Embedded Files
Overview
Overview
Content Breakdown
Content Breakdown
Nahum Chart from https://bibleproject.com/
Word Biblical Commentary's Outline
Word Biblical Commentary's Outline
Superscription 1:1
A psalm in praise of Yahweh 1:2–8
a. Yahweh—a jealous God 1:2–3a
b. Yahweh—God of creation 1:3b–5
c. Yahweh—God of love and judgment 1:6–8
Prophetic responses 1:9–2:3 (Eng. 1:9–2:2)
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)
Mocking judgment in the battle for Nineveh 2:2, 4–11 (Eng. 2:1, 3–10)
Taunt song against Nineveh 2:12–14 (Eng. 11–13)
Judgment oracle against Nineveh 3:1–7
The analogy of Thebes 3:8–13
Satirical warnings for Nineveh 3:14–17
Rejoicing over ultimate defeat 3:18–19
Tyndale Old Testament Commentary's Outline
Tyndale Old Testament Commentary's Outline
TITLE (1:1)
a. Subject (1:1a)
b. Form (1:1b)
2. A PSALM TO YAHWEH (1:2–8)
a. God’s character (1:2–3a)
b. God’s power (1:3b–6)
c. God’s character and power realized (1:7–8)
3. GOD’S WRATH PERSONALIZED (1:9–11)
4. GOD’S DUAL VERDICTS (1:12–2:2)
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)
a. Attack (2:3–5)
b. Defeat (2:6–10)
6. THE LION OF ASSYRIA ROUTED (2:11–13)
7. WOE TO NINEVEH (3:1–19)
a. Woe (3:1)
b. Fighting and death (3:2–3)
c. The whore’s disgrace (3:4–7)
d. Assyria the invincible? A satire (3:8–17)
i. Mighty Thebes destroyed (3:8–10)
ii. Assyrian inadequacy (3:11–13)
iii. Fruitless preparations (3:14–17)
e. How the mighty have fallen (3:18–19)
Background Information
Background Information
Authorship
Authorship
Nothing is known of the human author of this brief prophecy except that he is Nahum the Elkoshite (Nahum 1:1). His name means “consolation” or “comfort,” which is appropriate for his ministry to Judah. His message about the destruction of Nineveh, the enemy dreaded by many nations in that day, would have been a great comfort to Judah. “Elkoshite” suggests that Nahum’s hometown was Elkosh, but the site of such a city is unknown. Jerome said it was in Galilee; others said it was on the Tigris River north of modern-day Mosul near Nineveh; some place Elkosh east of the Jordan River; others have suggested it was Capernaum. While no conclusive evidence exists, it seems best to locate Elkosh in southern Judah. This would help explain Nahum’s concern for Judah (Nahum 1:12, 15) to whom his message was written.
Elliott E. Johnson, “Nahum,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1493.Note: Not the same Nahum as mentioned in Luke 3:25.
Date
Date
The fall of Thebes in 663 B.C. (3:8) determines the limit for the earliest date of the book. The fall of Nineveh, which the book predicts, took place in 612 B.C., not long before the final destruction of the Assyrian Empire in 609 B.C. This means the Book of Nahum was composed sometime before 612 B.C, perhaps under the reform of Josiah in 622 B.C.
The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), Na.Historical Context
Historical Context
Edwin R Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings: New Revised Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 1983), 217.
Nahum's dating is between 663 and 612 B.C. So probably Amon or Josiah were king of Judah when the prophecy was given.
classroom notes from ' Isaiah' by Dr. Tim Mackie
Note: The above timeline is events based, not about the book's writing.
Gleason L. Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction (Chicago, IL: Moody Press. 1994), 346-347.
Ashurbanipal was the king of Assyria during the dates for the prophecy of Nahum.
A century after Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, she returned to idolatry, violence, and arrogance (3:1–4). Assyria was at the height of her power, having recovered from Sennacherib’s defeat (701 B.C.) at Jerusalem (cf. Is. 37:36–38). Her borders extended all the way into Egypt. Esarhaddon had recently transplanted conquered peoples into Samaria and Galilee in 670 B.C. (cf. 2 Kin. 17:24; Ezra 4:2), leaving Syria and Palestine very weak. But God brought Nineveh down under the rising power of Babylon’s king Nabopolassar and his son, Nebuchadnezzar (ca. 612 B.C.). Assyria’s demise turned out just as God had prophesied.
The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 1309.Geography
Geography
The Assyrian Empire
Barry J. Beitzel, Moody Bible Atlas (Chicago, Ill. Moody, 1985), 139.
James Pritchard, editor. Harper Collins Atlas of the Bible (Ann Arbor, Mich. Border Press Limited, 1999), 109.
Yohanan Aharoni, MacMillian Bible Atlas (New York, New York. Macmillan Publishing, 1977), 93.
This video encapsulates the rise and fall of the ancient kingdoms of Neo-Assyria, Babylon, and Persia (Archamenid). It can be started about half way through.
