Post by Lee on Dec 10, 2014 3:31:41 GMT
CONCERNING the Prophet Nahum, nothing is known beyond the meagre particulars recorded in the book which bears his name, and all that can be obtained therefrom is that he was “the Elkoshite.” Even this tells us practically nothing, as the very site of Elkosh is a matter of dispute. Some apply it to a small town on the banks of the Euphrates, known as Alkush, situate not very far from Nineveh. Others consider it to be a small village in Galilee, and yet others as within the territory of the tribe of Simeon. The first application is said to be of recent origin, and is, consequently, of little reliability. The Galilean position of Elkosh finds some support in the suggested identification of Capernaum with the name of Nahum. More than this cannot be said, and with this information we must be content.
The date when he prophesied is also a matter of conjecture. There are certain indications of time in the book, but they are not easily fixed together to lead to a very definite conclusion. The first point to be borne in mind as a determining factor is the fall of Nineveh. This must be placed between the years B.C. 625 and 606, or thereabouts. This would coincide with the reign of Josiah, and Nahum’s prophecies must certainly have been uttered before the fall of the city.
On the other hand, if the reference in chapter 1. to “a wicked counsellor” is held to apply to Sennacherib, and to be in the nature of a prophecy, then we must date Nahum back to the reign of Hezekiah, that is some eighty years earlier.
The only other indication militates somewhat against this view, for in chapter 3. there is a reference to No Ammon (Thebes), and this reference is of such a kind as certainly to suggest that at the time the prophet spoke, No Ammon had been overthrown, and its inhabitants carried away into captivity. Now the only overthrow of Thebes which is actually known, took place during the reign of Asshur-bani-pal, who was some thirteen years later than the end of the reign of Sennacherib. It follows that if this were the only overthrow of that city that took place, and Nahum’s reference is to an event which had already happened, Nahum’s predictions must be dated some time after the year B.C. 663, which would lead us to the reign of Manasseh, the successor of Hezekiah.
A close connection in time between Asshurbani-pal’s triumph over No Ammon, and the prophet’s announcement of Nineveh’s approaching downfall, would lend considerable dramatic force to the predictions, but it must be remembered that it is well within the limits of possibility that in some of the previous conflicts between Assyria and Egypt, events may have happened which furnished the illustration of the prophet concerning the sack and captivity of Thebes.
Taking all things into consideration, it seems impossible to definitely decide upon the exact date of the prophecy, although chapter 1. seems to be an undoubted reference to Sennacherib, and this must be taken as considerably favouring the earlier date.
1907 Christadelphian (WH Bolton)