Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. When Nahum wrote his oracle, Assyria was a vast and powerful empire that stretched from Egypt through Palestine and Syria, into much of Asia Minor, and down through Mesopotamia to the Persian Gulf. Nineveh was the focus of Assyria’s power and wealth.1 In 722 BC God had used Assyria to bring judgment on the northern tribes of Israel. However, as the Assyrian Empire grew, it became increasingly ruthless. It was built on bloodshed and massacre, cruelty and torture, destruction, plundering, and the exiling of conquered nations. The Lord had also used Assyria to discipline the tribe of Judah in the south, but he had not allowed Judah to be destroyed the way the northern tribes were. When Nahum wrote his oracle, the southern tribe of Judah was, however, being subjected to Assyria’s extreme cruelty.
This oracle is therefore written primarily to Nineveh and is against Nineveh because of her excessive cruelty, destruction, and plundering; especially against the people of Judah. About 100 years earlier the Lord had sent Jonah to call on Nineveh to repent—which they did. Clearly, however, this repentance had not lasted, and future generations of Assyrians rejected the Lord and became the most feared and ruthless enemy of his people. Now the Lord is going to hold them accountable the same way he did Israel and Judah.
1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.