Book of Nahum
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The Book of Nahum is the seventh book of the 12 minor prophets of the Hebrew Bible. The book has three chapters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is attributed to the prophet Nahum. The most general historical setting of Nahum as a prophet was 663 BC to 612 BC, while the historical setting that produced the book of Nahum is debated, with proposed timeframes ranging from shortly after the fall of Thebes in 663 BC to the Maccabean period around 175-165 BC.<ref> Template:Cite book</ref> Another view, held by the ancient historian Josephus, proposes that the book of Nahum was from the reign of Jotham.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This identification is supported by both the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, both of which refer to Thebes in the present tense rather than the past tense.<ref>https://biblehub.com/sep/nahum/3.htm</ref><ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Nahum%203&version=VULGATE</ref> Its principal theme is the destruction of the Assyrian city of Nineveh.<ref>O'Brien, J. M., 33. Nahum, in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary, p. 599</ref>
BackgroundEdit
Scholars with a preference for Hebrew manuscripts place the writing of the book after the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal's Sack of Thebes in 663 B.C. This view is the current majority opinion because the city of Thebes is referred to in the past tense in the Masoretic Text of Nahum 3:8-10. However, both the Septuagint and Vulgate refer to the city in the present tense, and the former opinion held by scholars was that Nahum lived about a century earlier, before both the captivity of the ten lost tribes and the Sack of Thebes.<ref>https://biblehub.com/sep/nahum/3.htm</ref><ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Nahum%203&version=VULGATE</ref>
The first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> places Nahum's life during the reign of Jotham. This view was also held by the Catholic scholar Thomas Worthington in his notes for the original Douay-Rheims Bible, writing: "Nahum prophesied about 50 years after Jonah ... 135 before the destruction of Niniveh."<ref>https://philologic.northwestern.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.9:1:39.bie</ref> In this view, rather than Ashurbanipal, Nahum's prophecy would have been directed at Tiglath-Pileser III, who revitalized the Neo-Assyrian Empire into a world power again and conquered most of the Levant, defeating and subjugating previously influential kingdoms, including Aram-Damascus. Tiglath-Pileser was contemporary with the reign of Jotham.
Some scholars hold that "the book of the vision" was written at the time of the fall of Nineveh,<ref name="Kent H. Richards 2006" /> at the hands of the Medes and Babylonians in 612 BC.<ref name="Coogan 2009">Michael D. Coogan, A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009) 297–298</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> possibly around 615 BC, before the downfall of Assyria.<ref name="Heaton, E. W. p. 35">Heaton, E. W., A Short Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets, p. 35, Oneworld Publications, P.O. Box 830, 21 Broadway, Rockport, NA 01966, Template:ISBN</ref> The oracles must be dated after the Assyrian destruction of Thebes, Egypt in 663 BC, as this event is mentioned in Nahum 3:8.<ref name="Kent H. Richards 2006">Kent H. Richards, Nahum Introduction: The Harper Collins Study Bible, (New York: Harper Collins, 2006) 1250</ref>
AuthorEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Little is known about Nahum's personal history. His name means "comfort",<ref>Cook, G., Nahum's Prophetic Name, Tyndale Bulletin, 67.1 (2016) 37-40, accessed on 14 September 2024</ref> and he came from the town of Elkosh or Alqosh (Nahum 1:1), which scholars have attempted to identify with several cities, including the modern `Alqush of Assyria and Capernaum of northern Galilee.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was a very nationalistic Hebrew, and lived among the Elkoshites in peace.
Historical contextEdit
The subject of Nahum's prophecy is the approaching complete and final destruction of Nineveh, which was the capital of the great and flourishing Assyrian empire at that time. Ashurbanipal was at the height of his glory. Nineveh was a city of vast extent, and was then the center of the civilization and commerce of the world, according to Nahum a "bloody city all full of lies and robbery",<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> a reference to the Neo-Assyrian Empire's military campaigns and demand of tribute and plunder from conquered cities.
Jonah had already uttered his message of warning, and Nahum was followed by Zephaniah, who also predicted<ref>Zephaniah Template:Bibleverse-nb</ref> the destruction of the city.
Nineveh was destroyed apparently by fire around 625 BC, and the Assyrian empire came to an end, an event which changed the face of Asia. Archaeological digs have uncovered the splendor of Nineveh in its zenith under Sennacherib (705–681 BC), Esarhaddon (681–669 BC), and Ashurbanipal (669–633 BC). Massive walls were eight miles in circumference.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It had a water aqueduct, palaces and a library with 20,000 clay tablets, including accounts of a creation in Enuma Elish and a flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Babylonian chronicle of the fall of Nineveh tells the story of the end of Nineveh. Nabopolassar of Babylon joined forces with Cyaxares, king of the Medes, and laid siege for three months.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Assyria lasted a few more years after the loss of its fortress, but attempts by Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II to rally the Assyrians failed due to opposition from king Josiah of Judah,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and it seemed to be all over by 609 BC.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
OverviewEdit
Beyond its superscription, Nahum 1:1, the Book of Nahum consists of two parts:<ref name="Clark 1994">Template:Cite book</ref> a prelude in chapter one,<ref>Jerusalem Bible (1966), Nahum 1</ref> followed by chapters two and three, which describe the fall of Nineveh, which later took place in 612 BC. Davidson notes that there are two parts to the superscription:
- The burden of Nineveh, or "an oracle against Nineveh", probably an editorial addition, and
- The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite, which "may ... have come from the hand of the prophet himself".<ref>Davidson, A. B. (1896), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Nahum 1, accessed on 16 September 2024</ref>
Nineveh is compared to Thebes,<ref>Template:Bibleverse: New King James Version</ref> the Egyptian city that Assyria itself had destroyed in 663 BC.<ref name="Kent H. Richards 2006" /> Nahum describes the siege and frenzied activity of Nineveh's troops as they try in vain to halt the invaders. Poetically, he becomes a participant in the battle, and with subtle irony, barks battle commands to the defenders. Nahum uses numerous similes and metaphor that Nineveh will become weak "like the lion hiding in its den". It concludes with a taunt song and funeral dirge of the impending destruction of Nineveh and the "sleep" or death of the Assyrian people and demise of the once great Assyrian conqueror-rulers.
