Orthodox · 7th century BC
Prophet Naum
Commemorated: December 14 (December 1, Old Style)
Life
Nahum is the seventh of the twelve Minor Prophets. His book calls him “the Elkoshite”, but where Elkosh lay is uncertain: tradition has placed it in Galilee, near Mosul in today’s Iraq, and in southern Judah. His three chapters are one poem on the fall of Nineveh, capital of the Assyrian empire that had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel.
Nahum speaks of the sack of Egyptian Thebes (No-Amon) in 663 BC as past, and Nineveh fell to the Babylonians and Medes in 612 BC, so scholars place him between those dates. The Church remembers him among the prophets whose books are read as Scripture.
Places
- Place of birth: Alqosh
- Place of burial: tomb of Nahum
Retold briefly in our own words from: the Roman Martyrology (1916).
The commemorations of the day: Ponomar (ponomar.net), CC BY-SA 3.0.
Places and years: Wikidata (CC0), each saint matched by hand.