하나님나라를 꿈꾸며(Kingdom of God)

9  What xdo you plot against the Lord?

yHe will make a complete end;

trouble will not rise up a second time.

10  For they are zlike entangled thorns,

like drunkards as they drink;

athey are consumed like stubble fully dried.

11  From you came one

bwho plotted evil against the Lord,

a worthless counselor.

12  Thus says the Lord,

“Though they are at full strength and many,

cthey will be cut down and pass away.

dThough I have afflicted you,

I will afflict you no more.

13  And now eI will break his yoke from off you

and will burst your bonds apart.”

14  The Lord has given commandment about you:

f“No more shall your name be perpetuated;

from gthe house of your gods I will cut off

the carved image and the metal image.

hI will make your grave, ifor you are vile.”

15  2 jBehold, upon the mountains, kthe feet of him

who brings good news,

who publishes peace!

lKeep your feasts, O Judah;

mfulfill your vows,

nfor never again shall the worthless pass through you;

he is utterly cut off.

x [Isa. 10:7]

y [Jer. 4:27]

z See Mic. 7:4

a See Joel 2:5

b [ver. 9; 2 Kgs. 19:22, 23]

c Isa. 10:33, 34; [Isa. 37:36]

d ver. 9; [Isa. 9:1]

e [Isa. 9:4; 10:27; 14:25]

f [Ps. 109:13]

g [2 Kgs. 19:37]

h [Isa. 30:33]; See Ezek. 32:21–23

i [ch. 3:6]

2 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew

j See Isa. 52:7

k [Rom. 10:15]

l [Isa. 30:29]

m See Num. 30:2

n [ver. 12]; See Joel 3:17

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 나 1:9–15.

 

9 ◎너희는 여호와께 대하여 무엇을 꾀하느냐 그가 온전히 멸하시리니 재난이 다시 일어나지 아니하리라

10 가시덤불 같이 엉크러졌고 술을 마신 것 같이 취한 그들은 마른 지푸라기 같이 모두 탈 것이거늘

11 여호와께 악을 꾀하는 한 사람이 너희 중에서 나와서 사악한 것을 권하는도다

12 여호와께서 이같이 말씀하시기를 그들이 비록 강하고 많을지라도 반드시 멸절을 당하리니 그가 없어지리라 내가 전에는 너를 괴롭혔으나 다시는 너를 괴롭히지 아니할 것이라

13 이제 네게 지운 그의 멍에를 내가 깨뜨리고 네 결박을 끊으리라

14 ◎나 여호와가 네게 대하여 명령하였나니 네 이름이 다시는 전파되지 않을 것이라 내가 네 신들의 집에서 새긴 우상과 부은 우상을 멸절하며 네 무덤을 준비하리니 이는 네가 쓸모 없게 되었음이라

15 ◎볼지어다 아름다운 소식을 알리고 화평을 전하는 자의 발이 산 위에 있도다 유다야 네 절기를 지키고 네 서원을 갚을지어다 악인이 진멸되었으니 그가 다시는 네 가운데로 통행하지 아니하리로다 하시니라

 The Holy Bible: New Korean Revised Version, electronic ed. (South Korea, n.d.), 나 1:9–15.

 

 

앗수르가 번성하여 이스라엘을 압제하는 동안 이스라엘은 샬롬을 누릴 수 없었다. 앗수르가 부과하는 높은 조공과 수시로 자행되는 폭력, 우상을 숭배할 것을 요구받는 것으로 이들은 고통을 당했다. 그런데 이제 하나님께서 이들을 마른 지푸라기처럼 불태우시고 그들이 이스라엘에게 지웠던 멍에를 깨뜨리신다라고 약속하신다. 또한 아름다운 소식이 전해지고 화평, 샬롬이 임하게 될 것이다. 이렇게 하나님께서 이스라엘(유다)을 회복시키시는 이유는 이스라엘이 하나님의 백성으로 온전히 하나님을 예배하고 하나님나라의 백성으로 살아가도록 하기 위함이었다. 

