One of the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Old Testament, whose short book announces God’s judgment on the city of Nineveh.

Saint Nahum was one of the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures, an Old Testament figure who lived several centuries before Christ and whose short prophetic book announces the coming destruction of the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, as a sign of God’s justice against a violent oppressor. As with other pre-Christian biblical figures, the Church’s veneration of Nahum differs from that of later saints: it is a liturgical and typological honor rooted directly in Scripture rather than a cultus built up around an independently attested post-biblical life.

Quick Facts

• Died: before Christ (place uncertain)
• Venerated as: Prophet, one of the Twelve Minor Prophets

Who Was Saint Nahum, the Prophet?

Almost nothing is known of Nahum’s personal life beyond what can be inferred from his short biblical book, which most scholars associate with the period shortly before Nineveh’s actual fall in 612 BC. His prophecy, direct and forceful in tone, focuses entirely on the coming judgment of Assyria rather than on autobiographical detail, which is why the historical record about him as an individual remains, and will likely always remain, extremely thin.

Historical Setting

Nahum’s prophetic activity belongs to the tumultuous final decades of the Assyrian Empire’s dominance over the ancient Near East, a period in which the kingdom of Judah lived under the shadow of a violent imperial power that had already destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel. His message of judgment against Nineveh reflected a broader biblical conviction that God’s justice extends even to great empires that oppress and terrorize weaker peoples.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Nahum (B.C.)

The Church remembers and venerates Nahum as one voice among the Twelve Minor Prophets whose collective witness to God’s justice, mercy, and fidelity to his covenant people the New Testament and Christian tradition have long read as preparing the way for the fuller revelation given in Christ.

Canonization and Feast Day

No canonization process in the ordinary sense applies to Nahum, as he belongs to the company of Old Testament figures the Church honors liturgically as forerunners of Christ, a form of veneration rooted in Scripture and ancient tradition rather than any post-biblical Church procedure.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

Nahum’s uncompromising insistence that God’s justice will ultimately reach even the most powerful oppressors offers real comfort to anyone who feels crushed by injustice or overwhelming power, a reminder that no earthly empire, however dominant it may seem, stands outside the reach of God’s justice.

A Prayer to Saint Nahum (B.C.)

Saint Nahum, prophet who proclaimed God’s justice against the mighty, pray for the oppressed and all who long for justice in our own time. Strengthen our hope that God’s justice, though it may seem delayed, will not fail. Amen.

Sources

• The Book of Nahum
• Roman Martyrology (commemoration of Old Testament figures)