Reference: Nahum (2)
Fausets
consolation and "vengeance", to Israel and Israel's foe respectively. The two themes alternate in Nahum 1; as the prophecy advances, vengeance on Assyria predominates.
Country. "The Elkoshite" (Na 1:1), from Elkosh or Elkesi a village of Galilee pointed out to Jerome (Preface in Nahum). Capernaum, "village of Nahum," seemingly takes its name from Nahum having resided in the neighbourhood, though born in Elkosh. The allusions in Nahum indicate local acquaintance with Palestine (Na 1:4,15; 2:2) and only general knowledge of Nineveh (Na 2:4-6; 3:2-3). This confutes the notion that the Alkush (resembling the name Elkosh), E. of the Tigris and N. of Mosul, is Nahum's place of birth and of burial, though Jewish pilgrims visit it as such.
DATE. Hezekiah's time was that in which trust in Jehovah and the observance of the temple feasts prevailed as they did not before or after. So in Na 1:7,15, "Jehovah is a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth (with approval) them that trust in Him ... O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts." Moreover Nahum has none of the reproofs for national apostasy which abound in the other prophets. Nahum in Elkosh of Galilee was probably among those of northern Israel, after the deportation of the ten tribes, who accepted Hezekiah's earnest invitation to keep the Passover at Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 30). His graphic description of Sennacherib and his army (2Ch 1:9-12) makes it likely he was near or in Jerusalem at the time.
Hence, the number of phrases corresponding to those of Isaiah (Na 1:8-9, compare Isa 8:8; 10:23; Na 2:10 with Isa 24:1; 21:3; Na 1:15 with Isa 52:7). The prophecy in Na 1:14, "I will make it (namely, 'the house of thy gods,' i.e. Nisroch) thy grave," foretells Sennacherib's murder 20 years after his return from Palestine, "as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god" (Isa 37:38). He writes while Assyria's power was yet unbroken (Na 1:12; 2:11-13; 3:1, "the bloody city, full of lies ... the prey departeth not": Na 3:15-17). The correspondence of sentiments in Nahum with those of Isaiah and Hezekiah implies he wrote when Sennacherib was still besieging and demanding the surrender of Jerusalem (Na 1:2 ff, with 2Ki 19:14-15; Na 1:7 with 2Ki 18:22; 19:19,31; 2Ch 32:7-8; Na 1:9,11 with 2Ki 19:22,27-28; Na 1:14 with 2Ki 19:6-7; Na 1:15 and Na 2:1-2 with 2Ki 19:32-33; Na 2:13, "the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard," namely, Rabshakeh the bearer of Sennacherib's haughty message, with 2Ki 19:22-23).
The historical facts presupposed in Nahum are Judah's and Israel's humiliation by Assyria (Na 2:2); the invasion of Judah (Na 1:9-11); the conquest of No-Amon or Thebes in Upper Egypt, probably by Sargon (Isaiah 20) who, fearing lest Egypt should join Palestine against him, undertook an expedition against it, 717-715 B.C. (Na 3:8-10). Tiglath Pileser and Shalmaneser had carried away Israel. Judah was harassed by Syria, and oppressed by Ahaz's payments to Tiglath Pileser (2 Chronicles 28; Isaiah 8-9). As Nahum refers in part prophetically to Sennacherib's (Sargon's successor) last attempt on Judah ending in his host's destruction, in part as matter of history (Na 1:9-13; 2:13), he must have prophesied about 713-710 B.C., 100 years before the event foretold, namely, the overthrow of Nineveh by the joint forces of Cyaxares and Nabopolassar in the reign of Chyniladanus, 625 or else 603 B.C.
The name "Huzzab" (Na 2:7) answers to Adiabene, from the Zab or Diab river on which that region lay; a personification of Assyria, and seems to be an Assyrian word. So the original words, minzaraik, taphsarika, for "crowned" or "princes" (Na 3:17) and "captains" or "satraps" (also in Jer 51:27); contact with Assyria brought in these words. Na 2:13, "the faces gather blackness," corresponds to Isa 13:8; Joe 2:6; Joel is probably the original. Na 1:6 with Joe 2:7; Am 2:14; Na 1:3 with Joe 2:13; the mourning dove, Na 2:7, with Isa 38:14; the first ripe figs, Na 3:12, with Isa 28:4; Na 3:13 with Isa 19:16; Na 3:4 with Isa 23:15; Na 2:4-5,13 with Isa 22:7; 36:9; Mic 1:13; 5:10.
