Ch. 1. The superscription
1. burden of Nineveh] Rather; oracle of, or, against. This part of the heading is probably due to the editor of the book, as the phrase is common in introducing prophecies, e.g. [ Isa 13:1] and often. The other part of the heading may very well have come from the hand of the prophet himself. The term “oracle” is from the verb “to lift up” viz. the voice, or “to take up” a parable or speech, [ Num 24:3]; [ Jer 7:16]. On the name Nahum and the designation Elkoshite, see Introd., § 1.
2. God is jealous] The original order of words being retained:
A jealous God and vengeful is Jehovah,
Jehovah is vengeful and wrathful;
Jehovah is vengeful upon His adversaries,
And retaineth wrath against His enemies.
“Jealousy” is the reaction of injured self-consciousness, it is God’s resentful self-assertion when He Himself, or that which is His, as His people or land, is too nearly touched; [ Deu 4:23-24]; [ Jos 24:19]; [ Exo 20:5]; [ Exo 34:14]. Here His “jealousy” is awakened by the long-continued injuries inflicted on His people. The form of spelling the Heb. word “jealous” occurs again [ Jos 24:19]; the more usual form, [ Exo 20:5]. “Wrathful” is lit. the possessor, cherisher, of wrath; the phrase again, [ Pro 29:22], cf. [ Pro 22:24]. On the “vengeance” of God, comp. [ Isa 63:4] “the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come”; [ Isa 34:8]; [ Isa 61:2]. After “retaineth” wrath is understood, [ Jer 3:5]; [ Psa 103:9].
3. [ Nah 1:3] continues the description of the relation of Jehovah to His enemies: He is longsuffering, delays chastisement long, but eventually takes vengeance. The meaning of the phrase “great in power” is not clear. If employed in the usual objective sense as [ Job 9:4], the verse would read, The Lord is slow to anger, but great in strength and will by no means leave unpunished ([ Rom 9:22]). If “great in power” had a sense parallel to [ Job 36:5], “Lo God is great and despises not, great in strength of heart” (mind), that is, if “strength” referred to attributes of the divine mind, magnanimity and longsuffering, the clause would be connected rather with the first, and the verse would read, “The Lord is slow to anger and great in strength, but he will &c.”; see [ Num 14:17-18], to which the verse has great resemblance. The phrase “will not acquit,” or leave unpunished, is used here absolutely, as [ Exo 34:7], it being readily understood who it is that He will not let go unpunished; cf. [ Exo 20:7]; [ Joe 3:21]; [ Jer 25:29]. For “great in power” some would read the usual “great in mercy.”
With [ Nah 1:3] b the prophet passes to the manifestation of these attributes of Jehovah or of Jehovah in these attributes in the tempest. The passage does not seem to possess unity as a description of a single Theophany, but rather accumulates features from various manifestations of the Lord, all illustrating His power and its terrible effects in nature and on men.
hath his way in the whirlwind] i.e. He moves and passes in the whirlwind, which is not the mere wind but also all its accompaniments of cloud and darkness. (The Heb. word for “Storm” is spelled exceptionally here, as [ Job 9:17].) The meaning is not so much that Jehovah uses the whirlwind and storm as the vehicles of His movement as that these commotions and terrors in nature are created by His presence, of which to men they are the tokens. The splendid words “the clouds are the dust of his feet,” like the others “the earth is his footstool” need to be conceived, not explained.
4. He rebuketh the sea] with His voice of thunder; or perhaps the effect of the tempest on the sea in rolling it back and uncovering its bed may be taken as shewing His rebuke, [ Psa 104:7-9]. It is possible that the historical instances of His dividing the Red Sea and the Jordan ([ Psa 114:3-5]) may have led to His “rebuking” the sea and rivers being regarded as a general attribute. Comp. [ Hab 3:8], “Was the Lord displeased against the rivers … or was thy wrath against the sea?”
and maketh it dry] [ Psa 18:15], “Then the bed of the waters appeared, the foundations of the world were laid bare, at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.” The spelling of Heb. word, “maketh it dry,” has analogies, [ Lam 3:33]; [ Lam 3:53]. Cf. [ Psa 106:9]; [ Isa 50:2].
Bashan languisheth] Bashan, Lebanon and Carmel were the most splendidly wooded parts of Palestine and covered with the most luxuriant vegetation. Before the hot breath of Jehovah’s anger they languish and wither. The description is scarcely on a line with the former “rebuketh the sea,” though “drieth up the rivers” may form the transition. It was the furious tempest that rolled back the sea, it is the hot wind and drought of the desert under which Bashan languishes and withers up. Both are operations of Jehovah. Nature is alive but not with a life of her own, all her forces are but the personal energies of Jehovah. It is His rebuke, spoken though men may not hear it, before which the sea retreats and its bed is made bare; the hot wind which withers Carmel and Lebanon is His fiery breath. [ Isa 40:7]; [ Isa 40:24]; [Amo 1:2].
