This week we begin our study of the prophet Nahum, the seventh of our twelve prophetic books. There are no biographical details about Nahum other than the name of his hometown, Elkosh. Nahum is not mentioned in any other biblical text outside of his own book. The location of Elkosh has been lost to history. Fourth century Christian theologian Saint Jerome claimed Elkosh was a village in northern Galilee. Without any additional archaeological discoveries, Jerome’s tradition has mostly held. There was, however, an ancient Assyrian village named Alkosh near the Tigris River, just north of Mosul in modern times. If Nahum was part of the Israelite community living in the Assyrian diaspora, his parents were likely deported there in previous Assyrian raids. If the anti-Assyrian prophet was writing against the land of his subjugation, it would certainly add an interesting twist to the text. But the vivid way in which Nahum describes the hills, vineyards, and valleys of Israel points to his being a native of Israel or Judah, not someone born in the diaspora.
Nahum does not give an explicit date in his superscription or name a king that would help with dating. Based off clues from the text, however, Nahum likely ministered around the middle of the seventh century BCE. In his third chapter, he mentions the fall of the Egyptian city of Thebes as a historical fact (3:8). Historians know Thebes fell in 663 BCE so the prophet had to have written sometime after that major historical event.
With the way Nahum describes the great strength of Assyria, the empire was still a powerhouse in the prophet’s day. None of Nahum’s prophecies indicate that he witnessed signs of Assyrian weakening. In 612 BCE, Nahum’s prophecies were fulfilled when an alliance of Babylonians and Medes managed to overtake Nineveh, Assyria’s capital. The fall of Thebes and Nineveh give us the parameters for dating Nahum. He had to have ministered sometime between 663 BCE and 612 BCE. Further narrowing of his dates is not possible.
