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NAHUM 3
PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS
| NASB | NKJV | NRSV | TEV | NJB (MT versing) |
| Nineveh's Complete Ruin | The Woe of Nineveh | The Sack of Nineveh (1:15-3:19) |
The Fall of Nineveh (2:1-3:19) |
Sentence Passed on Nineveh the Harlot |
| 3:1-7 (1-7) |
3:1-4 (1-4) |
3:1-7 (1-7) |
3:1-4 (1-4) |
3:1-4 (1-4) |
| 3:5-7 (5-7) |
3:5-7 (5-7) |
3:5-7 (5-7) |
||
| The Lesson of Thebes | ||||
| 3:8-15c (8-15c) |
3:8-11 (8-11) |
3:8-9 (8-9) |
3:8-10 | 3:8-10 (8-10) |
| 3:10-13 (10-13) |
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| 3:11-15c | 3:11 (11) |
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| Nineveh's Preparations Useless | ||||
| 3:12-13 (12-13) |
3:12-15b (12-15b) |
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| The Locusts Fly Away | ||||
| 3:14-15c (14-15c) |
3:14-15c (14-15c) |
3:15c-17a (15c-17a) |
||
| 3:15d-19 (15d-19) |
3:15d-17 (15d-17) |
3:15d-17 (15d-17) |
3:15d-17 | A Funeral Lament |
| 3:17b-19 (17b-19) |
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| 3:18-19 (18-19) |
3:18-19 (18-19) |
3:18-19 |
READING CYCLE THREE (see
"Bible Interpretation Seminar")
FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL
This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.
WORD AND PHRASE STUDY
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:1-7
1Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage;
Her prey never departs.
2The noise of the whip,
The noise of the rattling of the wheel,
Galloping horses
And bounding chariots!
3Horsemen charging,
Swords flashing, spears gleaming,
Many slain, a mass of corpses,
And countless dead bodies‒
They stumble over the dead bodies!
4All because of the many harlotries of the harlot,
The charming one, the mistress of sorceries,
Who sells nations by her harlotries
And families by her sorceries.
5"Behold, I am against you," declares the Lord of hosts;
"And I will lift up your skirts over your face,
And show to the nations your nakedness
And to the kingdoms your disgrace.
6I will throw filth on you
And make you vile,
And set you up as a spectacle.
7And it will come about that all who see you
Will shrink from you and say,
'Nineveh is devastated!
Who will grieve for her?'
Where will I seek comforters for you?"
3:1 "Woe to the bloody city" Assyria was known for its cruelty. From Assyrian documents we know that they impaled alive, skinned to death, dragged to death, put hooks in the mouths of exiles, and physically blinded her captives. Quite often she cut off the hands and heads of military men who opposed her.
In Ezekiel Jerusalem is called "the bloody city" (cf. Ezek. 22:2; 24:6). The imagery denotes a society out of control where the powerful dominate the powerless.
"Woe" is the Hebrew INTERJECTION "Ah" (BDB 222), which often introduces laments (i.e., Isa. 1:4,24; 5:8,11,18,20,21,22; Jer. 22:13,18; 23:1; 48:1; 50:27, but only here in Nahum).
▣ "completely full of lies and pillage" See Nahum 2:9.
▣ "Her prey never departs" Assyria was always looking for more people to conquer. She was never satisfied! In the end this over-extension is what brought the empire down in such a short period of time.
3:2-3 It is uncertain if these verses exclusively refer to the defenders of Nineveh, the invaders, or both in different lines of poetry (cf. Nah. 2:3-7).
The poetic lines are short with a rhythmic beat which graphically and vividly portray the siege of Nineveh.
3:2 "chariots" See SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARIOTS.
3:3 "countless dead bodies" The footnote of the NASB Study Bible, p. 1312, is helpful. "The Assyrian king, Shalmaneser III, boasted of erecting a pyramid of chopped-off heads in front of an enemy's city. Other Assyrian kings stacked corpses like cord wood by the gates of defeated cities." What they did to others has now come home to them (i.e., Nah. 3:10c).
3:4 "All because of the many harlotries of the harlot" Some scholars say that this refers to political alliances (figurative language), but in context, it may refer to the worship of the love goddess, Ishtar, cf. Nah. 2:7 (i.e., literal usage)
▣ "the charming one, the mistress of sorceries" Jonah had preached the truth to Nineveh and she repented, but now she had turned back to her superstition and idols. From the Assyrian documents it is obvious how superstitious these people really were.
3:5-7 Nahum lists the judgment ("I am against you") God will send against proud, cruel, idolatrous Assyria.
3:5 "I am against you" This is a repeat of Nah. 2:13. This phrase has ominous connotations. The One, true God has become your enemy!
▣ "Lord of hosts" See SPECIAL TOPIC: Lord OF HOSTS.
▣ "I will lift up your skirts over your face" This is a sign of shame for prostitutes and those caught in adultery (cf. Nah. 2:7; Jer. 13:26; Ezek. 16:37; Hos. 2:3,10).
3:6 "I will throw filth on you" This term "filth" (BDB 1055) is connected to idolatry in several passages, cf. Jer. 4:1; 7:30; 13:27; 16:18; Ezek. 5:11; 7:20; 11:18,21; 20:7,8,30; 37:23.
3:7d-e These are rhetorical questions expecting "no" answers. The second question may reflect an Assyrian "curse" formula.
▣ "grieve" This is literally "shake the head" (BDB 626, KB 678, Qal IMPERFECT).
Here, it is a physical gesture of lament (cf. Ps. 64:8; Isa. 51:19; Jer. 15:5; 16:5; 18:16; 22:10; 48:17).
