{"id":78105,"date":"2018-07-09T17:48:50","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-2021\/"},"modified":"2020-08-10T08:58:53","modified_gmt":"2020-08-10T05:58:53","slug":"wall-2021","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"book-Prophets-Nahum"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"book","wall_id":"2021","book":"Nahum","books_group":"Prophets","date":"20200810","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"\u05e1\u05d9\u05db\u05d5\u05dd \u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05e0\u05d7\u05d5\u05dd","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":"","updates_last_update":"19\/04\/2020","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"78488","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Vengeance Or Justice? ","post_title":"Vengeance Or Justice?","slug":"vengeance-or-justice","old_id":"78488","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":73524,"post_title":"Yaakov Beasley","slug":"yaakov-beasley","old_id":"73524","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Beasley ","description":"Yaakov Beasley is the Tanakh Coordinator at Yeshivat Hesder Lev haTorah, the host of the TanachTalks podcast, and the author of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah: Lights in the Valley (Maggid Press, 2020). ","short_description":"Yaakov Beasley is the Tanakh Coordinator at Yeshivat Hesder Lev haTorah, podcast host and author. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":73525,"alt":"","title":"yaakov beasley","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","width":409,"height":484,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley-254x300.jpg","medium-width":254,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","medium_large-width":409,"medium_large-height":484,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","large-width":409,"large-height":484,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","1536x1536-width":409,"1536x1536-height":484,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","2048x2048-width":409,"2048x2048-height":484,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","post_full_size-width":409,"post_full_size-height":484,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley-355x420.jpg","home_baner-width":355,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"540","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Or a story of salvation from a brutal and evil empire\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Nahum has to rank among the most ignored and underappreciated of all of the prophets in the Tanach. His single-minded and uncompromising message, a description of the terrifying and violent end that awaited Nineveh, led Christian writers to declare that the emphasis on revenge demonstrated the moral inferiority of the Old Testament. Typical of this view are the words of G. A. Smith in 1903: \u201cSuch is the sheer religion of\u2026[the] Book of Nahum \u2013 thoroughly Oriental in its sense of God\u2019s method and resources of destruction; very Jewish\u2026in the bursting of its long pent up hopes of revenge\u2026we [the Christian West] should not attribute so much personal passion to the Avenger.\"\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Even in Jewish tradition, his words never found their way into the liturgy or readings, with two exceptions \u2013 both in the ancient Israel triennial cycle of <\/span>haftorot<\/span><\/i>. Nahum 1:12\u20132:6 was read as the <\/span>haftara<\/span><\/i> to Genesis 34, the story of the rape of Dinah, while, several verses of Nahum were appended to the end of Micah as the <\/span>haftara<\/span><\/i> to Exodus 11, which describes the upcoming obliteration of the Egyptians in the final plague.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, despite potential discomfort over the violent end that awaited the inhabitants of Nineveh, we have to see Nahum not as a reflection of vengeance but of justice. Assyria was renowned throughout the Ancient Near East for its brutality and violence towards the nations it subjugated. A God of justice could not remain silent forever. Once God made the decision that the accumulation of Assyria\u2019s sins of over fifteen centuries of brutality necessitated its total destruction, that had to occur, even though the possibility was that it would be carried out by a very flawed people.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Nahum knows that God will work in ways that he cannot understand, and he does not question God regarding Nineveh\u2019s horrific downfall. Instead, Nahum focuses on proclaiming God\u2019s righteousness and justice at a time when his despondent listeners refused to believe that salvation from Assyria was even possible. When Nahum lived and prophesied, the answer to the Israelites\u2019 questioning whether God could or would punish the wicked was uncertain. As Elizabeth Achtemeier wrote, \u201c[The book of Nahum] is not primarily a book about human beings, not about human vengeance and hatred and military conquest, but a book about God. And it has been our failure to let Nahum be a book about God that has distorted the value of this prophecy\u2026\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Only through Nineveh's destruction could God prove His faithfulness to Israel and His justice to the world. Heschel articulated this idea beautifully in his book The Prophets:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The ultimate meaning in history lies in the continuity of God\u2019s concern. His wrath is not regarded as an emotional outburst, as an irrational fit, but rather as part of His continued care. Because the prophets could not remain calm in the face of crimes committed by men and disaster falling on men, they had to remember and remind others: God\u2019s heart is not made of stone.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":59738,"alt":"","title":"2sam3-revenge","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge.png","width":1920,"height":1711,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge-300x267.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":267,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge-768x684.