Minor Prophets · Old Testament
Nahum
c. 660–630 BC
- Section
- Minor Prophets · Old Testament
- Events span
- c. 660–630 BC
- Written
- c. 640 BC
- Author
- Nahum of Elkosh
Nahum proclaims the coming fall of Nineveh, the brutal capital of Assyria, the very city that had repented under Jonah a century earlier but returned to cruelty. It is a message of comfort to Judah: God is just, and no empire escapes his judgment.
Historical setting: Kingdom of Judah, foreseeing the fall of Assyria's capital, Nineveh (612 BC).
Chronological placement: Written c. 640 BC, foretelling the fall of Nineveh, which came in 612 BC, about a century after Jonah preached there.
Key themes
- Judgment on Nineveh
- God's justice
- Comfort for the oppressed
- Slow to anger yet avenging
- The fall of empires
Key events
- God is slow to anger but will not clear the guilty; he is a stronghold to those who trust him
- Nahum vividly foretells the siege, plunder, and fall of Nineveh
- Woe to the "bloody city": Nineveh will fall like Thebes, and none will mourn her
Key lessons
- God is both good and just; his patience is real (“slow to anger”), but he will not leave the guilty unpunished forever. Nahum 1:3
- No empire is too mighty to fall under God’s judgment; the Nineveh that Jonah saw spared is now brought down for returning to cruelty. Nahum 3:1–7
- God’s judgment on cruel oppressors is comfort, not only terror; his justice is good news to everyone the powerful have crushed. Nahum 1:15
“The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.”