Nahum 1:9–15

1:9–11 The entire section of 1:9–3:19 addresses or refers to the Assyrian king, capital, and empire. That God declares the empire guilty of opposing him (1:9) makes clear that the Assyrian Empire shares this essential trait (rebellion) with all of God’s enemies, whose sins evoke his jealous anger (v. 3). The Assyrian Empire is thus one of the adversaries against whom God’s wrath will be poured out (v. 8), even as it plots against him (v. 9).

The plot mentioned in verse 9a probably refers to or at least includes Assyrian military action against Judah in 701 BC, when the Assyrian king Sennacherib conquered forty-six fortified towns in Judah and claimed that the Lord would not be able to deliver even Jerusalem from his siege (Isa. 36:18–20; 37:11–13). This claim is central to God’s condemnation of Assyria (their ethnicity is not the issue). Assyria’s ongoing opposition to Judah, and its constant affirmations that its king and his gods were supreme and superior to all others meets with God’s curt affirmation that he will put an end to it.

The phrase “make a complete end” (Nah. 1:9) echoes the description of God’s destruction of his adversaries in verse 8 and indicates that Assyria would never again (“not . . . a second time”; v. 9) oppose the Lord. The word translated “trouble” can also mean “adversary”; in the context, Assyria is the most likely referent regardless of how the term is translated. The certainty of Assyria’s fall is reinforced by two comparisons in verse 10. Just as thorns inevitably grow together and become entangled, and as surely as drunkards turn to drink, so is the destruction of those who “[plot] evil against the LORD” (v. 11) inevitable, beginning with Assyria.

The Lord repeats in verse 11 his condemnation of Assyria’s plot against him during its invasion of Judah, and while the “counselor” could come from either Assyria (as he sets out to attack Judah) or Jerusalem (as he leaves Judah), the counselor himself is surely the Assyrian king. But his plan will come to nothing, for his counsel is “worthless.”

1:12–13 God now turns to speak to Judah, and the theme changes from judgment to deliverance. God comforts his people by assuring them that, even though the Assyrian king has plotted against them with his large and powerful army, Assyria will not survive God’s judgment. Furthermore, its destruction will spell the end of this stage of God’s covenantal discipline of his people, and when he liberates Judah she will no longer have to offer her wealth and human resources to Assyria as its vassal (v. 13).

1:14 The second speech to Assyria (v. 14) focuses on a male individual, almost certainly the king. God’s edict concerning him has three elements: his name will come to an end (meaning both his reputation as a glorious warrior and his legacy), his gods will be destroyed, and he himself will die. The Lord imposes this punishment because the Assyrian king is “vile,” meaning that despite his claims to be without rival and able to overcome all enemies with the support of his Assyrian gods, he is radically insignificant. His God-dishonoring arrogance will be punished by death.

1:15 In light of the coming fall of the Assyrian Empire (vv. 9–10) and its king (vv. 14, 15b), Nahum speaks once again to Judah, encouraging her to rejoice because of the “good news” that Judah will once again know “peace.” “Feasts” refers to Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths, all celebrations of God’s deliverance of his people in the past and his provision for them in the present. The liberation of Judah from Assyria’s power is a new act of deliverance, comparable to the exodus from Egypt, and calls for similar celebration.