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Nahum 1

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The Character of the Avenging Lord 1–8

1
The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. ​
2
Jehovah is a jealous God and avengeth; Jehovah avengeth and is full of wrath; Jehovah taketh vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. ​
3
Jehovah is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means clear the guilty: Jehovah hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. ​
4
He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. ​
5
The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt; and the earth is upheaved at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
6
Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him.
7
Jehovah is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that take refuge in him. ​
8
But with an over-running flood he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness. ​

Judgment Against God's Adversaries 9–11

9
What do ye devise against Jehovah? he will make a full end; affliction shall not rise up the second time. ​
10
For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly as dry stubble. ​
11
There is one gone forth out of thee, that deviseth evil against Jehovah, that counselleth wickedness. ​

Deliverance and Restoration for Judah 12–15

12
Thus saith Jehovah: Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so shall they be cut down, and he shall pass away. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. ​
13
And now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.
14
And Jehovah hath given 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. ​
15
Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows; for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Nahum 1

Verse 1

The burden of Nineveh — Massa is a burden, from the verb 'to lift', and the prophets use it for a weighty message from the LORD (Zech 9:1). The city is the one Jonah was sent to, 'that great city' (Jon 1:2). Nahum's name (Nachum) comes from nacham, 'to comfort', and the word returns in his taunt, 'whence shall I seek comforters for thee?' (Nah 3:7).

Verse 2

God is jealous — Qanno is a variant form of qanna, the word of the second commandment, 'I the LORD thy God am a jealous God' (Ex 20:5), and of the name given at Ex 34:14, 'whose name is Jealous'. 'Revengeth' (naqam) is said three times. 'Furious' is literally baal chemah, 'master of wrath'. 'Reserveth' is natar, the verb of 'bear any grudge' (Lev 19:18).

Verse 3

will not at all acquit the wicked — The verse draws on the name proclaimed to Moses: 'longsuffering… that will by no means clear the guilty' (Ex 34:6–7). 'Acquit' and 'clear' are the same verb, naqah. Slowness to anger and the refusal to clear the guilty are held together here, and 'the clouds are the dust of his feet' shows the scale of the one who acts.

Verse 4

He rebuketh the sea — Ga'ar, to rebuke, is the verb of Ps 106:9, 'He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up'. In the Gospels Christ 'rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still' (Mark 4:39). 'Languisheth' (amal, to droop) is said of Bashan and Carmel and Lebanon's flower, and Isaiah uses the verb of the earth, with the same three lands named (Isa 33:9).

Verse 7

a strong hold in the day of trouble — Maoz is a place of strength; Ps 37:39 uses it of the LORD, 'he is their strength in the time of trouble'. 'Trust' is chasah, to take refuge, the verb of 'Blessed are all they that put their trust in him' (Ps 2:12). 'Knoweth' recalls 'The Lord knoweth them that are his' (2 Tim 2:19).

Verse 8

an overrunning flood — Shetep is a flood that sweeps past, from the same root as the verb in Isa 8:7–8, where the LORD brings up Assyria as the river that 'shall overflow and go over'. The Assyrian's own picture is turned on Nineveh. The verb 'overrunning' (abar, to pass over) is the one used in v.12 and v.15.

Verse 9

What do ye imagine against the LORD? — Chashab, to plan, is the verb again in v.11. Scripture states what comes of such planning: 'There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD' (Prov 21:30), and 'The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought' (Ps 33:10). 'Utter end' (kalah) is repeated from v.8.

Verse 10

folden together as thorns — Thorns tangled in one another and men drunk are the two figures for the enemy, and both end 'devoured as stubble fully dry'. Stubble is the figure of Ex 15:7, 'thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble', and of the fire in Isa 5:24 and Mal 4:1.

Verse 11

a wicked counsellor — 'Wicked' is beliyyaal, worthlessness, the word of the 'sons of Belial' in 1 Sam 2:12. The 'counsellor' is ya'ats, the verb of 'Balak… consulted' in Mic 6:5. The Assyrian envoy's message to Hezekiah was of this kind: 'Who are they among all the gods… that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?' (2 Kgs 18:35).

Verse 12

Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more — Judah is addressed (v.13). The LORD had called Assyria 'the rod of mine anger' (Isa 10:5); the rod is now put aside. 'Quiet' is shalem, whole or unharmed, and 'cut down' is gazaz, to shear. Isa 37:36 records that the angel of the LORD 'smote in the camp of the Assyrians' a hundred and fourscore and five thousand.

Verse 14

no more of thy name be sown — The seed (zara') of the name will not be planted again. 'The name of the wicked shall rot' (Prov 10:7), and the psalmist prays that 'his posterity be cut off' (Ps 109:13). The 'graven image' and the 'molten image' (pesel, massekah) are the idols Deut 27:15 puts under a curse.

Verse 15

the feet of him that bringeth good tidings — Isaiah has the same words for the messenger who says to Zion, 'Thy God reigneth' (Isa 52:7), and Paul quotes them of those who preach the gospel (Rom 10:15). Basar is the verb of 'good tidings'. 'The wicked' is beliyyaal, the word of v.11, so the one who is 'come out of thee' to plan evil is the one 'utterly cut off'.