 

9절) 본문에서 너희는 이스라엘을 대적한 앗수르를 가리킨다. 지금 선지자는 우발적이 아니라 계힉적으로 하나님을 대적한 앗수르의 계략이 허튼 것임을 수사적인 질문으로 지적하고 있다. ‘너희가 어찌하여 여호와를 대적하여 음모를 꾸미느냐?’ 

하나님께서 계획하시고 이스라엘과 맺으신 언약은 대적들의 계략과 음모로 멈추거나 훼방을 받을 수 없다. 하나님께서는 이처럼 자신을 대적하는 대상들을 두 번 치실 필요도 없이 단번에 완전히 멸하실 것이다. 

 

10절) 본 절은 하나님께서 대적들을 어떻게 멸하실지를 비유적인 언어로 서명하고 있다. 엉크러진 가시덤불과 술취한 자들이 마른 지푸라기처럼 모두 타버릴 것이라고 말한다. 두가지 비유가 서로 어율려 보이지 않지만 문자 그대로 해석하면 ‘그들은 가시덤불처럼 엉켜지고 자신의 술에 취한자들 같을지라도 그들은 마른 검불처럼 타버릴 것이다’가 된다. 

모닥불을 붙일 때 가장 좋은 것은 바로 잘 마른 지푸라기이다. 이 지푸라기들은 한 번 붙으면 걷잡을 수 없이 타들어가게 된다. 하나님을 대적한 이들에게 하나님께서 불을 붙이시면 멈출 수 없이 모두 타버리게 될 것이다. 

 

11절) 하나님께서 앗수르에게 분노하시며 이들을 진멸시키시는 것은 악을 꾀하는 한 사람때문이다. 

 

왜 하나님께서 아시리아에게 분노하시는가? 11 절은 이들에게서 파괴자가 나왔기 때문이라고 선언한다. 선지지는 누구를 뜻하는 것일까? ‘악을 꾀하는 자'(11 절)는 구약의 여러 곳에서 사용되는 표현이다. 제사장으로서 맡은 직분은 감당하지 않고 엉뚱한 일만 하던 엘리의 두 아들(삼상 2 : 12), 이세벨이 나봇을 살해하고 그의 포도원을 가로챘던 행위(왕하 21:10) 등을 묘사하는 데 사용되었다. 성경에서 이러한 일을 행하는 자는 매우 비열하고 부패한 자들이며 무엇보다도 앞으로 오실 메시아의 성품(사 9:6)과 선명하게 대조되는 경건치 못한 자들이다·

나훔 시대에 ‘악을 꾀하는 자’는 구체화되지 않은 아시리아 왕, 혹은 포악한 왕 산헤립 (705-681 BC)이라는 것이 학자들의 해석이다· 그는 701 년에 예루살렘으로 쳐틀어온 적이 있었다(cf. 사 236-38; 왕하 18:13-19 :37). 그렇다면 선지지는 예루살렘에 대한 산헤립의 만행올 하나님을 향한 대적 행위로 간주하고 있는 것이다. 하나님의 백성의 원수가 하나님의 원수이다. 개인 혹은 집단이 자신들의 욕심을 채우기 위하여 다른 사람(민족)을 착취하고 고통을 가중시키는 것은 역사의 주인이신 하나님께 대적하는 행위이다. 비록 이 타이틀이 일차적으로는 산헤립에게 적용되지만, 넓게는 하나님을 대적하는 모든 나라의 지도자들을 의미한다· 나홈은 이 타이툴을 아시리아의 형태(form of Assyria)로 나타난 육신회된 악에게 적용하고 있다.

