Nahum

Nahum the Elkoshite is one of the minor prophets, and his short three-chapter book is taken up entirely with the burden against Nineveh. The opening superscription names him: "The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite" (Na 1:1). Around that single oracle the book builds first a portrait of Yahweh's majesty, then a vision of Nineveh's overthrow, then a closing taunt against Assyria.

The majesty of Yahweh

Before Nineveh is named again, Nahum sets out the character of the God whose burden it is. Yahweh is jealous and avenging, slow to anger and great in power: "Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges; Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath; Yahweh takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserves [wrath] for his enemies" (Na 1:2). The same Yahweh who bears long with offenders does not finally let them go: "Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave unpunished [the guilty]: Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet" (Na 1:3).

Creation registers his approach. He rebukes the sea and dries the rivers; Bashan, Carmel, and Lebanon's flower wither (Na 1:4). The mountains quake and the hills melt; "the earth arose at his presence, yes, the world, and all that dwell in it" (Na 1:5). The opening question seals the section: "Who can stand before his indignation? And who can arise in the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him" (Na 1:6).

Care for his people

In the same chapter Yahweh's terrible side faces outward, but his goodness faces inward toward those who seek refuge in him: "Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in [his Speech]" (Na 1:7). The pivot then turns directly against Nineveh: "But with an overrunning flood he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness" (Na 1:8). The oppressor's plotting cannot stand: "What do you⁺ devise against Yahweh? He will make a full end; affliction will not rise up the second time" (Na 1:9).

The promise to Judah is paired with the threat to Assyria. Though Yahweh has afflicted his people, he will not afflict them again: "Thus says Yahweh: Though they are in full strength, and likewise many, even so they will be cut down, and he will pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. And now I will break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds in sunder" (Na 1:12-13). The Assyrian house and its idols are condemned together: "out of the house of your gods I will cut off the graven image and the molten image; I will make your grave; for you have not measured up" (Na 1:14). The chapter ends with a herald: "Look, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, that publishes peace! Keep your feasts, O Judah, perform your vows; for the wicked one will no more pass through you; he is completely cut off" (Na 1:15).

The fall of Nineveh

The second chapter pictures the assault. The attacker advances and the defenders are summoned to the wall: "He who dashes in pieces has come up against you: keep the fortress, watch the way, make your loins strong, fortify your power mightily" (Na 2:1). Yahweh's own purpose stands behind it: "For Yahweh restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches" (Na 2:2).

The battle is rendered in fast images. Shields are red, valiant men are in scarlet, chariots blaze and cypress spears are brandished (Na 2:3). "The chariots rage in the streets; they rush to and fro in the broad ways: the appearance of them is like torches; they run like the lightnings" (Na 2:4). The river-gates open, the palace is dissolved (Na 2:6), and the city is laid bare. Nineveh, "from of old like a pool of water," empties out as her people flee (Na 2:8). The verdict is plain: "She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melts, and the knees strike together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale" (Na 2:10).

A taunt closes the chapter on the lion-image Assyria had made of itself: "Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion [and] the lioness walked, the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?" (Na 2:11). Yahweh himself stands against the lion: "Look, I am against you, says Yahweh of hosts, and I will burn your crowd in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will be heard no more" (Na 2:13).

Woe to the bloody city

The third chapter opens as a formal woe-oracle: "Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and rapine; the prey does not depart" (Na 3:1). The street of slaughter is laid out — whip and wheel, prancing horses and bounding chariots, the flashing sword and the glittering spear, and "a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies; they stumble on their bodies" (Na 3:2-3). Nineveh's character is named: "the multitude of the whorings of the well-favored whore, the mistress of witchcrafts, that sells nations through her whorings, and families through her witchcrafts" (Na 3:4).

Yahweh's response is direct: "Look, I am against you, says Yahweh of hosts, and I will strip your skirts up over your face, and show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame" (Na 3:5). The fall will be public — none will mourn: "And it will come to pass, that all those who look at you will flee from you, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? From where shall I seek comforters for you?" (Na 3:7).

The taunt invokes No-amon as an exhibit of what happens to a city that thought itself unconquerable: "Are you better than No-amon, that was situated among the rivers, that had the waters round about her; whose rampart was the sea, [and] her wall was more than the sea?" (Na 3:8). Even with Ethiopia, Egypt, Put, and Lubim for help, No-amon was carried into captivity, her children dashed in the streets, her honorable men chained (Na 3:9-10). Nineveh will follow the same arc.

The closing lament addresses Assyria's king directly: "Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; your majestic ones stay at rest; your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is none to gather them" (Na 3:18). The book ends with no relief: "There is no assuaging of your hurt: your wound is grievous: all who hear the report of you clap their hands over you; for on whom has not your wickedness passed continually?" (Na 3:19).