Bible prophecies explained:
Bible prophecies fulfilled by Nineveh
The selection of Bible prophecies below involve Nineveh, which served as the capital for the Assyrian Empire about 2600 years ago.
1. Nineveh's army officers would desert
Bible passage: Nahum 3:17
Written: About 614 BC
In Nahum 3:17, the prophet said Nineveh's army officers would flee rather than fight. Babylonian records claim that Assyrian army members did flee from the battle.
Nahum 3:17:
Your guards are like locusts, your officials like swarms of locusts that settle in the walls on a cold day-- but when the sun appears they fly away, and no one knows where.
2. Nineveh would be destroyed, permanently
Bible passage: Nahum 3:19
Written: About 614 BC
In Nahum 3:19 (and 1:9), the prophet said that Nineveh, which was the Assyrian Empire's capital and perhaps the most powerful city of the ancient world, would suffer a wound that would never heal. In 612 BC (about 2600 years ago), a coalition of Babylonians, Scythians and Medes conquered the heavily fortified city. According to the Bible, Nineveh was to be punished for the empire's inhumane treatment of Israel. It is unknown as to when Nahum delivered this prophecy - some scholars speculate that it was delivered a few years before the conquest. But, it is known that Nahum was correct - Nineveh and the Assyrian empire never did recover from their defeat. (Incidentally, the Assyrian empire had conquered Babylon many years beforehand, but Babylon was able to recover from that defeat).
Nahum 3:19:
Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal. Everyone who hears the news about you claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?
3. Ninevites would be drunk in their final hours
Bible passage: Nahum 1:10
Written: About 614 BC
In Nahum 1:10 and 3:11, the prophet said that during the final hours of the attack on Nineveh, the Ninevites would be drunk. There is evidence that this prophecy was fulfilled. According to the ancient historian Diodorus Siculus: "The Assyrian king gave much wine to his soldiers. Deserters told this to the enemy, who attacked that night." Siculus compiled his historical works about 600 years after the fall of Nineveh.
Nahum 1:10:
They will be entangled among thorns and drunk from their wine; they will be consumed like dry stubble.
4. Nineveh would be destroyed by fire
Bible passage: Nahum 3:15
Written: About 614 BC
In Nahum 3:15, the prophet said that Nineveh would be damaged by fire. Archaeologists unearthed the site during the 1800s and found a layer of ash covering the ruins. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica: "…Nineveh suffered a defeat from which it never recovered. Extensive traces of ash, representing the sack of the city by Babylonians, Scythians, and Medes in 612 BC, have been found in many parts of the Acropolis. After 612 BC the city ceased to be important…"
Nahum 3:15:
There the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down and, like grasshoppers, consume you…
5. Ninevites would be wiped out
Bible passage: Nahum 1:14
Written: About 614 BC
In Nahum 1:14, the prophet said Nineveh would have no descendants to carry on the prestige of Nineveh. Nineveh's destruction in 612 BC marked a permanent end to the Assyrian Empire. The city itself never again rose to any significant importance. Today, Nineveh is an archaeological site in Iraq.
Nahum 1:14:
The Lord has given a command concerning you, [Nineveh]: "You will have no descendants to bear your name. I will destroy the carved images and cast idols that are in the temple of your gods. I will prepare your grave, for you are vile."
6. Nineveh would become desolate like a desert
Bible passage: Zephaniah 2:13
Written: Zephaniah lived about 2600 years ago
In Zephaniah 2:13, the prophet who lived about 2600 years ago informs us that God will destroy Nineveh, leaving it "utterly desolate and dry as the desert. "
The once great city of the ancient world, which had served as the capital of the powerful Assyrian empire, was swallowed up by sand and lost for centuries. It wasn't until 1847 when the city began a new life as an archaeological site. In speaking of its absence from the modern world, Austen Henry Layard wrote during the 1800s about Nineveh and the Assyrian empire:
It is indeed one of the most remarkable facts in history, that the records of an empire, so renowned for its power and civilization, should have been entirely lost; and that the site of a city as eminent for its extent as its splendor, should for ages have been a matter of doubt: it is not perhaps less curious that an accidental discovery should suddenly lead us to hope that these records may be recovered, and this site satisfactorily identified. - "Discoveries At Nineveh," by Austen Henry Layard, published in 1854.
Zephaniah 2:13:
He will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, leaving Nineveh utterly desolate and dry as the desert.
Notes: Bible verses are from the New International Version (NIV) translation.
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A selection of Bible prophecies explained
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