Nahum
Purpose
Nahum is a single, concentrated oracle of judgement on Nineveh, the capital of the brutal Assyrian Empire that had terrorized the ancient Near East for over a century, and its message is relief and consolation for a people who have lived under its shadow. Where Jonah had seen Nineveh spared by repentance, Nahum proclaims that the hour of patient waiting has ended: the LORD is "slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty" (1:3). The book opens with a hymn to the LORD as both a refuge for those who trust him and an irresistible, overwhelming foe to his enemies, then turns to a vivid, almost cinematic depiction of Nineveh's siege and catastrophic fall. The city that once "dwelt secure" and "multiplied merchants" will be devoured and left a desolation, and the prophet's woe is that Nineveh's cruelty had been without end. Nahum ends with a funeral dirge over the empire and a single note of comfort for Judah: her afflicted ones will never again be troubled by the oppressor.
Author
Nahum the Elkoshite
Time Period
c. 660-630 BC, shortly before Nineveh's fall in 612 BC
Key Themes
- God's sovereignty over empires
- Judgement on cruelty
- The day of the LORD
- Comfort for God's people
Outline
A psalm on the LORD's power and jealousy (ch. 1): the LORD as a jealous and avenging God, slow to anger; the whirlwind and the storm; he is a stronghold in the day of trouble and good to those who take refuge; and the destruction of those who conspire against him. The siege and fall of Nineveh (ch. 2): the scatterer comes up; the crack of the whip and the rumbling wheels; the river gates burst open and the palace melts; the lion's den is emptied; and the bleeding prey of Assyria's violence is ended. The woe and dirge over Nineveh (ch. 3): the city of blood, full of lies and plunder; the uncounted corpses; the cup of the LORD's wrath poured out; as the locusts strip the land, so Assyria falls, and "all who hear the news about you clap their hands over you."