Surviving early manuscriptsEdit
The original text was written in Biblical Hebrew.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).Template:Sfn
Fragments of this book were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4QpNah, known as the "Nahum Commentary" (1st century BC);<ref name="VanderKam, James C. 1994. p. 10-11">VanderKam, James C., The Dead Sea Scrolls Today, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994. pp. 10-11.</ref>Template:Sfn 4Q82 (4QXIIg; 1st century BC).<ref name=thewaytoyahuweh>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn and Wadi Murabba'at MurXII (1st century AD).<ref name=thewaytoyahuweh />Template:Sfn
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC, with extant manuscripts including Codex Vaticanus (B; <math> \mathfrak{G}</math>B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: <math> \mathfrak{G}</math>S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; <math> \mathfrak{G}</math>A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; <math> \mathfrak{G}</math>Q; 6th century).Template:Sfn Some fragments containing parts of this chapter (a revision of the Septuagint) were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., Naḥal Ḥever (8ḤevXIIgr; 1st century AD).<ref name=thewaytoyahuweh />Template:Sfn
ThemesEdit
The fall of NinevehEdit
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Nahum's prophecy carries a particular warning to the Ninevites of coming events, although he is partly in favor of the destruction.<ref name="abp">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> One might even say that the book of Nahum is "a celebration of the fall of Assyria".<ref name="Coogan 2009" /> And this is not just a warning or speaking positively of the destruction of Nineveh, it is also a positive encouragement and "message of comfort for Israel, Judah, and others who had experienced the "endless cruelty"<ref name="dupref">Nahum 3:19</ref> of the Assyrians."<ref name="Coogan 2009" />
The prophet Jonah shows us where God shows concern for the people of Nineveh, while Nahum's writing testifies to his belief in the righteousness/justice of God<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and how God dealt with those Assyrians in punishment according to "their cruelty".<ref name="dupref" /> The Assyrians had been used as God's "rod of […] anger, and the staff in their hand [as] indignation."<ref>Isaiah 10:5</ref>
The nature of GodEdit
From its opening, Nahum affirms God to be slow to anger, but that God will by no means ignore the guilty; God will bring his vengeance and wrath to pass. God is presented as a God who will punish evil, but will protect those who trust in Him. The opening passage states: "God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked".<ref>Template:Bibleref2 in the King James Version</ref>
"The LORD is slow to anger and Quick to love; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished."<ref>Template:Bibleref2: (NIV)</ref>
"The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him."<ref>Template:Bibleref2: (NIV)</ref>
ImportanceEdit
God's judgement on Nineveh is "all because of the wanton lust of a harlot, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft."<ref>Template:Bibleref2 NIV</ref> Infidelity, according to the prophets, related to spiritual unfaithfulness.<ref>Centre Column Reference Bible, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994) 1262</ref> For example: "the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD."<ref>Template:Bibleref2 NIV</ref> John of Patmos used a similar analogy in Revelation chapter 17.
The prophecy of Nahum was referenced in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit. In Tobit 14:4 (NRSV) a dying Tobit says to his son Tobias and Tobias' sons:<ref>Template:Bibleref2 NRSV</ref>
[My son] hurry off to Media, for I believe the word of God that Nahum spoke about Nineveh, that all these things will take place and overtake Assyria and Nineveh. Indeed, everything that was spoken by the prophets of Israel, whom God sent, will occur.
However, some versions, such as the King James Version, refer to the prophet Jonah instead.<ref>Tobit 14:4 KJV. Quote: "Go into Media my son, for I surely believe those things which Jonas the prophet spake of Nineve, that it shall be overthrown; and that for a time peace shall rather be in Media; and that our brethren shall lie scattered in the earth from that good land: and Jerusalem shall be desolate, and the house of God in it shall be burned, and shall be desolate for a time;"</ref>
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
SourcesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Sister project Template:Sister project
- Unique Pictures Of Nahum Tomb By Kobi Arami Template:Webarchive
- Jewish translations:
- Nachum – Nahum (Judaica Press) translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org
- Christian translations:
- Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
- BibleGateway
- Nahum – King James Version
- Template:Librivox book Various versions
Commentary
- Template:Cite EB1911 This article also contains a section on the Book of Nahum.
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