Nahum in the Bible

Story, name meaning and life lessons

In brief

Nahum is an Old Testament prophet from Elkosh, whose book contains an oracle about Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. He announces the fall of this violent, lying city that oppressed the nations. In the midst of the announcements of judgment, he affirms that the Lord is good and a refuge for those who trust in him. He also announces peace for Judah.

What does the name Nahum mean?

The name Nahum is generally linked to Hebrew and understood as “consolation” or “comforted.” The Bible does not explain it: it presents him only as Nahum the Elkoshite (Nahum 1:1).

The world of Nahum

Nahum prophesies against Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. In the time of the kings of Israel and Judah, Assyria is the great power that dominates the region. The Bible reports that an Assyrian king, Sennacherib, had it said to Hezekiah that the gods of the nations had not delivered the countries that his fathers had destroyed, and that Jerusalem would not be spared (2 Kings 19:10-13). Hezekiah had prayed to Yahweh, and the angel of Yahweh had struck a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians. Sennacherib had returned home and stayed in Nineveh (2 Kings 19:35-36). The book of Nahum comes after the fall of No-Amon, which it speaks of in the past tense (Nahum 3:8-10), and before that of Nineveh, which it announces. By the usual reckoning, this places the message in the seventh century BC. The prophet is introduced as “Nahum the Elkoshite” (Nahum 1:1); the Bible says nothing more about his place of origin or his life. At another time, God had sent Jonah to Nineveh, whose inhabitants had repented (Jonah 3:10). Nahum speaks of a bloody city, full of lies and violence. His words are addressed first to Judah, to remind it that God sees oppression and acts.

The story of Nahum

  1. An oracle on Nineveh

    Nahum 1:1-6

    The book opens with these words: “A revelation about Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.” The prophet presents Yahweh as a jealous God who takes vengeance on his adversaries. He adds: “Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” God has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm. He rebukes the sea and dries it up, Bashan and Carmel languish, and the mountains quake before him. The prophet then asks a question that has no human answer: “Who can stand before his indignation?” The power of Yahweh rules over all nature and all empires.

  2. Yahweh is good

    Nahum 1:7-11

    In the midst of this announcement of judgment, Nahum speaks a sentence of trust: “Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him.” God's goodness and his justice are not opposed. His enemies will be overtaken by an overflowing flood: he will pursue them into darkness. Nahum asks Nineveh: “What do you plot against Yahweh? He will make a full end. Affliction won’t rise up the second time.” He speaks of one who has gone out from the city, who devises evil against Yahweh, and announces that its people will be consumed like dry stubble.

  3. The yoke broken and the messenger of peace

    Nahum 1:12-15

    Yahweh then speaks. To the besiegers, though they are in full strength and many, he says that they will be cut down and pass away. Then he turns to Judah: “Now I will break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds apart.” For Nineveh, the opposite command: “No more descendants will bear your name,” the engraved image and the molten image will be cut off from the house of her gods, and her grave is prepared. The chapter ends with a joyful image: “Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform your vows.”

  4. The assault on the city

    Nahum 2:1-10

    The prophet describes the attack on Nineveh. The one who dashes in pieces comes up against her, the fortress must be kept and the way watched. The shields of the mighty men are red, the valiant men are in scarlet, the chariots flash with steel and run like the lightnings. The gates of the rivers are opened and the palace is dissolved. The city is uncovered, carried away, and her servants moan as with the voice of doves. Nineveh, like a pool of water, is drained: they flee, and no one looks back. The victors take the plunder of silver and gold. Hearts melt, knees knock together, faces grow pale. Amid these images of war, Nahum recalls that Yahweh restores the excellency of Jacob.

  5. The den of the lions

    Nahum 2:11-13

    Nahum then uses the image of the lion to speak of Nineveh: “Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions.” The city was the place where the lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with the kill and his dens with prey. This predatory power now has no rest: “Behold, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions.” God cuts off the prey from the earth, and the voice of Nineveh's messengers, who carried her orders to the peoples, will no longer be heard.

  6. Woe to the bloody city

    Nahum 3:1-7

    The chapter begins with a cry: “Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery.” We hear the noise of the whip, the rattling of wheels, prancing horses and bounding chariots. The battle leaves a multitude of slain and a great heap of corpses with no end. Nahum compares the city to an alluring prostitute who sells nations through her prostitution. God says to her: “Behold, I am against you.” He will show the nations her nakedness and make her a spectacle. People will say: “Nineveh is laid waste! Who will mourn for her?” No one weeps for the city that made so many peoples weep.

  7. Nineveh is no better than No-Amon

    Nahum 3:8-13

    Nahum questions Nineveh: “Are you better than No-Amon?” That city, situated among the rivers and surrounded by waters, had Cush and Egypt as her strength, Put and Libya as her helpers. Yet she was carried away into captivity, her young children were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets, and her great men were bound in chains. Nineveh will suffer the same fate: she will be drunken, she will be hidden, she will seek a stronghold. All her fortresses are like fig trees with first-ripe figs, which fall into the mouth of the eater if they are shaken, and the gates of her land are set wide open to her enemies.

