Nahum 1 commentary james burton coffman commentaries on. Nahum describes the siege and frenzied activity of ninevehs troops as they try in vain to halt the invaders. Nahum preached during the reign of king manesseh, one of the most evil kings in judahs long history, a man who needed the pain of his own experience to teach him the lessons of being a good king. Isaiah concludes his work at about the end of hezekiahs reign, which synchronizes with. I have recently come to the conclusion that the book of nahum is a liturgical com pilation for the celebration of that victory. The book of jonah is filled with valuable information and timeless lessons. This book records the vision that nahum the elkoshite received from the lord. Book of nahum overview insight for living ministries. Nineveh is compared to thebes, the egyptian city that assyria itself had destroyed in 663 bc.
According to this opinion, nahum was born in assyria, which would explain his perfect. A summary, synopsis or recap is a shortened version of the original. The book of nahum is one that is neglected because it is so obscure, and so small that it is seldom read and much less frequently understood. Malick received a masters of theology in bible exposition, with honors, from dallas theological seminary in 1984. Here nahum enters on his special subject, for which the previous verses have prepared the waynamely, to assure his people of safety in yahweh under the impending attack of sennacherib nahum 1. Nahum summary we have detailed a brief summary of the book of nahum for bible study or sunday school lessons. The lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble. Since nahum prophesies the defeat of the assyrian empire, it would have to have been written prior to assyrias final defeat in 612 b. The book of the vision as prophets were of old called seers, so their prophecies were called visions. Nahum 1 commentary, one of over 110 bible commentaries freely available, this commentary, by the leading authority in the church of christ, presents a verse level look at the bible.
This is an introduction to the book of nahum, and what you can expect from the miniseries. The hebrew name nahum means compassion, or comfort and is interesting in light of gods promises throughout the book of comfort and deliverance for his people. Nahum can be identified as prophecy based on nahum 1. Essay on the old testament prophet and the book which bears his name. Date two points of interest help us date the book of nahum. Both aspects are essential for an understanding of the divine nature. The date of the book is surmised by examining the contents. The grey movie endings explained 2011 joe carnahan. Intro to nahum biblica the international bible society. The book of nahum a brief summary of the bookintroduction.
During this time, nineveh had repented of its repentance, and. The central theme of the book of nahum is the overthrow of the greatest capital city of the ancient gentile world in the 7 th century bc. One such theory is that it refers to the city later called capernaum which literally means the village of nahum at the sea of galilee. It is believed that the book of habakkuk was written to judah around the year 606 b. This commentary has been through advanced checking. With a change of vowels, the same consonants signify vengeance, which is a rather strange combination, but consolation is. It was used by god to punish the inhabitants of israel who had turned to idol worship and other evil practices. An easyenglish commentary 2800 word vocabulary on the book of nahum. Matthew henry 18 october 1662 22 june 1714 was an english commentator on the bible, who published his works in 1706, sixvolume exposition of the old and new testaments 17081710 or complete commentary, provides an exhaustive verse by verse study of the bible, covering the whole of the old testament, and the gospels and acts in the new testament. About a hundred years before, at jonahs preaching, the ninevites repented, and were spared, yet, soon after, they became worse than ever. The apostle john used a similar analogy in revelation. Academic and administrative appointments gray book academic personnel supplement for 201920.
The book contains the vision of nahum, whose name means comfort and is related to the name nehemiah, meaning the lord comforts or. Nothing is known about him except his hometown elkosh, and even its general location is uncertain. Josephus places nahum during the reign of jotham, while others place him in the beginning of the reign of ahaz. Academic personnel supplement for 201920 downloadable. In 2003, he earned his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, from capital university law school, where he received the order of the curia. It is best read as a complement to the book of jonah. Nahum 1 commentary matthew henry commentary on the. First, we should note that this marvelous narrative has suffered the brunt of the critics barbs for a long while. It is the conjecture of the learned huetius that the two other chapters of this book were delivered by nahum some years after, perhaps in the reign of manasseh, and in that reign the jewish chronologies generally place him, somewhat nearer to the time when nineveh was conquered, and the assyrian monarchy reduced, by cyaxares and nebuchadnezzar, some time before the first captivity of judah. The most frequent example is the use of jerusalem in place of judah or even all. This is why the apostle paul could say, all scripture is inspired by god and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for. The book of nahum a brief summary of the book sermons by.
And so, in its further meaning, the prophecy belongs to the close of the world and the comfort of the saints. The poor prophet by whom the word of the lord is here delivered. The book of nahum is prophecy concerning the city of nineveh and reveals a powerful message about gods care for his elect. Nahum is primarily a book about gods justice, not about human vengeance, hatred, and military conquest. While the book of jonah records ninevehs reprieve, nahum predicts its destruction. Nahum means comfort, which makes sense if your idea of comfort is watching your enemies. The only mention in scripture of nahum the elkoshite occurs in the first verse of his own book.
