Concerning Nahum ("consolation," or "the consoler") we have only so much authentic information that we know he was a native of Elkosh, probably a village of Galilee. The period in which he prophesied may only approximately be fixed by the fact that he was active before the destruction of Nineveh in the year 606 B. C., but after the dissolution of the northern kingdom through the Assyrian hosts and after some serious visitation which struck the southern kingdom. The time of his activity may thus be placed either at the very end of the eighth century or in the first half of the seventh century before Christ. He seems to have been at that time a citizen of Judah, residing in Jerusalem. The object of Nahum's book was to bring his nation, representative of the spiritual Israel, comfort and strength over against the Assyrian worldpower, which at that time had subdued Israel and assumed the sovereignty over Judah. The gist of the book is the Lord's announcement

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of Nineveh's total destruction, in accordance with which its conquest took place in the year 606 B. C.

The Book of Nahum evidently forms a wellordered unit, which may be divided in agreement with its chapters. It sets forth the vengeance decided upon by the mighty and jealous God, the conquest and destruction of Nineveh as determined upon by the Lord, and the reason for the Lord's judgment, namely, the guilt and wickedness of the city and its inhabitants. The form of presentation is vivid and powerful, the style rhythmical, the language of classic beauty, with passages breathing a true fire of divine enthusiasm and power. The Messianic element is not entirely wanting, and the entire book supports the plan of God of preserving His people over against the oppression of the world-power.1)

1) Cp. Fuerbringer, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, 89.

The Divine Counsel Concerning the Judgment upon Nineveh.

The

God, who is at the same time the God of the covenant and the almighty Sovereign of the universe, states that He has fully decided to bring about the overthrow and destruction of Nineveh, as the enemy of His people. V. 1. The burden of Nineveh, the sentence bringing the threat of Jehovah against the wicked city. The book of the vision of Nahum, the Elkoshite, the term probably indicating that Nahum did not deliver his prophecy in person, but reduced it to writing at once. V. 2. God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth, or, "A God jealous and taking vengeance is Jehoval," as He had stated of old, Ex. 20, 5. Lord revengeth and is furious, literally, "An Avenger is Jehovah and a Master of fury," terrible in His wrath. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, His punishment sometimes being delayed, but always inevitable in coming, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies, for it is not weak indulgence that causes His delay in punishing, but an exhibition of His love and mercy, which I would have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. V. 3. The Lord is slow to anger, long-suffering and patient over against wickedness of long standing, and great in power, His almighty strength becoming evident when He does strike, and will not at all acquit the wicked, those who have shown that they are guilty. The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind

and in the storm, which are but instruments and exhibitions of His power, and the clouds are the dust of His feet, they are insignificant before Him, and He uses them as He pleases. V. 4. He rebuketh the sea and maketh it dry, as when He caused the Red Sea to part before the children of Israel, Ex. 14, 15, and drieth up all the rivers, since they all are subject to His directions; Bashan, the rich pasture-land east of Jordan, languisheth, and Carmel, the wooded slopes of the mountain overlooking the Mediterranean, and the flower of Lebanon, otherwise a symbol of rich fertility, languisheth, namely, when He withholds the moisture or bids the river go dry. V. 5. The mountains quake at Him, cp. Amos 8, 8, and the hills melt, as at the time of terrible earthquakes, and the earth is burned at His presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein, both men and the irrational brutes. V. 6. Who can stand before His indignation? before His wrath when it burns freely. And who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? Cp. Jer. 10, 10. His fury is poured out like fire, in a torrent consuming everything before it, Deut. 4, 24, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. Cp. Jer. 23, 29. But this wrath of God does not strike those who put their trust in Him. V. 7. The Lord is good, even in the midst of His judgments, a stronghold in the day of trouble, a refuge when distress and misery come upon the believers; and He knoweth them that trust in Him, He has

