那鴻書 {na4-hong2-shu1}
Old Testament – Minor Prophets
The anglicized pronunciation of Nahum can either be:
[NEY-uhm] or [NEY-huhm]. Basically, it’s optional to pronounce “h”.
Nahum is a book of prophecy addressed to Nineveh 尼尼微 {ni2-ni2-wei1}, not Israel or Judah. The literal meaning of the word “prophecy” is “burden“. So imagine God placing a crushing burden upon Nineveh. Who can stand against that?
Nineveh, as we know, was the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (or simply, Assyria 亞述 {ya3-shu4}). Around a century before Nahum’s time, another prophet, Jonah 約拿 {yue1-na2} had reluctantly prophesied to the same people, who had immediately repented and been spared from their impending doom. Clearly, their repentance was short-lived, as the empire continued to ravage other peoples, most recently, Thebes 挪亞們 {nuo2-ya3-men2} of Egypt.
Assyria was the dread of many kingdoms. It was not only the mortal enemy of Israel and Judah, but also a harrowing power ruling over other ethnic groups that later emerged as their own empires such as the Babylonians, Medes, and Persians. It ate kingdoms for breakfast and scattered peoples to the winds. That was the empire to which Nahum prophesied utter destruction. Get the picture now?
History showed that despite its gargantuan existence and military prowess, Assyria was mere butter to God’s knife. The destruction of Nineveh, and by extension Assyria, was thorough and fatal, just as it was written, “… You will have no descendants to bear your name (Nah 1:14)” and “Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty? (Nah 3:19)” Eventually, multiple sub-states rebelled against Assyria and destroyed Nineveh, after which Assyria was devoured and replaced by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Yikes.
Even though this prophecy was pointed toward the enemy, God simultaneously showed His love and favor toward Judah by avenging the destruction of her Sister Kingdom Israel, and removing her humiliation inflicted by Assyria. After all, it was not that God first hated, but that He first loved.