For many years, when nahum, habakkuk and zephaniah lived, it ruled most of the world. Because this was a vision, in some way nahum saw it. The book of nahum is not a prophecy, but a liturgical collection of four poems. Book of esther were suggested by the sufferings of the jews during the syrian persecution and their glorious victory over nicanor on the th of adar, 161 b. The hebrew name nahum means comfort or consolation. The book contains the vision of nahum, whose name means comfort and is related to the name nehemiah, meaning the lord comforts or comfort of the lord. The burden of nineveh was what the prophet plainly foresaw, for it was his vision, and what he left upon record it is the book of the vision, that, when he was gone, the event might be compared with the prediction and might confirm it. The theme of the prophecy is the fate and destruction of nineveh, the onetime capital city of the mighty assyrian empire, which had destroyed israel and taken many inhabitants of the land captive 722 b. The first two poems are macca bean, but the last two were written by a hebrew poet who presidents address at the annual meeting of the society of biblical literature and exegesis, new york, dec. In the prophets, a burden is a heavy message of weighty importance, heavy in the sense that it produces sorrow or grief. Nahum 1 commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole.
The prophet nahum wrote this book just before the fall of nineveh. The burden of nineveh was what the prophet plainly foresaw, for it was his vision. In this book, nahum portrays the downfall of nineveh and assyria as an image of how god will confront and bring down all violent human empires. Summary of the book of habakkuk essay 701 words bartleby.
This is all that is known of the writer of this book. But every portion of scripture is indispensable, each has its own contribution to make. Commentary on the book of nahum by matthew henry old. The books title is taken from the prophetofgods oracle against nineveh, the capital of assyria. Nahum 1 commentary james burton coffman commentaries on the. The grey movie endings explained 2011 joe carnahan, liam neeson subscribe for more joblo original videos here. Isaiah concludes his work at about the end of hezekiahs reign, which synchronizes with the captivity of the ten tribes of israel by the assyrians. Next chapter of nahum the book of nahum, chapter 1 we hope that you find the content of the book of nahum, chapter 1 from the douay rheims version of the catholic bible helpful to your bible studies and for references which allow you to read the books and individual verses of this chapter.
There is nothing known about this prophet outside of this book, and it is believed that habakkuk wrote the book himself, but it. Jan 24, 2017 this is an introduction to the book of nahum, and what you can expect from the miniseries. Read nahum 1 commentary using matthew henry commentary on the whole bible complete. Gray, the alphabetic poem in nahum, in idem, the form of. Nahum, chapter 1 king james version christian answers. The books first verse explains that it is a prophetic vision and a pronouncement of doom on the assyrian capital of nineveh.
The book of jonah reveals a time in history when summary of nahum. The book of nahum is the seventh book of the 12 minor prophets of the hebrew bible. Nahum prophesied during the reign of hezekiah, probably about one hundred and fifty years after. Ninevehs fall, which is nahums theme, would bring comfort to judah. First, we should note that this marvelous narrative has suffered the brunt of the critics barbs for a. This was more than a message communicated to nahum in words or phrases from god. According to this opinion, nahum was born in assyria, which would explain his perfect acquaintance with the topography and customs.
Matthew henry 18 october 1662 22 june 1714 was an english commentator on the bible, who published his works in 1706, sixvolume exposition of the old and new testaments 17081710 or complete commentary, provides an exhaustive verse by verse study of the bible, covering the whole of. Nahum could well have lived there and have prophesied to nineveh. Book of nahum, the seventh of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets grouped together as the twelve in the jewish canon. Nahum received a divine vision that revealed a condemning judgment against nineveh and assyria nahum 3. Elkosh was a city in assyria, a few miles north of the ruins of nineveh. About this book assyria was a country to the north and east of israel. Movie endings, theyre usually pretty straight forward. There are many theories as to where that city was though there is no conclusive evidence. Feb 21, 2012 the book of nahum is prophecy concerning the city of nineveh and reveals a powerful message about gods care for his elect.
Study the bible online using commentary on nahum 1 and more. Perhaps we could reflect upon a few of these matters. It is attributed to the prophet nahum, and was probably written in jerusalem in the 7th century bc. This study also includes a teaching outline at the end. The people of the city of nineveh had been given the great honor of hearing the words of god through his spokesperson, the reluctant prophet, jonah, 100 years previously, but here is nahum the prophet, a century later, predicting its downfall. Proper usage and audio pronunciation plus ipa phonetic transcription of the word book of nahum. When we see the vivid, descriptive way nahum writes we understand that the book records what he saw in his vision.
The lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserves wrath for his enemies. While scholars have proposed a number of theories about nahums hometown, elkosh, the best option identifies it with a city in southern judah that later came to be known as elcesi, near where the prophet micah lived. It is the book of the vision of nahum the elkoshite. It is the conjecture of the learned huetius that the two other chapters of this book were delivered by nahum some years after, perhaps in the reign of manasseh, and in that reign the jewish chronologies generally place him, somewhat nearer to the time when nineveh was conquered, and the assyrian monarchy reduced, by cyaxares and nebuchadnezzar. God is jealous, and the lord avenges and is furious. Transcribed and edited by david sielaff, august 20. This summary of the book of nahum provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of nahum. Whereas nahum focuses on the dark side of god, jonah portrays gods mercy and compassion toward the same wicked city. The prophets name means comfort, and his word of comfort is for judah, the lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him nahum 1. The lords anger against nineveh the lord is a jealous and avenging god.
The book of nahum comes some one hundred years after the prophecy of jonah. Ninevehs evidently back to their old tricks again since they first repented after jonahs warnings about 150 years earlier. Urbanachampaign, chicago, springfield, and university administration. Jan 02, 2020 one such theory is that it refers to the city later called capernaum which literally means the village of nahum at the sea of galilee. Christ in all the scriptures a m hodgkin the destruction of nineveh is the one burden of nahum. He was raised up to preach gods judgment for a second time to nineveh. While scholars have proposed a number of theories about nahums.
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