that intimate knowledge of them, that peculiar insight into their needs which guarantees them His help. V. 8. But with an overrunning flood, a deluge which carries everything before it, He will make an utter end of the place thereof, so that Nineveh would cease to be a city and its very site be used for altogether different purposes, and darkness shall pursue His enemies, a figure of a complete desolation. V. 9. What do ye imagine against the Lord? Did the people of Judah think that Jehovah was not able to carry out His threat against Nineveh? He will make an utter end; affliction shall not rise up the second time, for the one blow on the part of the Lord would be quite sufficient, so that the affliction which Judah suffered on the part of Assyria would not arise twice. V. 10. For while, or though, they be folden together as thorns, braided together or entangled, and while they are drunken as drunkards, though they are drowned in their carousing, in their wine, so that it might seem that fire would not be able to reach them or to affect them seriously, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. The comparison shows the pride and the boldness which the Assyrians possessed, also in their idea that they were invincible. V. 11. There is one come out of thee, namely, Sennacherib or one of the other rulers who invaded Judah, that

imagineth evil against the Lord, meditating and speaking in this sense, a wicked counselor, one who advised worthlessness, things that were foolish and brought no results. Cp. Is. 36, 14—20. V. 12. Thus saith the Lord, Though they be quiet and likewise many, no matter how tranquilly secure and how numerous they are, yet thus shall they be cut down, suddenly disappearing as though mowed down, when he shall pass through, rather, and he passes away, namely, the daring invader who had meditated evil against Jehovah. Though I have afflicted thee, bending Judah down to the ground, I will afflict thee no more, this being a source of consolation to the Lord's people. V. 13. For now will I break his yoke from off thee and will burst thy bonds, which the proud invader had laid upon Judah, in sunder. V. 14. And the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee that no more of thy name be sown, that the dynasty of the Assyrian kings should become extinct; out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image, in whom the Assyrians placed their trust; I will make thy grave, for thou art vile, morally unworthy, no longer fit to live and to be in power. Thus the destruction of the power of Assyria was clearly set forth, in outlines that could not be misunderstood.

The Conquest, Plundering, and Destruction of Nineveh.

The conquerors of Nineveh would be Jehovah's instruments, who would effect the destruction of the city with all its vaunted glory. V. 15. Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, of the messenger of joy hastening forward to bring the good news, that publisheth peace, announcing to Judah the overthrow of the enemies. O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, resuming their celebration especially at this time, when the deliverance of the Lord's people from violence and oppression constituted a further incentive for joy and thanksgiving, perform thy vows, those made in anticipation of this deliverance; for the wicked shall no more pass through thee, he is utterly cut off. The use of Is. 52, 7 in this connection is very clear, and Luther is undoubtedly right in finding here a Messianic allusion, especially since Assyria, as the great world-power, was the type of the antichristian forces which try to overthrow the Church of God. Chapter 2, 1. He that dasheth in pieces, the Babylonian invader, is come up before thy face, appearing before the walls of Nineveh. Keep the munition, rather, "Guard the fortress!" in an

effort to withstand the foe; watch the way, having spies out on all the roads leading to the city; make thy loins strong, as a warrior preparing for battle; fortify thy power mightily. All this detailed description is given to emphasize the futility of these preparations. V. 2. For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, Jehovah being on the side of the invading army, and He intends to restore the glory of His people, as the excellency of Israel, when the covenant nation was at the height of its glory; for the emptiers have emptied them out, or, "plunderers have plundered them," and marred their vine-branches, outrageously destroying the land and outraging its inhabitants, so that the Lord felt obliged to avenge this indignity. V. 3. The shield of His mighty men, of the heroes commissioned by the Lord to execute His punishment, is made red, all shining for the battle, the valiant men are in scarlet, their war-clothes being made of this color; the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, blazing with their iron equipments, and the fir-trees shall be terribly shaken, the spears made of cypresses are brandished. V. 4. The chariots shall rage in