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":684,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge-1024x913.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":913,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1369,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1711,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge-1200x1069.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1069,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge-471x420.png","home_baner-width":471,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Vengeance Or Justice?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Or a story of salvation from a brutal and evil empire","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":59738,"alt":"","title":"2sam3-revenge","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge.png","width":1920,"height":1711,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge-300x267.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":267,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge-768x684.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":684,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge-1024x913.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":913,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1369,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1711,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge-1200x1069.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1069,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam3-revenge-471x420.png","home_baner-width":471,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Nahum","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"540","date":"20270923","wall_id":"540"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"78486","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Jonah\u2019s Vindication ","post_title":"Jonah\u2019s Vindication","slug":"jonahs-vindication","old_id":"78486","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":61002,"post_title":"Yogev Bar-Gad","slug":"yogev-bar-gad","old_id":"61002","first_name":"Yogev ","last_name":"Bar-Gad","description":"Yogev Bar-Gad is a lawyer and a Torah lecturer.","short_description":"Yogev Bar-Gad is a lawyer and a Torah lecturer.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":61003,"alt":"","title":"yogev bar 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Nineveh was indeed overthrown\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Nahum's pronouncement on Nineveh shows the prophecy of the book of Jonah in a different light.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"Go at once to Nineveh\u2026 for their wickedness has come before me\u2026 and proclaim to it\u2026 Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!\" God ordered. After running away, Jonah had unwillingly to obey. But after the residents of Nineveh turned \"back from their evil ways. God renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon them, and did not carry it out,\" Jonah revealed his motivation for running away. Because God is \"compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, renouncing punishment\", Jonah had a feeling that his prophecy that \"Nineveh shall be overthrown!\" wouldn't come true.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to Nahum's pronouncement in our chapter, God is not only \"Slow to anger and of great forbearance\u2026 The LORD is good to [those who hope in Him], A haven on a day of distress; He is mindful of those who seek refuge in Him\" (3), but also \"Vengeful and fierce in wrath\u2026 Who can stand before His wrath? Who can resist His fury? His anger pours out like fire, and rocks are shattered because of Him\" (2).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These two different descriptions of God may explain both Jonah's harsh prophecy about \"Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!\" and its happy ending in which \"God renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon them, and did not carry it out.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Nahum analyzes these two different descriptions with remarkable insight and shows that there is no contradiction between them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God forgives when the malice is not constant, and when sinners really turn back from their evil ways. But when sinners, like the men of Nineveh, don\u2019t really repent their evil ways and continue their transgressing, then God \"wreaks utter destruction: No adversary opposes Him twice!\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Therefore due to Nahum's pronouncement, for Nineveh \"there is no healing for your injury. Your wound is grievous. All who hear the news about you clap their hands over you. For who has not suffered from your constant malice?\" (3, 19).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Nineveh actually became a pile of rubble, as many archaeologists and historians can tell.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If Prophet Jonah could hear Nahum's pronouncement on Nineveh he would probably be pleased to find out that his prophecy that \"Nineveh shall be overthrown!\" finally came true.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Rembrandt: The Prophet Jonah before the Walls of Nineveh, c. 1655 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77838,"alt":"","title":"Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah.jpg","width":477,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah.jpg","medium_large-width":477,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah.jpg","large-width":477,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah.jpg","1536x1536-width":477,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah.jpg","2048x2048-width":477,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah.jpg","post_full_size-width":477,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah-334x420.jpg","home_baner-width":334,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Jonah\u2019s Vindication","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"For Nineveh was indeed