"I come against you,
says the Lord of hosts;
I will consume in smoke your chariots,
and the sword shall devour your young lions;
Your preying on the land I will bring to and end,
the cry of your lioness shall be heard no more."
- Nahum, 2:14
*The King of Assyria was sometimes called a lion*
Nahum
Nahum means "comforter". Other forms of the name are Rehum, Nachum, and Nahhum, but this prophet is usually known as Nahum. Nahum was a commom name, especially among the Phoenicians.
It is not known where Nahum came from. The only mention of him is in the Book of Nahum. There are several hypotheses of where he was born.
Here are the four places where he is supposed to have been from:
Alqush
Alqush is in Assyria , which would explain how Nahum is so well aquainted with the country, but this knowledge could have been aquired anywhere
Capharnaum
Capharnaum literally means "the village of Nahum", but as the name is so common, the town may have no connection to the prophet
Elkozeh
St. Jerome supposedly located the birthplace in Elkozeh, a town in Galilee, but the scribes of the time strongly emphasized "that out of Galilee a prophet riseth not"
Elqosh
"Elqosh was beyond Beth-Gabre, in the tribe of Simeon" ( St. Epiphanius )
Most scholars of today believe that Nahum was from Elqosh.
The Book of Nahum
The Book of Nahum was written by Nahum, the seventh minor prophet. The Book is believed to have been written between 663 BC and 612 BC. It is all in a poetic form.
The Book of Nahum has three chapters, but is also generally divided into two sections. Here is the outline of the Book of Nahum:
"The Lord's Coming in Judgement"
Chapter 1
"The Fall of Nineveh"
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Ruin Imminent and Inevitable
This outline is from the New American Bible.
The Book of Nahum predicts the destruction of Nineveh,the capitol of Assyria. Assyria was the country that destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The annunciation of the destruction of Nineveh would be wonderful news to the people of Israel and Judah alike, because Assyria was famous for its cruelty. Assyria would often impale people on poles and display them in their cities. Soon after Nahum declared the destruction of Nineveh, Babylonia and the Medes united, destroyed the Assyrian capitol, and moved on to destroy the entire Assyrian Empire.
Review Questions:
Where do most biblical scholars think Nahum was from?
What does Nahum mean?
What city did Nahum say was going to be destroyed?
When was the Book of Nahum believed to have been written?
This website was made by Willie Kohler, a freshman at Saint Louis University High School, for a theology project.
Please send any corrections, suggestions, or reactions to me here.
Answers:
Elqosh
"Comforter"
Nineveh
Between 663 BC and 612 BC
Sources
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 10. Pages 670-671.
The New American Bible, Introduction to the Book of Nahum. Page 970.
Nahum . (copyright 2008) Available from: http://www.bible.org/print_page.php?page_id=974
