Nahum 3: Edit history

Nahum 3 is the final chapter of the Book of Nahum. It follows the depiction of the fall of Nineveh in Nahum 2, indicts Nineveh for its sins, declares that its destruction is inescapable, and brings the book to a close.

Outline

• Verses 1–4: Woe is pronounced on Nineveh, "the bloody city." The battle scene is portrayed with whips and chariots, sword and spear, and heaps of corpses. The cause is traced to the sin of Nineveh, which, like a harlot, has seduced the nations through her whoredoms and witchcrafts.
• Verses 5–7: The LORD of hosts sets Himself against Nineveh, shaming her before the nations and making her a spectacle. Those who look upon her say, "Nineveh is laid waste," yet there is no one to comfort her.
• Verses 8–10: Nineveh is reminded that No-amon, though surrounded by waters and aided by Cush, Egypt, Put, and Lubim, was nonetheless carried into captivity and destroyed.
• Verses 11–13: Nineveh's strongholds are like fig trees with firstripe figs that fall when shaken; her gates are thrown open, and her bars are consumed by fire.
• Verses 14–17: Preparations for a siege, such as drawing water and firing bricks, will be of no avail. Merchants, princes, and captains fly away and vanish like swarms of locusts.
• Verses 18–19: The king of Assyria is told that his shepherds slumber and his people are scattered. His wound cannot be healed, and all who hear the news clap their hands.

Key Verses

• Nahum 3:1: "Woe to the bloody city!" Characterizing Nineveh as a city of violence and plunder, this verse opens the indictment that runs through the entire chapter.
• Nahum 3:8: "Art thou better than populous No?" By citing a mighty city that had already fallen, the prophet humbles Nineveh's pride.
• Nahum 3:19: "For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?" This question closes the entire book and sums up the reason for the judgment.

People and Places

• Nineveh: The capital of Assyria and the object of judgment in this chapter.
• King of Assyria: The one addressed in verse 18. The text does not name him.
• No-amon: An Egyptian city generally identified with Thebes. It is known to have been captured by Assyria in the mid-seventh century BC.
• Cush, Put, and Lubim: Powers that supported No-amon. Cush refers to the region south of Egypt, and Lubim is generally understood to mean the Libyans.

Points for Reflection

• The text speaks of the fall of No-amon as an event that has already taken place. For this reason, scholars generally date Nahum's prophecy to the period between that event and the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC. Conservative interpreters read this chapter as an instance of fulfilled prophecy that foretold Nineveh's destruction.
• The imagery of sexual shame in verse 5 and the scene of clapping hands in verse 19 can make for uncomfortable reading today. Some interpreters read these scenes as a cry for justice raised by oppressed peoples at the downfall of a violent empire, while others hold that the text's violent metaphors themselves call for critical reflection.
• The insect named in verse 15 is understood to be a kind of locust; the Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version render the term with different words.
• In Jonah, Nineveh repents and is spared judgment, whereas Nahum proclaims the destruction of the same city. The two books are frequently compared, not least because both end with a question.
• Some have noted that the description of a city that seduces the nations through whoredoms and witchcrafts resembles the way Revelation 18 depicts the fall of Babylon.