Who Was Nahum in the Bible?

This minor prophet had a major warning from God for the people of Nineveh.

The 12 minor prophets in the Bible may not be referenced as often as major prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, but the words they brought to the people from God were no less earth-shattering. Nahum was one of these minor prophets, a group that also included the prophets Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Each of the major and minor prophets heard from God what they were to pass on to a people group in their generation. Britt Mooney, in his article “7 Lessons on God's Faithfulness from Nahum”, wrote that the minor prophets “address various themes relevant to their times, such as social justice, faithfulness to God, and repentance. They often called Israel and Judah to return to their covenant relationship with God.”

However, Nahum is fairly unique in that we learn he was writing, not to the people of God, but to warn the people of Nineveh (the capital of the evil Assyrian nation). If “Nineveh” sounds familiar, it’s because it was the target nation for another message from God from a different minor prophet, Jonah. Approximately 100 years before Nahum’s prophecy, God called Jonah to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh. But Jonah ran in the opposite direction of Nineveh in fear for his life. Any Sunday School student can recite the story of what happened next: Jonah was swallowed by a whale in God’s masterful way of “encouraging” Jonah to follow what God originally called him to do. He finally went and preached to the Ninevites who repented and believed in the God of Israel.

However the people of Nineveh did not remain faithful, but returned to their wicked ways. Becky Weber, in her article, “What Should We Know about Nahum in the Bible?” tells us “The Assyrians were very powerful during this time and were conquering other regions, including Israel. They were wicked in the eyes of the Lord, not only were they terrorizing other countries, but their city was full of temples to other gods, their city was filled with treasure from places they had conquered, and they were drunk with power.”

God called Nahum to preach to the Ninevites again. However the message was different than Jonah’s: no longer was God calling them to repentance and forgiveness, but He was warning of His rejection and their ultimate destruction. The Ninevites had once again turned their hearts against God and were living steeped in evil.

What Do We Know about Nahum in the Bible?

According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, very little is known about Nahum’s background or personal life. There are different theories about where he was from, but the book says that he lived in Elkosh. Again, there is little known about Elkosh’s location, but one possibility is that Elkosh was in the area of Capernaum in Northern Israel,  which may have been posthumously named after him (as “Capernaum”   means “Village of Nahum”).

ISBE also states that because of what Nahum writes in 3:8 about the destruction of the Egyptian city of Thebes in 663, and the fact that Nineveh was destroyed in 612, that the prophetic writing was completed in this range of years. 

What is the Book of Nahum About?

There are only three small chapters in the Book of Nahum, but a look at their chapter headings makes it obvious that this prophecy is about Nineveh being repaid by God for inflicting pain and suffering on others.

The first chapter heading reads “The Lord’s Anger Against Nineveh” and it speaks of God’s great attributes that include love and mercy, as well as justice and retribution. “The Lord is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and rage. He takes revenge on all those who oppose him and continues to rage against his enemies.” (Nahum 1:2) “The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him. But he will sweep away his enemies in an overwhelming flood.” (Nahum 1:7-8)

The second chapter heading is “The Fall of Nineveh” which was part of the prophecy that God wanted Nahum to communicate. “Your enemy is coming to crush you, Nineveh” in 2:1 is followed by “‘I am your enemy!’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” 

The God of Israel was going to allow for them to be destroyed. Why?

The third chapter explains God’s wrath against the Ninevites. There are several very scary and sobering things that God wants these people to know. Throughout the chapter he talks about her being a city of murder and lies, crammed with wealth. He says she is a faithless city, that though beautiful, God will “cover you with filth and show the world how vile you really are.” (Nahum 3:6)

For those who have been victims of the Assyrians, these are comforting words. This is especially obvious in the last verse that says, “There is no healing for your wound; your injury is fatal. All who hear of your destruction will clap their hands for joy. Where can anyone be found who has not suffered from your continual cruelty?” (Nahum 3:19)

What are the Book of Nahum’s Key Themes?

In Numbers 32:23 it says, “But if you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.” That appears to be one of the main themes of the prophecy given to Nahum. The Ninevites may have had a form of love and worship of God when Jonah preached repentance to them, but it didn’t last. But God didn’t change His mind about the change of heart that He expected from these people. In Matthew Henry’s commentary, he wrote, “There is a great deal plotted against the Lord by the gates of hell, and against his kingdom in the world; but it will prove in vain...one way or another he will make an utter end of his enemies.”

Nahum tells the Ninevites that in the end, “There is no healing for your wound. Your injury is fatal.” (Nahum 3:19) And it was. The Medes and the Babylonians invaded the Assyrian empire and destroyed the city of Nineveh in 612 BC.

Nahum also speaks to God’s sovereignty over all nations, not just the Assyrians. God shows His power by telling Nahum to tell of His control of all of nature. “He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath his feet. At his command the oceans dry up and the rivers disappear. The lush pastures of Bashan and Carmel fade, and the green forests of Lebanon wither.” (Nahum 1: 3-4) No one can withstand what God will do to punish evil.

On the other hand, for those who believe, God promises not only to wipe away their enemies, but that He  “...is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.” (Nahum 1:7). His covenant can never be removed as the one true hope of His people.

Lessons Christians Can Learn from Nahum

It's important to understand that God is loving toward all He has made, but He calls us to repentance and belief in order to have the blessing of eternity with Him. Especially Christians need to, as Martin Luther said, preach the gospel to themselves every day as a reminder of their sin and God’s infinite mercy.

The Book of Nahum also teaches us that God takes sin very seriously and expects that people who once believe, always believe, even if they don’t always understand God’s ways. God is worthy of all honor and glory and praise, and to turn away from an appreciation of all that He has done is a serious matter indeed. We must keep short accounts with the Lord, always confessing our sins and reminding ourselves of the sacrifice that Christ made for all of our transgressions, past, present, and future.

God is also the ultimate judge. He is sovereign over evil even when it persists. He will avenge it all and wipe it from the earth someday when Jesus returns. In the meantime, as Christians, a reverence for God and His power must be respected as much as His love, goodness and mercy toward us. May we be ever mindful of those who don’t know the Lord and share the gospel with them as well. Like the Ninevites, they too can be sure that their sin will find them out. 

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Mary Oelerich-Meyer is a Chicago-area freelance writer and copy editor who prayed for years for a way to write about and for the Lord. She spent 20 years writing for area healthcare organizations, interviewing doctors and clinical professionals and writing more than 1,500 articles in addition to marketing collateral materials. Important work, but not what she felt called to do. She is grateful for any opportunity to share the Lord in her writing and editing, believing that life is too short to write about anything else. Previously she served as Marketing Communications Director for a large healthcare system. She holds a B.A. in International Business and Marketing from Cornell College (the original Cornell!) When not researching or writing, she loves to spend time with her writer daughter, granddaughter, rescue doggie and husband (not always in that order).