USB ~ Nahum 1

1 Oracle† concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

God’s Terrifying Appearance

2 † A jealous and avenging God† is the LORD, an avenger is the LORD, full of wrath; The LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries, and rages against his enemies;

3 The LORD is slow to anger, yet great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. a In stormwind† and tempest he comes, and clouds are the dust at his feet;

4 He roars at the sea and leaves it dry, and all the rivers he dries up. Laid low are Bashan and Carmel, and the bloom of Lebanon withers;†

5 The mountains quake before him, and the hills dissolve; The earth is laid waste before him, the world and all who dwell in it.

6 † Before his wrath, who can stand firm, and who can face his blazing anger? b His fury is poured out like fire, and boulders break apart before him.

7 The LORD is good to those who wait for him, a refuge on the day of distress, Taking care of those who look to him for protection,

8 when the flood rages; He makes an end of his opponents, and pursues his enemies into darkness.

Nineveh’s Judgment and Judah’s Restoration

9 What do you plot against the LORD, the one about to bring total destruction? No opponent rises a second time!

10 † Like a thorny thicket, they are tangled, and like drunkards, they are drunk; like dry stubble, they are utterly consumed.

11 From you has come one plotting evil against the LORD, one giving sinister counsel.†

12 Thus says the LORD: though fully intact and so numerous, they† shall be mown down and disappear. Though I have humbled you, I will humble you no more.

13 Now I will break his yoke off of you, and tear off your bonds. c

14 The LORD has commanded regarding you:† no descendant will again bear your name; From the house of your gods I will abolish the carved and the molten image; I will make your grave a dung heap.

Footnotes

†. 1:1 Oracle: (Heb. Massa’) a word used frequently to describe a prophetic statement against a foreign nation or occasionally Israel; it is used favorably for Israel in Zec 12:1 and Mal 1:1. Nahum of Elkosh: Nahum means “comfort.” Elkosh is a clan or village of unknown location, perhaps in southern Judah.

†. 1:2-8 A poem written in the style of the alphabetic psalms (cf. Ps 9; 25; 111; 119) in which each verse unit begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The second half of the alphabet is not represented here.

†. 1:2 A jealous…God: see note on Ex 20:5.

†. 1:3-6 In stormwind: the power of God is often pictured by natural forces and cosmic disruption (Ex 19:9-25; Ps 18:8-16; 104:1-9).

†. 1:4 Bashan, Carmel, and Lebanon were famous for their mountainous terrain and lush forests.

†. 1:6-7 When God comes in judgment those who oppose God will be destroyed, and those who trust in God will be saved.

†. 1:10 Thorns (Is 34:13), drunkenness (Lam 4:21; Na 3:11), and burning stubble (Ob 18) are all images of the judgment of God’s enemies.

†. 1:11 From you…giving sinister counsel: addressed to Nineveh, the capital city of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, who besieged Jerusalem ca. 700 B.C.

†. 1:12-13 They: the enemies of Judah. You: Judah. His yoke: the dominion of the Assyrian king over Judah.

†. 1:14 You: the king of Assyria.

1:3 Ex 34:6-7; Jl 2:13.
1:6 Is 30:27-28; Zep 1:15.
1:13 Is 9:4; 10:27.