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Nahúm 1

VBL · Chapter 1/3

1Profecía acerca de Nínive: El rollo de la visión que vino a Nahúm de Elcos.

2El Señor es un Dios celoso y vengador. El Señor Dios es vengador y lleno de enojo. El Señor toma venganza de sus enemigos, y está enojado con los que son hostiles hacia él.

3El Señor es lento en enojarse, tiene gran poder y no dejará al culpable sin castigo. Él camina en medio del torbellino y la tormenta; las nubes son como polvo bajo sus pies.

4Él da la orden y el mar se seca, así mismo seca todos los ríos. Basán y Carmelo se marchitan; la prosperidad del Líbano se desvanece.

5Los montes tiemblan en su presencia y las colinas se derriten. La tierra tiembla ante él, todo el mundo y los que en él habitan.

6¿Quién puede resistir su furia? ¿Quién puede soportar el ardor de su ira? Su enojo brota como fuego derretido y rompe las rocas en pedazos.

7El Señor es bueno, es un lugar seguro en momento de tribulación. Él cuida de los que confían en él,

8pero los que están contra él serán arrastrados por una gran inundación hasta ser destruidos. Él va tras sus enemigos hasta hacerlos llegar a la oscuridad de la muerte.

9¿Por qué conspiran contra el Señor? Él acabará con su conspiración por completo, y la miseria no se levantará dos veces.

10Ellos se enredan como los que quedan atrapados en medio de arbustos con espinas; como borrachos que han bebido y se han embriagado. Serán quemados por completo como la paja seca.

11Uno de ustedes conspira el mal contra el Señor, uno que maquina maldad.

12Esto es lo que dice el Señor: Aunque sean fuertes y numerosos, ellos serán destruidos y morirán. Aunque yo les he causado angustia, ya no lo haré más.

13Ahora romperé el yugo que han puesto sobre sus cuellos y romperé las cadenas con que los han atado.

14Esto es lo que el Señor ha dicho respecto a ti: No tendrán descendientes que lleven tu nombre. Yo destruiré los dioses en tus templos, todos los ídolos de madera y de metal. Cavaré tu tumba, porque te has depravado.

15¡Mira! Viene un mensajero desde las montañas y trae las buenas nuevas, proclamando paz. Celebra, Judá, tus festivales religiosos y guarda tus votos, porque los enemigos malvados no invadirán tu tierra nunca más. Serán destruidos por completo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Nahum describes the character of God as jealous, powerful, and patient, yet certain to punish the guilty; he announces that the destruction of Nineveh is near, while for Judah good news of peace is coming.

Explanation

Written about a century after Nineveh's repentance recorded in the book of Jonah, Nahum announces that the city has returned to its old patterns of cruelty and violence, and this time there will be no second chance. The chapter opens with a striking description of God's power over nature (drying up seas, shaking mountains), establishing His absolute authority before announcing specific judgment against Assyria. The phrase 'the Lord is slow to anger, and great in power' balances patience with inevitable justice. For Judah, oppressed for decades under Assyrian rule, this prophecy brought genuine relief: 'the feet of him that bringeth good tidings... of peace' are upon the mountains. The application for today: God's patience should never be mistaken for permanent tolerance of persistent violence.

Fun facts

  • Between Nineveh's repentance in the time of Jonah (around 760 BC) and Nahum's prophecy (around 660 BC), roughly a century passed, during which Assyria once again became known for extreme brutality in warfare, including methods of torture documented in its own historical records.
  • The phrase 'the feet of him that bringeth good tidings' upon the mountains (v.15) is almost identical to Isaiah 52:7, an example of how different prophets used similar expressions and imagery to announce deliverance and hope.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Nahúm 1:1Nahum prophesies against the same Nineveh as Jonah, but more than a hundred years later: in Jonah, the city had repented and been spared; here, in the second half of the 7th century BC, Assyrian cruelty had returned, and this time judgment comes for real, shortly before the city's actual fall in 612 BC.
  2. Nahúm 1:2"Jealous and avenging" here is not petty envy: it is the reaction of a God committed to what is right, who does not stay indifferent when His enemies oppress the weak.
  3. Nahúm 1:3"Slow to anger, and great in power" and "will not at all acquit the wicked" reproduces almost the same formula used in Exodus 34 to describe God's character — patient, yet not indifferent to evil.
  4. Nahúm 1:4God dries up the sea and the rivers, and withers even the most fertile places (Bashan, Carmel, Lebanon) — the strength that sustains all of nature is in His hands, not Nineveh's.
  5. Nahúm 1:5Mountains quaking and the earth rising up describe the tremor that God's very presence causes — all creation reacts when He moves in judgment.
  6. Nahúm 1:6No one can stand before God's wrath when it comes: not armies, not walls, not rocks withstand this kind of judgment.
  7. Nahúm 1:7In the middle of so much threat against Nineveh, the prophet pauses to remind: for those who trust in Him, God is good and serves as a refuge in the day of trouble.
  8. Nahúm 1:8"An overrunning flood" describes how God will sweep Nineveh away for good — the image of a flood that leaves not one stone upon another.
  9. Nahúm 1:9Thinking of resisting the Lord is useless: the judgment announced here will be final, with no need for a second round of anguish.
  10. Nahúm 1:10Comparing the Assyrians to tangled thorns and drunkards shows the hidden fragility behind the empire's appearance of strength — they will be consumed quickly, like dry stubble catching fire.
  11. Nahúm 1:11The "wicked counsellor" who came out of Nineveh refers to an Assyrian king who plotted evil against the Lord — remembered for his arrogance against Jerusalem.
  12. Nahúm 1:12God speaks directly to Judah: however numerous and secure the Assyrians may seem, they will be cut down like sheared wool — and the affliction Judah suffered because of them will not happen again.
  13. Nahúm 1:13"I will break his yoke" promises the end of Assyrian oppression over Judah — the people will no longer carry the weight of being Nineveh's vassal.
  14. Nahúm 1:14Putting an end to Nineveh's "name" and to the idols of "the house of thy gods" announces the end of the Assyrian dynasty and the pagan temples of the city — a sentence of total erasure, not just a military defeat.
  15. Nahúm 1:15"The feet of him that bringeth good tidings" upon the mountains is the image of a messenger running to announce that the enemy has fallen; the same expression appears in Isaiah 52 and is used much later in the letter to the Romans about preachers of the gospel.

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