Nahum (/ˈneɪ.əm/ or/ˈneɪhəm/;Hebrew:נַחוּםNaḥūm) was aminor prophet whose prophecy is recorded in theTanakh, also called theHebrew Bible and the Old Testament. Hisbook comes in chronological order betweenMicah andHabakkuk in theBible.[1] He wrote about the end of theAssyrian Empire, and its capital city,Nineveh, in a vivid poetic style.[2]
Little is known about Nahum's personal history. His name means "comfort",[3] and is derived from the sameroot as the Hebrew verb meaning "to comfort".[4] He came from the town of Alqosh (Nahum 1:1), which scholars have attempted to identify with several cities, including the modernAlqosh in northernIraq andCapernaum of northernGalilee.[5] He was a very nationalistic Hebrew, however, and lived amongst the Elkoshites in peace. Nahum, called "the Elkoshite", is the seventh in order of the minor prophets. According toJerome, Nahum's Elkosh was a little town inGalilee.[6] This identification could explain how the famous New Testament city ofCapernaum got its name.[7]
Scholars with a preference forHebrew manuscripts place Nahum's prophecy after the Assyrian kingAshurbanipal'sSack of Thebes in 663 B.C. This view is the current majority opinion because the city of Thebes is referred to in the past tense in theMasoretic Text of Nahum 3:8-10. However, both theSeptuagint andVulgate refer to the city in the present tense, and the former opinion held by scholars was that Nahum lived about a century earlier, before both thecaptivity of the ten lost tribes and the Sack of Thebes.[8][9] The first-century Jewish historianFlavius Josephus[10] places Nahum's life during the reign ofJotham. This view was also held by the Catholic scholarThomas Worthington in his notes for the originalDouay-Rheims Bible, writing: "Nahum prophesied about 50 years afterJonah ... 135 before the destruction of Niniveh."[11] In this view, rather than Ashurbanipal, Nahum's prophecy would have been directed atTiglath-Pileser III, who revitalized the Neo-Assyrian Empire into a world power again and conquered most of the Levant, defeating and subjugating previously influential kingdoms, includingAram-Damascus. Tiglath-Pileser was contemporary with the reign of Jotham.
Nahum's writings could be taken as prophecy or as history. One account suggests that his writings are a prophecy written in about 615 BCE, just before the downfall of Assyria, while another account suggests that he wrote this passage as liturgy just after its downfall in 612 BCE.[12][13]
The book was introduced in Reformation theologianCalvin's Commentary[14] as a complete and finished poem:
No one of the minor Prophets seems to equal the sublimity, the vehemence and the boldness of Nahum: besides, his Prophecy is a complete and finished poem; his exordium is magnificent, and indeed majestic; the preparation for the destruction of Nineveh, and the description of its ruin, and its greatness, are expressed in most vivid colors, and possess admirable perspicuity and fulness.
— Rev. John Owen, translator, Calvin's Commentary on Jonah, Micah, Nahum
There are indications that an acrostic underlies the present text. Thus 1:2 begins with the first letter of the alphabet (א), verse 3b (‘in whirlwind’) with the second letter (ב), verse 4 with the third (ג), and so on until from ten to sixteen of the twenty two letters have appeared. In places the scheme breaks down: in the process of transmission, what was once an alphabetic poem has now been seriously corrupted, rearranged, and supplemented.[15]
Nahum, taking words fromMoses himself, has shown in a general way what sort of "Being God is". Calvin argued that Nahum painted God by which his nature must be seen, and "it is from that most memorable vision, when God appeared to Moses after the breaking of the tablets."[16]
Although all three chapters fall below the standards set by the developed Judaeo-Christian tradition concerning the nature of God and man’s relation with his brother man… it is one of the world’s classic rebukes of militarism…. All tyrants are doomed. They make enemies of those whom they attack and oppress; they become corrupt, dissolute, drunken, effeminate; they are lulled into false security…
— Charles L. Taylor, Jr.[15]
נַחוּם | |
 Tomb of Nahum | |
  Shown within Iraq | |
| Location | Town ofAlqosh, NorthernIraq, 50km north ofMosul |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 36°44′18.87″N43°05′45″E / 36.7385750°N 43.09583°E /36.7385750; 43.09583 |
| Type | Shrine to the biblical prophet Nahum |
| History | |
| Cultures | Assyrian, Jewish |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | None |
| Condition | Partial Collapse, Stabilized in 2018 |
| Public access | yes |
The tomb of Nahum is supposedly inside the synagogue atAlqosh, although there are other places outsideIraq which also lay claim to being the original "Elkosh" from which Nahum hailed. Alqosh was emptied of its Jewish population in 1948 when they were expelled after Israel was recognized as a Jewish nation, and the synagogue that houses the tomb is now in a poor structural state, to the extent that the tomb itself is in danger of destruction. The tomb underwent basic repairs in 1796. When all Jews were forced to flee Alqosh in 1948, the iron keys to the tomb were handed to an Assyrian man, Sami Jajouhana.[17] Few Jews visit the historic site, yet Jajouhana continues to keep the promise he made with his Jewish friends, and looks after the tomb.[18]
As of early 2017, the tomb was in significant disrepair and was threatened by the rise of ISIS in Iraq.[19] A team of engineers conducted a survey of the tomb and determined that the tomb was in danger of imminent collapse and might not survive another winter.[20] A team led by the U.S.-based non-profitAlliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage ("ARCH") raised the funds necessary to stabilize the site.[20] After raising the necessary funds, ARCH partnered with the Prague-basedGEMA ART International s.r.o., experts in historic preservation and reconstruction to do the immediate stabilization work.[20] Following coordination with local partners, the initial stabilization work was completed in January 2018.[21] The stabilization work is expected to prevent further deterioration of the structure for between two and three years.[21] With the tomb and its surrounding structure stabilized, ARCH is planning on raising the funding necessary to fully restore the site.[21] On 26 April 2019, the United States government announced that it would contribute $500,000 to restore the tomb.[22]
Two other possible burial sites mentioned in historical accounts are Elkesi, nearRameh in theGalilee and Elcesei in theWest Bank.[23]
The prophet Nahum isvenerated as asaint inEastern Christianity. On theEastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, hisfeast day isDecember 1[24][25][26] (for those churches which follow the traditionalJulian Calendar, December 1 currently falls on December 14 of the modernGregorian Calendar). He is commemorated with the other minorprophets in thecalendar of saints of theArmenian Apostolic Church on July 31.
Works by or aboutNahum atWikisource| International | |
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