Along with the prophets Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, Nahum was a witness to the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom had been carried into captivity by
Assyria almost a century before (722 B. C. (Before Christ). Now it was in the purpose of GOD to visit that nation which had been the rod of God's anger on Israel.

The prediction of Nahum was written probably shortly before the destruction of the city.