The book of Nahum dramatically portrays God overwhelming Assyria to relieve His oppressed people. It was certainly a harsh message for Israel's enemies, but for the people of Judah it was a message of hope.
Relief (ca 728 b.c.) depicting Assyrian archers attacking a besieged city, most likely in Mesopotamia. An Assyrian soldier holds a large shield to protect two archers as they take aim. From the Central Palace in Nimrud and now in the British Museum, London. The Assyrian Empire brought down Israel (Samaria) in 722 b.c. In the next century, when Assyria was the dominant power in the ancient Near East, Nahum prophesied that, contrary to appearances, God would completely destroy Nineveh, the beautiful capital of Assyria (1:7-8).
Circumstances of Writing
Author: The presumed author Nahum (1:1) is the only person with that name in the OT. Like Jonah in the previous century, Nahum prophesied judgment upon Nineveh. The Ninevites in Jonah's time had repented (Jon. 3). But now that Nineveh's leaders had resumed their wicked actions, the Lord called Nahum to reaffirm His coming judgment. Ironically Nahum's Hebrew name means "comfort"—comfort for Judah (1:12-15) because its cruel overlord Assyria would be punished without any "comforters" (3:7). Except for the name of his hometown Elkosh (1:1), nothing certain is known about Nahum.
Two events circumscribe the earliest and latest possible dates for the composition of the book of Nahum: the capture and downfall of Thebes in about 663 b.c. and the announcements of Nineveh's certain destruction (1:1; 2:8; 3:7) which would happen in 612 b.c. The book's emphasis on the fall of Thebes, seemingly a recent event, would favor a date shortly after 663 b.c., during the reign of the notoriously wicked King Manasseh (ca 686–642 b.c.) and/or his evil son Amon (642–640 b.c.). Certainly Nahum 1:12 (Assyria was still "quiet" [or at complete strength; Hb shalem] and "many") suggests a time before the decline of that empire. This fits the reign of cruel Ashurbanipal (ca 668–627 b.c.) when Assyria was at the pinnacle of its power.
Background: The Assyrian capital Nineveh was located about 220 miles north of the modern Iraqi capital of Baghdad. By Nahum's time, Israel and Judah had experienced long and distressing affliction at the hands of the Assyrians. As early as Shalmaneser III (858–824 b.c.), King Jehu paid tribute to the Assyrians. The Lord often used Assyria as "the rod of mine anger" (Isa. 10:5) to punish His people. Shalmaneser V (727–722 b.c.) and his successor Sargon II (722–705 b.c.) besieged and destroyed Samaria, taking the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity (2 Kings 17:3-6). Similarly Sennacherib captured and devastated Judah, besieging Jerusalem by 701 b.c. (2 Kings 18–19; Isa. 36–37). By Ashurbanipal's reign (ca 669–627 b.c.) Assyrian rulers were infamous for their cruelty (see notes at 3:10 and 3:19).
Message and Purpose
Judgment: The main theme of the book is the impending judgment of Nineveh by the Lord (1:1,8; 2:8-13; 3:7-19) by which He would deliver His people (1:12-15; cp. vv. 7-8). Jehovah would pay back Nineveh and the Assyrians in the same way they had mistreated their enemies. Since they were known for scattering their captives in brutal death marches, the Lord would send a scatterer (2:1) to disperse the Assyrians in retaliation for their cruelty (3:18-19; cp. 3:10). Since the Assyrians delighted in shedding blood and piling up the corpses of their foes, He would transform Nineveh into a city of blood with piles of its own corpses (3:1-3).
As the Assyrians had plucked the capital city Samaria like a first-ripe fig to devour her (fulfilling Isa. 28:4), so too the Lord would cause their capital Nineveh and other fortresses to fall into their enemies' hungry mouths (Nah. 3:12). Though Nineveh (like Thebes) was seemingly impregnable because of its military strength (3:8) and its allies (3:9), the Assyrians would be exiled as they had exiled the Egyptians (3:10).