overthrown","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77838,"alt":"","title":"Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah.jpg","width":477,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah.jpg","medium_large-width":477,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah.jpg","large-width":477,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah.jpg","1536x1536-width":477,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah.jpg","2048x2048-width":477,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah.jpg","post_full_size-width":477,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Jon1-Rembrandt_The_Prophet_Jonah-334x420.jpg","home_baner-width":334,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Nahum","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"540","date":"20270923","wall_id":"540"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"78490","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"God \u201cRebukes\u201d the Sea ","post_title":"God \u201cRebukes\u201d the Sea","slug":"god-rebukes-the-sea","old_id":"78490","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"540","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Theology meets mythology\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In our introduction to Joel<\/span><\/a>, we noted that according to Seder Olam, the tannaitic record of Jewish history, Nahum, along with Joel and Habakuk, prophesied during the reign of King Manasseh (697-643 BCE), whose name was not mentioned explicitly on account of his evildoing. Since his prophecy concerned Nineveh, which was destroyed in 612 BCE, and invited a comparison with Thebes (called <\/span>No Amon<\/span><\/i> in 3:8-10), which was destroyed in 663 BCE, his prophecy seems to fit into that time frame. The opening verse calls him \u201cthe Elkoshite,\u201d which can be the name of either a place or family, neither of which can be identified.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As Nineveh features prominently in the prophecy of Jonah, too, it is not surprising that the Aramaic Targum Yonatan, in its rendition of the opening verse, interpolated: \u201cPreviously, Jonah ben Amitai, the prophet from Gat Hefer, prophesied about it and it repented of its sins. Now that it resumed sinning, it was addressed prophetically a second time by Nahum of the Elkosh family, as recorded in this book.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After stipulating God\u2019s well-known attributes of wreaking vengeance on His enemies while showing compassion towards His devotees (2-3), Nahum added: \u201cHe travels in whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust on His feet. He rebukes (<\/span>go`er<\/span><\/i>) the sea and dries it up\u2026\u201d (3-4). What wrong did the sea commit that called for a rebuke?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Tanakh, God occasionally appears to have had a long-standing grudge against the sea, one that led Him to limit its purview (Job 38:8-11: \u201cWho closed the sea behind doors\u2026 and said, you may come so far but no farther\u201d) and still its tempestuous waters (Ps. 65:8). Folklorists draw our attention to the role played in the Mesopotamian creation myth by the sea goddess Tihamat in her vain struggle with the sky god Marduk. We need look no further than Gen. 1:2 to be reminded that not only was there a primordial sea (\u201ca divine wind hovered over the face of the water\u201d), but \u201cdarkness was upon the face of <\/span>tehom<\/span><\/i> (depth),\u201d a name related to that of the aforementioned goddess.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi (citing Isaiah 17:12) avoided the question by submitting that the sea symbolizes the idolatrous nations and Yosef Kara identified it as the splitting of the Red Sea. Ibn Ezra also took it figuratively, saying: \u201cNext, he related God\u2019s might over the sea and land, which no one can withstand,\u201d and Radak, combining\u2014as usual\u2014the two earlier exegetical streams of thought, wrote: \u201cHow can He not have His way with the kings of Assyria when He can rebuke the sea, which is the most mighty of all earthly creations? Whenever He desires, He can turn it into dry land as He did with the Red Sea.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":78491,"alt":"","title":"nah1-storm","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm.jpg","width":1920,"height":1279,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1279,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"God \u201cRebukes\u201d the Sea","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Theology meets mythology","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":78491,"alt":"","title":"nah1-storm","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm.jpg","width":1920,"height":1279,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1279,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah1-storm-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Nahum","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"540","date":"20270923","wall_id":"540"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"78516","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"This Word Is - Genius! ","post_title":"This Word Is - Genius!","slug":"this-word-is-genius","old_id":"78516","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64450,"post_title":"David Curwin","slug":"david-curwin","old_id":"64450","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Curwin ","description":"David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat, and the author of the Balashon blog www.balashon.com","short_description":"David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat, and the author of the Balashon blog www.balashon.com","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64452,"alt":"","title":"david curwin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","width":427,"height":464,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-276x300.png","medium-width":276,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","medium_large-width":427,"medium_large-height":464,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","large-width":427,"large-height":464,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","1536x1536-width":427,"1536x1536-height":464,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","2048x2048-width":427,"2048x2048-height":464,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","post_full_size-width":427,"post_full_size-height":464,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-387x420.png","home_baner-width":387,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"541","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

