THE
PULPIT COMMENTARY, EDITED BY THE
VERY REV. H. D. M.• SPENCE, D.D., DEAN OF GLOUCESTER;
AND BY THE
REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A.
WITH
INTRODUCTIONS BY THE
VERY REV. F. W. FARRAR, D.D., F.R.S., DEAN OF CANTERlL'RY. RIGHT REV. H. COTTERILL, D.D., F.R.S.E. VERY REV. PRINCIPAL J. TULLOCH, D.D. REV. CANON G. RAWLINSON, M.A. REV. A. PLUMMER, M.A., D.D.
NEW EDITION.
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY LONDON AND NEW YORK 1906 PRINTED DY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. THE
PULPIT COMMENTARY, EDITED JIY TIIII
VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D., Dlil!I' or QLOUCZST~&l
AND BT THIii
HEY. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A.
NARUM. Gxposftfon BY REV. W. J. DEA.NE, M.A.., IIECTCIB 0V ASHEL
111omfletfcs IlY REV. T. WHITELA.W, D.D.
11'!omilfrs ti~ 1:Tatious ~utbot1. BEV. B. D. HILLMAN, D.A. BEV. D. THOM.AS, JJ.D..
NEW EDITION,
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY LONDON AND NEW YORK 1906 THE BOOK OF NAHUM.
INTRODUCTION.
§ I. SUBJECT OF THE Booir. THE prophecy of Nahum, as the title asserts, is concerned with one subject alone. It is "the burden of Nineveh; " it announces the fate of that evil city. In the Greek Bible it is placed immediately after Jonah, as being the complement of that book. Jonah had preached repentance to Nineveh, and the people had hearkened to his voice, but had soon relapsed into their old sins; and now Nahum pronounces their sentence. Their pride, oppres- sion, idolatry, and especially their defiance of God's sovereignty, are severely rebuked, and the certain a11.d complete destruction of the nation is plainly announced. The prophecy is composed of three strophes, answering almost exactly to the three chapters into which it is divided. h begins (eh. i.) with stating God's purpose to inflict punishment on Nineveh. The Lord is just and severe, long-suffering, indeed, as the continued existence of Assyria proves, yet the certain Avenger of wrong-doing. Who has ever withstood his power? Earth and sea, and all the inhabitants thereof, bear witness to his irresistible might. And Nineveh must perish, in spite of its riches and its armies, because it Ii.as exalted itself against God and his people. Thus the Lord's justice shall be revealed and established, when be brings ruin on his enemies and happiness to his children. Then (eh. ii.) the prophet announces more in detail the destruction of Nineveh. She shall be besieged, she shall struggle in vain, she shall be taken and plundered and utterly wasted. Comparing her future ruin with her past splendour, the prophet is lost in admiration of the equity and wisdom of God, who doeth all these things. What is the cause of this calamity he then pro- ceeds to state ( eh. iii.). Assyria had become notorious for cruelty, treachery, rapine, idolatry. It had seduced other nations to follow its steps. And 110w its might should save it no more than its strength had saved 'fhebcs, 10 lately captured. Its towers and fortresse11 should foll, its soldier!9 ii TNTRODUUTION TO
should lose heart, its palaces be consumed with fire, its inhabitants be put to the sword, and the Assyrian empire, lately so formidable and strong, should become a byword of derision among all people. This prophecy, so precise and assured, was the result of no human pre- vision; it was the outcome of no glance of a far-seeing statesman's eye. It was something more definite than a general confidence in God's moral government, and the ultimate triumph of righteousness. When Nahum prophesied Assyria was at the height of its prosperity. No enemy in its neighbourhood was left unsubdued; the distant Egypt had submitted to it.a arms; Phoonicia and Cyprus owned its sway; Judma paid annual tribute ; commercial enterprise had drawn unto it the riches of all nations. No one at this epoch could have foreseen the speedy end of this prosperity. Nahum needed a single-hearted courage and e. full persuasion of the truth of his mission to denounce the crimes of this flourishing kingdom, and to proclaim its coming downfall. In fifty years the end ea.me. A combination of enemies overthrew this mighty empire. On the death of Assurbanipal matters began to assume a dangerous attitude. Egypt rose against its former conqueror; Babylon revolted; the Medes, now become a powerful monarchy, prepared to attack Nineveh. The reigning monarch (whose name is uncertain), the successor of Assurbanipal;himself marched against the latter, sending Nabopolassar to recover Babylon. The Mede,s were defeated, and for a time driven back. Nabopolassar also was success- ful, and received as a reward for his services the title of King of Babylon. Here he managed affairs so skilfully, and strengthened himself so effectually, that, after fifteen years, he found himself able _to throw off the Assyrian yoke, and to establish his own independence. The Medes, meantjme, under Cyaxares, had recovered from their late defeat, and were only deterred from attacking Nineveh by an inroad of the Scythians into their own country. In order to strengthen his position, N ahopolassar made .allianc_e with all the enemies of Assyria, and became the ruling spirit of a strong confederacy, which comprised Medes and Persians, Egyptians, Armenians, and other nations, all animated with the fierce desire of revenging them- sel-ves on Assyria. Josiah of Judah, as a tributary prince, was drawn into the contest, and fell at Megiddo, while endeavouring to arrest the advance of the Egyptian army. About B.C. 612 the allied forces attacked Nineveh, but were repulsed with loss. Victory for some time hovered over the Assyrians ; but the enemy, reinforced from Bactria, proved irresistible. The Ninevites, fearing for their final safety, attempted to escape from the city. They were, however, overtaken, and again shut up within their walls Here they valiantly defended themselves for more than two year~, when a circumstance, against which no remedy availed, laid them at the mercy of the besiegers. An unusually heavy and long-continued flood of the river Tigris carried away a large section of the huge rampart that eurrounded the city. Through the gap thus formed the enemy forced their we.y within the walle and captured the place. The king, rather than fall THE BOOK Olt' NAHUM. iil
into the bands of his implacable foes, gathered bis wives and bis treasure into the palace, and burned himself with them there; the town was sacked, and e. great number of the inbabitants'were massacred. Thus fell Nineveh, B.O. 608, according to the prophecy of Nahum, so that, a few years afterwards, Ezekiel could say (xxxii. 22, 23), "Assyria is there and all her company: bis graves are about him : all of them slain, fallen by the sword : whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living."