Nahum 1:1-3:19
- Subpages: Verses 1:1-10, Verses 1:11-15, Verses 2:1-3:17, Verses 3:18-19
Contents
Historical setting
Nahum could have been written at any time between the Assyrian conquest of Thebes in Egypt in 663 BC and the fall of the Assyrian capitol Ninevah in 612 BC to an army of Babylonians and Medes.
The Assyrians were brutal and very much feared. During the 700's BC Jonah had unwillingly warned Ninevah to repent in order to avoid destruction, which it did. Then in 721 BC the Assyrian empire conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and carried off the Ten Tribes that were scattered and became lost to us. Now sometime between 663-612 BC Nahum does not warn Ninevah to repent, he simply announces that it will be destroyed.
Brief outline and summary
Nahum can be outlined as follows:
- A1. To Judah and Assyria: God is mighty (1:2-10)
- B1. To Judah: God will deliver you from Assyria (1:11-15)
- B2. To Assyria: Suffer as you have oppressed others (2:1-3:17)
- A2. To the Assyrian king: You are weak (3:18-19)
The first section, which is addressed to both Judah and Assyria jointly, uses masculine plural forms of address. The two middle sections, addressed individually to Judah and then to Assyria, each use feminine singular forms of address (except in 1:14). The last section addressed to the Assyrian king uses masculine singular forms of address. These shifts help to identify where each major section ends and the next begins.
The message of Nahum is that: (A1) God is powerful and just, (B1) he will deliver Judah, and (B2-A2) he will punish the Assyrian capitol Ninevah and its king for their harsh treatment of other nations including Israel.
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.
Each of the major divisions of Amos is discussed separately on the following pages • Verses 1:1-10 • Verses 1:11-15 • Verses 2:1-3:17 • Verses 3:18-19
Detailed discussion
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Parallel passages quoted in other scriptures
- Nahum 1:15 • Romans 10:15 (allusion)
- Nahum 3:4 • Revelation 18:3 (allusion)
Passages affected by Joseph Smith Translation
The Joseph Smith Translation did not make any changes to the book of Nahum.
Complete outline and page list
Items in blue or purple text indicate hyperlinked pages that address specific portions of Nahum.
- B1. To Judah: God will deliver you from Assyria (1:11-15)
- a. Judah has imagined wicked counsel about the Lord (11)
- b. Lord says to Judah: no more afflicted, oppressors cut down (12-13)
- b. Lord says to the Assyrian king: you shall be cut off (14)
- a. Judah should celebrate, wickedness shall not return (15)
- a. Judah has imagined wicked counsel about the Lord (11)
- B1. To Judah: God will deliver you from Assyria (1:11-15)
- B2. To Assyria: Suffer as you have oppressed others (2:1-3:17)
- 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)
- b. Behold I am against thee (2:13)
- a. Ninevah shall be conquered as it once conquered Thebes (3:5-17)
- a. Description of Ninevah's fall (2:1-13)
- B2. To Assyria: Suffer as you have oppressed others (2:1-3:17)
Questions for further thought and study
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Footnotes
Additional sources and links
- Books
- Patterson, Richard D. Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah: The Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary. Chicago: Moody Press, 1991. (ISBN 0737500190) BS1635.3 .P37 1991
- 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, p. 218-19. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 2009. (ISBN 1606411314) BX8630.A2 2009
