10 She is empty, yea, emptiness and waste, And the heart hath melted, And the knees have smitten together, And great pain `is' in all loins, And the faces of all of them have gathered paleness.
From its face pained are peoples, All faces have gathered paleness.
As waters I have been poured out, And separated themselves have all my bones, My heart hath been like wax, It is melted in the midst of my bowels.
And He stretcheth His hand against the north, And doth destroy Asshur, And he setteth Nineveh for a desolation, A dry land like a wilderness. And crouched in her midst have droves, Every beast of the nation, Both pelican and hedge-hog in her knobs lodge, A voice doth sing at the window, `Destruction `is' at the threshold, For the cedar-work is exposed.' This `is' the exulting city that is dwelling confidently, That is saying in her heart, `I `am', and beside me there is none,' How hath she been for a desolation, A crouching-place for beasts, Every one passing by her doth hiss, He doth shake his hand!
then the king's countenance hath changed, and his thoughts do trouble him, and the joints of his loins are loosed, and his knees are smiting one against another.
Lo, Jehovah is emptying the land, And is making it waste, And hath overturned `it on' its face, And hath scattered its inhabitants.
Therefore, all hands do fail, And every heart of man doth melt. And they have been troubled, Pains and pangs they take, As a travailing woman they are pained, A man at his friend they marvel, The appearance of flames -- their faces!
I have cut off nations, Desolated have been their chief ones, I have laid waste their out-places without any passing by, Destroyed have been their cities, Without man, without inhabitant.
And one strong messenger did take up a stone as a great millstone, and did cast `it' to the sea, saying, `Thus with violence shall Babylon be cast, the great city, and may not be found any more at all; and voice of harpers, and musicians, and pipers, and trumpeters, may not be heard at all in thee any more; and any artizan of any art may not be found at all in thee any more; and noise of a millstone may not be heard at all in thee any more; and light of a lamp may not shine at all in thee any more; and voice of bridegroom and of bride may not be heard at all in thee any more; because thy merchants were the great ones of the earth, because in thy sorcery were all the nations led astray,
And it hath come to pass, Each of thy beholders fleeth from thee, And hath said: `Spoiled is Nineveh, Who doth bemoan for her?' Whence do I seek comforters for thee?
and hast said: Jehovah, Thou, Thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that there is none dwelling in it, from man even unto cattle, for it is a desolation age-during.
I looked `to' the land, and lo, waste and void, And unto the heavens, and their light is not. I have looked `to' the mountains, And lo, they are trembling. And all the hills moved themselves lightly. I have looked, and lo, man is not, And all fowls of the heavens have fled. I have looked, and lo, The fruitful place `is' a wilderness, And all its cities have been broken down, Because of Jehovah, Because of the fierceness of His anger.
By night and by day she is not quenched, To the age go up doth her smoke, From generation to generation she is waste, For ever and ever, none is passing into her. And possess her do pelican and hedge-hog, And owl and raven dwell in her, And He hath stretched out over her A line of vacancy, and stones of emptiness. `To' the kingdom her freemen they call, But there are none there, And all her princes are at an end. And gone up her palaces have thorns, Nettle and bramble `are' in her fortresses, And it hath been a habitation of dragons, A court for daughters of an ostrich. And met have Ziim with Aiim, And the goat for its companion calleth, Only there rested hath the night-owl, And hath found for herself a place of rest. There made her nest hath the bittern, Yea, she layeth, and hath hatched, And hath gathered under her shadow, Only there gathered have been vultures, Each with its companion.
And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, The glory, the excellency of the Chaldeans, Hath been as overthrown by God, With Sodom and with Gomorrah. She doth not sit for ever, Nor continueth unto many generations, Nor doth Arab pitch tent there, And shepherds lie not down there. And Ziim have lain down there, And full have been their houses of howlings, And dwelt there have daughters of an ostrich, And goats do skip there. And Aiim have responded in his forsaken habitations, And dragons in palaces of delight, And near to come `is' her time, And her days are not drawn out!
And we hear, and melt doth our heart, and there hath not stood any more spirit in `any' man, from your presence, for Jehovah your God, He `is' God in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Nahum 2
Commentary on Nahum 2 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 2
Na 2:1-13. The Advance of the Destroying Forces against Nineveh, after It Was Used as God's Rod for a Time to Chastise His People: The Capture of That Lion's Dwelling, According to the Sure Word of Jehovah.
