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Nahum 1

KJV · Chapter 1/3

1The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

2God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

3The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

4He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

5The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.

6Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

7The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

8But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.

9What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.

10For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.

11There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the Lord, a wicked counsellor.

12Thus saith the Lord; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.

13For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.

14And the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.

15Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Nahum describes the character of God as jealous, powerful, and patient, yet certain to punish the guilty; he announces that the destruction of Nineveh is near, while for Judah good news of peace is coming.

Explanation

Written about a century after Nineveh's repentance recorded in the book of Jonah, Nahum announces that the city has returned to its old patterns of cruelty and violence, and this time there will be no second chance. The chapter opens with a striking description of God's power over nature (drying up seas, shaking mountains), establishing His absolute authority before announcing specific judgment against Assyria. The phrase 'the Lord is slow to anger, and great in power' balances patience with inevitable justice. For Judah, oppressed for decades under Assyrian rule, this prophecy brought genuine relief: 'the feet of him that bringeth good tidings... of peace' are upon the mountains. The application for today: God's patience should never be mistaken for permanent tolerance of persistent violence.

Fun facts

  • Between Nineveh's repentance in the time of Jonah (around 760 BC) and Nahum's prophecy (around 660 BC), roughly a century passed, during which Assyria once again became known for extreme brutality in warfare, including methods of torture documented in its own historical records.
  • The phrase 'the feet of him that bringeth good tidings' upon the mountains (v.15) is almost identical to Isaiah 52:7, an example of how different prophets used similar expressions and imagery to announce deliverance and hope.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Nahum 1:1Nahum prophesies against the same Nineveh as Jonah, but more than a hundred years later: in Jonah, the city had repented and been spared; here, in the second half of the 7th century BC, Assyrian cruelty had returned, and this time judgment comes for real, shortly before the city's actual fall in 612 BC.
  2. Nahum 1:2"Jealous and avenging" here is not petty envy: it is the reaction of a God committed to what is right, who does not stay indifferent when His enemies oppress the weak.
  3. Nahum 1:3"Slow to anger, and great in power" and "will not at all acquit the wicked" reproduces almost the same formula used in Exodus 34 to describe God's character — patient, yet not indifferent to evil.
  4. Nahum 1:4God dries up the sea and the rivers, and withers even the most fertile places (Bashan, Carmel, Lebanon) — the strength that sustains all of nature is in His hands, not Nineveh's.
  5. Nahum 1:5Mountains quaking and the earth rising up describe the tremor that God's very presence causes — all creation reacts when He moves in judgment.
  6. Nahum 1:6No one can stand before God's wrath when it comes: not armies, not walls, not rocks withstand this kind of judgment.
  7. Nahum 1:7In the middle of so much threat against Nineveh, the prophet pauses to remind: for those who trust in Him, God is good and serves as a refuge in the day of trouble.
  8. Nahum 1:8"An overrunning flood" describes how God will sweep Nineveh away for good — the image of a flood that leaves not one stone upon another.
  9. Nahum 1:9Thinking of resisting the Lord is useless: the judgment announced here will be final, with no need for a second round of anguish.
  10. Nahum 1:10Comparing the Assyrians to tangled thorns and drunkards shows the hidden fragility behind the empire's appearance of strength — they will be consumed quickly, like dry stubble catching fire.
  11. Nahum 1:11The "wicked counsellor" who came out of Nineveh refers to an Assyrian king who plotted evil against the Lord — remembered for his arrogance against Jerusalem.
  12. Nahum 1:12God speaks directly to Judah: however numerous and secure the Assyrians may seem, they will be cut down like sheared wool — and the affliction Judah suffered because of them will not happen again.
  13. Nahum 1:13"I will break his yoke" promises the end of Assyrian oppression over Judah — the people will no longer carry the weight of being Nineveh's vassal.
  14. Nahum 1:14Putting an end to Nineveh's "name" and to the idols of "the house of thy gods" announces the end of the Assyrian dynasty and the pagan temples of the city — a sentence of total erasure, not just a military defeat.
  15. Nahum 1:15"The feet of him that bringeth good tidings" upon the mountains is the image of a messenger running to announce that the enemy has fallen; the same expression appears in Isaiah 52 and is used much later in the letter to the Romans about preachers of the gospel.

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