The Assyrians, by just retribution, in turn should experience themselves what they caused to Israel and Judah (compare also Na 1:3 with Jon 4:2; Na 1:13 with Isa 10:26-27; Na 1:8 with Isa 10:21-22; 8:8; Na 1:9,11 with Isa 37:23; Na 3:10 with Isa 13:16; Na 2:2 with Isa 24:1; Na 3:5 with Isa 47:2-3; Na 3:7 with Isa 51:19). Plainly, Nahum is the last of the prophets of the Assyrian period. Jeremiah borrows from, and so stamps with inspiration, Nahum (Jer 10:19 compare Na 3:19; Jer 13:26 compare Na 3:5; Jer 50:37; 51:30, compare Na 3:13). Nahum is seventh in position in the canon, and seventh in date.
Subject matter. "The burden of Nineveh." The three chapters form one consecutive whole, remarkable for unity of aim. Nahum encourages his countrymen with the assurance that, alarming as their position seemed, assailed by the mighty foe which had already carried captive the ten tribes, yet that not only should the Assyrian fail against Jerusalem, but Nineveh and his own empire should fall; and this not by chance, but by Jehovah's judgment for their iniquities.
STYLE. Clear and forcible. Several phases of an idea are presented in the briefest sentences; as in the sublime description of God in the beginning, the overthrow of Nineveh, and that of No Amon. Melting softness and delicacy alternate with rhythmical, sonorous, and majestic diction, according as the subject requires; the very sound of the words conveys to the ear the sense (Na 2:4; 3:3). Paronomasia or verbal assonance is another feature of likeness to Isaiah, besides those already mentioned (Na 1:3,6,10; 2:2-3,11; 3:2).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
But if ye say to me, We trust in LORD our God, is that not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
And Isaiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus says LORD, Do not be afraid of the words that thou have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear news, and shall return to his own land. And I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. And Hezekiah went up to the house of LORD, and spread it before LORD. And Hezekiah prayed before LORD, and said, O LORD, the God of Israel, who sits [above] the cherubim, thou are the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. Thou have made heaven and earth.
Now therefore, O LORD our God, save thou us, I beseech thee, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou LORD are God alone.
Whom have thou defied and blasphemed? And against whom have thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? [Even] against the Holy One of Israel.
Whom have thou defied and blasphemed? And against whom have thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? [Even] against the Holy One of Israel. By thy messengers thou have defied LORD, and have said, With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon. And I will cut down the tall cedars of it, and the choice f
But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against me. Because of thy raging against me, and because thine arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou came.
For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion those who shall escape. The zeal of LORD shall perform this. Therefore thus says LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. read more. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come to this city, says LORD.
Now, O LORD God, let thy promise to David my father be established. For thou have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people. For who can judge this thy people, that is so great? read more. And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thy heart, and thou have not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of those who hate thee, neither yet have asked long life, but have asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that wisdom and knowledge is granted to thee. And I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before thee, neither shall any after thee have the like.
and it shall sweep onward into Judah. It shall overflow and pass through; it shall reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of its wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.
and it shall sweep onward into Judah. It shall overflow and pass through; it shall reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of its wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.
A remnant shall return, [even] the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though thy people, Israel, be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall return. A destruction [is] determined, overflowing with righteousness. read more. For a full end, and that determined, the Lord, LORD of hosts, will make in the midst of all the earth.
And LORD of hosts will stir up against him a scourge as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up according to the manner of Egypt. And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall depart from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of fatness.
And they shall be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold. They shall be in pain as a woman in travail. They shall look in amazement one at another, their faces, faces of flame.
Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses shall be rifled, and their wives ravished.
In that day the Egyptians shall be like women, and they shall tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of LORD of hosts, which he shakes over them.
Therefore my loins are filled with anguish. Pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman in travail. I am pained so that I cannot hear. I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
And it came to pass, that thy choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. After the end of seventy years it shall be to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:
Behold, LORD makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the inhabitants of it.
Behold, LORD makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the inhabitants of it.
And the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer, which, when he who looks upon it sees, while it is yet in his hand, he eats it up.
How then can thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
Whom have thou defied and blasphemed? And against whom have thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? [Even] against the Holy One of Israel.
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
Like a swallow [or] a crane, so I chattered. I moaned as a dove. My eyes fail [with looking] upward. O LORD, I am oppressed, be thou my surety.
Take the millstones, and grind meal. Remove thy veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and will spare no man.
These two things have befallen thee (Who shall bemoan thee?): Desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword. How shall I comfort thee?
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, Thy God reigns!
Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous, but I said, Truly this is [my] grief, and I must bear it.
Therefore I will also uncover thy skirts upon thy face, and thy shame shall appear.
A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mixed people who are in the midst of her, and they shall become as women. A sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed.
Set ye up a standard in the land. Blow the trumpet among the nations. Prepare the nations against her. Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a marshal against her. Cause the horses to come u
The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting; they remain in their strongholds. Their might has failed. They have become as women. Her dwelling-places are set on fire. Her bars are broken.
At their presence the peoples are in anguish; all faces have grown pale. They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like men of war, and they march each one on his ways. And they do not break their ranks.
And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn to LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents of the evil.
And flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, nor shall the mighty deliver himself.
