HOW IS NAHUM ORGANIZED?

In my post titled “Nahum: Introduction to the Literary Structure” I defended the idea that the book was divided into two major halves: Nahum 1 and Nahum 2-3. Below is a more detailed description of the organization present within each of these two units.

Section I (Nahum 1:2-15)

Confirmation that the first part of this section, 1:2-8, is a discrete entity is provided by its classification years ago as a partial alphabetic acrostic. Its identification as such is, unfortunately, not as clear cut as one would like and certainly breaks down if one attempts to extend the poem past v. 9 (Bullock, Smith). Various reasons have been postulated for the incomplete nature of this acrostic. The most plausible explanation seems to be that offered by Longman III: “This disrupted acrostic occurs in a poem that extols God as the divine Warrior, who disrupts the normal created order.” Such a harmony between form and function has been encountered elsewhere in the Bible.

In any case, we are on safe ground in considering these verses together in light of the three absolute statements regarding God that serve to unify them. He is first described as a vengeful God (repeated three times for emphasis in 1:2). This is, of course, the attribute that would seem the most applicable to the prophecies and events to follow. God's jealousy, vengeance and wrath are not, however, to be understood in human terms where they usually arise from our petty concerns, warped nature and feelings of powerlessness. Instead, as shown in the subsequent statements about God in 1:3,7, they arise from God's restrained power and absolute goodness.

Ralph Smith also treats God’s attributes as the major theme of Nahum 1:2-8:

1. A jealous God (1:2-3a)

                        2. God of creation (1:3b-5)

                        3. God of love and judgment (1:6-8)

The mention of “enemies” and “adversaries” in the first and last subsections of Nahum 1:2-8 serve to unite them, as noted by Dorsey.

Before proceeding to the next sub-unit within Section I, it must be admitted that the pseudo-acrostic nature of Nahum 1:2-8 is not universally accepted among scholars. Michael Floyd provides a good summary of objections to this view along with his alternative analysis in which Nahum 1:2-10 is labeled “a prophetic interrogation” in the context of a larger literary unit he identifies as 1:2-2:11.

The next small subsection, IB, contains some rather cryptic verses in which we have little historical clue as to the events or people involved. This passage does, however, clearly serve to move the discussion from the relatively rarefied theological tone of the first verses down to God's direct accusation of wrongdoing by Assyria. Her sin of abusing other nations is, interestingly enough, posed in terms of trespass against God himself, much as King David earlier declared that his acts of adultery and murder were really sins committed against God (II Sam. 12:13).

Section IC (1:12-2:2) begins with the only usage in the book of the key phrase “thus says the LORD,” so important to many of the other OT prophets. This literary unit alternates in addressing Judah and Assyria, with a word of comfort to one and a word of judgment to the other. As Childs notes, “the present intertwining of oracles of judgment and salvation interprets these two effects of divine intervention as being part of the one event.” This juxtaposition will be again encountered in Section II with the actual description of God's intervention given in quite vivid terms.

Section II (Nahum 2:1-3:19)

Cathcart assigns three sub-units to the bulk of these verses (2:3-13; 3:1-7; and 3:8-19), each belonging to a different literary genre. Alternatively, by using slightly different dividing points, one can picture this second major unit in the book as three parallel descriptions of the same event, the fall of Nineveh, as indicated in Fig. 1. Each of the three passages begins with a statement regarding God's absolute opposition to Assyria, proceeds to a colorful vision of the events surrounding Nineveh's downfall accompanied by a metaphorical image alluding to her sin, and concludes with a statement about Nineveh's effect on her neighbors.

The parallelism of these three sections is demonstrated by a comparison of some key passages, as shown in Fig. 1. Some of these have been previously noted by Marks, such as the ironic questions and comments directed to Assyria in 2:11-12 and 3:8-9. However, it appears that this threefold parallel description of Nineveh's fall has largely gone unnoticed.

Figure 1: Parallels Within Section II

Section IIA (2:1-12)                 Section IIB (2:13-3:4)                     Section IIC (3:5-19)

The shatterer has come up         Behold, I am against you,              Behold, I am against you,

against you (2:1a)                      says the LORD of hosts (2:13a)    says the LORD of hosts (3:5a)

The shield of his mighty           Woe to the bloody city (3:1)

men is red (2:3a)

The chariots flash...the             galloping horse and bounding

chargers prance...The               chariot! Horsemen charging,

chariots rage (2:3b-4)               flashing sword (3:2-3)

The officers...stumble                                                                         your troops are like women

as they go (2:5)                                                                                   in your midst (3:13a)

The river gates are opened,                                                                The gates of your land are

the palace is in dismay                                                                        wide open to your foes

(2:6)                                                                                                     (3:13b)

Man the ramparts; watch                                                                     Draw water for the siege,

the road; gird your loins;                                                                     strengthen your forts; go

collect all your strength                                                                       into the clay, tread the

(2:1b)                                                                                                    mortar (3:14)

   I will burn...in smoke, and                the fire devour you, the

                                                   the sword shall devour (2:13b)         sword will cut you

 off (3:15)

she shall be exiled (2:7)                                                                       she became an exile (3:10)

Plunder the silver.. there            no end to the plunder! (3:1b)

is no end of treasure (2:9)         dead bodies without end (3:3b)

he filled his caves with             betrayed nations with her                  upon whom has not come

prey (2:12)                                harlotries (3:4)                                   your unceasing evil (3:19)

In addition to the individual verses in Fig. 1 having parallels within chs. 2 and 3, the final confirmation of the three subdivisions in Section II comes from the following interesting progression:

Section IIA ends with the image of Nineveh as a lion (2:11-12)

Section IIB begins with the lion being destroyed by the sword (2:13)

                    and ends with the image of Nineveh as a harlot (3:4)

Section IIC begins with the harlot's nakedness exposed (3:5-7)

                    and ends with the image of Nineveh as a swarm of locust and grasshoppers (3:15b-17)

Section IIA begins with a reversal of the damage done by the locust and grasshoppers (2:2) 

Thus, the whole of Nahum 2-3 can almost be read like James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake, in which the last line of the book is continued in the first line, ad infinitum. This progression explains the unusual presence of 2:2 in its present position and removes the necessity of relegating it to a parenthetical remark (as in the NRSV); switching its position with 2:1 (as in the NAB); or labeling it as a later commentary (as in the Jerusalem Bible). The effect of this never-ending cyclic structure is to intensify the description of Nineveh's punishment beyond the temporal and move it into the apocalyptic dimensions identified by commentators such as Childs and Marks, who note such repeated phrases as “no more” and “utter end.” Borrowing the words of Isaiah in regard to those who rebel against God: “Their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched.”