Nahum Group 8: Lamentations, Nahum, Baruch

Process

Activity 3: Know Your Prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures

Group 8: Your Books of the Prophets are Lamentations, Nahum, Baruch

Complete the tasks for Nahum.

2 Nahum

Use the following information and the listed resources to complete your tasks.

Nahum - His Profile
Images:	His Name Means	Comfort
	Appears	Nahum
	Biographical	Very little is known about the prophet himself, and the date of the prophecy is equally vague. It is likely that Nahum wrote in Judah close to 612 BC during the reform of Josiah, before the death of Josiah (609 BC) and before the evidence of Babylonian imperial might quenched the spirit of optimism surrounding the fall of Assyria. Elkosh, his town of origin, is unidentified.
	The Book/Content	The prophecy of Nahum comes from a poet of great skill. The work is a combination of many forms. The whole prophecy is similar to other oracles against foreign nations. But it contains a partial acrostic poem (Nahum 1:2-8), a funeral lament (Nahum 3:1-7), and a taunt song (Nahum 3:8-19). Whether he was predicting the future or recounting the past, the events Nahum describes did happen: Assyria, under whose shadow Israel and Judah had lived for a century, collapsed before a coalition of Medes and Babylonians in 612 BC. Another historical event mentioned in the book is the capture of Thebes by Assyria in 661 BC (Nahum 3:8) Appearance of the divine messenger (Nahum 1:2-8) Oracles of hope (Nahum 1:9-2:1) The fall of Ninevah (Nahum 2:2-14) Final destruction (Nahum 3:1-19)
	Key Themes/ Messages	God will execute vengeance against Ninevah God's sovereignty over all, including the Assyrians
	Special Interest	Among the fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls found in Qumran caves were portions of a commentary on Nahum, which has helped to establish the dates of the Scrolls and identify some of the obsure references.

Sources:
Bowker, J. 1998, The Complete Bible Handbook - An Illustrated Companion,Dorling Kindersley, UK
Brown, R.E., Fitzmyer, J.A.,and Murphy, R.E., 1992. The New Jerome Bible Handbook, Geoffrey Chapman, England
Comay, J., and, Brownrigg, R., 1980. Who's Who in the Old Testament, Bonanza Books, NY
Drane, J.(ed), 1998, The Lion Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Bible, Lion Publishing, England
Motyer, S. 1998. Who's Who in the Bible - An Illustrated Guide, Dorling Kindersley, UK

Resources

Catholic Encyclopedia - Nahum - difficult reading

Jewish Encyclopedia - Nahum

Bible Study - Nahum

Bible Basics - Nahum (scroll down the left hand side to Nahum)

3 Go to Baruch and complete this activity