The worthless counsel of verse 1:11 will, per verse 1:15, be banished. This "worthless counselor" is often interpreted to mean the Assyrian King Sennacherib who epitomized Assyrian pride when he besieged and taunted Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah and the ministry of Isaiah[11] (2 Kgs 18-19; 2 Chron 32:1-23; Isa 36-37).
  • Nahum 1:11-15. Most of this text uses the feminine singular form of address in speaking to Judah. But the masculine form of address is used in verse 1:14, indicating that this verse is instead directed to someone else. Like the last two verses of Nahum (3:18-19), in which masculine singular address is also used, verse 1:14 is therefore likely addressed to the Assyrian king.[13] Thus it is likely the Assyrian king, not Judah, who will die for blasphemy, whose seed will end, and whose gods will be thrown down.

Nahum 2:1-3:17: Address #3 to Assyria[edit]

  • Nahum 2:1-3:17. Chapter 2-3a contains the third of the four addresses in Nahum. This address is directed to the nation of Assyria,[14] a cruel and expanding great power in Nahum's day.
This address can be outlined as a chiasm in which the main point is located at the middle. This address is also by far the longest in Nahum, taking up more than half the entire book. Whatever appears at the middle of this section is thus given the most prominent position in the entire book.
a. description of Ninevah's fall (2:1-13)
b. Behold I [the Lord] am against thee (2:13)
c. reasons for Ninevah's fall (3:1-4)
b. Behold I [the Lord] am against thee (3:5)
a. Ninevah shall be conquered as it previously conquered Thebes (3:5-17)
The opening and closing thirds of this address are prophetic descriptions of Ninevah's fall. The middle third explains the Lord's reasons why Ninevah will be overthrown. This address to Assyria can be summarized as: Suffer for your evil acts in the same way that you have made others to suffer.

Nahum 2:1-13: Address #3a: The fall of Ninevah[edit]

  • Nahum 2:1-13: Summary. The first third of the address to Assyria (2:1-13) describes the fall of its capital Ninevah.
  • Nahum 2:1-2: Difficulty of KJV. Verse 2:2 can be difficult to understand in the King James Version. Several other translations clearly state in this verse that the Lord will restore the excellency of Jacob to its former glory (NIV, NASB, RSV Amplified).
  • Nahum 2:3-5: Military activities. There is disagreement among scholars whether the military activities described in verses 2:3-5 are defensive preparations within Ninevah or instead the attacking invaders.[15] Continuing disagreement is possible because both interpretations are consistent with the general situation that Nahum describes.
  • Nahum 2:6-8: Flood. Verses 2:6, 8 describe Ninevah being overcome as by an overflowing flood. An ancient account by Diodorus Siculus (of questionable reliability) describes the river bring redirected against the earthen walls of Ninevah, eroding a hole through which invading Babylonian soldiers were then able to pass.[16]
  • Nahum 2:7, 9: Huzzab. These verses describe gold, furniture, and "Huzzab" being carried off. While the loss of "Huzzab" is apparently intended to portray a sense of Ninevah's loss, scholars can only guess what the term refers to. A common guess, but it is only a guess, is a statue of an Assyrian deity accompanied by attendants.[17] This is a good example of being able to understand the author's idea even without understanding the meaning of every word.
  • Nahum 2:10-13: The lion taunt. Verses 2:10-13 describe the empty condition of Ninevah after its fall. These verses are commonly referred to as the "lion taunt." Lion hunting was often used to represent the strength of Assyria's royal house[18] (see for example this picture of a relief in the British Museum.) Though the Assyrian lion previously roamed without fear gathering plenty of prey, now its chariots shall be cut off, its prey will cease, and its young lions will be devoured by the sword.

Nahum 3:1-4: Address #3b: Assyria's crimes[edit]

  • Nahum 3:1-4: Central importance of this passage. Verses 3:1-4 stand at the center of the address to Assyria. The placement of this passage at the center of the book's major section gives it great prominence and suggests that it is the central message of the entire book.
  • Nahum 3:1-4: Itemization of Assyria's crimes. In these verses the Lord announces woe upon the Assyrian capitol Ninevah, "the bloody city," because "it is all full of lies and robbery, ... there is a multitude of slain, ... [and] the multitude of the whoredoms ... [and] witchcrafts." These are the Lord's stated reasons that justify the Lord coming out in judgment against Ninevah.
  • Nahum 3:1-4: Challenge to combat. The verses that immediately precede and follow this passage both repeat the Lord's challenge, calling Assyria to combat: "Behold, I am against thee" (2:13; 3:5).

Nahum 3:5-17: Address #3c: The fall of Ninevah revisited[edit]

  • Nahum 3:5-17: Summary. The closing third of the address to Assyria again describes Ninevah's fall (3:5-17). But in this description not only will Ninevah fall, poetic justice will also be served as Assyria suffers in the same way that it previously oppressed others.
  • Nahum 3:5-7: Ninevah's final condition. These verses are placed opposite the lion taunt (Verses 2:10-13) and begin with the repeated challenge "Behold, I am against thee." Here this challenge is accompanied by a description of what will be Assyria's final condition: naked, covered in filth, vile, alone, and uncomforted.
  • Nahum 3:8-10: Ninevah compared to Thebes. These verses compare the future fall of Ninevah to the past fall of Thebes. During about 711-525 BC, Thebes (now Luxor) was the principal city of Egypt and was at times the capital. Thebes was located about about 400 miles south of the Mediterranean Sea along the Nile River. At the height of Assyrian power, the Assyrians managed to conquer and hold Egypt for about a decade. Thebes fell in 663 BC. Another name for Thebes was No-Amon, or city of the god Amon. Here Nahum states that No (Thebes), a capitol city of the southern great power Egypt, fell despite its many allies, and that Ninevah, capitol of the northern great power Assyria, will fare likewise.[19]
  • Nahum 3:11-17: Ninevah's final condition revisited. Verses 3:11-17 employ several metaphors to describe Ninevah's defenseless condition (ripe figs, open gates) and its consequent desolation (fire, cankerworm). This section ends with the Assyrian locusts (army) fleeing at the rising sun (God's presence).

