Abstract
M.A.
The fact that God (Yahweh) is often depicted in the Old Testament as
violent is a problem. Especially for us who come to the text as modern
readers. Even though our society is full of violent acts, there is a general
remorse towards violence.
A small book like Nahum is filled with violence and introduces Yahweh at
an early stage as a “vengeful God”. It then goes further and describes the
fall of Nineveh and the Assyrians in a graphic manner. This vengeful and
violent God was central to the problem of this dissertation. The problem
was:
How should the violence in the current form of Nahum be
interpreted and how should it be understood in a modern
context.
This study will make use of dual methodology due to the fact that
the text of Nahum was rooted in a concrete social and historical
situation. Firstly the social and historical circumstances is studied
and used to interpret the text. To understand the problem in a
modern context the second part of the dual methodology will come
into play. This will look at the ideology that is ingrained in the
rhetoric of the text. The question will be asked whether Yahweh is
as violent as He is described or whether His description in Nahum
could be a construct of society and ideology.
Proposals for new readings of Nahum and new metaphors and
constructs for God is then suggested.