Nahum — Chapter 1
Synopsis Capitis
Chapter 1 opens Nahum's oracle against Nineveh with a magnificent theophany: God is jealous, takes vengeance, and is great in power. À Lapide notes the alphabetic structure of verses 2-10 (an acrostic on the Hebrew alphabet, partially preserved), showing the crafted literary artistry of the prophets. The divine attributes—jealousy, patience, power—are carefully distinguished in Thomistic categories.
Verse 1
Onus Ninive liber visionis Naum Elcosei
'The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.' À Lapide discusses the meaning of 'burden' (onus): prophetic oracles of doom are burdens laid upon nations. Elkosh is identified variously as a village in Galilee, giving Nahum a Galilean background similar to Jonah. The contrast between Jonah (mercy to Nineveh) and Nahum (doom to Nineveh) illustrates that God's mercy is not indulgent but conditional.
Verse 2
Deus aemulator et ulciscens Dominus
'God is jealous and the Lord is avenging; the Lord is avenging and hath wrath.' À Lapide carefully distinguishes divine jealousy (zelus) from human passion: God's jealousy is His infinite love that cannot permit the objects of His love to be destroyed by sin. Divine vengeance is not revenge but vindicatory justice restoring moral order. He cites Thomas's Summa on the relation between God's justice and mercy.
Verse 7
Bonus Dominus et confortans in die tribulationis
'The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and knoweth them that trust in him.' À Lapide reads this central verse as the book's theological fulcrum: judgment on the wicked is inseparable from salvation for the faithful. He develops this into a meditation on the divine knowledge that encompasses the elect—the intimacy of God's knowing those who trust Him (cognovit confidentes in eum).
Verse 15
Ecce super montes pedes evangelizantis
'Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings and that preacheth peace.' À Lapide connects this directly to Isaiah 52:7 and to Romans 10:15, where Paul applies it to the apostolic preachers of the Gospel. The immediate historical reference is the messenger announcing Nineveh's fall and Judah's liberation; the spiritual sense is the apostolic mission liberating humanity from sin. This is one of à Lapide's most exuberant treatments of typological fulfilment.