These final words from Nahum to Nineveh in Nahum 3 do not just affirm the certainty of the Lord’s judgment but demands that Nineveh responds to the threat. Three rhetorical questions are asked (Nahum 3:7, Nahum 3:8, Nahum 3:19) and they all require the people of Nineveh to admit that they cannot escape the Lord’s judgment.
Nahum 3 therefore starts with a woe oracle that is common in prophetic literature. It is a form of speech often heard at funerals among mourners. Because of its association with death, the prophets probably used it as they foresaw the coming of destruction to God’s enemies.1
1 Malheur à la ville sanguinaire, Pleine de mensonge, pleine de violence, Et qui ne cesse de se livrer à la rapine!…