Nachum 3 | “For upon whom has your evil not continually passed?”

Chapter 3 continues to describe the impending downfall of Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire. As previously noted, the prophecies of Nachum concerning Assyria’s collapse in Chapters 1–2 are intended as consolation and hope for the people of Israel, who suffer under the burden of the Assyrian empire. Nachum also completes the prophetic arc that began with Sefer Yona, concerning that very same city — Nineveh. Yona had complained that with regard to Nineveh, God is “slow to anger, abounding in kindness, and relenting from evil” (Yona 4:2). In our book, we also find a list of God’s attributes directed at the same city — but this time, the atmosphere is quite different: “The Lord is slow to anger, immense in power. Never will He let the guilty go unpunished” (Nachum 1:3). After encountering both Yona and Nachum, we see how God has many approaches in His governance of the world — sometimes He chooses one measure, and sometimes another.

However, unlike Chapters 1–2, Chapter 3 contains no mention of how Assyria’s downfall impacts Israel. Instead, the focus is on the nations. The sins of Assyria are framed as offenses against the nations: “… who sells nations through her whoring” (3:4). And Nineveh’s collapse is made into a public spectacle not before Israel, but before the nations: “I will reveal your nakedness to the nations, to the kingdoms your shame” (3:5). The chapter even concludes with the rejoicing of the nations over Assyria’s fall: “All who hear what has become of you will applaud your fall — for are there any who have not suffered your unrelenting evil?” (3:19). The nations rejoice at Nineveh’s downfall for a very simple reason: all of them had suffered under the oppressive weight of the Assyrian Empire, which conquered and brutalized every people it dominated.

Thus, Sefer Nachum foretells the destruction of Assyria. In its first part, that destruction is framed in relation to Israel: Assyria is condemned for having “plotted against the Lord” (1:11), and its downfall brings salvation to Israel (2:1). In its second part, the fall of Assyria is framed in universal terms — Assyria is punished for its crimes against all nations, and its destruction brings relief to the world at large.

To illustrate the rejoicing of Israel and the nations over Assyria’s collapse, we include here a brief excerpt from a piyyut written by Nissim Dahan and published in Casablanca in 1943, celebrating the hoped-for fall of the Nazi regime:

“Who are these that flee in haste?
Wehrmacht soldiers from the Russian front.
Upon their heads rains the blood of their violence.
Their power departs and is revealed no more...
Hitler and Mussolini — may their names be erased.
The entire world will rejoice and be glad.
No more swords, no more spears.
And the daughter of Yehuda will dance with joy.”