 

-  1:11 The prophet addressed the oppressor: “From you has gone out one devising evil.” The NIV again identifies the one devising evil as Nineveh, even though the Hebrew omits any such identification. Others interpret this to refer to the Assyrian king Sennacherib (705–681 b.c.), who moved against Jerusalem in 701 b.c. when Hezekiah reigned over Judah (2 Kgs 18:13–19:37).118

The prophet considered action against Jerusalem as against the Lord himself. Those who make themselves the enemies of God’s people become the enemies of the Lord. This is why our actions toward the needy and oppressed are so important. Selfish actions that take advantage of the weak are a direct attack on the Lord of history. When we devise wicked schemes because it is in our power to do so, we oppose God himself.

The words translated “counsels wickedness” are found in several places in the Old Testament. As Patterson notes: “ ‘One who counsels wickedness’ stands in stark contrast to the coming Messiah, who will be a ‘wonder of a counselor’ (Isa 9:6).”119 In some places the KJV transliterates the word for “wickedness” (bĕlîyāʿal) as “Belial.” The sons of Eli were “sons of Belial,” a phrase emphasizing their wickedness or worthlessness (1 Sam 2:12). Two “sons of Belial” carried out Jezebel’s wicked plan to murder Naboth and to defraud him of his vineyard (2 Kgs 21:10). Later the phrase came to be associated with the wickedness of Satan (2 Cor 6:15).120 “The context in Scripture for the usage of the term points consistently to a person who is depraved, despicable.”121 Usually this is taken as a reference to Sennacherib,122 but Robertson is correct in seeing Nahum’s usage as broader: “All those wicked kings and leaders of the enemies of God’s people who have come forth from Assyria manifest the characteristics of that brutal figure.”123 As Achtemeier says, “It certainly is the title which Nahum gives to evil incarnate in the form of Assyria.”124

NIV New International Version

118 Longman sees the participial phrases as referring to “you” and the “he” to God, thus speaking “of God’s departure from the sinful city of Nineveh” (“Nahum,” 2:797).

119 Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 47. The same Hebrew participle for “counseling, counselor” appears in both passages—יֹעֵץ.

KJV King James Version

120 R. L. Smith notes that בליעל has recently been taken as a proper name for Belial, a demon comparable to Satan in Christian teaching (Micah–Malachi, 76). Roberts warns that “there is no clear evidence for this usage (of Belial as a proper name) in the OT” (Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 47–48). Smith insists that Belial suggests that “the human enemy, whoever he was, represented the Assyrian goddess.”

121 Robertson, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 74, who points to Deut 13:13; Judg 19:22; 20:13; 1 Sam 2:12ff.; 15:17; 2 Sam 20:1; 1 Kgs 21:10, 13; 2 Chr 13:7; Ps 41:8–9. P. D. Wegner says the term “generally refers to a person who has become so wicked and corrupt that he/she is a detriment to society” (“בלה,” NIDOTTE 1:662). Belial (or Beliar) is used as a proper name in intertestamental literature: Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Jubilees, Ascension of Isaiah, Sybilline Oracles, and some Qumran documents.

122 See Maier’s detailed application of the verses to Sennacherib’s career (The Book of Nahum, 196–97).

123 Robertson, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 75. Heflin sees Belial as “a demonic representative of Ishtar/Nineveh plotting evil against the Lord” (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Haggai, 106).

124 Achtemeier, Nahum–Malachi, 16.

 Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, vol. 20, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 182–183.

 

12-13절) 나훔 선지자는 앗수르에 대한 심판을 멈추고 유다에 대해서 말씀하신다. 

첫째 그들이 비록 강하고 많을 지라도 반드시 멸절을 당하리니 그가 없어질 것이다. 여기서 그들은 이스라엘을 괴롭히던 앗수르를 말한다. 본문에 없어지리라라는 표현은 ‘아바르’로 점차 사라지다라는 의미이다. 이 표현은 앞서 8절에서 ‘범람하는’ 물을 묘사하는데 사용되었다. 이 단어는 출애굽 당시 하나님께서 죽음을 통하여 애굽 사람들을 지나가실 때 사용된 것으로 유월절의 유래를 연상시킨다. 

