Context: Nahum is chronologically later than Jonah: while Jonah records Nineveh's repentance (8th century BC), Nahum announces its definitive destruction. The fall of Nineveh occurred in 612 BC, when the Medo-Babylonian alliance destroyed the Assyrian capital. The name "Nahum" means "comfort" — the book is comfort for Israel and Judah, who suffered decades under Assyrian terror.

Assyria and divine judgment: Assyria was known in antiquity for systematic cruelty: impalement, mass deportation, libraries of human heads. Divine judgment upon it does not contradict God's loving character — it is the expression of his justice against the oppressor. God uses powerful nations as instruments and then judges them for their pride (cf. Isa 10).

Theological opening (ch. 1): The book opens with a theophany: "The Lord is a jealous and avenging God... but the Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him" (1:2–7). The same God who is terrifying for the oppressor is a safe refuge for the oppressed.