translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: NAM

label: NET study note

text: The “sea” is personified as an antagonistic enemy, representing the wicked forces of chaos ( Pss 66:6; 72:8; 80:12; 89:26; 93:3-4 ; Isa 50:2 ; Mic 7:12 ; Hab 3:8 ; Zech 9:10 ).


text: The Assyrians waged war every spring after the Tigris and Euphrates rivers dried up, allowing them to cross. As the Mighty Warrior par excellence, the Lord is able to part the rivers to attack Assyria.


text: The phrase “the world and all its inhabitants” is used to stress the universal dimensions of God’s revelation of his glory and his acts of judgment (e.g., Pss 33:8; 98:7 ; Isa 18:3; 26:9, 18 ; Lam 4:12 ).


text: The phrase “time of distress” ( בְּיוֹם צָרָה ) refers to situations in which God’s people are oppressed by enemy armies ( Isa 33:2 ; Jer 14:8; 15:11; 16:19 ; Obad 12 ; Pss 20:2; 37:39 ). Nahum may be alluding to recent Assyrian invasions of Judah, such as Sennacherib’s devastating invasion in 701 b.c. , in which the Lord protected the remnant within the fortress walls of Jerusalem ( 2 Kgs 18-19 ; ; Isa 36-37 ).


text: This simile compares the imminent destruction of Nineveh to the burning of a mass of entangled thorn-bushes ( Job 8:17 ). When thorn-bushes are entangled they burn quickly and completely ( Eccl 7:6 ; Isa 34:13 ). tc The MT reads סִירִים סְבֻכִים ( sirim sÿvukhim , “entangled thorn-bushes”), and is supported by the Dead Sea text from Murabba`at: סירים סבכים (see DJD 2:197). The noun סִירִים (“thorn bushes”) is from סִיר ( sir , “thorn, thorn bush,” BDB 696 s.v. II סִיר ; HALOT 752 s.v. * סִירָה ), e.g., Isa 34:13 ; Hos 2:8 ; Eccl 7:6 . The Qal passive participle סְבֻכִים ( sÿvukhim ) is from סָבַךְ ( savakh , “to interweave,” BDB 687 s.v. סָבַךְ ; HALOT 740 s.v. סבך ), e.g., Job 8:17 , which is related to Assyrian sabaku (“to entwine,” AHw 2:999.a) and Arabic sabaka (“to entwine”; Leslau, 51). The MT is supported by several LXX translators, e.g., Symmachus, Aquila, and Theodotion. It is also reflected in Vulgate’s spinarum perplexi (“thorn-bushes entangled”). On the other hand, the Syriac Peshitta reflects סָרִים סוֹרְרִים ( sarim sorÿrim , “your princes are rebels”) which points to orthographic confusion and a different vocalization. Similar textual confusion is apparent in Origen: θεμελίου αὐτοῦ ξερσωθήσεται ( qemeliou autou xerswqhsetai , “his foundation shall be laid bare”) seems to reflect יְסֹדָם יְכָבֵּס ( yÿsodam yÿkhabbes , “their foundation shall be washed away”) which was caused by orthographic confusion and transposition of consonants. The MT should be retained.


text: Verse 12 begins with a typical prophetic introduction (“This is what the Lord says”) in language similar to the typical ancient Near Eastern messenger formula (see C. Westermann, Basic Forms of Prophetic Speeches , 100-115). This formula is frequently used to introduce prophetic speeches (e.g., Jer 2:5 ; Ezek 2:4 ; Amos 1:3 ). The messenger formula indicates that the prophet’s message is not his own, but is a revelatory and prophetic oracle from the Lord . It confirms the authenticity of the message.


text: The expression they will be cut off is an example of a hypocatastasis (implied comparison); Nahum intentionally chose this term to compare the destruction of the Assyrians to the shearing of sheep. This word-play has great rhetorical impact because the Assyrians frequently used sheep imagery when boasting of the ease and brutality with which they defeated their enemies (see D. Marcus, “Animal Similes in Assyrian Royal Inscriptions,” Or 46 [1977]: 92-93). It is both appropriate (poetic justice) and ironic (reversal of situation) that the Assyrians themselves should suffer a fate which they boasted of inflicting upon others. They will be an easy, helpless prey for the Divine Warrior. Their punishment will fit their crimes. tn Heb “they will be sheared.” The term “cut off” ( גָּזָז , gazaz ) is ordinarily used to describe the literal actions of “shearing” sheep ( Gen 31:19; 38:12-13 ; Deut 15:19; 18:4 ; 1 Sam 25:2, 4, 7, 11 ; 2 Sam 13:23-24 ; Job 31:20 ; Isa 53:7 ) and “cutting” hair ( Jer 7:29 ; Mic 1:16 ; Job 1:20 ). It is used figuratively here to describe the destruction of the Assyrian army (BDB 159 s.v. גָּזַז ; HALOT 186 s.v. גזז ).


text: The phrase the shackles that are on you draws an implied comparison between the chains and stocks of prisoners or slaves with the burden of international vassaldom to a tyrannical suzerain who demands absolute obedience and requires annual tributary offerings (e.g., Ps 2:3 ; Isa 52:2 ; Jer 27:2; 30:8 ). “Shackles” were the agent of covenantal discipline (e.g., Deut 28:48 ). Isaiah stated that the Assyrian “yoke” was the Lord ’s instrument of discipline ( Isa 28:22 ). The phrase I will tear apart the shackles that are on you draws an implied comparison (hypocatastasis) between removing the iron chains from a prisoner/slave and freeing a vassal from the oppression of a tyrannical suzerain through military conquest ( Ps 2:3 ; Isa 52:2 ).


text: Beginning with 1:15 , the verse numbers through 2:13 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text ( BHS ), with 1:15 ET = 2:1 HT, 2:1 ET = 2:2 HT, etc., through 2:13 ET = 2:14 HT. Beginning with 3:1 , the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.


text: The sacred vows to praise God were often made by Israelites as a pledge to proclaim the mercy of the Lord if he would be gracious to deliver (e.g., Gen 28:20; 31:13 ; Lev 7:16 ; Judg 11:30, 39 ; 1 Sam 1:11, 21 ; 2 Sam 15:7-8 ; Pss 22:25 [26]; 50:14; 56:12 [13]; 61:5 [6], 8 [9]; 65:1 [2]; 66:13; 116:14, 18 ; Eccl 5:4 [3]; Jonah 1:16; 2:9 [10]). The words “to praise God” are not in the Hebrew, but are added in the translation for clarification.