During the height of King Josiah of Judah's religious reformations (622 - 609 BCE) we find the diminutive book of Nahum. Scholars place Nahum at this time period for two main reasons:
- Nahum's writing betrays no vitriol for Judah or Jerusalem, indicating that Josiah's reforms were in full force, pleasing the Yahwistic prophet.
- Instead Nahum concerns himself with the coming destruction of Nineveh and the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which would come to fruition between 613 and 611 BCE.
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the dominant power of the region during the prophetic careers of all of the prophets I've covered so far. At its height, the empire was the largest and most powerful the world had ever seen, and its capital city of Nineveh was the largest city in the world. But following the death of its King Ashurbanipal in 627 BCE the empire began to weaken due to conflicts both foreign and domestic. It is at this time that Nahum prophesies against the empire and its capital, reveling in its coming doom.
Poetry in Living Color
The Fall of Nineveh by John Martin, 1829 CE
Nahum didn't simply write or preach, he painted with words. His verse might be the most artistic and vivid I've read so far. Whether depicting Yahweh's power and wrath through a graphic theophany (1:2 - 8) or ironically urging the Assyrians to scramble to defend their city against the coming onslaught (2:1-9), Nahum's writing drips with urgency and excitement. As I read, I could really feel the adrenaline of war as Nahum heavily leans into the whirling chaos, pushing the reader forward. I especially like how the New Jerusalem Bible preserves the rhythm of his poetry in the beginning of chapter 3, when Nineveh is submersed in the throes of battle:
Disaster to the city of blood,I don't care who you are, that's just damn exciting.
packed throughout with lies,
stuffed with booty,
where plundering has no end!
The crack of the whip!
The rumble of wheels!
Galloping horse,
jolting chariot,
charging cavalry,
flashing swords,
gleaming spears,
a mass of wounded,
hosts of dead,
countless corpses;
they stumble over corpses-
because of the countless whorings of the harlot,
the graceful beauty, the cunning witch,
who enslaved nations by her harlotries
and tribes by her spells.
- Nahum 3:1-4 (NJB)
Delicious Schadenfreude
Nahum is unapologetic in his rhetoric against his peoples' long-time oppressors. He longs to bask in the glory of Nineveh's utter demise. Nowhere in this short prophetic book does even an utterance of mercy escape Nahum's lips.
Devastation, desolation, and destruction!
Hearts faint and knees tremble,
all loins quake,
all faces grow pale!
- Nahum 2:10
When Yahweh acts in history he does so decisively and without remorse:
See, I am against you, says Yahweh Sabaoth, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more. - Nahum 2:13
Yahweh will utterly humble and embarrass the Assyrians, making an example of them to the nations:
I am against you,
says Yahweh Sabaoth,
and will lift up your skirts over your face;
and I will let nations look on your nakedness
and kingdoms on your shame.
I will throw filth at you
and treat you with contempt,
and make you a spectacle.
- Nahum 3:5-6
After all, the Assyrians never took pity on their neighbors who they abused for centuries. The nations rejoice at their destruction. Why mourn the death of an evil tyrant?
Your shepherds are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
your nobles slumber.
Your people are scattered on the mountains
with no one to gather them.
There is no assuaging your hurt,
your wound is mortal.
All who hear the news about you
clap their hands over you.
For who has ever escaped
your endless cruelty?
- Nahum 3:18-19
Ruins of the Walls of Nineveh - credit: Randy Olson, National Geographic
And so the story of the Neo-Assyrian Empire comes to a close. Judah is finally free to flourish, celebrating her festivals and living in the glory of Yahweh, never again to be invaded by wicked foreigners (1:15). Except Nahum did not foresee the rise of a new great power in the region: The Chaldeans of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The very nation who with its allies overthrew the Assyrian oppressors would eventually devastate Jerusalem and send her most important citizens into exile.
Nahum is a cool book, one which for the most part does not appear to have suffered much redaction at the hands of later editors. It's just some good old-fashioned hate, no pussyfooting around it. Nahum despises Assyria, and expresses his feelings in beautiful poetry. I like it.
Psalms 9 & 10
Psalms 9 and 10 are meant to be read together, as they form an acrostic poem in which the beginning of ever other line in the original Hebrew begins with the next letter of the alphabet. Most of Psalm 9 is a psalm of thanksgiving, heaping praise upon Yahweh for delivering the psalmist from his enemies, explicitly the wicked nations. Pretty timely that this came up while reading about the destruction of Nineveh. Psalm 9:9 even closely resembles Nahum 1:7, comparing Yahweh to a stronghold. Psalm 10 seems to once again be a psalm beseeching Yahweh to punish the greedy and oppressive wicked ones who lurk in the shadows to terrorize the poor and helpless. The Psalmist urges Yahweh to see justice done on behalf of orphan and the oppressed.
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Nahum was another short one, so we had a quick turnaround! 2 posts in 2 days? Incredible! Don't get used to it. We'll tackle another short prophetic book, Habakkuk, in the next post. See you then!
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