A prophecy of, concerning Nineveh, written in the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. This may mean that Nahum was from a place called Elkosh, but it is unclear that this was the name of a location, since it is not mentioned anywhere else.

The Lord is a zealous and vengeful, punishing God, the Lord is vengeful and full of wrath; the Lord is vengeful to His foes, and bears a grudge to His enemies.

The Lord is slow to anger, tolerant, and great of power to bear people’s sins, and yet He will not exonerate; rather, He waits for the right time to punish them. The Lord, in a storm and in a tempest is His way, and the dust of His feet is a cloud. God’s revelation, through which He exacts retribution from His enemies, is compared to a storm, or a warrior who kicks up the dust as he runs.

He castigates the sea, and His reproach alone dries it, and all the rivers He has made dry, merely by willing it so; Bashan and likewise Carmel, both fertile and forested regions, are miserable, and the flower of Lebanon, a land rich in water and thick greenery, is likewise miserable.

When God appears, mountains quake from Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is raised up from before Him, and the world and all its inhabitants. Nothing can endure His might.

Who can stand before His fury, and who can withstand His enflamed wrath? His anger is poured speedily and in rage, like fire, and the rocks are shattered because of Him.

God’s stormy, destructive appearance when He punishes the wicked is only one aspect of His conduct; the Lord is also good, He is a secure stronghold on the day of trouble and knows, recognizes, loves, and pays attention, to those who take refuge in Him, trust in Him.

He passes in a flood. He will go around the world and make its place a devastation of evil, specifically in Nineveh, and darkness will pursue His enemies.

What will you Assyrians devise against the Lord? Why are you planning to fight against Him? He makes devastation of you, so that trouble will not arise twice. You will be destroyed once and you will never rise again.

For like tangled thorns, and like drunken drunks, who are so drunk that they cannot rise from their seats, also they, the Assyrians, will be consumed, burnt, as completely dry straw. They will be utterly destroyed in God’s retribution.

From you, Nineveh, emerged one who devises evil against the Lord, a counselor of wickedness. Since the nation of Israel, especially Judah, are the people of God, anyone who fights them is considered as though he has risen up against God Himself.

So said the Lord: Though they, the Assyrian army, are whole, and even though they are numerous, even so, they, each of them, will quickly disappear and pass away. I have afflicted you, Judah, with many troubles over the generations, but I will afflict you no longer. Your suffering will not continue forever.

Now I will break his, Assyria’s, yoke from upon you, and I will sever your bonds.

The Lord has decreed upon you, Assyria, or the Assyrian king, that nothing more will be sown in your name. Nothing will come of you. From the house of your god I will eliminate idols and cast images; I will make your grave, for you are worthless in the eyes of God.

Behold the feet of the herald are upon the mountains, upon the horizon, announcing peace, saying: Celebrate your feasts, Judah, fulfill your vows. Bring your festival offerings and your vows to the Temple without concern, for the incorrigibly wicked will not continue to pass through you any longer; he is completely eliminated.

The prophet addresses the city: A disperser, an explosive, disseminating force, has risen against you, Nineveh; guard the rampart, the fortifications, watch the way, appoint watchmen to guard the roads, gird your loins, greatly fortify your power.

For the Lord is restoring the pride of Jacob to be like the pride and glory of Israel. The name Jacob, which reflects the people’s situation in exile, will become Israel. The name Israel symbolizes the dominance of the nation over its rivals. For until now, the plunderers have emptied them and destroyed their vine branches. In its exile, Israel is compared to an empty, broken vine.

Nahum describes the war: His, Assyria’s, heroes’ shields are reddened, perhaps dyed red in order to scare the enemy. Similarly, mighty ones are colored scarlet. Although there are insufficient archaeological artifacts to support this claim, it is possible that red was the official color of Assyria. The chariots are moving with the fire of steel, probably a reference to the sparks caused by the steel of the chariot rubbing against stone, on the day of its preparation for war. The spears of junipers are poisoned.

In the streets, the chariots go wild, they rattle in the squares; their appearance is like torches, they romp like lightning, shiny and fiery in appearance.

He, the king of Assyria, will recall, oversee, his mighty ones, his warriors and ministers; but, in their speed, they will stumble as they go; they will hurry to take cover in its wall, the wall of the city, and the covering, a type of military shelter, was prepared. A day will come when Nineveh will no longer send out soldiers to conquer other cities; rather, it will be under attack itself.

The gates, dams, of the rivers, near the city are opened, broken down by the enemy in order to flood the city, and, as a result, the palace is dissolving.

Her queen consort is placed on display by her captors, her handmaidens moaning like the sound of doves, beating upon their hearts in anguish and mourning, as was the common practice while reciting a dirge.

Nineveh is full of plenty like a pool of water from ancient days; they, its soldiers, flee; people shout at them: Stand, stand, but none turn about. Alternatively, the verse means that all the waters of Nineveh are washed away in its downfall.

Nahum calls to the enemies approaching Nineveh: Loot silver, loot gold; there is no limit to the amount in the treasuries, the wealth of all vessels of delight. Everything can be found there.

There is void and emptiness, chaos and melted heart, fear has buckled knees, and put trembling in all loins, and the faces of all of them have gathered blackness [parur] in fear. The word parur literally denotes a pot, the sides of which are usually blackened from the fire. There is a similar expression in rabbinic Hebrew: “His face blackened like the bottom of a pot.” An alternative interpretation is that their faces shriveled and lost their vigor, like a cooked dish.

Where is the place that was the lions’ den, for the dignitaries and warriors of Nineveh, the pasture that is for young lions, where they felt secure, where the mature lion and also the lion cub walked, and there is none to frighten them? Where is the place which the lion feels is safe enough to bring its cubs?

