Nahum setting & dates

The Setting of Nahum

Nahum’s gaze is fixed on Nineveh, the glittering capital of the Assyrian Empire, which stood on the east bank of the Tigris River in the heart of Mesopotamia (near modern Mosul in Iraq). In Nahum’s day it was one of the greatest cities on earth, ringed by massive walls, watered by canals, and filled with the plunder of conquered nations. Its kings ruled an empire stretching from the Persian Gulf to Egypt, and its armies were feared for their unmatched cruelty. Nahum vividly imagines the city’s downfall — the opened river gates, the melting palace, the emptying streets — a fall so complete that the site lay buried and forgotten for centuries.

The book also reaches to Egypt for a warning example. Nahum recalls Thebes (called No-amon), the great Egyptian city on the Nile, which had seemed secure behind its waters and allies yet was conquered by Assyria itself in 663 BC. If mighty Thebes could fall, Nahum argues, so would Nineveh. Behind both cities stands little Judah, God’s oppressed people, to whom the news of Nineveh’s coming fall arrives as glad tidings of peace. The geography thus spans the great powers of the age — Assyria and Egypt — while its comfort is aimed at the small covenant nation that trusted in the LORD.

Timeline

• 663 BC - Assyria conquers Thebes (No-amon) in Egypt, an event Nahum recalls as past.
• c. 663-612 BC - Nahum prophesies against Nineveh while Assyria still appears invincible.
• 612 BC - A coalition of Babylonians and Medes besieges and destroys Nineveh, fulfilling Nahum’s prophecy.
• Assyria’s end - Within a few years the Assyrian Empire collapses entirely, giving way to Babylon.