Nah 2 | Luther | STEP | The prophet Nahum prophesies of the destruction that the Assyrians were to inflict upon the people of Israel and Judah, and that actually was accomplished by Shalmanezer and Sennacherib, because of the people’s great sins, though only in so far, that the righteous remnant of them was preserved, as Hezekiah and those like him experienced. Therefore, it seems that he was before Isaiah, or at least contemporary with Isaiah. After that, he announces the destruction of the kingdom of Assyria, especially of the city of Nineveh, which was very righteous in the time of Jonah, but afterwards became full of wickedness again, and greatly afflicted the captives of Israel, so that even Tobit announces the final ruin of its wickedness, and says. “Her iniquity will be her end.” True to his name of Nahum (for Nahum means consolator , in German, “Comforter”) he comforts God’s people by telling them that their enemies, the Assyrians, shall be destroyed. At the end of the first chapter, he speaks, as does , of the good preachers who proclaim peace and salvation on the mountains, and bids Judah exceedingly rejoice. Though that can be understood to refer to the time of Hezekiah, after Sennacherib, when Judah was rescued, and maintained itself against King Sennacherib, nevertheless, it is a general prophecy, and refers also to Christ, telling that the good tidings and the glad worship of God, taught and confirmed by God’s Word, shall remain in Judah. Thus he is, and is rightly called, a real Nahum .

Nahum 2

Preface To The Prophet Nahum

(1532)

The prophet Nahum prophesies of the destruction that the Assyrians were to inflict upon the people of Israel and Judah, and that actually was accomplished by Shalmanezer and Sennacherib, because of the people’s great sins, though only in so far, that the righteous remnant of them was preserved, as Hezekiah and those like him experienced. Therefore, it seems that he was before Isaiah, or at least contemporary with Isaiah.

After that, he announces the destruction of the kingdom of Assyria, especially of the city of Nineveh, which was very righteous in the time of Jonah, but afterwards became full of wickedness again, and greatly afflicted the captives of Israel, so that even Tobit announces the final ruin of its wickedness, and says. “Her iniquity will be her end.” True to his name of Nahum (for Nahum means consolator , in German, “Comforter”) he comforts God’s people by telling them that their enemies, the Assyrians, shall be destroyed.

At the end of the first chapter, he speaks, as does Isaiah 52:7, of the good preachers who proclaim peace and salvation on the mountains, and bids Judah exceedingly rejoice. Though that can be understood to refer to the time of Hezekiah, after Sennacherib, when Judah was rescued, and maintained itself against King Sennacherib, nevertheless, it is a general prophecy, and refers also to Christ, telling that the good tidings and the glad worship of God, taught and confirmed by God’s Word, shall remain in Judah. Thus he is, and is rightly called, a real Nahum . ^{▼▼i.e., A comforter; of. above.}