Old Testament · Prophecy

Nahum

Name: Nahum
Author: Nahum

Nineveh's second act. The city Jonah warned finally runs out of time.

Author: Nahum
Written: Before Nineveh's fall, 612 BC
Genre: Prophecy
Length: 3 chapters · 47 verses

What Nahum is about

Nahum opens with a theophanic hymn declaring the LORD as a jealous, avenging God whose power is manifest in storm, earthquake, and flood. The oracle shifts to pronounce doom on Nineveh while promising deliverance for Judah. A messenger of good news announces peace for God's people.

Written shortly before Nineveh's fall in 612 BC, Nahum of Elkosh prophesied during the waning years of the Assyrian Empire. The oracle presupposes Judah's long suffering under Assyrian domination and the memory of the earlier reprieve Jonah's preaching had granted Nineveh.

Key themes

Judgment Comfort Empire Refuge

Where to start in Nahum

Nahum 1 · The Fall of Nineveh Nahum 2 · Nineveh Under Siege Nahum 3 · The Bloody City

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All 3 chapters

Nahum

1 The Fall of Nineveh A century after Jonah, Nineveh's reprieve runs out. Nahum's vivid poetry declares that evil empires do not last forever. 2 Nineveh Under Siege The shields of his warriors are red. The chariots race through the streets. Nineveh — the city Jonah saved — is finally out of time. 3 The Bloody City Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder. The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels. Nineveh's fall is described before it happens.

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