Nahum 3:18-19: Address #4 to Assyria's king[edit]

  • Nahum 3:18-19. The last two verses of Nahum contain the last of the book's four addresses. This one is addressed to the Assyrian king.[20] This concluding address makes the point that the Assyrian king is weak, in contrast to the Lord's great strength as praised in the opening address of Nahum (1:2-10).
  • Nahum 3:18-19. One way to understand this passage is to fear and trust in God, not the arm of flesh. Another is that God will bring the Assyrian king to justice by inflicting upon him what he has inflicted on others.
  • Nahum 3:18. Verse 3:18 describes the Assyrian king's nobles as dust and his people as scattered. The scattered and ungathered condition of the Assyrian king's people stands in contrast to the Lord's people, for whom the Lord is a strong hold (1:7).
  • Nahum 3:19. In verse 3:19 the Assyrian king himself is stricken, and those who hear of it will be glad. This again stands in contrast to the questions posed in the opening address that emphasize the Lord's strength: Who can stand before his indignation? and: Who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? (1:6).

Complete outline and page map[edit]

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A. To Judah and Assyria: God is mighty (Chapter 1a) (1:2-10)

B. To Judah: God will deliver you from Assyria (Chapter 1b)

a. Judah has imagined wicked counsel about the Lord (1:11)
b. Lord says to Judah: no more afflicted, oppressors cut down (1:12-13)
b. Lord says to the Assyrian king: you shall be cut off (1:14)
a. Judah should celebrate, wickedness shall not return (1:15)

B'. To Assyria: Suffer as you have oppressed others (Chapter 2-3a)

a. Description of Ninevah's fall (2:1-13)
b. Behold I am against thee (2:13)
c. announcement of woe and reasons for Ninevah's fall (3:1-4)
b. Behold I am against thee (3:5)
a. Ninevah shall be conquered as it once conquered Thebes (3:5-17)

A'. To the Assyrian king: You are weak (Chapter 3b) (3:18-19)

Points to ponder[edit]

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I have a question[edit]

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Resources[edit]

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Translations[edit]

  • Amplified • The Amplified Bible, 1987 update
  • NASB • New American Standard Bible, 1995 update
  • NIV • New International Version
  • NRSV • New Revised Standard Version
  • RSV • Revised Standard Version

Parallel passages[edit]

Text transmission[edit]

  • The consonantal Masoretic Text (MT) of Nahum is well preserved, as attested by the Dead Sea Scrolls, with possible corruptions of the Masoretic Text only at 1:4b and 3:18. The canonicity of Nahum is well attested, and there is no significant scholarly debate on this point.[22]

Joseph Smith Translation[edit]

  • The Joseph Smith Translation made no changes to the book of Nahum.[23]

Cited references[edit]

  • Patterson, Richard D. Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah: The Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary. Chicago: Moody Press, 1991. (ISBN 0737500190) BS1635.3 .P37 1991.
  • Steinmann. Andrew E. From Abraham to Paul: A Biblical Chronology. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2011. (ISBN 0758627998). BS637.3 .S74 2011.
  • Sweeney, Marvin A. The Twelve Prophets: Berit Olam Studies in Hebrew Narrative and Poetry, Vol. 2. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 2000. (ISBN 0814650910) BS1560 .S94 2000.
  • Wayment, Thomas A., ed. The Complete Joseph Smith Translation of the Old Testament. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 2009. (ISBN 1606411314) BX8630 .A2 2009.
  • Wilmington, Harold L. Willmington's Complete Guide to Bible Knowledge: Old Testament Survey. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992. (ISBN 0842381651) BS417 .w49 1990.

Other resources[edit]

Notes[edit]

Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves, such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word. In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources are preferable to footnotes.

  1. 2 Kgs 14:25; Steinmann, From Abraham to Paul, 141.
  2. Steinmann, From Abraham to Paul, 151.
  3. The date of the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom is often stated to be 721 BC or 722 BC, but the date of 723 BC appears to be more accurate. Steinmann, From Abraham to Paul, 136, 141, 156.
  4. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, p. 3; Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 421.
  5. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, p. 5-7; Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 425.
  6. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, p. 5; Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 419, 424.
  7. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 422, 426.
  8. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 422, 426-27.
  9. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 422.
  10. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 432.
  11. Willmington, Willmington's Complete Guide, p. 520
  12. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 433.
  13. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 422, 432-33.
  14. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 422, 435.
  15. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 437-38.
  16. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 421, 436, 439.
  17. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 439.
  18. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 440.
  19. LDS Old Testament Institute Manual: Nahum (PDF version), sec. 20-2, 20-8, p. 219-20; Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 444-45.
  20. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 422, 435-36, 444.
  21. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, p. 422, 432, 435-36.
  22. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, p. 13-14.
  23. Wayment, The Complete Joseph Smith Translation of the Old Testament, p. 218-19.


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