the streets, as they are driven furiously in the attack, they shall jostle one against another in the broad ways, running to and fro in the market-places or squares of Nineveh, all confused by the attack of the enemy; they shall seem like torches, as the light struck the steel ornaments of the chariots, they shall run like the lightnings, namely, as lightning plays in blinding flashes. V. 5. He shall recount his worthies, the Assyrian king remembering, and counting on, his heroes; they shall stumble in their walk, all confused and uncertain in their effort to reach the point where the attack is launched against the city; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defense shall be prepared. The entire paragraph pictures the haste and confusion which takes hold upon the citizens and the soldiers of a city which has been too secure and now finds itself surrounded by a host of enemies. V. 6. The gates of the rivers shall be opened, the reference being to some natural or artificial inundation of the city which helped in its destruction, and the palace shall be dissolved, its inmates being overcome with terror and losing all semblance of careful thinking and planning. V. 7. And Huzzab shall be led away captive, literally, "It is determined," by God; "she is made bare," namely, Nineveh, "like a ravished woman, and carried away." She shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her, the inhabitants of the city being so regarded, as with the voice of doves, with mournful cries, taboring upon their breasts, beating upon them as though they were tabrets. V. 8. But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water, a term expressing her great population and prosperity; yet they shall flee away, her great population leaving her to her fate. Stand, stand! shall they cry, in an attempt to stop the heedless rush; but none shall look back, refusing to return to the ravished city. V. 9. Take ye the spoil

of silver, so the victors are admonished, take the spoil of gold! For there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture, of the various rich treasures with which the palaces of the city were filled. V. 10. She is empty and void and waste, literally, "emptiness and being emptied out and desolation!" and the heart melteth, in utter discouragement, and the knees smite together, in the terror which cannot control itself, and much pain is in all loins, Is. 21, 3, and the faces of them all gather blackness, all of them pale with fear. Thus the mighty city would be destroyed with all its rich treasures. V. 11. Where is the dwelling of the lions and the feeding-place of the young lions, for the Assyrians liked to compare themselves with the king of beasts, where the lion, even the old lion, walked and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid? none of the nations, in the early days, daring to disturb the Assyrians in their possession of the land. V. 12. The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, as much as his young ones desired, and strangled for his lionesses and filled his holes, the dens occupied by him, with prey and his dens with ravin, his lurking-places with spoil. Even so the kings of Assyria heaped up treasures taken from every part of the world for the use of the inhabitants of Nineveh. V. 13. Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, the ruler of the heavenly armies, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, so that all her war material goes up in smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions, the mighty men of the city; and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard, as they boasted of the might and prowess of Assyria and Nineveh. God has ways of subduing even the mightiest enemies, no matter how mightily they rise up in their own conceit.

The Miserable Ruin of Nineveh. Jehovah now shows that the cause of Ninevel's destruction is its wickedness, and that for this reason the city is bound to submit to the sentence which has been pronounced upon her. V. 1. Woe to the bloody city, or, "O city of blood, of blood-guiltiness!" It is all full of lies and robbery, so that deceit, violence, and extortion were the order of the day; the prey departeth not, robbery goes on without ceasing; v. 2. the noise of a whip, its sharp crack heard as the horses are urged forward in battle, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels and of the prancing horses and of the jumping chariots, bounding along over the ground, as the horses broke into a gallop. V. 3. The horseman lifteth up,

rather, "horsemen rearing," as they directed their mounts to charge, both the bright sword and the glittering spear, or, "the flame of the sword and the lightning of the lance"; and there is a multitude of slain, or of wounded, and a great number of carcasses, a wall of corpses heaped up; and there is none end of their corpses; they, the invading enemies, stumble upon their corpses, unable to pick their way forward because the entire battle-field is strewn with dead; v. 4. because of the multitude of the whoredoms, the acts of idolatry and wickedness, of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, idolatry and witchcraft being the special marks of the heathen character, that selleth nations through her