And he prayed to LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I hastened to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that thou are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundan
Bind the chariot to the swift steed, O inhabitant of Lachish. She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
And it shall come to pass in that day, says LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and will destroy thy chariots,
The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. LORD is a jealous God and avenges. LORD avenges and is full of wrath. LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserves [wrath] for his enemies. read more. LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means clear [the guilty]. LORD has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means clear [the guilty]. LORD has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means clear [the guilty]. LORD has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languishes.
Who can stand before his indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him.
Who can stand before his indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him. LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knows those who take refuge in him.
LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knows those who take refuge in him. But with an over running flood he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
But with an over running flood he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness. What do ye devise against LORD? He will make a full end. Affliction shall not rise up the second time.
What do ye devise against LORD? He will make a full end. Affliction shall not rise up the second time.
What do ye devise against LORD? He will make a full end. Affliction shall not rise up the second time.
What do ye devise against LORD? He will make a full end. Affliction shall not rise up the second time.
What do ye devise against LORD? He will make a full end. Affliction shall not rise up the second time. For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly as dry stubble.
For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly as dry stubble.
For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly as dry stubble. He has gone forth out of thee, who devises evil against LORD, who counsels wickedness.
He has gone forth out of thee, who devises evil against LORD, who counsels wickedness.
He has gone forth out of thee, who devises evil against LORD, who counsels wickedness.
He has gone forth out of thee, who devises evil against LORD, who counsels wickedness. Thus says LORD: Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so they shall be cut down. And he shall pass away. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.
Thus says LORD: Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so they shall be cut down. And he shall pass away. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. And now I will break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds apart.
And now I will break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds apart. And LORD has given commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown. Out of the house of thy gods I will cut off the graven image and the molten image. I will make thy grave, for thou are vile.
And LORD has given commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown. Out of the house of thy gods I will cut off the graven image and the molten image. I will make thy grave, for thou are vile. Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah. Perform thy vows, for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee. He is utterly cut off.
Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah. Perform thy vows, for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee. He is utterly cut off.
Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah. Perform thy vows, for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee. He is utterly cut off.
Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah. Perform thy vows, for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee. He is utterly cut off.
He who dashes in pieces has come up against thee. Keep the fortress. Watch the way. Make thy loins strong. Fortify thy power mightily. For LORD restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel, for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches.
For LORD restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel, for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches.
For LORD restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel, for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches.
For LORD restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel, for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches.
For LORD restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel, for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches. The shield of his mighty men is made red. The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the cypress [spears] are brandished. read more. 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.
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.
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. He remembers his nobles. They stumble in their march. They make haste to the wall of it, and the mantelet is prepared.
He remembers his nobles. They stumble in their march. They make haste to the wall of it, and the mantelet is prepared. The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved. read more. And it is decreed. She is uncovered. She is carried away, and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts.
And it is decreed. She is uncovered. She is carried away, and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts.
She is empty, and void, and waste. And the heart melts, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all have grown pale. 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?
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? The lion tore in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens with prey. read more. Behold, I am against thee, says LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions. And I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be hear
Behold, I am against thee, says LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions. And I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be hear
Behold, I am against thee, says LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions. And I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be hear
Behold, I am against thee, says LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions. And I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be hear
Behold, I am against thee, says LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions. And I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be hear
Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and rapine. The prey departs not. The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels, and prancing horses, and bounding chariots,
The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels, and prancing horses, and bounding chariots, the horseman mounting, and 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 upon their bodies,
the horseman mounting, and 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 upon their bodies, because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, who sells nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. read more. Behold, I am against thee, says LORD of hosts, and I will uncover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
Behold, I am against thee, says LORD of hosts, and I will uncover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
And it shall come to pass, that all those who look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste. Who will bemoan her? From where shall I seek comforters for thee? Are thou 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 of the sea? read more. Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite. Put and Lubim were thy helpers. Yet she was carried away. She went into captivity. Her young sons also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets. And they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
Yet she was carried away. She went into captivity. Her young sons also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets. And they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
All thy fortresses shall be [like] fig trees with the first ripe figs. If they be shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater. Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women. The gates of thy land are set wide open to thine enemies. The fire has devoured thy bars.
Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women. The gates of thy land are set wide open to thine enemies. The fire has devoured thy bars.
There the fire shall devour thee. The sword shall cut thee off. It shall devour thee like the canker-worm. Make thyself many as the canker-worm. Make thyself many as the locust. Thou have multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven. The canker-worm ravages, and flees away. read more. Thy rulers are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of grasshoppers, which encamp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun arises they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
Thy rulers are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of grasshoppers, which encamp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun arises they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
There is no assuaging of thy hurt. Thy wound is grievous. All who hear the report of thee clap their hands over thee, for upon whom has not thy wickedness passed continually?