-  “Pass away” reflects the same Hebrew root as the second word in v. 8, translated by NIV there as “overwhelming” but noted as a technical term for God’s saving deeds in causing Israel to pass over the sea and the river. Here the verb is singular, whereas the previous verb is plural.135 Maier interprets this as referring to the wicked counselor or Belial of v. 11.136 Robertson, in continuity with the salvation history association of the term, sees God as the subject of “pass over.” “In the very way in which he ‘passed over’ in the land of Egypt, so now again he through his agent the death angel shall smite Assyria.”137

NIV New International Version

135 Patterson sees this as intentional, “a change in emphasis from the cutting off of the individual soldiers/units to the resultant demise of the entire army” (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 48–49).

136 Maier, The Book of Nahum, 206, but he then argues that the waw introducing the next line should be redivided and placed on the preceding עבר, making the verb plural rather than singular. Roberts gives reasons for redividing the Hebrew to make עבר plural (Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 47).

137 Robertson, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 77.

 Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, vol. 20, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 185.

 

둘째 하나님께서 전에는 너를(이스라엘) 괴롭혔으나 다시는 너를 괴롭히지 않으실 것이다. 선지자는 이전에 범죄하는 이스라엘을 치시기 위해서 이방, 앗수르를 사용하셔서 징계하셨지만 이제는 그 징계가 끝날 것을 선언하신다. 하나님께서는 필요에 따라서 악을 사용하여 그의 백성을 연단하기도 하신다. 하지만 하나님께서 악을, 악인을 사용하셨다고 해도 결코 악의 행위가 정당화되는 것은 아니다. 하나님께서는 악을 도구로 사용하시지만 그들의 만행과 비도덕적인 행위에 대해서는 분명히 책임을 물으신다. 

셋째 하나님께서는 이스라엘에게 지운 앗수르의 멍에를 깨뜨리고 그 결박을 끊으실 것이다라고 말씀하신다. 멍에는 소와 같은 짐승의 목에 채워지는 것이며, 결박(사슬)은 멍에를 매는 가죽 줄이다. 이제 하나님께서 이스라엘을 억압하고 구속하던 앗수르의 멍에와 결박을 끊으실 것이다. 

 

-  1:13 His yoke refers to the burdensome rule of the Assyrian monarchs (cf. v. 11) over Judah. About 734/733 b.c., during the reign of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:7–8), the southern kingdom had become a vassal state of Assyria. This involved paying heavy tribute to the Assyrians (cf. 2 Kings 18:13–16) and other oppressive measures. When Judah revolted under Hezekiah, the Assyrians in 701 b.c. devastated the land (2 Kings 18:13; Isa. 7:18–25; 8:5–8) and took away many people and much plunder. break … burst. The vassalage of Judah lasted until the reign of Josiah (640–609 b.c.), when Assyria began to decline rapidly and finally ceased to be a nation (see Introduction: Date).

 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1713.

 

14절) 이제 앗수르의 운명에 대해서 이렇게 선포하신다. 

첫번째 네 이름이 다시는 전파되지 않을 것이고 둘째 네 신들의 집에서 새긴 우상과 부은 우상을 멸절할 것이며 셋째 네 무덤을 준비할 것이다라고 말한다. 결국 쓸모없게 될 것이다. 

이름이 다시는 전파되지 않다는 것은 자신의 이름을 이어갈 후손이 없다는 것이다. 우상이 멸절될 것이라는 것은 이스라엘을 압제하던 이들의 종교가 망하게 될 것이라는 것이다. 지배국은 피지배국에 자신들의 종교를 강요해왔다. 하지만 이들이 쇠퇴하며 그들이 섬기던 종교, 우상이 멸절되어 모든 종교행위가 멈추게 될 것이다. 무덤을 준비한다는 것은 죽음이 임할 것을 선언하는 것이다. 

