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Bible Encyclopedias
Nahum
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
or Nahum (consolation), the seventh of the Minor Prophets, according to the arrangement of both the Greek and Hebrew, but the sixth in point of date, was a native of Elkosh, a village of Galilee. He prophesied in Judah after the deportation of the ten tribes, and soon after the unsuccessful eruption of Sennacherib (;; ), consequently towards the close of the reign of Hezekiah. Attempts have been made to fix the date with precision, from the allusion to the destruction of No-Ammon or Thebes in Egypt (); but as it is uncertain when this event took place, Eichhorn and others have conjectured that it was near the beginning of the reign of Hezekiah, or about B.C. 720, as about this time Sargon, king of Assyria, waged an unsuccessful war for three years against Egypt (Isaiah 20).
The contents of the prophecy of Nahum are as follows:—. The destruction of Nineveh and of the Assyrian monarchy is depicted in the liveliest colors, together with the relief of Judah from oppression. The destruction of Nineveh is detailed with still greater particularity in Nahum 3; which has induced some to suppose that the prophet refers to two different events—the sack of Nineveh by the Medes, B.C. 867, in the reign of Sardanapalus, and its second and final destruction, under Chyniladan, by Cyaxares the First and Nabopolassar, B.C. 625. But this opinion has been satisfactorily refuted by Jahn and De Wette.
The beauty of the style of Nahum has been universally felt. It is classic, observes De Wette, in all respects. It is marked by clearness, by its finished elegance, as well as by fire, richness, and originality. The rhythm is regular and lively. The whole book remarkably coherent, and the author only holds his breath, as it were, in Nahum 3. Jahn observes that the language is pure, with a single exception; that the style is ornate, and the tropes bold and elegant (rendering it, however, necessary for the reader to supply some omissions; see;; ); and that the descriptions of the divine omnipotence, and of the destruction of Nineveh, are resplendent with all the perfection of oratory.
Public Domain.
Kitto, John, ed. Entry for 'Nahum'. "Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature". https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/kbe/n/nahum.html.