In chapter 2, Nahum predicts that Assyria will fall, and the kingdom of Judah will survive. Considering the attacks by foreign powers during that period, it may have been difficult to believe. But Nahum was very optimistic:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cBehold on the hills the footsteps of a herald Announcing good fortune! \u201cCelebrate your festivals, O Judah, fulfill your vows. Never again shall scoundrels invade you, they have totally vanished.\u201d A shatterer has come up against you. Man the guard posts, watch the road; steady your loins, brace all your strength! For the LORD has restored the Pride of Jacob as well as the Pride of Israel, though marauders have laid them waste and ravaged their branches.\u201d (Nahum 2:1-3)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The word pride \u2013 in the phrases \u201cPride of Jacob\u201d and \u201cPride of Israel\u201d \u2013 is the Hebrew <\/span>geon<\/span><\/em>. While in this verse <\/span>geon<\/em> <\/span>has a positive connotation, the prophet Amos uses it to criticize the nation: \u201cMy Lord GOD swears by Himself: I loathe the Pride <\/span>geon<\/span><\/em>\u00a0of Jacob.\u201d This is understandable \u2013 sometimes pride is a good thing, when we are proud of decent actions, but pride can also be a sign of arrogance and lead to sin.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this later sense, <\/span>geon<\/span><\/em> is related to the word for haughtiness \u2013 <\/span>ga\u2019ava<\/span><\/em>\u00a0(which today is used for both senses of \u201cpride.\u201d) <\/span>Geon<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>and <\/span>ga'ava<\/span><\/em> both derive from the root <\/span>ga\u2019a<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u2013 meaning, \u201cto rise up, be proud.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Geon Ya'akov<\/span><\/em> \u2013 \u201cpride of Jacob\u201d \u2013 was the name of a post-Talmudic yeshiva in Babylonia. The title of the head of that yeshiva was abbreviated to <\/span>Gaon<\/span><\/em>. During this period, the most important rabbinical leaders were known as <\/span>geonim<\/span><\/em>, some of the famous including Amram Gaon and Saadia Gaon.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The period of the Geonim ended around 1000 CE, but the title of <\/span>Gaon<\/span><\/em> continued to be used to describe individuals who had mastered the Torah. Perhaps most famously it was used to describe the 18th century rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna - the Vilna Gaon.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Gaon<\/span><\/em> sounds similar to the word \"genius\" in many foreign languages. In addition to English, we find the German and French <\/span>genie<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> Russian <\/span>geniy<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> and Yiddish <\/span>zheni<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i> So in Modern Hebrew <\/span>gaon<\/span><\/em>\u00a0eventually came to refer to a genius - indicating inherent intellectual ability, and not just proficiency in the study of Torah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Today in Israel, we are blessed with unprecedented learning in both the Jewish and \u201csecular\u201d fields. All of which can certainly be considered the \u201cPride of Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"This Word Is - Genius!","tile_main_caption":"For the LORD has restored the Pride of Jacob as well as the Pride of Israel, though marauders have laid them waste and ravaged their branches.","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Nahum","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"541","date":"20270926","wall_id":"541"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":5,"id":"78513","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"Whither The Lion? ","post_title":"Whither The Lion?","slug":"whither-the-lion","old_id":"78513","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":73524,"post_title":"Yaakov Beasley","slug":"yaakov-beasley","old_id":"73524","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Beasley ","description":"Yaakov Beasley is the Tanakh Coordinator at Yeshivat Hesder Lev haTorah, the host of the TanachTalks podcast, and the author of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah: Lights in the Valley (Maggid Press, 2020). ","short_description":"Yaakov Beasley is the Tanakh Coordinator at Yeshivat Hesder Lev haTorah, podcast host and author. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":73525,"alt":"","title":"yaakov beasley","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","width":409,"height":484,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley-254x300.jpg","medium-width":254,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","medium_large-width":409,"medium_large-height":484,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","large-width":409,"large-height":484,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","1536x1536-width":409,"1536x1536-height":484,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","2048x2048-width":409,"2048x2048-height":484,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","post_full_size-width":409,"post_full_size-height":484,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley-355x420.jpg","home_baner-width":355,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"541","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The hunter and the hunted","post_main_content_content":"