1. He that dasheth in pieces—God's "battle axe," wherewith He "breaks in pieces" His enemies. Jer 51:20 applies the same Hebrew term to Nebuchadnezzar (compare Pr 25:18; Jer 50:23, "the hammer of the whole earth"). Here the Medo-Babylonian army under Cyaxares and Nabopolassar, that destroyed Nineveh, is prophetically meant.
before thy face—before Nineveh. Openly, so that the work of God may be manifest.
watch the way—by which the foe will attack, so as to be ready to meet him. Ironical advice; equivalent to a prophecy, Thou shalt have need to use all possible means of defense; but use what thou wilt, all will be in vain.
make thy loins strong—The loins are the seat of strength; to gird them up is to prepare all one's strength for conflict (Job 40:7). Also gird on thy sword (2Sa 20:8; 2Ki 4:29).
2. For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob—that is, the time for Nineveh's overthrow is ripe, because Jacob (Judah) and Israel (the ten tribes) have been sufficiently chastised. The Assyrian rod of chastisement, having done its work, is to be thrown into the fire. If God chastised Jacob and Israel with all their "excellency" (Jerusalem and the temple, which was their pre-eminent excellency above all nations in God's eyes, Ps 47:4; 87:2; Eze 24:21; see on Am 6:8), how much more will He punish fatally Nineveh, an alien to Him, and idolatrous? Maurer, not so well, translates, "restores," or "will restore the excellency of Jacob."
emptiers—the Assyrian spoilers.
have emptied them out—have spoiled the Israelites and Jews (Ho 10:1). Compare Ps 80:8-16, on "vine branches," as applied to Israel.
3. his mighty men—the Medo-Babylonian general's mighty men attacking Nineveh.
made red—The ancients dyed their bull's-hide shields red, partly to strike terror into the enemy, chiefly lest the blood from wounds which they might receive should be perceived and give confidence to the foe [Calvin]. G. V. Smith conjectures that the reference is to the red reflection of the sun's rays from shields of bronze or copper, such as are found among the Assyrian remains.
in scarlet—or crimson military tunics (compare Mt 27:28). Xenophon mentions that the Medes were fond of this color. The Lydians and Tyrians extracted the dye from a particular worm.
chariots … with flaming torches—that is, the chariots shall be like flaming torches, their wheels in lightning-like rapidity of rotation flashing light and striking sparks from the stones over which they pass (compare Isa 5:28). English Version supposes a transposition of the Hebrew letters. It is better to translate the Hebrew as it is, "the chariots (shall be furnished) with fire-flashing scythes" (literally, "with the fire," or glitter, of iron weapons). Iron scythes were fixed at right angles to the axles and turned down, or parallel to it, inserted into the felly of the wheel. The Medes, perhaps, had such chariots, though no traces of them are found in Assyrian remains. On account of the latter fact, it may be better to translate, "the chariots (shall come) with the glitter of steel weapons" [Maurer and G. V. Smith].
in the day of his preparation—Jehovah's (Isa 13:3). Or, "Medo-Babylonian commander's day of preparation for the attack" (Na 2:1). "He" confirms this, and "his" in this verse.
the fir trees—their fir-tree lances.
terribly shaken—branded so as to strike terror. Or, "shall be tremulous with being brandished" [Maurer].
4. rage—are driven in furious haste (Jer 46:9).
justle one against another—run to and fro [Maurer].
in the broad ways—(2Ch 32:6). Large open spaces in the suburbs of Nineveh.
they shall seem like torches—literally, "their (feminine in Hebrew) appearance (is)": namely, the appearance of the broad places is like that of torches, through the numbers of chariots in them flashing in the sun (Pr 8:26, Margin).
run like the lightnings—with rapid violence (Mt 24:27; Lu 10:18).
5. The Assyrian preparations for defense.
He—the Assyrian king.
shall recount his worthies—(Na 3:18). Review, or count over in his mind, his nobles, choosing out the bravest to hasten to the walls and repel the attack. But in vain; for
they shall stumble in their walk—"they shall stumble in their advance" through fear and hurry.
the defence shall be prepared—rather, the covering machine used by besiegers to protect themselves in advancing to the wall. Such sudden transitions, as here from the besieged to the besiegers, are frequent (compare Eze 4:2), [Maurer]. Or, used by the besieged Assyrians [Calvin].
6. The gates of the rivers … opened—The river wall on the Tigris (the west defense of Nineveh) was 4,530 yards long. On the north, south, and east sides, there were large moats, capable of being easily filled with water from the Khosru. Traces of dams ("gates," or sluices) for regulating the supply are still visible, so that the whole city could be surrounded with a water barrier (Na 2:8). Besides, on the east, the weakest side, it was further protected by a lofty double rampart with a moat two hundred feet wide between its two parts, cut in the rocky ground. The moats or canals, flooded by the Ninevites before the siege to repel the foe, were made a dry bed to march into the city, by the foe turning the waters into a different channel: as Cyrus did in the siege of Babylon [Maurer]. In the earlier capture of Nineveh by Arbaces the Mede, and Belesis the Babylonian, Diodorus Siculus, [1.2.80], states that there was an old prophecy that it should not be taken till the river became its enemy; so in the third year of the siege, the river by a flood broke down the walls twenty furlongs, and the king thereupon burnt himself and his palace and all his concubines and wealth together, and the enemy entered by the breach in the wall. Fire and water were doubtless the means of the second destruction here foretold, as of the first.
dissolved—by the inundation [Henderson]. Or, those in the palace shall melt with fear, namely, the king and his nobles [Grotius].
