An inside look at evil (Nahum 3)
Nahum 3:1-19
The years leading up to the 1956 uprising in Hungary were filled with terror for many. Some were taken off the street for questioning and torture, condemned in mock trials and sent off to a hard labour camp, others were blackmailed into reporting on friends and relatives, yet others were forcefully re-settled in the countryside with a peasant family, their property confiscated and redistributed among communist party members. Raids happened randomly and at night for maximum intimidation. Public gatherings were banned, nobody could be trusted and one’s own relatives might turn traitor, so there was little to no outlet publicly or privately for the enormous pressure that people were under. Not surprisingly, when the lid blew off in 1956, the anger and despair erupted into violent action. Known or suspected members of the secret police were lynched and my Dad remembered seeing one man whose heart was ripped out while he was still alive. It is hard to imagine from our peaceful surroundings today, the kind of suffering that could lead to such fierce anger and hatred.
Assyria’s cruelty
I am not suggesting that taking such revenge is right, but this modern example may help us appreciate why no one would grieve for the downfall of Assyria. The ancient world was far from squeamish, but even in the tougher realities of life then, Assyria was known for its excessive cruelty. Assyrian reliefs portraying the treatment of captives show the defeated having their eyes gouged out, hands and feet cut off, flayed, or impaled on stakes. The conquest of Thebes (by Assyria) in our chapter describes the taking of captives and the dashing of infants to pieces (Nahum 3:10) demonstrating the empire’s brutality. Earlier, we also read of deceit (NASB ‘lies’) and looting (Nahum 3:1). Without transition, we are suddenly in the middle of Nahum’s vision describing the sights and sounds of battle with the dead piling up in heaps (Nahum 3:2-3). Nineveh’s violence (‘the bloody city’, v.1), will breed violence against her and those who lived by the sword will die by it.
Harlot and sorceress
The metaphors of harlot and sorceress (Nahum 3:4 cf. Rev 17:5: 18:23) are chosen here because cities were seen as female (much like ships in English are) and the grammatical gender of the word for ‘city’ in Hebrew is feminine. The word zonah (‘harlot’) means someone engaged in illicit sexual acts (e.g., a prostitute or adulteress). In Proverbs she entices naïve men with her charm and allure and promises them pleasure but leads them to ruin and destruction (Prov 7:1-27). Elsewhere in the OT, the word is associated with idolatry (‘playing the harlot after other gods’; e.g. Deut 31:16; Judg 2:17; 1 Chron 5:25). Sorceress, likewise, evokes domination and destruction through illicit practices of witchcraft. How these images fit Assyria is demonstrated in the story of King Ahaz of Judah. He called on the empire to protect him from his enemies (the northern kingdom of Israel and Syria) and found Assyria’s power so irresistible that he adopted their gods (2 Kings 16:7-18). Thus, he became entrapped in idolatry and, in exchange for military aid, ended up in servitude as a vassal of Assyria.
The nature of evil
This description of Assyria encapsulates the very nature of evil. Initially it offers power, pleasure, protection or similar depending on our felt need. It is alluring and seductive, but it entraps and enslaves until we are destroyed. That is why God is against such evil (Nahum 3:5) and will humiliate and reveal Assyria for what she is (Nahum 3:5-6).[1] Like Thebes (No-Amon), the capital of Egypt that felt secure and impregnable yet was captured and exiled (Nahum 3:8-10), so Nineveh will in turn fall, no matter how they fortify themselves or multiply their army like locusts (Nahum 3:11-17). Given their deceit and cruelty, no one will grieve over them (Nahum 3:7, 19). This analysis of wickedness and its end points to ultimate evil and foreshadows its final elimination. We all struggle with evil and sin, feel their power to entice us and suffer the consequences of being entrapped when we give in to temptation. Yet God has already begun to break their power through the cross of Jesus Christ and will ultimately crush Satan and all he stands for. It is indeed cause for rejoicing, for who has not experienced his terrible evil?
[1] Modern readers may be troubled by the comparison with a female figure of a sexual temptress, as if women alone were responsible for entrapping males. However, the Bible nowhere suggests such a thing. While ‘the harlot’ is a stereotypical female figure that appears in Proverbs, her positive counterpart is another female, ‘Lady Wisdom’ (Prov 9:1-6). Moreover, who can forget the long description of the woman of noble character in Proverbs 31? This hardly argues for a one-sided, negative view of women. There are also plenty of examples of perverse male sexual action. For instance, Noah’s son, Ham, gazes at his father’s nakedness, which seems to have sexual connotations (Gen 9:20-24), the Sodomites want sex with Lot’s guests (who are angels, but assumed to be men, Gen 19:5), men gang-rape the Levite’s concubine (Judg 19:1-30), David commits adultery (2 Sam 12:1-15; note that Bathsheba is nowhere condemned; she is the victim), Amnon rapes his half-sister, Tamar (2 Sam 13:1-22), Absalom rapes his father’s (David’s) concubines (2 Sam 16:21-22). The Bible is hardly one-sided when it comes to sexual sin. In any case, the language of harlotry is applied to all Nineveh, not to its women only. If anything, it would have fitted the king and its male leadership better because they had the power to entice weaker nations with promises of protection. Another issue in this passage is the humiliation of such a woman by exposure of her private parts. Given our awareness today of violence committed against women, this can make for uncomfortable reading. However, we cannot judge an ancient text for not taking into account our modern sensitivities. The Bible is using the example of a practice recognisable in that world. Yes, it is extremely crude language and meant to shock but for ancient readers the jolt would not have come from God administering such humiliation but that the mighty Assyria could be brought so low.
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