▣ "comfort" This VERBAL (BDB 636, KB 688, Piel PARTICIPLE) apparently comes from an Arabic root for the panting of a horse. This panting and shaking of the head can be both positive (as here, cf. Job 2:11; Isa. 51:19; Jer. 15:5) or negative (cf. Lam. 1:2,9,16,17,21).
▣ "for you" The LXX has "for her." This fits the parallelism better but it requires an emendation.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:8-15c
8Are you better than No-amon,
Which was situated by the waters of the Nile,
With water surrounding her,
Whose rampart was the sea,
Whose wall consisted of the sea?
9Ethiopia was her might,
And Egypt too, without limits.
Put and Lubim were among her helpers.
10Yet she became an exile,
She went into captivity;
Also her small children were dashed to pieces
At the head of every street;
They cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound with fetters.
11You too will become drunk,
You will be hidden.
You too will search for a refuge from the enemy.
12All your fortifications are fig trees with ripe fruit‒
When shaken, they fall into the eater's mouth.
13Behold, your people are women in your midst!
The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies;
Fire consumes your gate bars.
14Draw for yourself water for the siege!
Strengthen your fortifications!
Go into the clay and tread the mortar!
Take hold of the brick mold!
15There fire will consume you,
The sword will cut you down;
It will consume you as the locust does.
3:8 "Are you better than No-amon" This refers to the capital of southern Egypt, Thebes (cf. Jer. 46:25). This city was also well fortified and utilized natural river defenses. However, it fell to Ashurbanipal in 633 B.C. and was totally razed. Nineveh, who also trusted in her powerful army and natural water defenses, would be destroyed like Thebes.
This event has been very helpful in dating the book. Most commentators date Nahum between the fall of Thebes, 633 B.C., and the fall of Nineveh, 612 B.C. A good possible date would be around 627 B.C., when Ashurbanipal, the last effective king, died and the empire began to fall apart.
▣ "the sea. . .the sea" The word "sea" (BDB 410) can refer to rivers.
3:9 Thebes (No-amon) had powerful and numerous allies but they could not stop the fall.
3:10 "Also her small children were dashed to pieces at the head of every street" Babies were often killed because:
▣ "They cast lots for her honorable men" This refers to a method of
For a similar occasion of casting lots for prisoners, see Joel 2:3; Obad. 11.
What Assyria did to Thebes will now happen to Nineveh.
3:11 These are actions of fear at the fall of Nineveh.
Several scholars suggest that #2 should be "you will hire yourself out," which involves the repointing of שׂ to שׁ.
The term "refuge" is used twice in Nahum.
3:12 Powerful imagery of defeat!
The NET Bible, p. 1646, #11, 16, mentions that Sennacharib had planted fig trees along all the main roads of Nineveh. This may be eyewitness sarcasm!
3:13 "your people are women in your midst" This is ANE imagery of the fear and weakness of Nineveh's defenders. For similar imagery see Isa. 13:7-8; 19:16; Jer. 51:30.
The term "people" (BDB 766 I) can refer to soldiers (cf. Num. 20:20; 21:23).
▣ "The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies" The VERB here is intensified by the use of an INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and PERFECT TENSE VERB of the same root (BDB 834, KB 986).
In Nah. 2:6 the wall of Nineveh's citadel was opened by the force of the dammed river water. Now the same imagery is used for the whole empire of Assyria. Here, probably the initial homeland.
3:14 This is a series of five sarcastic IMPERATIVES about the futility of Nineveh's defenses and defenders (cf. Nah. 2:1).
3:15 "There fire will consume you" Archaeology has confirmed that Nineveh was destroyed by fire. Also, ancient tradition asserts that the last king burned himself and all of his family in the royal palace. Therefore, he committed suicide just before the fall of the city.
This city was so destroyed that it was never rebuilt. Xenophon, in abut 400 B.C., visited the site and could not even tell a city had been there!
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:15d-19
15dMultiply yourself like the creeping locust,
Multiply yourself like the swarming locust.
16You have increased your traders more than the stars of heaven‒
The creeping locust strips and flies away.
17Your guardsmen are like the swarming locust.
Your marshals are like hordes of grasshoppers
Settling in the stone walls on a cold day.
The sun rises and they flee,
And the place where they are is not known.
18Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria;
Your nobles are lying down.
Your people are scattered on the mountains
And there is no one to regather them.
19There is no relief for your breakdown,
Your wound is incurable.
All who hear about you
Will clap their hands over you,
For on whom has not your evil passed continually?
3:15d-19 "Multiply yourself like the creeping locust" This seems to emphasize the fact that military power will not prevail, while Nah. 3:16 emphasizes that governmental administration will not help. Nahum 3:18 states that all of the leaders are dead.
Both Nah. 3:15c and 15d are Hithpael IMPERATIVES (BDB 457, KB 455). The imagery of locusts is reminiscent of Joel.
Notice the different people involved in Assyria's downfall.
All aspects of society collapsed.
3:17c "like hordes of grasshoppers settling in the stone walls on a cold day" Grasshoppers are immobile in cold weather and this was a striking metaphor for Nahum's purposes.
3:18 "sleeping" "Sleeping" is an ANE idiom for death (i.e., Deut. 31:16; 2 Sam. 7:12; 1 Kgs. 2:16; Jer. 51:39,57; Dan. 12:2).
▣ "scattered" The MT VERB (BDB 807 II, KB 921, Niphal PERFECT) is found only here. Many scholars suggest a change to another Hebrew root, BDB 658 or 659, "scatter."
3:19 "There is no relief for your breakdown" The term "relief" (BDB 462) occurs only here. BDB suggests that it be changed to "healing" (BDB 155).
▣ "clap their hands over you" This was a gesture of joy over cruel Nineveh's fall.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.
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