7. Huzzab—the name of the queen of Nineveh, from a Hebrew root implying that she stood by the king (Ps 45:9), [Vatablus]. Rather, Nineveh personified as a queen. She who had long stood in the most supreme prosperity. Similarly Calvin. Maurer makes it not a proper name, and translates, "It is established," or "determined" (compare Ge 41:32). English Version is more supported by the parallelism.
led away captive—The Hebrew requires rather, "she is laid bare"; brought forth from the apartments where Eastern women remained secluded, and is stripped of her ornamental attire. Compare Isa 47:2, 3, where the same image of a woman with face and legs exposed is used of a city captive and dismantled (compare Na 3:5), [Maurer].
brought up—Her people shall be made to go up to Babylon. Compare the use of "go up" for moving from a place in Jer 21:2.
her maids … as … doves—As Nineveh is compared to a queen dethroned and dishonored, so she has here assigned to her in the image handmaids attending her with dove-like plaints (Isa 38:14; 59:11. The image implies helplessness and grief suppressed, but at times breaking out). The minor cities and dependencies of Nineveh may be meant, or her captive women [Jerome]. Grotius and Maurer translate, for "lead her," "moan," or "sigh."
tabering—beating on their breasts as on a tambourine.
8. But—rather, "Though" [G. V. Smith].
of old—rather, "from the days that she hath been"; from the earliest period of her existence. Alluding to Nineveh's antiquity (Ge 10:11). "Though Nineveh has been of old defended by water surrounding her, yet her inhabitants shall flee away." Grotius, less probably (compare Na 3:8-12), interprets, the "waters" of her numerous population (Isa 8:7; Jer 51:13; Re 17:15).
Stand, stand, shall they cry—that is, the few patriotic citizens shall cry to their fleeing countrymen; "but none looketh back," much less stops in flight, so panic-stricken are they.
9. silver … gold—The conquerors are summoned to plunder the city. Nineveh's riches arose from the annual tribute paid by so many subject states, as well as from its extensive merchandise (Na 3:16; Eze 27:23, 24).
store—accumulated by the plunder of subject nations. It is remarkable, that while small articles of value (bronze inlaid with gold, gems, seals, and alabaster vases) are found in the ruins of Nineveh, there are is none of gold and silver. These, as here foretold, were "taken for spoil" before the palaces were set on fire.
glory out of all the pleasant furniture—or, "there is abundance of precious vessels of every kind" [Maurer].
10. Literally, "emptiness, and emptiedness, and devastation." The accumulation of substantives without a verb (as in Na 3:2), the two first of the three being derivatives of the same root, and like in sound, and the number of syllables in them increasing in a kind of climax, intensify the gloomy effectiveness of the expression. Hebrew, Bukah, Mebukah, Mebullakah (compare Isa 24:1, 3, 4; Zep 1:15).
faces of all gather blackness—(See on Joe 2:6). Calvin translates, "withdraw (literally, 'gather up') their glow," or flush, that is, grow pale. This is probably the better rendering. So Maurer.
11. dwelling of … lions—Nineveh, the seat of empire of the rapacious and destructive warriors of various ranks, typified by the "lions," "young lions," "old lion" (or lioness [Maurer]), "the lion's whelp." The image is peculiarly appropriate, as lions of every form, winged, and sometimes with the head of a man, are frequent in the Assyrian sepulchres. It was as full of spoils of all nations as a lion's den is of remains of its prey. The question, "Where," &c., implies that Jehovah "would make an utter end of the place," so that its very site could not be found (Na 1:8). It is a question expressing wonder, so incredible did it then seem.
12. prey … ravin—different kinds of prey. Compare Isa 3:1, "the stay and the staff."
13. burn … in the smoke—or (so as to pass) "into smoke," that is, "entirely" [Maurer], (Ps 37:20; 46:9). Calvin, like English Version, explains, As soon as the flame catches, and the fire smokes, by the mere smoke I will burn her chariots.
cut off thy prey from the earth—Thou shalt no more carry off prey from the nations of the earth.
the voice of thy messengers … no more … heard—No more shall thy emissaries be heard throughout thy provinces conveying thy king's commands, and exacting tribute of subject nations.