Nahum (Anchor Yale Bible Commentary | AYBC)
Overview
This work represents a significant breakthrough in the study of Hebrew prosody with important implications for understanding the formation of the canon of the Hebrew Bible. Duane Christensen, a renowned biblical scholar, offers a detailed analysis of the Hebrew text of Nahum and demonstrates the intricate literary structure and high poetic quality of the work.
Nahum is a book about God’s justice and portrays God as strong, unyielding, and capable of great anger. This view of God’s nature stands in contrast to that found in Jonah, another book in the section of the Hebrew Bible known as the Book of the 12 Prophets, which presents God as “compassionate, gracious . . . [and] abounding in steadfast love.” Christensen shows how Nahum and Jonah present complementary aspects of God’s nature, each essential for an understanding of the divine being.
Logos Bible Software gives you the tools you need to use this volume effectively and efficiently. With your digital library, you can search for verses, find Scripture references and citations instantly, and perform word studies. Along with your English translations, all Scripture passages are linked to Greek and Hebrew texts. What’s more, hovering over a Scripture reference will instantly display your verse! The advanced tools in your digital library free you to dig deeper into one of the most important contributions to biblical scholarship in the past century!
- Offers original translations, including alternative translations, annotations, and variants
- Provides verse-by-verse commentary on the text
- Presents the reader with historical background, including analysis of authorship and dating
- Features an extensive bibliography of primary and secondary literature
- Heading (1:1)
- The Psalm of Nahum: YHWH’s Vengeance (1:1–10)
- The Defeat of Belial (1:11–14)
- The Sack of Nineveh (2:1–11 [1:15–2:10])
- Dirge on the Lions’ Den (2:11–14 [10–13])
- First Taunt: Nineveh’s Shame Will Be Seen by the Nations (3:1–7)
- Second Taunt: Like Thebes, Nineveh Will Be Sacked (3:8–13)
- The Locust Dirge: An Image of Imminent Ruin (3:14–19)
Top Highlights
“Jonah and Nahum present complementary aspects of God’s nature, his mercy and his justice (expressed in ‘anger’), with Jonah focusing on God’s steadfast covenant love (ḥeseḏ) and Nahum on God’s justice and wrath. Jonah presents God as one who is ‘compassionate, gracious … (and) abounding in steadfast love’ (Exodus 34:6–7a), whereas Nahum presents God as the ‘one who punishes sons and grandsons to the third and fourth generations for the iniquity of their fathers’ (Exodus 34:7b). In short, Nahum focuses on what some might call the ‘dark side’ of God, while Jonah portrays God’s mercy and compassion toward the same wicked city. Both aspects are essential for an understanding of the divine nature.” (Page 3)
“Moreover, Nahum and Jonah are the only two books in the Bible to end with rhetorical questions.” (Page 392)
“It is my belief that his work constitutes an intellectual breakthrough of great significance for biblical studies.” (Page ix)
“The word Nahum (naḥûm) means ‘showing consolation, compassionated,’ and the books of Nahum and Jonah have much to do with the interplay between the themes of divine judgment and compassion. The name comes from the root nḥm (‘to be sorry, console oneself, have compassion’). In the Hebrew language, the name naḥûm is intensive in its grammatical form. Like rāḥûm ‘full of compassion,’ and ḥannûn ‘full of grace,’ the name naḥûm means ‘full of comfort.’” (Page 159)
“These three holidays celebrate not only the stages of the agricultural year but also Yhwh’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt (Passover), Yhwh’s revelation of the Torah at Sinai (Weeks), and Yhwh’s guidance of Israel through the wilderness (Booths).” (Page 260)
Readers of this remarkable commentary get more than one would expect from a commentary on one of the Minor Prophets. They receive a thorough introduction in the rules of the logoprosodic method and a fully worked out application of these rules in the analysis of this prophetic book.
—Klaas Spronk, Old Testament studies, Protestant Theological University, Kampen, the Netherlands
Duane L. Christensen is former professor of Old Testament languages and literature, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California. He is president of BIBAL Corporation.
