The Prophets · Old Testament

Nahum 1

Nahum 1: the burden of Nineveh and the Lord who takes vengeance

General context

The first verse names the book: the burden of Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. The poem opens on the Lord's character. God is jealous and the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries, yet is slow to anger, great in power, and will not acquit the wicked. His way is in the whirlwind, clouds are the dust of his feet, he rebukes the sea and dries rivers, Bashan, Carmel and Lebanon wither, mountains quake and the earth burns at his presence. No one can stand before his indignation. Then a turn: the Lord is good, a stronghold in trouble, and knows those who trust him, but with a flood he ends "the place thereof" and darkness pursues his enemies. The hearers are asked what they imagine against the Lord; affliction will not rise a second time, and they will be devoured like dry stubble. One has come out "of thee" who imagines evil, a wicked counsellor. The Lord promises that though the enemy is quiet and many they will be cut down, that he will afflict "thee" no more and break the yoke. A commandment against another party ends that name and its gods and prepares its grave. The chapter closes with feet on the mountains bringing good tidings, and Judah told to keep its feasts because the wicked will no more pass through.

Cited passages: Nahum 1:1, Nahum 1:2, Nahum 1:3, Nahum 1:4, Nahum 1:5, Nahum 1:6, Nahum 1:7, Nahum 1:8, Nahum 1:9, Nahum 1:10, Nahum 1:11, Nahum 1:12, Nahum 1:13, Nahum 1:14, Nahum 1:15

Nahum 1 (KJV)

¹The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

²God 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.

³The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

⁴He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

⁵The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.

⁶Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

⁷The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

⁸But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.

⁹What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.

¹⁰For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.

¹¹There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the Lord, a wicked counsellor.

¹²Thus saith the Lord; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.

¹³For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.

¹⁴And the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.

¹⁵Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

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Historical context

The heading is verse text: "The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite." That is the only information about Nahum in the book: his name and the description Elkoshite. No father, king or date is given. Nineveh is named in the heading and again in 2:8 and 3:7; the king of Assyria is addressed in 3:18. Within chapter 1 the addressees shift without labels. Verse 11, "There is one come out of thee," and verse 14, "thy name" and "the house of thy gods," speak to the enemy; verses 12 and 13, "I will afflict thee no more," speak to the afflicted people; verse 15 names Judah. The chapter does not say who the wicked counsellor is. Verse 15 closely matches Isaiah 52:7, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace," and neither book says which depends on the other. Whether Nahum's Nineveh is the city of Jonah is not stated here; the book does not mention Jonah or any earlier repentance. The "overrunning flood" of verse 8 is not explained.

Cited passages: Nahum 1:1, Nahum 2:8, Nahum 3:7, Nahum 3:18, Nahum 1:11, Nahum 1:14, Nahum 1:12, Nahum 1:13, Nahum 1:15, Isaiah 52:7, Nahum 1:8

Literary context

The chapter delays the city. After the heading, Nineveh is not mentioned again until 2:8; instead the poem describes the Lord in a mounting sequence of nature under his feet: whirlwind, clouds, sea, rivers, three named regions, mountains, hills, earth. Two questions in verse 6, "Who can stand" and "who can abide," close that movement. Verse 7 sets "The Lord is good" against everything before it, and verse 8 begins "But," so the goodness and the flood are one paragraph. From verse 9 the second person appears and the addressee alternates: the enemy is told its name will not be sown, and the afflicted are told their bonds will be burst. The chapter ends on a herald's feet and a command to Judah to keep feasts, the reverse of the heading's burden. Chapter 2 opens with the attacker already at the city's face.

Cited passages: Nahum 1:1, Nahum 2:8, Nahum 1:3, Nahum 1:4, Nahum 1:5, Nahum 1:6, Nahum 1:7, Nahum 1:8, Nahum 1:9, Nahum 1:14, Nahum 1:13, Nahum 1:15, Nahum 2:1

Key moments

The burden of Nineveh (Nahum 1:1). The heading names the burden of Nineveh and the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
Jealous and slow to anger (Nahum 1:3). The Lord is slow to anger, great in power, and will not acquit the wicked.
Mountains quake (Nahum 1:5). Mountains, hills and the earth burn at the Lord's presence.
The Lord is good (Nahum 1:7). The Lord is a stronghold in trouble and knows those who trust him.
A wicked counsellor (Nahum 1:11). One who imagines evil against the Lord has come out of the enemy.
The yoke broken (Nahum 1:13). The Lord promises to break the yoke and burst the bonds.
Good tidings on the mountains (Nahum 1:15). A herald publishes peace, and Judah is told to keep its feasts.

For reflection

The poem says in one line that the Lord is slow to anger and in the next that he will not acquit the wicked. How do those two claims work together in a book whose burden is a single city?