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The prophecy of Nahum is connected with an important historical event: the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C. These oracles were delivered over the fifteen-year period preceding that date, and they coincide with the beginning of the career of the great prophet Jeremiah. They echo the exultant joy of the little states of the East, Judah among them, as they saw themselves being delivered from the control of the Assyrians. A century earlier, this great empire had gained control as far as the borders of Egypt; it had destroyed Samaria in 721 B.C. and had besieged Jerusalem in 701 B.C. Beginning in 625 B.C. the Babylonians regained their independence and, together with the Medes, definitively gained the upper hand over the impressive power of Assyria in 612 B.C.
The Book of Nahum is a literary masterpiece but it is also not lacking in religious value. There is, doubtless, a breath of nationalism and revenge that runs through all its verses, from beginning to end, but the Book is quite different from a savage-hymn of victory; it celebrates not only the satisfaction of Judah’s desire for revenge by the sight of proud and terrifying Nineveh being punished, but also the Lord’s revenge on human tyrants, represented at this time by Assyria. Woe to those who dare to oppose God and make themselves the masters of the world!
The judgment upon Nineveh, which is described with an excessively cruel rejoicing, is an element in the conception of history that runs through the entire Bible: no human being can permanently usurp the dominion that belongs to God; times of restoration come to shed light on the times of enslavement, until the day when God’s plan is fully accomplished, when the heavenly city arrives in which the Christian Apocalypse sees all believers permanently united in the joy of God (see Rev 21).
The Book of Nahum may be divided as follows:
I: The Fury of God (1:2—2:3)
II: The Agony of Nineveh (2:4—3:19)