In the aftermath of the battle, following the description in verse 11 of the inability of the Assyrians to protect their capital, Nahum begins to taunt Nineveh\u2019s leaders and nobility:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What has become of that lions\u2019 den, That pasture of great beasts, Where lion and lion\u2019s breed walked, And lion\u2019s cub\u2014with none to disturb them? [Where is] the lion that tore victims for his cubs And strangled for his lionesses, And filled his lairs with prey And his dens with mangled flesh? (12\u201314)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Lions were the traditional symbol of Assyria. Foreign visitors to the great city of Nineveh were greeted with large reliefs carved into walls that portrayed scenes of the Assyrian kings hunting lions, as a way of demonstrating their ferocity and their bravery. Pauline Albenda writes, \u201cThe visual arts of Assyria contain depictions of the royal hunt of wild animals. The most ferocious and challenging adversary for the Assyrian king was the lion. The chase of the lion\u2014from the chariot, on horseback, or on foot\u2014and its ultimate dispatch with bow, spear, or dagger demonstrated the royal individual\u2019s exceptional bravery and skill.\u201d Not only did the Assyrians depict their king and his warriors as brave warriors capable of hunting ferocious lions, they also depicted them as being like mighty lions themselves.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Now, Nahum takes that image and turns it against them, asking sarcastically, \u201cWhat has become of that lions\u2019 den?\u201d (2:12). Nahum subtly both combines the two metaphors and reverses them. If kings hunted lions and brought their hides as trophies to Nineveh, now lions run free throughout the city, carrying their prey back to their dens. The king whose job it was to hunt is nowhere in sight, while lions rampage throughout the city with no one to frighten them any longer. They tear their game and bring the prey back to their caves and dens for their young to devour.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Assyrians had boasted that they were like lions. Now these Assyrian \u201clions\u201d are being hunted down, lying helpless while invaders kill her \u201cyoung cubs\u201d (2:13). Assyria\u2019s propensity to engage in \u201clion-like\u201d behavior has now come to an end. No longer could they despoil others, taking riches from their conquests like a lion returning with its prey in its mouth to give to its young.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Fascinatingly, the midrashic understanding of this verse appropriates the lion imagery from Assyria and gives it back to Judah, whose tribal symbol is also the lion.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Temple is called a lion\u2026The monarchy of David is called a lion\u2026Israel is called a lion\u2026 Nebuchadnezzar is called a lion. He destroyed the Temple and took the monarchy of David and exiled Israel, and so God says, \u201cWhere is the home of the lions,\u201d where are My children? And then He roars for His home. (Exodus Rabbah 29:9).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0The Royal lion hunt reliefs from the Assyrian palace at Nineveh, a dying male lion, about 645-635 BCE \/ wikimedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":78514,"alt":"","title":"nah2-lion","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Whither The Lion?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The hunter and the hunted","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":78514,"alt":"","title":"nah2-lion","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-lion-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Nahum","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"541","date":"20270926","wall_id":"541"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"78510","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Death of Sardanapalus ","post_title":"The Death of Sardanapalus","slug":"the-death-of-sardanapalus","old_id":"78510","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"541","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And the appearance of pop culture references in 19th century biblical commentary\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Describing the military preparations that preceded the actual battle over Nineveh, Nahum wrote:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

His warriors\u2019 shields are painted red, and the soldiers are clothed in crimson; the chariots are like flaming torches (<\/span>peladot<\/span><\/em>), on the day they are made ready, the [arrows of] cypress wood are poisoned. The chariots dash about frenzied in the fields, they rush through the meadows, they appear like torches (<\/span>lapidim<\/span><\/em>),* they race like streaks of lightning. (4-5)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While Rashi, Eliezer of Beaugency, and Radak identified the warriors as the Babylonian attackers, Kara identified them as the Assyrian defenders. It is Malbim\u2019s commentary, however, that adds a significant, yet idiosyncratic touch. Agreeing in principle with Kara, he wrote:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Now he returned to tell of the first destruction of Nineveh in detail. Initially, King Sardanapalus trusted in his many warriors to win a victory to the extent that their shields were painted red\u2014a sign that they would mercilessly spill much blood. The soldiers, too, wore red uniforms\u2014dyed with the blood of worms to symbolize killing and blood. The chariots that were prepared for battle were fired up with torches to give the appearance of brand new, and the spears, made of cypress wood, were anointed with deadly poison.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sardanapalus is the name given by some ancient Greek authors to the last king of Assyria (who, in reality, was Ashur-uballit II). This identification was popularized throughout Europe in the 19<\/span>th<\/span> century through art (a painting by Delacroix), music (Berlioz and Liszt), and literature (Coleridge, Thoreau, and Dickens). Malbim, albeit a staunch and uncompromising defender of Orthodoxy, would appear to have acquired this knowledge by virtue of his wide acquaintance with secular literature. Indeed, it is striking that his interpretation of Lev. 19:18: \u201cLove [for] thy neighbor as [for] thyself,\u201d makes explicit reference to Kant\u2019s formula of Universal Law.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