God, the caring Warrior: The character of God, portrayed as a powerful but caring Warrior (1:2-7), was the propelling force behind Nineveh's judgment. The Lord's jealousy for His people and His wrath toward His enemies (1:2-3), balanced by His compassion and longsuffering nature (1:3; Exod. 34:6-7), seem to pivot on His great power (Nah. 1:3) and goodness (1:7). Jehovah the Warrior will take vengeance on His enemies (1:2,3-6). The portrait of a God of wrath is consistent with His promise to avenge the blood of His servants (Deut. 32:35-36,42-43). Furthermore, God's goodness and compassion was not the doting love of a permissive or impotent grandparent (2 Pet. 3:9-10,12). He was "good" (or kind) to those who took refuge in Him (Nah. 1:7) while bringing destruction on His unrepentant enemies, including Nineveh (1:8).
Contribution to the Bible
The book of Nahum provides a great view of a powerful, just God who maintains His absolute moral standards and offers hope to those who are despised and downtrodden. Nahum teaches us to trust God. Even when we despair of any help, we can know that God will stand with those who belong to Him.
Timeline of Nahum
- 900 b.c.
- Shalmaneser III of Assyria defeats Syria and Israel 853
- 840 b.c.
- 780 b.c.
- Jonah preaches in Nineveh 750?
- 725 b.c.
- Samaria falls to Assyria 722
- Assyria invades Judah 701
- 700 b.c.
- Assyria destroys No in Egypt 665
- Nahum prophesies against Assyria 663
- Jeremiah warns of Babylonian invasion 626
- Zephaniah prophesies the fall of Nineveh 625?
- Nabopolassar of Babylon destroys Nineveh 612
- Babylon defeats Egypt and Assyria at Carchemish 605
- 600 b.c.
Structure
Nahum interweaved typical prophetic strands such as judgment songs against God's enemies (1:9-11,14; cp. 2:13; 3:5-7), a woe oracle or mock lament (3:1-7), salvation oracles for His people Judah (1:12-15), a victory hymn to Jehovah the divine Warrior (1:2-8; cp. Exod. 15; Ps. 98), and a sarcastic "word vision" of imminent enemy invasion (Nah. 2:1-10; cp. 3:2-3). He colored this literary tapestry with satirical "taunt songs" mocking Nineveh's soon-coming role reversal (2:11-12; 3:8-19; cp. 2:1-2; 3:4-5). He ridiculed Nineveh's practice of scattering of peoples to other nations by announcing that God's "scatterer" (2:1-2; 3:18-19) would pay her back in like manner. He taunted that her lion's lair of military spoils would soon be looted (2:11-13). He also mocked her as a witch prostitute condemned to appropriate punishment: nakedness exposed with shame (3:4-7).
Using psychological warfare (as the Assyrians had used against Judah), Nahum taunted Nineveh's dependence on allies and other supposed defenses (3:8-10; cp. Isa. 36:4-20). Esar-haddon, father of Ashurbanipal, had threatened King Manasseh of Judah in 672 b.c. with treaty curses from the gods if they rebelled. As G. Johnston has argued, Jehovah converted borrowed treaty terminology to reverse this curse on Judah. It would not be Judah but Assyria's military men who would become defenseless like women (Nah. 3:13). The Assyrians' ravaging of the land like a swarming army of locusts (cp. Joel 1:4-12; 2:4-9) was evoked and modified in order to mock Nineveh's merchants and military personnel, comparing them to harmless locusts on a wall, easily frightened and scattered (Nah. 3:15-18). The incurable disease threatened from their gods would boomerang and inflict Assyria instead (3:19).
Jehovah as the caring Warrior who would bring vengeance on His enemies, especially Nineveh, in order to save Judah, forms the backbone not only of Nahum's purpose statement but also of the book's literary structure.