There the lion mauls enough for his cubs, and chokes his prey for his lionesses, and he filled his lairs with prey, and his dens with a mauled animal. The rulers of Nineveh peacefully traversed the city streets that they had filled with the loot of their conquered nations.

Behold, I am against you, Nineveh – the utterance of the Lord of hosts – and I will burn his chariots in smoke, and the sword will consume your young lions; I will eliminate your prey, the treasures you have plundered, from the earth, and the voice of your messengers, envoys, will be heard no longer.

Woe! The city of blood, of crime, all of it is deceit, filled with lawlessness; prey does not depart from it. It is an oppressive city, whose cruelty is not haphazard, but is part of a culture of deceit.

The prophet vividly describes the fate of the bloody city: From afar, one can hear the crack of the enemy’s whip, hastening the horses; and one can hear the sound of the rattling wheel of the chariots; a galloping horse and a bouncing chariot. Due to the low quality of both the roads and chariot wheels in those times, a fast-driving chariot would shake and jump around as though it were dancing.

The horseman flourishes, raises and exposes, sword blade and glittering spear. This is not a military parade; rather, these soldiers are drawing their weapons to kill. There are a horde of corpses and a great quantity of carcasses, and there is no end to the bodies that will fill the conquered city. As a result, they, the soldiers, stumble over their bodies.

The prophet describes another, less violent aspect of Nineveh: All this befell Nineveh due to the great harlotry of the harlot, who was blessed with grace. The prophet compares the city to a beautiful prostitute, a practitioner of witchcraft who uses her powers to attract men, who sells nations with her harlotry, and captures families, peoples, with her witchcraft.

Behold, I am turning against you – the utterance of the Lord of hosts – and I will raise your skirts over your face, and I will show nations your nakedness and kingdoms your shame.

I will cast repugnant things upon you and make you vile; I will render you filthy and repulsive like dung.

It shall be that all they who see you will move, to distance themselves from you, and say: Nineveh is plundered, who will be moved for her [yanud la]? From where will I seek comforters for you? No one will have pity upon or offer comfort to Nineveh. Generally, one who sees a devastated area will at least shake [yanud] his head in pity, but no one will do this for Nineveh.

The prophet places this event in historical perspective: Are you, Nineveh, better, more powerful and successful, than Noh Amon? This was for many years the capital city of Egypt. Even now it is a city which sits among the channels, water surrounds it, protecting it, whose rampart is the sea, out of the sea bed rises its wall. Noh Amon was a fortified city, guarded by nature.

Kush was mighty and Egypt was without end. Egypt was larger than Assyria and its neighbors. There were ties between Egypt and Kush. Most of the time, Egypt ruled Kush, in which case Egypt benefited from Kush’s military strength; however, there were also periods when Kushite dynasties ruled over Egypt. Put, perhaps Punt, and Luvim, kingdoms near Egypt that were under its control, were your, Noh Amon’s, helpers, as they joined its army.

It too, the powerful Egyptian capital Noh Amon, eventually went into exile in captivity. Since Egypt was conquered by Assyria, this illustration of Assyria’s own weakness is therefore ironic. Its young children would be mangled at the head of every street. The enemy army had no interest in the local children, and its soldiers beheaded them in the streets, almost playfully; and they cast lots over its noblemen, to decide which soldier would receive which as his slave. All its great men were bound in chains,for sale as slaves or to extort from them as much as possible before killing them.

Just like Noh Amon, you too will become drunk, as you will be forced to imbibe from the poisonous cup of retribution. You will disappear; you too will seek refuge from the enemy.

All your fortresses, which are designed to be difficult to conquer, will be like fig trees with first fruits, ready for the enemy’s consumption; if they, the trees, are shaken, they, the figs, will fall into the mouth of the consumer.

Behold, your people are women in your midst, who do not venture into battle, and as there is no one to protect you, the gates of your land opened before your enemies, the fire consumed your gates’ bars.

If you wish to prepare for the enemy’s attack, Nineveh, draw water, so you will have accessible reservoirs for the siege. Reinforce your fortresses; to that end, come into the clay and trample the mortar. Nineveh was built with bricks, and in order to fashion them, people had to tread mortar with their feet. Lay hold of the brick mold.

However, any preparations you undertake will be futile. There, fire will consume you; you will be eliminated by sword; the city’s residents will be killed. It will consume you like the migratory locust, whose huge swarms are vulnerable and defenseless against those who wish to eat them. Proliferate like the migratory locust; proliferate like the desert locust, only to be devoured en masse.

Since you are a large city and commercial center, you multiplied your merchants beyond the stars of the heavens, it appeared there were more merchants than stars; migratory locusts that spread themselves and fly away. Like a young grasshopper that spreads its wings and begins to fly, the city spread its commercial influence around the world, sending its merchants everywhere.

Your rulers, alternatively, your smart representatives around the world, are numerous like locusts, and your officials are like a swarm of grasshoppers that settle on the fences on a day of frost. Since grasshoppers have cold blood, their body temperature and energy depend upon the sun. Therefore, in cold temperatures they are incapable of flying and must remain on rocks and fences. However, the sun subsequently shines and then it wanders; its place, where it is, is not known. When the sun shines, the grasshoppers fly off; so too, all the leaders of Nineveh will disappear suddenly.

Your shepherds, your ministers, slumber, king of Assyria, your mighty are at rest, they do nothing. Your people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is no one to gather them. The king of Assyria will not be able to rely on his men. When they are most needed, in a time of crisis, his lazy ministers will disperse.

There is no remedy for your injury, your wound is mortal; all who hear report of you, of your collapse, king of Assyria, clap hands over you, rejoice, for who did not constantly suffer your evildoing? Since the Assyrians oppressed the entire region, all the nations that were persecuted and exiled by them will rejoice over the passing of the Assyrian menace.