Of Nahum nothing is known, save that he was from Elkosh, a Galilean town.
"The burden of Nineveh" is the subject of the prophecy. When the prophet wrote these predictions, there was not the least probability of Nineveh's downfall. Assyria exercised a proud and arrogant sovereignty over the surrounding nations, and was then planning the conquest and subjugation of Judah (Nah. 1:11). Nineveh's repentance under the preaching of Jonah about 150 years previously had been genuine, but neither lasting nor deep; now the Lord announces His purpose to destroy it utterly, giving no space for repentance. But what an unspeakable comfort to remember amidst scenes of desolating judgment, that "the LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him" (Nah. 1:7).
Nineveh was a city of extraordinary strength and size. Jonah calls it "an exceeding great city of three days' journey;" it was one well fitted from its natural position, and the strength and skill of its fortifications to defy almost any invading force. Its walls were said to have been a hundred feet high, with fifteen hundred strong towers. But strong and mighty as the city and empire was, utter ruin was decreed, the proud and "bloody city" must fall, and the insolent and haughty Sennacherib be taught that Jehovah will "make his grave" when in the very zenith of his power.
The pride, cruelty, and idolatry of the city are wonderfully and graphically portrayed, but we cease to wonder, as we reflect that the pen of inspiration traced these burning words.
She is ironically invited to prepare herself for a lengthened siege, to strengthen her walls and bulwarks, and victual the great city (Nah. 3:14). The surprise and alarm on the capture of the city is powerfully and graphically told.
Babylon was destroyed by the Persians, who diverted the famous river Euphrates, which flowed through the city into other channels; they then entered by the bed of the river through the two-leaved gates of brass which had been carelessly left open. Assyria too would be destroyed, partly by water, for "the gates of the rivers shall be opened" (Nah. 2:6), and by fire (Nah. 3:13-15); like Babylon, too, her gates would be opened, affording a passage for the enemy (Nah. 3:13); while the sword and captivity would effectually dispose of her numerous and wealthy population. The total and immediate ruin of the city of Nineveh having been decreed by God, little wonder need be felt that these predictions having been fulfilled to the very letter, the site of the city was for centuries unknown, till the discoveries in recent years of the travelers Botta, Layard, and others, have revealed the utter ruin, and placed before the eyes of the skeptical nineteenth century memorials of the awful judgment which befell the "bloody city" of Nineveh.
No doubt Nah. 1:11 looks forward to the coming crisis, when "the Assyrian" or "King of the North," will come upon the scene as the representative of ancient Assyria, and play one of the most important parts in that awful time. "The antichrist" is a totally different person. Judah will be remembered in mercy in the future Assyrian destruction (Nah. 1:14, 15).
GENERAL DIVISIONS.
1.-Jehovah's power in judgment with mercy and blessing for Judah. Nah. 1
2.-The "Doom of the bloody city," with particulars of its siege. Nah. 2, 3.
NOTE.
In the destruction of Babylon and Nineveh, the respective capitals of the Chaldean and Assyrian kingdoms, there are strong points of resemblance; but there is also marked contrast. The besiegers of Babylon entered the city through the almost dry bed of the river, which had been diverted from its usual course, but in the case of the latter city, the waters of the Tigris overflowed its banks and poured into the doomed city. The proud monarch retired to his palace and set it on fire, and thus perished, after sustaining a siege of about two years. The charcoal and burnt wood were plentifully found by the excavators in the ruins of Nineveh—which will never again rear its head (Nah. 3:19). Assyria, however, without its capital, will share millennial blessedness (Isa. 19).