  8. A wound with no healing

    Nahum 3:14-19

    Nahum ironically prepares Nineveh for the siege: draw water, strengthen the fortresses, tread the mortar. Nothing will help: the fire will devour her, the sword will cut her off. Her merchants, her officials and her guards are like locusts that flee when the sun appears. The shepherds of the king of Assyria slumber, and his people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them. The book ends with a verdict: “There is no healing your wound, for your injury is fatal.” All will clap their hands over her, because no one has escaped her wickedness. The last sentence is a question: “for who hasn’t felt your endless cruelty?”

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What Nahum teaches us

  • God is just: a nation's violence and lies do not go unpunished, even if God's patience may seem long.
  • God is good and remains a refuge for those who trust in him in the day of trouble.
  • No human power, however fortified, can withstand the Lord.
  • The trials of God's people are not forgotten: the announcement of judgment comes with a word of peace for Judah.

Key verses

Nahum 1:3

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, but he does not leave the guilty unpunished. The verse holds together God's patience and his justice.

Nahum 1:7

In the heart of an oracle of judgment, Nahum affirms that the Lord is good and a refuge in the day of trouble. He knows personally those who take refuge in him.

Nahum 1:15

The messenger who announces peace appears on the mountains. Judah is invited to celebrate its feasts and fulfill its vows, for the wicked will no longer pass through it.

Bible verses to meditate on

Sermons about Nahum

Frequently asked questions

Who was Nahum in the Bible?

Nahum is an Old Testament prophet, presented as coming from Elkosh. His book contains an oracle about Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. He announces its fall, while affirming that the Lord is good and a refuge for those who trust in him.

What does the name Nahum mean?

The name Nahum is generally linked to Hebrew and understood as “consolation” or “comforted.” The Bible gives no explanation of this name. The book simply presents Nahum the Elkoshite (Nahum 1:1).

Where can I find Nahum's message in the Bible?

It is found in the book of Nahum, which has three chapters, among the minor prophets of the Old Testament. Chapter 1 presents God's power and goodness, chapter 2 the taking of the city, and chapter 3 the woe announced against Nineveh.

When did Nahum prophesy?

The book bears no date and names no king. It does, however, give clues. Nahum speaks of No-Amon as a city already gone into captivity, with young children dashed in pieces and great men bound in chains (Nahum 3:8-10): the prophecy therefore comes after that event. It announces, on the other hand, the fall of Nineveh, which has not yet happened. By the usual reckoning, these clues place the book in the seventh century BC, without our being able to be more precise. The book does not itself tell of the fall of Nineveh. It announces it, to say that God does not forget oppression.

Why was Nineveh spared in the time of Jonah but condemned by Nahum?

In the time of Jonah, the people of Nineveh believed in God, proclaimed a fast and turned from their evil way and from the violence that was in their hands; God saw that they did so and did not do the evil that he had said he would do (Jonah 3:5-10). Nahum speaks of a city described as bloody, full of lies and robbery (Nahum 3:1). The Bible does not say how much time separates the two episodes, nor how the city passed from one to the other. It shows that God answers repentance with grace, and that he judges violence that persists.

Is Nahum's God a God of vengeance?

Nahum begins by describing a jealous God who takes vengeance on his adversaries (Nahum 1:2). But the next verse says: “Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished” (1:3). The vengeance Nahum speaks of is that of a judge who answers the violence of an empire whose cruelty has touched everyone (3:19). And the same chapter affirms: “Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble” (1:7). God's justice and his goodness stand together: he is a refuge for those who trust in him, and a judge for those who persist in evil.

Why does Nahum compare Nineveh to a den of lions?

The lion is an image of power that devours. Nahum asks: “Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion’s cubs, and no one made them afraid?” (Nahum 2:11). He describes a lion that tears in pieces enough for his cubs and fills his caves with the kill (2:12). The image says that Nineveh lived off the peoples she crushed, in complete security. But Yahweh of Armies declares: “Behold, I am against you” (2:13). The strength of an empire, even like that of a lion, does not stand against God.

What was No-Amon, the city mentioned by Nahum?

Nahum describes it as a city “situated among the rivers, who had the waters around her; whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea” (Nahum 3:8). Its strength was Cush, Egypt, Put and Libya (3:9). It is generally identified with Thebes, in Egypt, but the biblical text does not say so. Despite its defenses, No-Amon went into captivity and her great men were bound in chains (3:10). Nahum uses it as a warning to Nineveh: if a city so well protected has fallen, no fortress will shelter Nineveh from the judgment of God.

What message of hope does Nahum bring to Judah?

Amid the announcements against Nineveh, several words are addressed to Judah. Yahweh says: “Now I will break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds apart” (Nahum 1:13). The messenger of good news appears on the mountains, and Judah is invited to keep its feasts and perform its vows, for the wicked one will no more pass through it (1:15). Nahum adds that Yahweh restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel, for the destroyers have destroyed them (2:2). The judgment of Nineveh is therefore also good news for an oppressed people, who learn that God has not turned his eyes away.

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