*While this translation assumes that <\/span>peladot<\/span><\/em> is a metathesis (alphabetic rearrangement) of <\/span>lapidim<\/span><\/em>, both meaning torches, it is noteworthy that the former is also the source for the modern Hebrew word for steel: <\/span>peladah<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Eug\u00e8ne Delacroix: Death of Sardanapalus, 1827 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":78511,"alt":"","title":"nah2-death of sardanapolus","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus.jpg","width":800,"height":635,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus-300x238.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":238,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus-768x610.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":610,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":635,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":635,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":635,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus-529x420.jpg","home_baner-width":529,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Death of Sardanapalus","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And the appearance of pop culture references in 19th century biblical commentary","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":78511,"alt":"","title":"nah2-death of sardanapolus","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus.jpg","width":800,"height":635,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus-300x238.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":238,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus-768x610.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":610,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":635,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":635,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":635,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah2-death-of-sardanapolus-529x420.jpg","home_baner-width":529,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Nahum","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"541","date":"20270926","wall_id":"541"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"78578","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Assyria the Locust ","post_title":"Assyria the Locust","slug":"assyria-the-locust","old_id":"78578","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":73524,"post_title":"Yaakov Beasley","slug":"yaakov-beasley","old_id":"73524","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Beasley ","description":"Yaakov Beasley is the Tanakh Coordinator at Yeshivat Hesder Lev haTorah, the host of the TanachTalks podcast, and the author of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah: Lights in the Valley (Maggid Press, 2020). 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Chapter 3 continues describing the aftermath of Nineveh's fall, with Nahum additionally providing the moral justification for Assyria's demise. Nahum concludes this section by comparing the Assyrians to locusts:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Make yourself many\u2014like the locust! Make yourself many\u2014like the swarming locusts! You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven. The locust plunders and flies away. Your commanders are like swarming locusts, and your generals like great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges on a cold day; when the sun rises they flee away, and the place where they are is not known. (3:15\u201317)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At first glance, this may be interpreted as encouragement. In the Bible, the locust swarm was a feared sight (Ex. 10, Joel 1\u20132, Amos 7:1\u20133). A large horde would descend on an area and devour its plant life and agriculture, leaving it a bare wasteland. Similarly, the Assyrian army would invade a city, and loot and despoil it so thoroughly that nothing would remain.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, as Nahum makes clear quickly, this comparison is not a positive one. Instead he continues to mock the Assyrians, who thought themselves so strong and so invincible. Locusts, despite their tremendous numbers, can stay stationary for a long period of time in cool weather. However, once the temperature rises, they quickly leave in search of more favorable conditions. Similarly, the Assyrian army, despite their numbers, quickly fled in the heat of the battle.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Nahum\u2019s usage of locusts may also be an ironic reversal of an Assyrian symbol. In the British Museum, among the exhibits from Ashurbanipal\u2019s palace that were taken from Nineveh, is a relief that depicts a royal feast commemorating his defeat of Teumman, the king of Elam. Fitting with the Biblical description of peace (I Kings 5:5, Mic. 4:4), Ashurbanipal is seen reclining under vines and fig trees. While servants fan him, play instruments, or bring wine, the Assyrian tyrant is content to gaze upon Teumman\u2019s head, hung from a fir tree opposite his couch. In the upper left corner of the relief is a locust sitting on top of a palm tree, while to its right, a bird swoops to catch it. This detail may have special significance, as Ashurbanipal had described the Elamites as a \u201cdense swarm of grasshoppers.\u201d To the Assyrians, the locust may signify the last vestige of a once dreadful enemy, now virtually eliminated.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If Nahum was aware of this symbolism, he could be cleverly alluding to the reversal of fortune that has befallen the Assyrians. Instead of the Elamites, the Assyrians are the locusts, and like the Elamites before them, the Assyrians are about to be defeated. Their locust-like behavior is not reflected through their tremendous numbers and their ferocity in battle, but their willingness to abandon their place of rest when threatened.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(For more on this see Y. Beasley, <\/span>Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah: Lights in the Valley<\/span><\/em>, Maggid Press, Jerusalem, 2020).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Ashurbanipal and his queen Libbali-sharrat depicted dining (center-right). The severed head of Elamite King Teumman is hanging in a tree to the left. 