The Book of Nahum is a prophetic book concerned with pronouncing judgment upon the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, and with detailing its coming destruction at the hands of Yahweh. In light of this concern, it is not surprising that the primary image and expression of Yahweh in this piece is one of a vengeful and wrathful deity, expressing judgment in the form of destruction and desolation. These images combine to portray the character of Yahweh within the book of Nahum as a angry and judgmental God, bent on the destruction of all those who stand against Israel, a reality that readers struggle to comprehend in light of other texts, especially among the prophets, which depict Yahweh as gracious and merciful. What this essay will argue is that it is this larger textual context of the exploration of divine character, especially among the Twelve, through which Nahum should be understood, as well as through comprehension of the mythical allusions made by the author in Yahweh’s theophany. To show this, we will focus in on Nahum 1:2-3, exploring how it describes Yahweh, especially in relation to its use of Exodus 34:6-7, as well as how this compares to other prophetic texts and Jonah in particular. We will then explore the mythic qualities of Yahweh, particularly in Nahum 1:4, and how they relate to our reading of Nahum.
Before beginning our exploration of the character of Yahweh in the Book of Nahum, it is important that we first consider the literary context in which it is placed, that is, its place as a book within the ‘Scroll of the Twelve’. The Scroll of the Twelve is so named as it constitutes a collection of twelve smaller prophetic writings, each attributed to different prophets. Traditionally it has been argued that this ...
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The Book of Job is one of the three books in the Hebrew bible whose genre is described as wisdom literature.1 Certainly the Book of Job satisfies the literary conventions that qualify a biblical book for such status. 2 Yet Job may be associated with wisdom in a much more literal sense. The Book of Job attempts to deal with a problematic question that confronts suffering humanity: why do bad things happen to good people? The variety and vehemence of commentators' contemporary responses to this chapter of the Bible is testament to the continued relevance of the Book of Job's wisdom thousands of years after it was written. Although the commentators examined herein arrive at differing and sometimes conflicting conclusions after reading the story of "the holy Arab"3, none are left indifferent.
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The history of the Hebrew nation is told through the lives of the Israelite and Judean kings as representatives of the nation, because the fortunes of the king and the plight of the people were entwined. Rebellion and disobedience in the form of idolatry and social injustice on the part of the king brought divine retribution on the nation in several forms, including oppression by surrounding hostile powers, overthrow of the royal dynasties, and ultimately exile into foreign lands. Conversely, the blessing of Yahweh’s favor in the form of peace, security, prosperity, and deliverance from foes rested upon the people of God when the king was obedient to the L...
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When studying the twelve books of the prophets, the information covers a significant span of time, the duration of several centuries (Wilcox, 2014). Whereas each book tells its own story from a varied perspective, the majority specifically connects to the three-main crisis the Jews faced. The books of Hosea, Joel, and Amos serves as an introduction to the narrative, while Obadiah through Nahum references the Assyrian crisis (Tullock, & McEntire, 2012). Meanwhile, Habakkuk and Zephaniah tells the story of the Babylonian crisis they Jews faced. Finally, the books Haggai through Malachi display Jerusalem and the Temples restoration. Moreover, the Book of the Twelve tends to mirror the narratives of the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel in
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