whoredoms, with her hypocritical friendship and feigned interest, and families, smaller tribes, through her witchcrafts, namely, by her political schemes and intrigues. For this reason the Lord will plunge Nineveh into a shameful destruction. V. 5. Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, uncover them and throw them up so high that they would reach over her face, and I will show the nations thy nakedness, as that of a lewd woman, and the kingdoms thy shame, in bringing the utmost disgrace upon Nineveh. V. 6. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, as an expression of the utmost disgust and loathing, and make thee vile, an object of disgrace, and will set thee as a gazing-stock, upon which men would look with contempt and derision. V. 7. And it shall come to pass that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, with a feeling of deepest revulsion, and say, Nineveh is laid waste; who will bemoan her? Whence shall I seek comforters for thee? so the prophet interjects his question. No one would have the slightest sympathy with the stricken city, because she had so thoroughly deserved her punishment. V. 8. Art thou better than populous No, that is, No-Amon, Thebes, the capital of Upper Egypt, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, namely, in the great irrigation canals, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea? the great expanse of the Nile. V. 9. Ethiopia and Egypt, the countries along the Nile, were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim, the countries to the west, along the Mediterranean Sea, were thy helpers, Thebes itself being addressed in the excitement of the orator. V. 10. Yet, in spite of all her own power and the strength of her allies, was she carried away, she went into captivity, after a conquest by Sargon, Esarhaddon, or Tir-haqua; her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top, that is, at the corners, of all the streets; and they cast lots for her honorable men, the conquerors dividing them among themselves by lot, as slaves, and all her great men were bound in chains. V. 11. Thou also, namely, Nineveh, shalt be drunken, upon receiving the cup of God's fury in judgment; thou shalt be hid, covered over, as though she had never existed; thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy, protection or refuge before the advancing enemy, without being able to find it. V. 12. All thy strongholds, the fortresses and castles of the Assyrian country, shall be like fig-trees with the first-ripe figs, considered a special delicacy; if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater, they would readily be taken by the invading enemy. V. 13. Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women, without strength and courage for the battle;

the gates of thy land shall be set wide open, the Lord making the land easy of access to the invaders, unto thine enemies; the fire shall devour thy bars, those which held the great gates of the city shut. V. 14. Draw thee waters for the siege, that needed for a long period of siege of the enemies; fortify thy strongholds, strengthening the forts; go into clay, for making bricks, and tread the mortar, in order to fashion bricks for the bulwarks; make strong the brick-kiln, in order to burn the bricks. V. 15. There shall the fire devour 'thee, in the very midst of these preparations; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm, as locusts destroy; make thyself many as the canker-worm, like devouring insects; make thyself many as the locusts. The thought is this: The fire and the sword, like locusts devouring everything before them, would consume Nineveh, even though the city with its masses of houses and inhabitants would resemble a swarm of locusts. V. 16. Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven, the number of its people engaged in commercial pursuits of every kind being very great; the cankerworm spoileth, literally, "the licking locusts enter to plunder," and fleeth away, the military might of Assyria being powerless before the armies of the invaders. V. 17. Thy crowned, the vassal princes, are as the locusts, and thy captains, the commanders of her armies, as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, too chilled to use their wings; but when the sun ariseth, they flee away, and their place is not known where they are. a similar way the Assyrian army would vanish from sight; it would not be in evidence to withstand the invaders. V. 18. Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria, that is, the mighty ones, the leaders of the people, were resting in a false security; thy nobles shall dwell in the dust, rather, "thy powerful ones are lying still," not making a move to defend their country; thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them, no one assumes the leadership over them, and so their identity as an Assyrian nation is lost. V. 19. There is no healing of thy bruise, of the fracture which the Lord had inflicted; thy wound is grievous, the stroke or ruin being deadly; all that hear the bruit, the report, of thee shall clap the hands over thee, in a gesture of joy over the downfall of the oppressor; for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually? The Lord indeed used Assyria as His scourge, but He, at the same time, wanted Assyria to acknowledge His sovereignty. When Nineveh and the entire country, therefore, persisted in its wickedness, His punishment came upon the land with crushing force.