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He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. 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Nahum's brutal portrayal of the destruction of Nineveh and the devastation of the Assyrians continues in Chapter 3. In verse 5, God promises to \"pull up your skirts over your face and show the nations your nakedness, your shame.\" Uncovering nakedness recounts a shameful episode early with King David.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In II Samuel 10, King David sends emissaries to the king of Ammon to wish condolences on the death of the King's father. The advisors of the Ammonite King misinterpret this diplomatic visit as an attempt to send spies. They convince the new King to humiliate the emissaries by cutting off their beards and cutting their garments in half to uncover their nakedness.\u00a0 David's army, under the command of Joab, routs the Ammonite army.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Later on, Ezekiel will also pick up on this theme of uncovering nakedness. In Ezekiel 16:37, the prophet describes a scene where God will gather together all the \"people\" with whom the Kingdom of Judah had been unfaithful. \"I will assemble them against you from every quarter, and I will expose your nakedness to them, and they shall see all your nakedness.\" Later, these individuals will judge the people and \"I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall tear down your eminence and level your mounds; and they shall strip you of your clothing and take away your dazzling jewels, leaving you naked and bare\"(verse 39).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The humiliation of public nudity and exposure is one that is even spared the condemned man or woman. In Tractate Sanhedrin, chapter 6, mishnah 3, we learn about the procedure for death by stoning. Although the guilty party is stripped of their garments as they walk to the cliff, Rabbi Yehudah wished to still afford the guilty party public modesty by the directive to cover \"a man in front and a woman both in front and behind.\" (The sages decreed that a male is stoned naked, but a female is clothed). The Assyrians are afforded no niceties. They are exposed in front of all the nations of the world who then fling dung on them. \"I will throw loathsome things over you And disfigure you And make a spectacle of you\" (verse 6).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":78591,"alt":"","title":"nah3-pillory","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Naked And The Dead","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The humiliation of public exposure\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":78591,"alt":"","title":"nah3-pillory","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-pillory-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Nahum","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"542","date":"20270927","wall_id":"542"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"78593","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Message To Judah: Even The Mighty Must Fall ","post_title":"Message To Judah: Even The Mighty Must Fall","slug":"message-to-judah-even-the-mighty-must-fall","old_id":"78593","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":47905,"post_title":"Natasha Mann","slug":"natasha-mann","old_id":"47905","first_name":"Natasha ","last_name":"Mann ","description":"Rabbi Natasha Mann serves as a rabbi at New London Synagogue and Hatch End\/Mosaic Masorti. Natasha hails from the grassy hills of Hertfordshire, England, and has spent most of her adult life between Los Angeles and the Holy City of Jerusalem. Natasha has worked in Jewish education and the non-profit world, promoting better education and legislation on human trafficking issues. ","short_description":"Rabbi Natasha Mann serves as a rabbi at New London Synagogue and Hatch End\/Mosaic Masorti.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":47906,"alt":"","title":"natasha mann","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-e1548150986169.jpg","width":735,"height":954,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-e1548150986169-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-e1548150986169-231x300.jpg","medium-width":231,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-768x568.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":568,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-1024x757.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":757,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-e1548150986169.jpg","1536x1536-width":735,"1536x1536-height":954,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-e1548150986169.jpg","2048x2048-width":735,"2048x2048-height":954,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-1200x887.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":887,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/natasha-mann-e1548150986169-324x420.jpg","home_baner-width":324,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"542","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

The character of Nahum was introduced to us in chapter One with two opposing forces. First, there is the prophet\u2019s name: Nahum, meaning \u2018comfort\u2019. Second, we are provided with Nahum\u2019s birthplace: he is an \u2018Elkoshi\u2019, a man from Elkosh. Since no such place is known to have existed, some scholars have suggested that it is a play on words, meaning \u2018God is harsh\u2019. This apparent theological juxtaposition behind the character of the prophet might help us to understand the significance of the fate of Nineveh.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

