THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET NAHUM _Chronological Notes relative to this Book, upon the supposition_ _that it was written about seven hundred and thirteen years_ _before the commencement of the Christian era_ -Year from the Creation, according to Archbishop Usher, 3291. -Year of the Julian Period, 4... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Nahum 1:2. _GOD IS JEALOUS_] For his own glory. _AND - REVENGETH_] His justice; by the destruction of his enemies. _AND_ IS _FURIOUS_] So powerful in the manifestations of his judgments, that nothing can stand before him. _HE RESERVETH WRATH_] Though they seem to prosper for a time, and God... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Nahum 1:3. _THE LORD IS SLOW TO ANGER_] He exercises much longsuffering towards his enemies, that this may lead them to repentance. And it is because of this longsuffering that vengeance is not speedily executed on every evil work. _GREAT IN POWER_] Able at all times to _save_ or to _destroy_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 4. _HE REBUKETH THE SEA_] The Red Sea, and the rivers: probably an allusion to the passage of the _Red Sea_ and _Jordan_. The description of the coming of Jehovah, from the third to the sixth verse, is dreadfully majestic. Nahum 1:3 He is represented as controlling _universal nature_. The _se... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 7. _THE LORD_ IS _GOOD_] In the midst of judgment he remembers mercy; and among the most dreadful denunciations of wrath he mingles promises of mercy. None that trust in him need be alarmed at these dreadful threatenings; they shall be discriminated in the day of wrath, for the _Lord knoweth t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 8. _BUT WITH AN OVERRUNNING FLOOD_] Bishop _Newcome_ thinks this may refer to the manner in which Nineveh was taken. The _Euphrates_ overflowed its banks, deluged a part of the city, and overturned _twenty_ stadia of the wall; in consequence of which the desponding king burnt himself, and his... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 9. _AFFLICTION SHALL NOT RISE UP THE SECOND TIME._] There shall be no need to _repeat the judgment_; with _one blow_ God will make a full end of the business.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Nahum 1:10. _WHILE_ THEY BE _FOLDEN TOGETHER_] However united their counsels may be, they shall be as _drunken men_-perplexed and unsteady in all their resolutions; and before God's judgments they shall be as _dry thorns_ before a devouring fire.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Nahum 1:11. _IMAGINETH EVIL AGAINST THE LORD_] Such were _Pul_, 2 Kings 15:10, _Tiglath-pileser_, 2 Kings 15:29; _Shalmaneser_, 2 Kings 17:6; and _Sennacherib_, 2 Kings 18:17; 2 Kings 19:23. _A WICKED COUNSELLOR._] _Sennacherib_ and _Rabshakeh_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Nahum 1:12. _THOUGH_ THEY BE - _MANY_] _Sennacherib_ invaded Judea with an army of nearly _two hundred thousand_ men. _THUS SHALL THEY BE CUT DOWN_] The angel of the Lord (a suffocating wind) slew of them in one night _one hundred and_ _eighty-five thousand_, 2 Kings 19:35.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Nahum 1:13. _NOW WILL I BREAK HIS YOKE FROM OFF THEE_] This refers to the tribute which the Jews were obliged to pay to the Assyrians, 2 Kings 17:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Nahum 1:14. _NO MORE OF THY NAME BE SOWN_] No more of you shall be carried away into _captivity_. _I WILL MAKE THY GRAVE; FOR THOU ART VILE_] I think this is an address to the Assyrians, and especially to _Sennacherib_. The text is no obscure intimation of the fact. The _house of his gods is... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Nahum 1:15. _BEHOLD UPON THE MOUNTAINS_] Borrowed probably from Isaiah 52:7, but applied here to the _messengers_ who brought the _good tidings_ of the _destruction of_ _Nineveh_. Judah might then _keep her solemn feasts_, for the wicked Assyrian should _pass through the land no more_; being e... [ Continue Reading ]