결국 앗수르의 운명은 그들이 남을 억압하고 경멸한 만큼 당하게 될 것이다. 하나님께서는 하나님의 백성을 괴롭히고 멸시한 이들을 기억하시고 심은대로 거두게 하신다. 

 

-  1:14 The Termination of Vile, Idolatrous Nineveh. You is masculine singular in Hebrew. Nahum suddenly switches to directly addressing the Assyrian king(s) (see v. 11): the Assyrian monarchy would come to a decisive end. This implies the total conquest of Assyria and the irreversible fall of Nineveh. the house of your gods I will cut off. Complete defeat of the Assyrian ruler would also be marked by the desecration of his temple and the destruction or removal of his idols, which represented the gods who he believed gave him power, wealth, and descendants. Archaeologists have noted the complete destruction that Nineveh’s temples underwent.

 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1713.

 

15절) 본문은 ‘볼지어다’라는 단어로 시작된다. 산위의 유다에게 아름다운 소식과 화평을 전하는 이가 도착했다. 이 ‘히네’라는 표현은 심판으로부터 구원으로의 급격한 전환을 예고한다. 

 

이사야 52:7

7좋은 소식을 전하며 평화를 공포하며 복된 좋은 소식을 가져오며 구원을 공포하며 시온을 향하여 이르기를 네 하나님이 통치하신다 하는 자의 산을 넘는 발이 어찌 그리 아름다운가

 

많은 이들이 이 구절이 나훔의 핵심 구절이라고 말한다. 하나님이 행하시는 영적인 전쟁의 승리의 소식을 전하는 전령의 이미지를 보여준다. 

본문의 표현은 이사야 선지자가 선포했던 내용과 흡사하다. 전령이 전하는 소식은 아름다운 소식, 곧 화평(샬롬)이다. 샬롬은 무엇보다 모든 속박에서 자유하게 되었다는 의미로, 당시로는 앗수르의 억압과 핍박으로부터, 지금으로 보자면 사탄의 속박에서 완전한 자유를 누릴 수 있는 소식이 임한 것이다. 바로 이것이 복음이다. 복음은 샬롬을 가져온다. 나훔은 주의 백성에게 샬롬을 전하는 자의 발을 보라고 말한다. 

하나님께서 이렇게 샬롬을 주신 이유는 그 자유를 가지고 절기를 지키고 네 서원을 갚는데 사용하라고 말씀하신다. 하나님께서 앗수르로부터 이스라엘을 구원하신 목적은 바로 그들이 여호와 하나님을 마음껏 섬기고 예배할 수 있도록 하신 것이다. 

하나님께서 우리의 대적들을 진멸하시고 우리를 보호하시면 자유를, 화평을 주시는 이유는 하나님을 온전히 경배하고, 하나님과 맺은 언약을 제대로 이행하도록 하기 위함이다. 

 

히브리어 성경은 본문 1장 15절을 2장 1절로 취급한다. 

 

니느웨의 압제로부터 구원의 기쁜 소식을 전하는 것은 죄와 사망으로부터 구원의 기쁜 소식을 전하는 것을 가리킨다. 

 

-   1:15 Peace and Deliverance for Judah. This verse concludes the second major portion of the book (vv. 9–15). Nahum returns to addressing Judah. What he has foretold with regard to Nineveh, the Assyrian monarchy, and the Assyrians he now considers as good as accomplished. upon the mountains. The imagery is that of a messenger bearing the good news of the fall and devastation of Nineveh. The people first catch sight of him running along the Judean mountains (cf. Isa. 52:7). peace. Judah does not have to be afraid of any more military action and oppression coming from Assyria (on peace in the OT and NT, cf. note on John 14:27). Keep your feasts. These festivals would remind the people of the Lord’s past acts of deliverance and the future hope of the coming Messiah. At the feasts they would also, as a nation, worship the Lord and give him proper thanks and praise. fulfill your vows. Some in Judah voluntarily made vows to the Lord to give him thank offerings. the worthless. I.e., the Assyrians (cf. Nah. 1:11).

