Editing Book of Nahum (section)

== Background ==
Scholars with a preference for [[Hebrew]] manuscripts place the writing of the book after the Assyrian king [[Ashurbanipal]]'s [[Sack of Thebes]] in 663 B.C. This view is the current majority opinion because the city of Thebes is referred to in the past tense in the Masoretic Text of Nahum 3:8-10. However, both the Septuagint and Vulgate refer to the city in the present tense, and the former opinion held by scholars was that Nahum lived about a century earlier, before both the [[Assyrian captivity|captivity of the ten lost tribes]] and the Sack of Thebes.<ref>https://biblehub.com/sep/nahum/3.htm</ref><ref>https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Nahum%203&version=VULGATE</ref> 

The first-century Jewish historian [[Flavius Josephus]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/L326JosephusJewishAntiquitiesVIII1213|title=Vol. VI: Jewish Antiquities, Books IX–XI|last=Josephus|first=Flavius|publisher=William Heinemann|year=1958|series=Loeb Classical Library|volume=326|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/L326JosephusJewishAntiquitiesVIII1213/page/n140 125]–129, XI.xi.2–3|translator-last=Marcus|translator-first=William}}</ref> places Nahum's life during the reign of [[Jotham]]. This view was also held by the Catholic scholar [[Thomas Worthington (Douai)|Thomas Worthington]] in his notes for the original [[Douay-Rheims Bible]], writing: "Nahum prophesied about 50 years after [[Jonah]] ... 135 before the destruction of Niniveh."<ref>https://philologic.northwestern.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.9:1:39.bie</ref> In this view, rather than Ashurbanipal, Nahum's prophecy would have been directed at [[Tiglath-Pileser III]], who revitalized the Neo-Assyrian Empire into a world power again and conquered most of the Levant, defeating and subjugating previously influential kingdoms, including [[Aram-Damascus]]. Tiglath-Pileser was contemporary with the reign of Jotham.

Some scholars hold that "the book of the vision" was written at the time of the [[fall of Nineveh]],<ref name="Kent H. Richards 2006" /> at the hands of the [[Medes]] and [[Babylon]]ians in 612 BC.<ref name="Coogan 2009">Michael D. Coogan, ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament'', (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009) 297–298</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pinker|first=Aron|date=April–June 2005|title=Nahum – The Prophet and His Message|url=http://www.jbq.jewishbible.org/assets/Uploads/332/332_Nahump_4.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.jbq.jewishbible.org/assets/Uploads/332/332_Nahump_4.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=Jewish Bible Quarterly|volume=33|issue=2|pages=6}}</ref> possibly around 615 BC, before the downfall of Assyria.<ref name="Heaton, E. W. p. 35">Heaton, E. W., ''A Short Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets'', p. 35, Oneworld Publications, P.O. Box 830, 21 Broadway, Rockport, NA 01966, {{ISBN|1-85168-114-0}}</ref> The oracles must be dated after [[Sack of Thebes|the Assyrian destruction]] of [[Thebes, Egypt]] in 663&nbsp;BC, as this event is mentioned in Nahum 3:8.<ref name="Kent H. Richards 2006">Kent H. Richards, ''Nahum Introduction: The Harper Collins Study Bible'', (New York: Harper Collins, 2006) 1250</ref>

=== Author ===
{{Main|Nahum}}
Little is known about Nahum's personal history. His name means "comfort",<ref>Cook, G., [https://www.tyndalebulletin.org/article/29407.pdf Nahum's Prophetic Name], ''[[Tyndale Bulletin]]'', 67.1 (2016) 37-40, accessed on 14 September 2024</ref> and he came from the town of ''Elkosh'' or ''Alqosh'' (Nahum 1:1), which scholars have attempted to identify with several cities, including the modern [[Alqosh|`Alqush]] of [[Assyria]] and [[Capernaum]] of northern [[Galilee]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10670a.htm|title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Nahum|publisher=newadvent.org}}</ref> He was a very nationalistic Hebrew, and lived among the Elkoshites in peace.

=== Historical context ===
[[File:Nineveh map city walls & gates.JPG|thumb|Simplified plan of ancient [[Nineveh]], showing city wall and location of gateways.]]
The subject of Nahum's prophecy is the approaching complete and final destruction of Nineveh, which was the capital of the great and flourishing [[Assyria]]n empire at that time. [[Ashurbanipal]] was at the height of his glory. Nineveh was a city of vast extent, and was then the center of the civilization and commerce of the world, according to Nahum a "bloody city all full of lies and robbery",<ref>{{bibleverse|Nahum|3:1|KJV}}</ref> a reference to the Neo-Assyrian Empire's military campaigns and demand of tribute and plunder from conquered cities.

[[Jonah]] had already uttered his message of warning, and Nahum was followed by [[Zephaniah]], who also predicted<ref>[[Book of Zephaniah|Zephaniah]] {{bibleverse-nb|Zephaniah|2:4–15|NKJV}}</ref> the destruction of the city.

Nineveh was destroyed apparently by fire around 625 BC, and the Assyrian empire came to an end, an event which changed the face of Asia. Archaeological digs have uncovered the splendor of Nineveh in its zenith under [[Sennacherib]] (705–681 BC), [[Esarhaddon]] (681–669 BC), and [[Ashurbanipal]] (669–633 BC). Massive walls were eight miles in circumference.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=10&Issue=2&ArticleID=7|title=Destruction of Judean Fortress Portrayed in Dramatic Eighth-Century B.C. Pictures – The BAS Library|author=The Biblical Archaeology Society|date=24 August 2015 }}</ref> It had a water [[aqueduct (watercourse)|aqueduct]], palaces and a library with 20,000 clay tablets, including accounts of a creation in [[Enuma Elish]] and a flood in the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/196202/nineveh.htm|title=Saudi Aramco World: Nineveh|publisher=saudiaramcoworld.com|access-date=2011-11-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708132641/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/196202/nineveh.htm|archive-date=2011-07-08|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dfalk/courses/bible/creation%20myths.htm|title=CREATION MYTHS IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST|publisher=uoregon.edu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127035404/http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dfalk/courses/bible/creation%20myths.htm|archive-date=2011-11-27}}</ref>

The Babylonian chronicle of the fall of Nineveh tells the story of the end of Nineveh. [[Nabopolassar]] of Babylon joined forces with [[Cyaxares]], king of the Medes, and laid siege for three months.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/ne-nn/nineveh/nineveh02.html|title=The fall of Nineveh Chronicle (ABC 3)|publisher=livius.org|access-date=2020-03-26|archive-date=2016-11-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110013048/http://www.livius.org/ne-nn/nineveh/nineveh02.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Assyria lasted a few more years after the loss of its fortress, but attempts by [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] [[Pharaoh]] [[Necho II]] to rally the Assyrians failed due to opposition from king [[Josiah]] of [[kingdom of Judah|Judah]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theology.edu/lec21.htm|title=ANE History: The End of Judah|publisher=theology.edu}}</ref> and it seemed to be all over by 609 BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/assy/hd_assy.htm|title=Assyria, 1365609 B.C.|publisher=metmuseum.org}}</ref>