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 Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997.
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Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997.
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{nay' - uhm}
General Information
The Book of Nahum, seventh of the 12 minor prophetic books in the Old Testament of the Bible, probably dates from shortly after the destruction of Assyria in 612 BC, although the book is cast in the form of a prophecy of events yet to unfold.
Nahum, consolation, the seventh of the so-called minor prophets, an Elkoshite. All we know of him is recorded in the book of his prophecies. He was probably a native of Galilee, and after the deportation of the ten tribes took up his residence in Jerusalem. Others think that Elkosh was the name of a place on the east bank of the Tigris, and that Nahum dwelt there.
Nahum prophesied, according to some, in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz (B.C. 743). Others, however, think that his prophecies are to be referred to the latter half of the reign of Hezekiah (about B.C. 709). This is the more probable opinion, internal evidences leading to that conclusion. Probably the book was written in Jerusalem (soon after B.C. 709), where he witnessed the invasion of Sennacherib and the destruction of his host (2 Kings 19:35). The subject of this prophecy is the approaching complete and final destruction of Nineveh, the capital of the great and at that time flourishing Assyrian empire. Assur-bani-pal was at the height of his glory. Nineveh was a city of vast extent, and was then the centre of the civilzation and commerce of the world, a "bloody city all full of lies and robbery" (Nah. 3:1), for it had robbed and plundered all the neighbouring nations. It was strongly fortified on every side, bidding defiance to every enemy; yet it was to be utterly destroyed as a punishment for the great wickedness of its inhabitants.
Exactly where Nahum falls between 663-612 BC is debated.2 However, several factors may help narrow the range. First, Nahum announced that Assyria would never again subjugate (1:12) nor invade Judah (1:15 [2:1]). So he probably delivered his oracles after 640 BC, the date of the last known Assyrian campaign in the western territories when Ashurbanipal temporarily reasserted Assyrian suzerainty over Judah and other Syro-Palestinian vassals. Second, Nahum presents Assyria as a strong imperialistic tyrannt that was crushing its enemies and extracting oppressive tribute from its vassals (1:12; 2:13; 3:1). This probably reflects the situation before the meteoric fall in Assyrian power after the death of Ashurbanipal in 627 BC. All of his successors - Ashur-etil-ilani (627-623), Sin-shum-lishir (623), Sin-shar-ishkun (623-612), and Ashur-uballit II (612-609) - were weak and ineffective.3 So Nahum probably prophecied sometime during the reign of Ashurbanipal (668-627), the last powerful king of Assyria.
Footnotes:
1 Contrary to A.S. van der Woude, The Book of Nahum:
A Letter Written in Exile, in Oudtestamentliche Studien, Deel XX,
edited by A.S. van der Woude (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1977), 108-126.
2 For discussion, see Walter A. Maier, The Book of Nahum (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1959), 27-40, 87-139; W.C. van Wyk, Allusions to 'Prehistory' and History in the Book of Nahum, in De Fructo Oris Sui: Essays in Honor of Adrianus van Selms (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1971), 222-32; Richard D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah. The Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1991), 3-7.
3 The chronology of the last half century of Assyrian history is filled with problems. The system adopted here follows John Oates, Assyrian Chronology, 631-612 BC, Iraq 27 (1965): 135-59. See also Julian Reade, The Accession of Sinsharushkin, Journal of Cunieform Studies 23 (1970): 1-9.
Isaiah concludes his work at about the end of Hezekiah's reign, which synchronizes with the captivity of the ten tribes of Israel by the Assyrians. At this period of perplexity, to quote Angus: "When the overthrow of Samaria (the capital of Israel), must have suggested to Judah fears for her own safety, when Jerusalem (the capital of Judah), had been drained of its treasure by Hezekiah in the vain hope of turning the fury of the Assyrians from her, and when rumors of the conquest of a part of Egypt by the same great power added still more to the general dismay, Nahum was raised up by Jehovah to reveal His tenderness and power (1:1-8), to foretell the subversion of the Assyrians (1: 9-12), the death of Sennacherib the Assyrian king and the deliverance of Hezekiah from his toils (1:10-15)."
The name of the prophet means consolation. After the consolatory introduction which covers the whole of chapter 1, the prophet predicts in detail, the destruction of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. Properly to grasp Nahum, one needs to compare it with Jonah, of which it is a continuation and supplement. "The two prophecies form parts of the same moral history; the remission of God's judgments being illustrated in Jonah, and the execution of them in Nahum. The city had one denunciation more given a few years later, by Zephaniah (2:13), and shortly afterwards (606 B. C.), the whole were fulfilled."
Questions 1. Against what Gentile nation is this prophecy uttered according to verse 1? 2. Indicate the verses in chapter 1 that are particularly consolatory to Israel. 3. How is Nahum 2:2 rendered in the Revised Version? 4. How does chapter 3:7, 19 show the ultimate utter destruction of Nineveh? 5. How does 3:16 indicate the commercial greatness of that city?
nahum
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