By this final chapter of the book, we see that Nineveh is doomed for destruction. As modern readers, Nineveh might only be familiar to us through the Book of Jonah. However, to the ancient eye, this was a grand city of the Assyrian Empire. In the time of Nahum, Assyria had been the superpower of the Ancient Near East for what must have felt like forever. Unbeknownst to Nahum\u2019s contemporaries, this power was not destined to last, and Assyria would soon crumble under its own weight and the growing power of its rivals. To Nahum\u2019s audience, this prophecy against Assyria\u2019s power must have felt absurd. However, Assyria did fall, and power exchanged hands as power is wont to do.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To later readers, the pronouncement against Nineveh and Assyria might feel overly specific, but behind it is a message that can be universalised. Even Assyria can fall. There is no eternal empire, Nahum tells us; true power lies only with the God of the Universe. This may not read as an uplifting message on its surface, but it is an incredible message of hope if you are Judah. To the oppressed, this says that even your oppressors can fall, no matter how all-powerful they might seem. And to those oppressors, Nahum warns against assuming that power now means power forever.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this dual message to the oppressed and the oppressors, our book magnificently marries <\/span>Nahum <\/span><\/em>(\u2018comfort\u2019) and <\/span>elkosh<\/em> <\/span>(\u2018God is harsh\u2019). The harshness of the All-Powerful can be comforting if you are the downtrodden - but not so much if you are the one abusing your own strength.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Message To Judah: Even The Mighty Must Fall","tile_main_caption":"The harshness of the All-Powerful can be comforting if you are the downtrodden (if you are the abuser - not so much\u2026)","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Nahum","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"542","date":"20270927","wall_id":"542"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"78595","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Joy At The Downfall Of The Assyrians ","post_title":"Joy At The Downfall Of The Assyrians","slug":"joy-at-the-downfall-of-the-assyrians","old_id":"78595","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"542","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Physical, emotional and deeper spiritual comfort\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Little is known about the prophet Nahum. The chapters of his book don\u2019t comprise any haftorahs, we are not told of his lineage, his background or who the reigning King was during his time of prophecy. And unlike several of the prophets (most recently Jonah), Nahum has made no previous appearance in the Tanach. And unlike any of the other prophets we\u2019ve studied to date, Nahum\u2019s prophecy is completely absent of any rebuke of the Israelites\u2019 behavior; focusing on the complete destruction and humiliation of Assyria.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The name Nahum means comfort or consolation, purportedly because Nahum is consoling the suffering Israelites with a prophecy about the destruction of their oppressors. The almost enthusiastic telling of the vividly gory crimes of Assyria and their subsequent ruination that \u201cno one (will) be in pain over\u201d concludes with \u201call who hear the report about you clap their hands (3:19).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It would be only natural for the Israelites to feel joy and consolation over witnessing the downfall of the wicked, degenerate Assyrians under whom they had suffered (and, as this prophecy reminds us in 3:8, the Egyptians before them) and for the world to applaud their eradication. No one could really fault the rejoicing. But the comfort that came from Nahum\u2019s prophecy touched a level deeper than mere physical and emotional relief. This prophecy was the word of God, and as such the unspoken message was about God\u2019s ultimate control over the world, His commitment to justice and His promise to return the Jewish nation to their land and ultimately to the Messianic era.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That same comfort offered to the Jews under Assyrian tyranny has sustained the Jewish people throughout history. As oppressors come and go, wars are won and lost, anti-Semitism rises and ebbs, we have somehow remained steadfast in our belief that the world is in God\u2019s hands, justice will prevail and He will fulfill His promise of a better future.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: John Martin, The Fall of Nineveh, 1829 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":78596,"alt":"","title":"nah3-fall_of_nineveh","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh.jpg","width":800,"height":529,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh-300x198.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":198,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh-768x508.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":508,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":529,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":529,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":529,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":529,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh-635x420.jpg","home_baner-width":635,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Joy At The Downfall Of The Assyrians","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Physical, emotional and deeper spiritual comfort","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":78596,"alt":"","title":"nah3-fall_of_nineveh","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh.jpg","width":800,"height":529,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh-300x198.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":198,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh-768x508.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":508,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":529,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":529,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":529,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":529,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-fall_of_nineveh-635x420.jpg","home_baner-width":635,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Nahum","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"542","date":"20270927","wall_id":"542"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/78105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}