Nahum: the fall of Nineveh
Nahum announces the fall of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire that had crushed Israel and oppressed Judah. The God who is slow to anger will not leave cruelty unpunished, and he is a stronghold for those who trust in him.
About the book
The book calls itself "the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite" (Nahum 1:1); where Elkosh lay is not known. Nahum's name means ‘comfort’, and John Wesley notes that "it is God's people to whom he gives notice of the destruction of their oppressors" Wesley.
Two events frame the date. Nahum speaks of the fall of Thebes, the great city of Egypt, as past (Nahum 3:8-10); the Assyrians took it about 663 BC. The fall of Nineveh to the Babylonians and the Medes, in 612 BC, is still to come. The church has read the book as the word Nahum received before Nineveh fell, and many scholars also place him between those years. Some, struck by how vividly the city's fall is drawn, think the book reached its present form around that time or after. The map under the Jesus tab sets Nahum in the era of the divided monarchy (930–586 BC).
Assyria had taken Samaria and carried off the northern kingdom in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:6), and in Hezekiah's day it "attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah" (2 Kings 18:13). Nahum is God's comfort for a people under that empire.
How it unfolds
| Chapters | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1:1-8 | Who the LORD is: slow to anger, yet just |
| 1:9-15 | Comfort for Judah, its yoke broken; judgement on Nineveh |
| 2 | A vision of Nineveh's fall: chariots in the streets, the river gates thrown open, the lions' den empty |
| 3 | Woe to the city of blood: Nineveh will fall as Thebes fell |
Key passages
Nahum begins with who God is:
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.
Nahum 1:3
The words echo the name God proclaimed to Moses (Exodus 34:6-7), and Jonah used them when he complained that God was "slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion" (Jonah 4:2). More than a century before, at Jonah's preaching, Nineveh had repented and God had relented (Jonah 3:10). Matthew Henry writes that "soon after, they became worse than ever" Matthew Henry. The God who spared a repentant Nineveh now brings judgement on a city full of blood, lies and plunder (Nahum 3:1). The Westminster Confession of the Presbyterian churches confesses God as ‘long-suffering’ and yet the one ‘who will by no means clear the guilty’, citing Nahum 1:2-3 ch. 2.1.
That justice is comfort for the oppressed:
The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of distress; He cares for those who trust in Him.
Nahum 1:7
If the book's fierce words trouble you, remember to whom they are spoken: an empire of which Nahum asks, "who has not experienced your constant cruelty?" (Nahum 3:19). How God's wrath and his love belong together is taken up in Is the God of the Old Testament different from the God of the New?
The book and Christ
The news of Nineveh's fall was good news for Judah: on the mountains are "the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace" (Nahum 1:15). Isaiah uses the same picture for the herald of salvation to Zion (Isaiah 52:7), and Paul applies it to those sent with the gospel:
And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Romans 10:15
Matthew Henry, too, says Nahum's words "are applied to the great redemption wrought out by our Lord Jesus and the everlasting gospel" Matthew Henry. Peter speaks of the gospel of peace God proclaimed through Jesus Christ (Acts 10:36).
Reading it
Three chapters make one sitting. Read Jonah first, with its lesson, then turn to Nahum 1. Both books end with a question: Jonah with God's "should I not care about the great city of Nineveh" (Jonah 4:11), Nahum with who has not felt Nineveh's cruelty. Read the battle poetry of chapters 2–3 briskly, holding on to the promise of 1:7. Then go on to Habakkuk.
Practice
- Practice 1 of 6
Which city does Nahum say will fall?
- Practice 2 of 6
Between which two events was Nahum most likely given?
- Practice 3 of 6
Which two sides of God does Nahum 1:3 hold together?
- Practice 4 of 6
What do Jonah and Nahum show when they are read together?
- Practice 5 of 6
In Nahum 1:7, whom does the LORD care for?
- Practice 6 of 6
In Romans 10:15, to whom does Paul apply the words "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news"?
Reading to the end marks it read; tap to switch it.
Related topics
Lessons from the Bible, the church's creeds and classic commentary. Each book's author and date are given as the church has received them, and scholars who see them otherwise are presented fairly. Scripture quotations: BSB.