 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1714.

 

 

-  1:15 “In many ways Nahum 1:15 is the book’s key verse.”165 The victory announcement comes at last. Having told of the Lord’s goodness and his awesome power, Nahum then told of the Lord’s ultimate deliverance of the people of Judah. The messenger returns from battle to inform God’s people that the Divine Warrior is victorious. Life as usual can return, but not really life as usual—rather, life as usual was supposed to be under God.

The time period of Nahum’s prophecy is crucial to the interpretation of the verse. In one sense the meaning is universal. God works. He is the Lord of history who delivers the oppressed and judges the oppressor. In that sense the message of Nahum is timeless. Isaiah 52:7 uses the first part of the verse to announce the return of the captive exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem.166 For “one who brings good news” the ancient Greek translation (Septuagint) used a participle from euangelizō, from which English derived “evangelist.” Christians understand the powerful spiritual message involved in this passage. God’s work has been to proclaim peace (šālōm) to all people of all ages. In the Messianic Age, God proclaims the greatest message of peace, that there is the possibility of peace in the restless human spirit.

At the same time the timing of Nahum’s message determines the way the book is understood. Did Nahum proclaim this when the word of Nineveh’s fall reached the city of Jerusalem? Shortly after the fall of Nineveh, the message would have gone out to the nations that the end of Assyria’s dominance was in sight. If this is the case, then shortly before or after Nineveh’s fall in 612 b.c. Nahum preached his words of joy to the people.

Would an earlier date be a better alternative? If Nahum’s message fits better into an earlier time when Assyria continued to dominate the region, then the death of Ashurbanipal in 627 b.c. might have been the occasion for Nahum’s joy.167 Or Nahum may have readied the people for the good news that would soon come at some unspecified time in the future.

The verse begins with a Hebrew particle hinnê, “look.” Patterson sees this as calling attention “to key descriptive statements.… Here it introduces the close of the first portion of the book.”168 Longman says, “It signals a sudden transition from judgment to salvation.”169 Nahum used the entire verse to announce the good news of God’s work.170 The language here describes “God’s solemn entry into his sanctuary, an ancient hymnic motif that was clearly of direct relevance to a time of historical threat.”171 In Hebrew thinking, the feet emphasized the messenger. In the Isaiah passage (52:7) the prophet described the feet as lovely, thus indicating the joy and happiness the messenger brought. The mountains surrounded Jerusalem. Anyone bringing a message would necessarily travel over the mountains to deliver the good news. The messenger brought good tidings and proclaimed peace. These are parallel statements that essentially mean the same.172

“The Hebrew word for ‘peace’ is one of the most remarkable words in that ancient biblical language. Its meaning is much more profound than simply the cessation of war. It refers to wholeness, completeness, total well-being.”173 In most cases peace means a quality of life. Peace is that which you wish for a bride and groom on their wedding day. When you offer “all the good things of life” to a young couple, you are offering the Hebrew idea of shalom. In the present verse peace is the cessation of the oppressor. Judah had been at peace for a long time. That peace was the problem rather than the solution. Peace had been imposed by the Assyrians. As long as Judah paid its tribute, swore allegiance to the king of Assyria, and did not instigate rebellion (as would be the case with the removal of Assyrian images from the temple in Jerusalem), Judah could live in peace. God offered something far more meaningful to the people of Judah. He promised to bring peace with justice. God’s peace meant that a wholeness would be returned to the land.

