31. Nahum

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31. NAHUM

I. OUTLINE

1. The Acrostic Poem. 1:1-9.

2. Marginal Notes. 1:10,12,13,15.

3. The Long Poem. 1:10-3:19.

A. Nineveh's Crime. 1:11,14.

B. The Attack. 2:1-5.

C. Flight and Capture. 2:6-10.

D. More Crimes. 2:11-13.

E. Woe to Bloody City. 3:1-4.

F. The Fall. 3:5-19.

II. AUTHORSHIP

1. The main poem is by Nahum.

2. Nahum lived in Elkosh-an unknown location.

3. The introductory or short poem may have been supplied by a later editor.

4. Date: Nineveh fell in August 612. The book was probably written sometime between 614 and 612 B.C.

III. COMPOSITION

1. There is none of the spirit of Amos, Hosea, Micah, or Isaiah in Nahum.

2. Nahum gloats over the fall of Nineveh-the Assyrian capital.

3. Despite its spiritual deficiencies, Nahum is one of the outstanding literary masterpieces of the Bible.

4. It is an oracle of vengeance. For vigor and fervor, it holds a place all its own.

5. In 2:4 it reads: "The chariots rage in the streets, they rush to and fro through the squares." This verse has been construed as a prophecy-foretelling railroads and automobiles.

6. It is a poem of revenge-a masterpiece of vindictive literature.

7. To the Jews, Assyria was a symbol of the incarnation of evil-a bloodthirsty militarism.

8. Nahum was a contemporary of Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and Jeremiah.

9. It is supposed to portray the moral indignation of a righteous God, who is international in his jurisdiction.

10. Tyrants become corrupt, dissolute, drunken, and effeminate, and then they are doomed.

IV. SELECTED TEXTS

1. The divine stronghold. "The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble." 1:7.

2. Peace messengers. "Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace!" 1:15.

3. Railroads and automobiles. "The chariots rage in the streets, they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches, they dart like lightening." 2:4.