Date
The book of Nahum provides a fitting follow-up to Micah. There the 8th-century- s.c. aggression of Assyria provides the historical backdrop and threatens the means by which God will mete out judgment on his unfaithful people. Whereas Micah ends with a hopeful prophecy that anticipates the postpunishment restoration of a Hebrew remnant, Nahum announces the catalyzing event for its fulfillment: the divinely orchestrated downfall of Nineveh, last capital of the oppressive Assyrian Empire. Though for a time employed by God as the instrument of his judgment, Assyria pursued violence to excess (2:11-12; 3:10), and Nahum holds nothing back in describing the reciprocal judgment of God against Nineveh, the center of Assyrian power. Whereas the book of Jonah illustrates God's eagerness to extend grace to the Ninevites, Nahum reveals the consequences of their persistence in overstepping the moral laws of the Lord. Nahum's portrayal of an intensely vengeful God takes for granted the righteousness of his anger and the justice of his punishments.
Date
References to two historical events bracket the time period during which Nahum delivered this prophecy: the sacking of Thebes (Heb. No-Amon, 3:8) by the Assyrians ca. 661 and the fall of Nineveh in 612. Thus Nahum appears to have ministered after the Assyrian conquest of Samaria/Israel (722/21 but before the ultimate fall of Judah with the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 587/86.
1 The Prophetic Finger Points at Nineveh
Nahum received both oracular and visionary revelations (1:1). Proposed locations for Nahum's hometown of Elkosh include sites ranging from Judah to Assyria, where conceivably
the Hebrew prophet could have landed after deportation from the fallen northern kingdom. But the uncertain identification of Elkosh and the lack of further personal information about Nahum render such suggestions speculative.
While the reader knows from the start that the book points a prophetic finger at Nineveh, the oracle does not name the city until 2:8. The prophecy begins with an ominous emphasis on the punitive vengefulness of God, who though "slow to anger" eventually wreaks havoc on his enemies. Indeed, God's thorough judgment of his adversaries constitutes one element of his goodness toward "those who take refuge in him" N. 7; c£ W. 14-15). By outlining the power of God over nature, Nahum sums up God's ability to accomplish his will (cf. Mic. 1:4). Verse 4 alludes to the parting of the Red Sea at the exodus and to the stopping up of the Jordan River when the Hebrews entered Canaan. The Transjordanian area of Bashan, the Carmel mountain range of Canaan, and Lebanon to its north boasted the region's best forests; so their "withering" takes on greater significance. The destructive "rushing flood" (v. 8) parallels the breaching of Nineveh's walls by floodwaters in 612, which allowed the joint Medo-Babylonian army to conquer the capital (cf. 2:6).
Divine sovereignty extends over humanity, too (vv. 9ff.). Wickedness will not prevail. Verse 11 probably refers to an Assyrian king - perhaps Sennacherib, who besieged Jerusalem in 701. Verse 14 sentences the idol-worshipping Assyrian king to historical oblivion - a fate worse than physical death. His demise bodes well for Judah by freeing her inhabitants to resume their covenantal activities in peace.
2 The Attack Envisioned
This chapter vividly describes the devastating assault on Nineveh. Within the city, chaos and confusion rule the streets. From outside, war machines equipped with battering rams ("mantelets") knock breaches in the fortification walls. Water from the Tigris River floods the city, perhaps through canals whose opened gates allow the uncontrolled flow to wash away the palace (v. 6). The fleeing citizens leave behind a wealth of plunder. The end has come for the heretofore impregnable Nineveh, characterized as a lions' den in which the Assyrian predators took refuge while they devoured their prey of conquered peoples.
3 Celebrating the Death of Assyrian Tyranny
The most graphic portrayals of Nineveh's fate appear here: piled-up corpses left by the attack, the city's shameful exposure and humiliation for international "harlotry" (garnering political support for a price). Nahum ominously invites Nineveh to compare herself to another city with natural water defenses and foreign military support: the sometime Egyptian capital of Thebes, bounded by her allies, Ethiopia, Lubim (Libya), and Put (probably Somalia). The Assyrians knew all too well the fate of mighty Thebes, for they themselves sacked it (ca. 661). Verse io recalls Assyria's practice of exiling indigenous populations (cf. 2 Kgs. 17:5-6), her gruesome practice of "dashing to pieces" the children of conquered peoples (cf. Hos. 13:16), and her merciless humiliation of their leaders. Such barbarism explains the universal rejoicing at her demise (v. 19) and justifies the reciprocal punishment of the excessively violent city.
Nahum's taunting tone is clear in verses 13- 18. His derisive characterization of the Ninevite population as "women" grows out of a patriarchal society that did not train females as warriors and so expected them to flee in the face of danger. And flee the fainthearted Ninevite warriors will - like a swarm of innumerable locusts that are here one minute and gone the next. Verses 18-19 warn the Assyrian king that his officials ("shepherds") are dead, and the breakdown of his kingdom has passed the point of healing. Nahum closes by sanctioning human approval of God's just judgment against the wicked.