nahum Summary and Overview

consolation, the seventh of the so-called minor prophets, an Elkoshite. All we know of him is recorded in the book of his prophecies. He was probably a native of Galilee, and after the deportation of the ten tribes took up his residence in Jerusalem. Others think that Elkosh was the name of a place on the east bank of the Tigris, and that Nahum dwelt there.

(consolation). Nahum, called "the Elkoshite," is the seventh in order of the minor prophets. His personal history is quite unknown. The site of Elkosh, his native place, is disputed, some placing it in Galilee, others in Assyria. Those who maintain the latter view assume that the prophet's parents were carried into captivity by Tiglath-pileser and that the prophet was born at the village of Alkush, on the east bank of the Tigris, two miles north of Mosul. On the other hand, the imagery of his prophecy is such lie would be natural to an inhabitant of Israel, #Na 1:4| to whom the rich pastures of Bashan the vineyards of Carmel and the blossoms of Lebanon were emblems of all that was luxuriant and fertile. The language employed in ch. #Na 1:15; 2:2| is appropriate to one who wrote for his countrymen in their native land. (McClintock and Strong come to the conclusion that Nahum was a native of Galilee that at the captivity of the ten tribes he escaped into Judah, and prophesied in the reign of Hezekiah, 726-698.--ED.) Prophecy of Nahum. --The date of Nahum a prophecy can be determined with as little precision as his birthplace. It is, however, certain that the prophecy was written before the final downfall of Nineveh and its capture by the Medes and Chaldeans, cir. B.C. 625. The allusions to the Assyrian power imply that it was still unbroken. ch. #Na 1:12; 2:8,13; 3:16-17| It is most probable that Nahum flourished in the latter half of the return of Hezekiah, and wrote his prophecy either in Jerusalem or its neighborhood. The subject of the prophecy is, in accordance with the superscription, "the burden of Nineveh," the destruction of which he predicts. As a poet Nahum occupies a high place in the first rank of Hebrew literature. His style is clear and uninvolved, though pregnant and forcible; his diction sonorous and rhythmical, the words re-echoing to the sense. Comp. #Na 2:4; 3:3|

NA'HUM (consolation), one of the twelve minor prophets, of whose private life we know only what is contained in Nah 1:1, where he is called an Elkoshite. Some refer this name to a place in Galilee, others to a village on the Tigris. The intimate acquaintance the book shows with Assyrian affairs makes it probable that Nahum lived an exile in Assyria, and perhaps at the village on the Tigris. Nahum prophesied before the destruction of Nineveh, which he predicts, and probably in the reign of Hezekiah. Prophecy of. It is a poem of great sublimity, and admirable for the elegance of its imagery. In Nahum 1 the prophet depicts the majesty and supremacy of God, who will surely visit wickedness with retribution, but at the same time is good to such as trust in him. Nahum 1:7. Nahum 2-3 describe with much beauty and poetic force the siege and destruction of Nineveh as a punishment for her wickedness, Nahum 3:19. The battle, the confusion of the chariots in the streets, the opening of the gates, the destruction of the palace, the flight and captivity of the citizens, and the subsequent desolation of the magnificent city, are brought before us as in a vivid panoramic vision.