But how would Jerusalem respond to this messenger and the unexpected news of victory over invincible Assyria? The messenger’s announcement leaves the decision in the people’s hands. Can they possibly believe the news they so desperately want to hear, news that so long has remained in the realm of daydreams? Paul took up the message in Rom 10:14–15, probably using Isaiah’s version. He reminded us of the heart of the gospel: “God’s people are not charged with the responsibility of accomplishing their own deliverance. Instead, they are informed they must believe what has been reported to them as an act of God on their behalf.”174

“As Nineveh’s flourishing religion was to be buried, so the worship of oppressed Judah would be resurrected.”175 Nahum called Israel to celebration, a celebration based on the belief that the announced victory had actually occurred. Celebration was not a wild victory party. Celebration was a return to God’s house to keep God’s worship festivals in the way God commanded. “Neglect of the festivals and the vows was the same as neglecting Yahweh.”176 In this way “they shall respond to redemption by renewed consecration to the Lord. This celebration shall have no hangovers or sober regrets.”177

Keeping their feasts may indicate that the people could now return to the practice of their religion. “Judah now had religious freedom, and Nahum wanted that freedom exercised responsibly.”178 Fulfilling their vows meant that their pleas for mercy had been heard. As Maier says, “The deliverance comes from God; He must be thanked.”179 Why is it easier to beg for mercy than to offer sincere thanksgiving to God? In every age the people of God must be reminded to “remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deut 8:18).

God promised the cessation of hostility and the restoration of autonomy to the people of Judah. No more would the wicked invade the people of Judah. They would be completely cut off, a word of assurance that Judah’s subservience to Assyria would soon end. Literally, the Hebrew reads, “For not again still to pass over you Belial.180 “The tyrannical tool of Satan situated on Assyria’s throne never shall be seen again. His overthrow is absolutely permanent.”181 Yes, Assyria did fall, and Assyria did not trouble Judah again.

The verse is a powerful reminder of the goodness of God in all ages. The Christian cannot help but be reminded of the beauty of the messenger who proclaims the newness of life in Christ. The message had an urgency about it because it proclaimed the timeless message of peace and good tidings. Yet the message referred to historical events that were fulfilled soon after the message of Nahum.

165 Heflin, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Haggai, 49.

166 Scholars debate how the two prophets used the same material. Did one borrow from the other, or did each take the material from a common source? Coggins and Re’emi (Israel among the Nations) suggest that “speculation whether one prophetic collection may have borrowed from the other is not very profitable, and such a purely mechanical relation in any case seems inherently unlikely. Rather it is more probable that there was a stock of oracular material which might be used as appropriate in the particular circumstances of each collection.”

167 Armerding points out that the reigns of Amon and Manasseh involved suppression of true Israelite religion. “This provides further evidence for dating Nahum’s prophecy toward the middle of the seventh century” (“Habakkuk,” 7:469).

168 Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 51.

169 Longman, “Nahum,” 800.

170 Good news often includes peace (Isa 52:7; Luke 2:10, 14; Acts 10:36).

171 Coggins and Re’emi, Israel among the Nations, 33.

172 In the Hebrew “one who brings good news, who proclaims peace” is מְבַשֵּׂר֙ מַשְׁמִ֣יעַ שָׁל֔וֹם. Both verbs are participles, indicating continuous action. מְבַשֵּׂר is piel from בשׂר, “bring good news, herald good tidings”; מַשְׁמִ֣יעַ is hiphil from שׁמע, “hear,” and so “cause to hear.”

173 Heflin, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Haggai, 49.

174 Robertson, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 83.

175 Armerding, “Habakkuk,” 7:469.

176 Longman, “Nahum,” 2:800.

177 Robertson, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 84–85.

178 Heflin, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Haggai, 50.

179 Maier, The Book of Nahum, 218.

180 Hebrew root עבר, which has appeared in vv. 7, 12 to recall God’s saving acts: the death angel passing over, the people passing over the Red Sea and the Jordan River. On Belial see the comments and notes on v. 11.

181 Robertson, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 85.

 Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, vol. 20, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 190–193.