Nahum

Two persons by the name of Nahum, which means 'compassion,' are found in the Bible.

1. In the Old Testament, Nahum is the prophet who lived sometime during the 7th Cent BC, bringing a powerful indictment against the Assyrians and a prediction of divine judgment and the fall of Nineveh. Apart from the little detail that he was from Elkosh, we know nothing about him. The location of Elkosh itself is debated, with speculations that it was located in Galilee, in the vicinity of Nineveh, and in Judah.

For the Israelites who had lived under the oppression of the Assyrians for years, Nahum's very specific message of judgment against the Assyrians brought a message of hope that God does not forget. Nahum's prediction was fulfilled in 612 BC when Nineveh fell to the combined forces of the Medes and Babylonians.

2. A person, of whom we know only the name, listed in Luke's genealogy of Jesus through the line, "so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli . . " (Lk 3:25).