Culture
Culture
Assyria was the dominant world power from approx. 745 to 645 B.C. The Assyrian empire covered the majority of the Ancient Near East. The Assyrians were known for their ruthless subjugation of dissident peoples. Their resettlement policies helped Aramic become the dominant language of the levant. The empire began to crumble and finally dissolved around 611 B.C. giving the Babylonians an entrance into ruling the world of the Ancient Near East.
The Assyrians used psychological warfare. The were brutal in how they subjugated other people. They would exercise the brutality and violence to show that they were to be feared, and that they were in control. They would intimidate the subjugated peoples by exampling and desecrating of the dead, slavery, amputation, and many forms of humiliation.
Some examples: Piles of skulls outside conquered town's gates. Exhuming and grinding bones into mortar by conquered descendants, prisoners burned alive.
Ashurnsirpal II records this tidbit:
“I built a pillar over against the city gate and I flayed all the chiefs who had revolted and I covered the pillar with their skins. Some I impaled upon the pillar on stakes and others I bound to stakes round the pillar. I cut the limbs off the officers who had rebelled.
Many captives I burned with fire and many I took as living captives. From some I cut off their noses, their ears, and their fingers, of many I put out their eyes. I made one pillar of the living and another of heads and I bound their heads to tree trunks round about the city.
Their young men and maidens I consumed with fire. The rest of their warriors I consumed with thirst in the desert of the Euphrates”.
Images from the Assyrians - Khorsabad palace
The Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (r. 859-824) fought against a coalition of forces including Ahab of Israel. Also of interest is the submission of Jehu, depicted on the black obelisk of Shalmaneser. The first Assyrian king to have major significance upon the people of the bible was Tiglath Pileasar III (r. 745-727; Pul). T.P.3 was the first of a succession of great kings to rule Assyria in what became known as the century long ‘golden age’ of Assyria. Menachem of Israel was forced to submit to him (2 Kings 15:19-20). The northern kingdom of Israel's end was in sight when Ahaz of Judah purchased the help of T.P.3, because of the coordinated attack of the Israel and Damascus. T.P.3 invaded Israel, and left only the city of Samaria, and the area south of it. T.P.3’s successor, Shalmaneser V (r. 727-722) besieged Samaria. The city fell to Shalmaneser’s successor, Sargon II (r. 722-705) in 722 B.C. Sargon’s successor, Sennercharib (r. 705-681) invaded Judah in 701 B.C. He captured many towns; Lacish (a Judean city) is shown in the siege of Lachish panels at the British Museum. He accepted the surrender of Hezekiah, who submitted to him (2 Kings 18-19), then Sennacherib’s forces were destroyed. The last of the great kings of Assyria was Ashurbanipal (r. 669-633/627; Ezra 4:10). Ashurbanipal sacked Thebes in 663 B.C. The Assyrian annals stop in 639 B.C. The destruction of the Assyrian empire took place around 612/609 B.C.
Gleason L. Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction (Chicago, IL: Moody Press. 1994), 320.
King Jehu (2 Kings 10) giving tribute to Shalmaneser. The cuneiform inscription reads: “Tribute of Jehu, son of Omri….”
The Taylor Sennacharib Prism is part of Sennacharibs annals.
The Sennacharib Prism lists the campaigns of Sennacharib. Sennacharib recounts this about Hezekiah.
The perspective of Sennacharib's prism's account of the siege of Jerusalem is different that that found in the Bible. It is a Assyrian account that reflects Assyria is a good light.
"As for the king of Judah, Hezekiah, who had not submitted to my authority, I besieged and captured forty-six of his fortified cities, along with many smaller towns, taken in battle with my battering rams. ... I took as plunder 200,150 people, both small and great, male and female, along with a great number of animals including horses, mules, donkeys, camels, oxen, and sheep. As for Hezekiah, I shut him up like a caged bird in his royal city of Jerusalem. I then constructed a series of fortresses around him, and I did not allow anyone to come out of the city gates. His towns which I captured I gave to the kings of Ashod, Ekron, and Gaza."
1 Kings 19:35-37 NIV records:
That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
On the Assyrian's tendency to exaggerate their conquests:
If we were to accept implicitly all that is recorded of the Assyrian exploits in Nairi or the Taurus, we should be led to believe that for at least half a century the valleys of the Upper Tigris and Middle Euphrates were transformed into a desert ; each time, however, that they are subsequently mentioned on the occasion of some fresh expedition, they appear once more covered with thriving cities and a vigorous population whose generals offer an obstinate resistance to the invaders. We are, therefore, forced to admit that the majority of these expeditions must be regarded as mere raids.
Quote from History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia and Assyria by Rappoport, A. S. and Maspero, G., 207-208.
Additional References and Interesting Stuff
Additional References and Interesting Stuff
Were the Hanging Gardens of 'Babylon' in Nineveh? Documentary on the impressive aqueduct created by Sennacharib and Gardens. (47 minutes)
Decent video as far as Assyrian historical chronology, but historical critical of Biblical accounts. (1 hr)
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