Nahum meaning

Meaning

Compassion, Consolation

Etymology

From the verb נחם (naham), to be sorry or to comfort.

Related names

• Via נחם (naham): Capernaum, Manaen, Menahem, Naham, Nahamani, Nehemiah, Nehum, Tanhumeth

There are two men named Nahum in the Bible:

• The prophet who also authored the Book of Nahum, which was also known as the "burden of Nineveh" as it describes the fall of the Assyrian capital Nineveh to the Babylonians in 612 BC. From Nahum 1:1 we learn that the author is from Elkosh. Where that was exactly is unknown, although several locations have been opted. One of the options is the town better known as Capernaum (meaning Village Of Nahum), but that remains contested. Note that the name Nahum is spelled the same as the name Nehum, and was virtually the same name until both names were punctuated in the Middle Ages. However, by the time the Septuagint was written, these two names were already considered different. For unknown reasons the authors of the Septuagint transliterated the name Nahum as Ναουμ (Naoum) and Nehum as Ιναουμ (Inaoum).
• An ancestor of Jesus Christ according to Luke (also spelled Ναουμ; Luke 3:25). His name appears about half-way between Jesus and Zerubbabel, the leader of the great return from the Babylonian exile, which started around 538 BC.

The name Nahum is the short version of the name Nehemiah. Both names come from the fabulously interesting root נחם (naham), meaning either sorrow, repentance or comfort:

The name Nahum means Consolation or Compassion.

For a meaning of the name Nahum, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Full Of Comfort. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Consolation.