Nahum 2

Word Biblical Commentary's Outline for Chapter 2

2. Prophetic responses 1:9–2:3 (Eng. 1:9–2:2)

• 1. • a. Disputation speech and judgment oracle against Assyria 1:9–11

     • b. Salvation oracle for Judah 1:12–13

     • c. Judgment oracle against the king of Assyria 1:14

     • d. Salvation oracle for Judah 2:1, 3 (Eng. 1:15, 2:2)

3. Mocking judgment in the battle for Nineveh 2:2, 4–11 (Eng. 2:1, 3–10)

4. Taunt song against Nineveh 2:12–14 (Eng. 11–13)

Tyndale Old Testament Commentary's Outline for Chapter 2

4. GOD’S DUAL VERDICTS (1:12–2:2)

1. • a. Judah: end of oppression (1:12–13)

   • b. Assyria: end of the line (1:14)

   • c. Judah: good news (1:15)

   • d. Assyria: prepare for battle (2:1)

   • e. Judah: ruin restored (2:2)

5. VIGNETTE OF BATTLE (2:3–10)

1. • a. Attack (2:3–5)

   • b. Defeat (2:6–10)

6. THE LION OF ASSYRIA ROUTED (2:11–13)

Nahum 2:1 - Warning to Nineveh

2:1 The scatterer has come up against you.
Man the ramparts;
watch the road;
dress for battle;
collect all your strength.

What is the purpose of this warning?

Nahum 2:2 - Comfort to Israel

2   For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob
as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have plundered them
and ruined their branches.

What comfort does Judah have? What aspect of God does this relate to?

Who is ultimately behind the destruction of Nineveh?

Nahum 2:3-5 - Description of Nineveh’s Attackers

3  The shield of his mighty men is red;
his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots come with flashing metal
on the day he musters them;
the cypress spears are brandished.

4  The chariots race madly through the streets;
they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches;
they dart like lightning.

5  He remembers his officers;
they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall;
the siege tower is set up.

How does vs. 3-4 describe the attackers, what senses are they appealing to?

Nahum 2:6-10 - Description of Nineveh’s Fall

6  The river gates are opened;
the palace melts away;

7  its mistress is stripped; she is carried off,
her slave girls lamenting,
moaning like doves
and beating their breasts.

8  Nineveh is like a pool
whose waters run away.
“Halt! Halt!” they cry,
but none turns back.

9  Plunder the silver,
plunder the gold!
There is no end of the treasure
or of the wealth of all precious things.

10  Desolate! Desolation and ruin!
Hearts melt and knees tremble;
anguish is in all loins;
all faces grow pale!

How is Nineveh pictured in this passage?

How does Nineveh's end match up to what we read last session about the usage of water to attack the city?

Nineveh has been accumulating wealth. What is to become of that wealth?

Nahum 2:11-12 - The Lions' Den of Nineveh

11  Where is the lions’ den,
the feeding place of the young lions,
where the lion and lioness went,
where his cubs were, with none to disturb?

12  The lion tore enough for his cubs
and strangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
and his dens with torn flesh.

Nineveh was a city that celebrated lions. The Assyrian royalty loved to hunt lions, and decorated their palaces with images of lion hunts.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_Hunt_of_Ashurbanipal

What is Nineveh compared to? What has happened to Nineveh? Why was Nineveh compared to these?

What is the Lord going to do to the power of Nineveh?

What do we learn in Nahum chapter 2?

• We see the Lord's warning to Nineveh.

• We see the comfort to God's chosen people.

• We see the future (at the time of composition) description of Ninveh's attackers and the Fall of Nineveh.

• We see the ironic end of the den of lions (Nineveh's kings).

• We see the Lord's work in fighting against Nineveh.

What were some of the characteristics of the rulers of Nineveh?

• YouTube: 13. The Assyrians - Empire of Iron (3 hours)