In

- HABAKKUK 1, 1-6a. 689

The prophet Habakkuk ("embrace," "one who loves most dearly and sincerely") was a member of the tribe of Judah and apparently a Levite, who was thoroughly familiar with the ancient psalms and the liturgy of the Jewish Church, who was called by God to be His prophet. Otherwise nothing is known concerning his person, although some scholars have made various statements regarding his family and occupation. The period of his activity may be determined quite definitely by the contents of his prophecy, for he predicted the invasion of Judah by the Chaldeans, which took place in the year 606 B. C. At the same time, his apparent references to the reformation of the Temple cultus under Josiah make it probable that he prophesied some years before the first subjugation of Judah by the Babylonians, and it seems safe, therefore, to say that his chief activity falls in the third decade of the seventh century before Christ. He was contemporary of Zephaniah and of Jeremiah, both of whom use expressions similar to those found in his book.

The object of Habakkuk was to show Judah that the newly arisen power, the Chaldean monarchy, which even then was threatening the authority of the Assyrian supremacy, was

destined to be a scourge of the southern kingdom. For in spite of the outward reformation under Josiah the inner corruption of the nation was becoming increasingly apparent, so that violence and oppression were the order of the day. Yet the trend of Habakkuk's prophecy was to bring comfort to the believers by a reference to the eventual redemption of the true Israel. In agreement with this general outline the book may be divided into three parts, the first part picturing the imminent, terrible punishment by the Chaldeans, the second containing the fivefold cry of woe upon the proud and idolatrous world-power, and the third offering the hymn of the prophet addressed to the majestic God.

The presentation and the language of Habakkuk show the classical beauty of Hebrew prophecy. The style is poetical and sublime, the parallelisms generally regular. Many sections are notable for original expressions and for powerful periods. The prayer with which the book closes touches the summit of the sublime.1)

1) Cp. Fuerbringer, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, 90.91; Concordia Bible Class, June, 1919, 88-90.

The Chastisement of the Lord Set Forth. THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF JEHOVAH'S JUDGMENT.-V. 1. The burden, the prophetic sentence with its threat of punishment, which Habakkuk, the prophet, did see, his first statements being in the nature of a complaint on the part of righteousness, accusing the people of sin. V. 2. O Lord, how long shall I cry, until when would he have to raise his voice, and Thou wilt not hear? Jehovah, the God of the covenant, refused to heed any appeal in the interest of the people while they persisted in their wickedness. Even cry out unto Thee of violence, of the criminal acts of the people of the land, and Thou wilt not save? The fact that the Lord apparently remained indifferent to conditions in Judah and did nothing to stop the criminal activity, seemed to the prophet incompatible with the holiness of God. V. 3. Why dost Thou show me iniquity, permitting him to see it on every hand, and cause me to behold grievance? rather, "and Thou observest distress inactively," seemingly paying no attention to perverseness. For spoiling and violence are before me, so that he could not help but be a witness of them daily; and there are that Popular Commentary, Old Test., II.

raise up strife and contention, literally, "there is strife, and contention arises." V. 4. Therefore the Law is slacked, the leaders not being interested in its enforcement, since God remained indifferent, and judgment doth never go forth, there is never a righteous sentence delivered; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous, a whole circle of such wicked people surrounding one righteous person, so that he is often forced to bow to superior power; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth, righteousness and truth are perverted. Jehovah answers this complaint by saying that He intends to perform a marvelous work, namely, by pronouncing a sentence in agreement with the greatness of the transgression. V. 5. Behold ye among the heathen, out of whose midst the storm of judgment would proceed, and regard and wonder marvelously, literally, "be astonished! astonished!" For I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe though it be told you, one which in ordinary circumstances is unbelievable. V. 6. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, a fierce and impetuous nation, which shall march through the breadth of the 44