Nahum

Timmer’s contribution on Nahum in the ESV Expository Commentary is particularly valuable for pastors because it supplies something that is less explicit in his later and much more technical ZECOT volume: the bridge from careful exegesis to biblical theology and preaching. The shorter treatment includes an explicit section on “Theology of Nahum; Its Relationship to the Rest of the Bible and to Christ,” followed by a separate “Preaching from Nahum” section, so Timmer does not merely explain Assyria, divine judgment, and Nahum’s rhetoric but asks how the book should function as Christian Scripture. His preaching discussion is especially helpful for avoiding some of the obvious dangers in handling Nahum: he distinguishes the universal judgment horizon of Nahum 1:2–8 from the historically specific fall of Assyria, thereby helping to prevent nationalist or xenophobic appropriation, and he develops useful canonical routes through the cross, Revelation, final judgment, persecution, cultural idolatry, and the believer’s own temptation toward autonomy rather than simply identifying some contemporary enemy as “Nineveh.” For readers who find the ZECOT excellent exegetically but want more explicit biblical-theological and homiletical help, this ESVEC contribution is an excellent companion, while Timmer’s later The Theology of the Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (2024) extends the biblical-theological side considerably further.