teaching notes : nahum (and the fall of ninevah)


Intro / Background
Who is this guy?
Nahum the Elkashite.
Elkashite may mean that he was from 'Elkosh', but 'we' don't know of any such town.
Capernaum means 'town of Nahum' and traditionally claims to be his hood - it is possible tha Elkosh was renamed Capernaum in honor of their famous son.

When was this written?
Between 663 and 612 BC.
The Assyrians sacked Thebes in 663; Nahum references this event in 3:8 (referred to as No-amon).
Ninevah ended up being sacked in 612 by the Babylonians (and Medes and Scythians), so the prophecy must have occurred before this.

Historical Notes
Parallel to Thebes (3:8-15)
Thebes was destroyed by the Assyrians in 663; Thebes was protected by water and was a great city with vassal states (Nahum's parallels in 3:8,9). Yet as it was captured, so too for Ninevah.

What's all this about a flood? (2:6)
From http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=974 :
"According to the ancient historian, Diodorus Siculus, the armies laid siege to the city for over two years. In the third year, the Khosr River, which ran through the city flooded, broke down the floodgates and part of the wall which allowed the enemy to come in. This fulfilled part of Nahum's prophesy in 1:8; 2:6 and 3:13. (Diodorus Siculus tended to exaggerate - the Babylonian chronicles say the siege lasted only a few months. The truth is probably somewhere in between. But I think we can rely on the account of the flood because Nahum predicted it.)"

Big Idea? Basically, Nahum said what Jonah wanted to.

Book Outline
1:1-1:15 God Is In Charge
1:1 Intro
1:2-1:8 The Might Of The Lord
1:9-1:14 Sinners Are Doomed
2:1-3:19 The Destruction Of Ninevah
1:15-2:2 Rejoice Judah, Beware Ninevah
2:3-2:5 The Might Of The Attackers
2:6-2:10 The Looting Of Ninevah
2:11-2:12 The Young Lions Of Ninevah (destroyed)
2:13-3:7 God Is Against Ninevah
2:13-3:4 God Will Destroy Ninevah
3:5-3:7 God Will Humiliate Ninevah
3:8-3:15a Ninevah Will Be Destroyed Like Thebes
3:15b-3:19 Ninevah's Might Is Falling
3:15b-3:17 Ninevah's Might Compared To Locusts (destroying then vanishing)
3:18-3:19 You're gonna Go Down (Ninevah)