Nahum

Abstract

This essay introduces readers to the key interpretive issues in the critical study of the book of Nahum. Interpreting Nahum today requires understanding the following four topics: Nahum’s superscription; the purported acrostic in Nah 1; Nahum within the Book of the Twelve; and divine sexual violence in Nahum. Readers have been troubled by Nahum’s depiction of God’s vengeance toward Assyria, yet they have also been attracted to the book’s aesthetic qualities. The history of interpretation of Nahum reveals that the changing demographics of readers has dramatically shifted the foci of interpretation and attitudes toward the text. Because of its juxtapositions, Nahum continues to be a challenging text that oftentimes divides readers rather than unites them.