Read this if you…
- like vivid, almost cinematic war poetry (Nineveh's fall rendered in slashing imagery)
- want the OT's most satisfying revenge text against a notoriously cruel empire
- enjoy short prophetic books that hit hard and end fast
Skip this if you…
- don't want to read explicitly religious/Christian texts
Depicted in Art
Half-length icon of Nahum holding an open scroll; gold ground, in the Russian iconographic tradition of the prophets.
1725
Gilded enthroned figure of Nahum holding a scroll, one of the Old Testament prophets ringing the lower register of the Shrine.
Nicholas of Verdun, 1200
Massed Assyrian crowds collapse before flood and invading armies; the river bursts the city walls as Nineveh is overthrown.
John Martin, 1829
Recommended Editions
King James Version
Oxford University Press · 1611
The most influential and commonly quoted translation in English. The prose rhythm everyone else is responding to, even modern translations.
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Notable Quotes
The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.
- Robert Lowth, Bishop of London; Oxford Professor of Poetry, 1710–1787: Of all the minor prophets, none seems to equal the sublimity, the ardour, and the bold spirit of Nahum.
- George Adam Smith, Scottish Old Testament scholar, 1856–1942: "His language is strong and brilliant; his rhythm rumbles and rolls, leaps and flashes, like the horsemen and chariots he describes."
- J. M. P. Smith, American Hebraist; University of Chicago; ICC editor, 1866–1932: "In some respects the poetry of Nahum is unsurpassed in the Old Testament."
- A. F. Kirkpatrick, Cambridge biblical scholar; Regius Professor of Hebrew, 1849–1940: "Each prophet has his special gift for his particular work. Nahum bears the palm for poetic power."