nal ions (2 Kings xix. 18). Bonomi (' Nineveh 13 ; so here vere. 14 and 15). The prophet and ih! PalAces,' p. 163) gives e. }:>ioture of announces the joy with which ,Tndo.h re- l!Oldiere cutting up the imttge of some foreign ceives the news of the overthrow of Nineveh. deity, and carrying away the pieces. So Behold upon the mountaina, etc. Ieaio.h should it now be done unt.o their gods. I (Iii. 7) uses these words to prool11im the will make thy grave. I will c-onsign thee, coming of Me~siah (comp. lee.. xl. 9; Rom. 0 Assyrian, and thy idols t.o oblivion (Ezek. x. 15). The messengers come from the Enst nxii. 22, etc.). It is net, "I will make it, across the mountains of Palestine, nnnouucing the temple, thy grave." as those who see a the fall of Nineveh and the oonsequent reference to the death of Sennacherib (2 pence nnd security of Judah-11 type of the Kings xix. 37) render it; but, "I prepare overthrow of C'.od's enemies and the safety thy gnvre "-I doom thee to destruction. of hie Church. There may be o.n allusion to The reason is given : For thou art vile; quia the custom of spreading tidings by beacon inhonoratm es (Vulgnte); 8,- , ,-ux,i's-, " for fires. Keep thy solemn feaats. J udnh is they are swift" (Septuagint). The word is exhorted to resume the observation of her also translated "light," weighed in the solemnities, which were interrupted during balances, and found wanting, as Dan. v. 27. the enemy's occupation of the country, or Ver. 15.-The second chapter commences which could not be properly o.ttended by the here in the Hebrew o.nd Syriac; the Augli. distant inho.bitnnts. J udo.h must offer her' can follows the Septuagint, Vnlgo.te, and praises and thanksgivings for deliverance, Chaldee Versions. This seems most agree- and perform the vows which she made unto. able to the method of the prophecy, wherein the Lord in the time of peril. The wioked threat i& suoceeded by promise, denuncia- (Hebrew, Belial) shall no more pass through tion of the enemy by declaration of com- thee, Beliol is here the adversal'y, the fort to Judah (oomp. oh. i 6, 7, 12, aud opposing army (see var. 11).
HOMILETICS. Ver. 1.-.A viswn and a burden. I. THE VISION OF NAHUM. 1. The person of the prophtt. (1) His name. Nahum," Consolation "-fitly borne by one whose mission was to be the comforter of God's people. -irtiatsomany in the Hebrew Church and nation possessed names prophetic of their future destinies points as its explanation to an over- :-uling providence, which in this way kept alive in the hearts of the people a strongly operative belief in a Divine interposition in human affairs. That names are not now in this fashion significant does not prove that God is less cognizant of or interested in mundane me.tters, but merely shows that such devices are not now required to enable thoughtful persons to detect God's finger in the progre.ss of history. (2) His birthplace. Elkosh; not to be sought for in .Assyria, as e.g. in the modern Christian village of Elkosh, east of the Tigris and north-west of Khorso.had, two days' journey from Mosul, where the tomb of the prophet is still shown. in the form of a simple alabaster box of modern style (Michaelis, Eichhorn, Ewald, etc.); but in Galilee, perhaps in the present-day village of Helces:ei (Jerome, Hitzig, Delitzsch, Keil, etc.). (3) His J?are~tage. Unkno:vn. That his father's name was Elkosh (Strauss) could only be mamtamed by regal'ding « the Elkoshite" as a patronymic, and the Elkoshites as a distinct family. Of this, however, Scripture affords no trace. (4) His time. Uncertain. According to Josephus (' Ant.,' ix.. 11. 3), Nahum prophesied in the _reign of Jotham. _But the prophecy itself rather points to a later date-not t.o the earlier years of H~zek1ah_, before the destruc- tion of Senne.cherib's army (Jerome, Fausset), but to a pomt of time after that event, and consequently arter the conquest of Samaria and the deportation of the ten tribes (Vitringa, Hitzig, Delitzsch, Keil, Nag?\sba.ch in H_~:zog), m~re particularly to an ~ge after the destruction of No-Amon, or 1 hebes (eh. m. 8), whwh took place soon after Tirhakah's death, in B.c. 664. Hence B.C. 660, or the last years of Manasseh, may be accepted as the most pro liable date for N ah '.lln 's prophecy (Schmder, 'Die Keili nschriften,' p. 452; Kleinert, in Riehm; Sayce, 'Fresh ~ight,' etc., p. 15~)- 2. T_he nature of his viBioo. (1) Not political foresight merely, smce the dosLruct10n of Nmevch occurred in B.c. 609-606 (Schrader), i.e. a full half-century later than the days of Nahum, which is too broad a chasm to be spanned. by purely human sagacity. If the Preacher is not in error (Eccles. ill. 11; viii. 7), Nahum required more than mere natural ability to enable him to predict the dowofall of the great Assyrian capital fifty years before it happened. (2) Divine ;ui;piration alone can explain the utterance of Nahum. "The on. 1. 1-16.] THE BOOK OF NAHUM. 6