Nahum Bible Trivia: 20 Questions and Answers for Kids

These 20 Nahum Bible trivia questions cover all three chapters of the Old Testament's least-quizzed book, with answers and verse references after every question. They're sorted into easy (ages 5-8), medium (ages 9-12), and hard (teens and adults) rounds.

Here's the hook that makes kids care about Nahum: it's the sequel to Jonah. Same city, same God -- but about 150 years later, Nineveh's second chance has run out, and this time there's no repentance and no rescue.

What Is the Book of Nahum About?

The book of Nahum is a prophecy announcing the fall of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire -- the cruelest superpower of the ancient world. Nahum is called "the Elkoshite" (Nahum 1:1), and beyond that hometown label the Bible tells us nothing about him. His name, fittingly, means "comfort" -- because for the small nations Assyria had crushed, this prophecy of judgment was comforting news.

We can date Nahum unusually well: he mentions the fall of the Egyptian city of Thebes (Nahum 3:8) as recent history, and Thebes fell in 663 BC; Nineveh itself fell to the Babylonians and Medes in 612 BC, exactly as Nahum foretold. So the book was written in the roughly fifty-year window between those two events. Its message balances on one verse: "The LORD is slow to anger but great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished" (Nahum 1:3).

How Is Nahum Connected to Jonah?

Nahum is the other half of the Jonah story: both books are about Nineveh, and together they show the two sides of God's character. In Jonah's day, Nineveh repented in sackcloth and God spared the city -- proof that God is "slow to anger." By Nahum's day, about a century and a half later, Nineveh had gone back to violence and had destroyed the entire northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC -- and Nahum announces that the patience has an end.

Teaching the two books together is the move: read Jonah first, then Nahum, and even young kids grasp that God's mercy is real and God's justice is real, and neither one cancels the other. That pairing also makes Nahum's opening chapter -- which sounds harsh alone -- read the way it was meant to: as a rescue announcement for the bullied nations of the ancient world.

Why Was Nineveh So Feared?

Nineveh was feared because Assyria ran the ancient world's most brutal war machine -- its own kings bragged in stone carvings about burning cities, deporting whole populations, and torturing captives. This is the empire that erased the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC and scattered its ten tribes, and the empire that besieged Jerusalem itself in King Hezekiah's day (2 Kings 18-19). When Nahum calls Nineveh "the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder" (Nahum 3:1), nobody in his audience thought he was exaggerating.

That background is what turns Nahum's closing line into the book's mic drop: "everyone who hears the news about you claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?" (Nahum 3:19). It's the only prophetic book that ends with applause -- and it's why a book of judgment could be written by a man whose name means "comfort."

Easy Nahum Trivia Questions (Ages 5-8)

1. Which great city is the whole book of Nahum about? Nineveh (Nahum 1:1)

1. Which earlier prophet had preached to Nineveh -- after riding there in a fish's belly? Jonah (Jonah 1:17, 3:3)

1. What empire was Nineveh the capital of? Assyria (Nahum 3:18)

1. What does the name Nahum mean? "Comfort"

1. Finish the verse: "The LORD is good, a ___ in times of trouble." Refuge (Nahum 1:7)

1. Did Nineveh repent this time, like it did for Jonah? No -- the city fell, just as Nahum said (Nahum 3:7)

Medium Nahum Trivia Questions (Ages 9-12)

1. What is Nahum's hometown label -- the only personal fact we're given about him? The Elkoshite (Nahum 1:1)

1. Nahum 1:3 says the LORD is slow to anger but great in what? Power (Nahum 1:3)

1. In Nahum's storm picture, what are the clouds compared to? The dust of God's feet (Nahum 1:3)

1. Whom does Nahum say the LORD cares for? Those who trust in him (Nahum 1:7)

1. What color are the attacking soldiers' shields in Nahum's vision of Nineveh's fall? Red (Nahum 2:3)

1. What gates are "thrown open" right before the palace collapses? The river gates (Nahum 2:6)

1. What three words open Nahum's woe against Nineveh in chapter 3? "Woe to the city of blood" (Nahum 3:1)

Hard Nahum Trivia Questions (Teens and Adults)

1. Nahum pictures a messenger on the mountains bringing good news and proclaiming peace -- which other prophet has an almost identical verse? Isaiah (Nahum 1:15, Isaiah 52:7)

1. Nahum asks Nineveh, "Are you better than ___?" -- naming which fallen Egyptian city on the Nile? Thebes (No Amon) (Nahum 3:8)

1. In what year did Nineveh actually fall, and to which two allied powers? 612 BC, to the Babylonians and the Medes

1. What insect does Nahum compare Nineveh's merchants and officials to -- here today, flown away tomorrow? Locusts (Nahum 3:16-17)

1. Which northern kingdom had Assyria destroyed and carried into exile, giving Nahum's audience their grief? Israel, in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:6)

1. According to Nahum 1:8, how would God bring Nineveh to an end -- matching how the city historically flooded? With an overwhelming flood (Nahum 1:8)

1. Nahum ends with a question addressed to the king of Assyria: "Who has not felt your endless ___?" Cruelty (Nahum 3:19)

How to Use These Questions

The best way to run Nahum trivia is as a double feature: quiz Jonah first, then reveal that the story has a sequel and run this set. Kids who just aced the fish questions are genuinely stunned that Nineveh shows up again -- and the "second chance squandered" arc sticks with them. For a bigger event, use Nahum as the expert round at a family Bible trivia night; almost no adult sees these questions coming.

Because the medium and hard rounds reward close reading, this book works especially well for teens -- hand them the three chapters, give them ten minutes, then quiz. If your kids like learning Bible stories through questions, our video lessons at Faithful Kids end every episode the same way. And for the full sweep from Genesis to the prophets, keep our Old Testament trivia questions handy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who wrote the book of Nahum?

The book of Nahum was written by the prophet Nahum the Elkoshite (Nahum 1:1). His hometown of Elkosh is the only biographical detail the Bible gives, and its location is uncertain today. He prophesied sometime between 663 BC and 612 BC, during the final decades of the Assyrian Empire.

How many chapters does Nahum have?

Nahum has 3 chapters and 47 verses. Chapter 1 declares God's character and verdict, chapter 2 describes the attack on Nineveh in vivid battle imagery, and chapter 3 explains why the city's fall is deserved.

What is the main message of Nahum?

The main message is that God's patience is real but not endless -- "The LORD is slow to anger but great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished" (Nahum 1:3). For the nations Assyria had brutalized, Nahum's announcement of Nineveh's fall was a promise that God sees cruelty and will end it.

How is Nahum different from Jonah?

Both books are about Nineveh, but they land on opposite outcomes: in Jonah, Nineveh repents and God spares the city; in Nahum, about 150 years later, Nineveh has returned to violence and God announces its destruction. Read together, they show God's mercy and God's justice as two sides of the same character.

Did Nahum's prophecy come true?

Yes -- Nineveh fell in 612 BC to a coalition of Babylonians and Medes, and ancient accounts describe flooding playing a role in the city's fall, echoing Nahum 1:8 and the "river gates" of Nahum 2:6. The city was so thoroughly ruined that its location was lost for centuries until archaeologists rediscovered it near modern Mosul, Iraq.

What age can kids start learning the book of Nahum?

Nahum works best for ages 8 and up, and especially for kids who already know the Jonah story -- the sequel framing is what makes it click. Younger kids can still learn Nahum 1:7 ("The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble"), one of the gentlest memory verses in the prophets.