Texts in Conversation
Nahum and Psalm 94 both appeal to the “God of vengeance” to act against their enemies Nahum builds on this theme by incorporating imagery of storms and the sea, following ancient Near Eastern tradition and describing God as a storm deity.
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Nahum 1:2
Hebrew Bible
1 This is an oracle about Nineveh; the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite: 2 The Lord is a zealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and very angry. The Lord takes vengeance against his foes; he sustains his rage against his enemies. 3 The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will certainly not allow the wicked to go unpunished. He marches out in the whirlwind and the raging storm; dark storm clouds billow like dust under his feet. 4 He shouts a battle cry against the sea and makes it dry up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither; the blossom of Lebanon withers.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Psalm 94:1
Hebrew Bible
1 O Lord, the God who avenges! O God who avenges, reveal your splendor. 2 Rise up, O judge of the earth. Pay back the proud. 3 O Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked celebrate? 4 They spew out threats and speak defiantly; all the evildoers boast. 5 O Lord, they crush your people; they oppress the nation that belongs to you.
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Divine “vengeance” occurs in contexts of punishment, such as for disobedience to the commandments as in Leviticus 26:25 and Jeremiah 5:9, 29. God’s “vengeance” is also disciplinary in order to restore lawfulness, as, for example, in Isaiah 1:24-26 where God’s “vengeance”, which is used here with God’s “wrath”, occurs so that Judah will be disciplined and become again a “city of righteousness”. God’s “vengeance” also serves to end oppression and injustice, as in Isaiah 59:17. In this verse, םקנ is parallel to הקדצ, showing that divine “vengeance” is a revelation of divine “righteousness”. In the prophets, where divine “vengeance” occurs the most, it is also used against the nations for their attempts at reaching out for world power, as in Isaiah 47:3; Jeremiah 46:10; 50:15 and Ezekiel 24:8. God’s “vengeance” against the enemy occurs in order to bring deliverance to God’s people, as in Isaiah 33:8; 35:4; 59:18; 61:2; 63:4; Jeremiah 51:36 and Nahum 1:2; 1:15. Within the Psalms, such as 58:10; 79:10; 94:1, and the confessions of Jeremiah (11:20; 20:12), the psalmists and Jeremiah are facing situations of threat or oppression, and they call to God to punish their oppressors and deliver them ..."
Durant, Karen Elizabeth
Imitation of God as a Principle for Ethics Today: A Study of Selected Psalms
(pp. 192-193) University of Birmingham, 2010
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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