5. [ Nah 1:5] returns to describe the Theophany in the tempest, and its effects.
mountains quake at him] lit., from Him, the effect comes from Him. It is not an earthquake that is described but the effect of the thunder and roar of the tempest. This shakes the mountains. It is not out of terror alone that the mountains tremble, it is the goings, the tread of the mighty God by which they are shaken, [ Mic 1:3-4]. [ Hab 3:6], “He stood (stepped on earth) and the earth rocked”; [ Jdg 5:4].
the hills melt] What the physical phenomenon is which suggests this figure is not quite clear. Possibly [ Jdg 5:4-5] explains the meaning: “When thou wentest forth from Seir the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, the clouds dropped water, the mountains flowed down”—the streams rushing down the mountains on all sides seemed as if the mountains themselves had become fluid. The rendering “flowed down” [ Jdg 5:5], is the most natural, though others derive the form used from another root which might mean “to quake.” In this case the melting of the mountains might refer to their motion, their undulating as if fluid. [ Mic 1:3-4], “Behold the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will tread upon the heights of the earth (the storm cloud trailing over the mountains), and the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, as waters that are poured down a steep place.” The figure of melting wax hardly means that the mountains melt under the fiery feet of Jehovah.
the earth is burnt] Rather: riseth up, reference being to the rising and sinking motion of the earth—not its oscillation; cf. R.V. [Amo 9:5]. R.V. is upheaved. Bickell from a different root, becomes waste. The last clause is a not unusual formula; [ Psa 24:1].
6. [ Nah 1:6] draws the general conclusion from the preceding. The description, [ Nah 1:2-5], is one of the manifestation of the Lord on the more terrible side of His being. For though His revelation of Himself at the Exodus and later ([ Jdg 5:4-5]) had for its purpose the delivery of His people, this implied wrath and vengeance upon their enemies ([ Hab 3:12-13]). Hence the exclamation, Who can stand before his indignation! cf. [ Mal 3:2].
His fury is poured out] A common figure, particularly in Jer., e.g. [ Jer 7:20], [ Jer 42:18], [ Jer 44:6]; cf. [ 2Ch 12:7]; [ 2Ch 34:21]; [ 2Ch 34:25]; and [ Dan 9:11]; [ Dan 9:27]. The expression “poured out like” may mean, is poured out and acts like fire, or the idea may be that of a fiery stream; [ Isa 30:33], “the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.”
rocks are thrown down] or, rent in pieces. The word is used of throwing down an altar, [ Jdg 6:30], beating down a tower, [ Jdg 8:17], high places, city walls and cities themselves, [ 2Ki 23:8]; [ 2Ki 25:10]; [ Jer 39:8]; [ Jer 4:26]. The rending of the rocks is not ascribed to the fire but to Jehovah Himself (by Him, lit. from Him, because of Him); but several writers have suggested by it. The second half of [ Nah 1:6] continues the idea of the first half, the impossibility of standing before His anger: it is a flood of fire.
7. is good, a strong hold] More naturally: is good for (as) a stronghold, construction as [ Gen 3:6]. Sept. renders: is good to those who wait on him, which gives a better parallelism to the next clause. Cf. [ Psa 37:39], “He is their strength in the time of trouble,” virtually the same words as Heb. here.
knoweth them that trust] [ Psa 1:6], “The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous.” [ Gen 18:19]; [Amo 3:2].
8. an overrunning flood] [ Isa 8:8]; [ Isa 28:15].
an utter end of the place thereof] lit. make her place (Nineveh’s) an utter end, i.e. completely destroy it. It must be confessed that the “her” referring to Nineveh is unprepared for by any previous mention of the city. Again Sept. has read differently, giving for “her place” those that rise up against him, a reading which affords an exact parallel to “his enemies” in the next clause. Such a form as occurs [ Mic 2:8] would resemble “her place,” or less closely such forms as appear [ Psa 17:7]; [ Psa 59:1]. There is no objection to the Heb. text on the score of construction: [ Neh 9:31] has two accus. for certain, and so apparently [ Jer 30:11]; [ Eze 20:17]; compare a similar construction [ Isa 5:6]. The remark of Buhl (Zeitschr. für Alttest. Wiss. 1885, p. 181, followed, by Kautzsch) that a second ace. is not used after “make an end” is groundless.
darkness shall pursue] So ancient Versions as Sept., making “darkness” the subject. Less naturally R.V.: and shall pursue his enemies into darkness. [ Isa 8:22] is too obscure to be cited as a parallel; and in [ Jer 23:12], even if “darkness” be connected with the verb the sense is rather: in the darkness shall they be thrust down (or, thrust at, [ Psa 118:13]; [ Psa 37:5]) and fall therein. [ Job 18:18] has the idea: “they thrust him out of light into darkness,” where the construction, however, is easier.
9. What do ye imagine against the Lord] Compare [ Nah 1:11] : “out of thee came forth one that imagined evil against the Lord.” This sense, though the natural one, does not connect well with the next clause. Possibly the meaning is, What do ye imagine (think) of the Lord? in regard to Him and His operations. The next words then explain how He is to be thought of, and what His way of operation is: He will make an utter end.
Affliction … the second time] Or, trouble shall not rise twice. Is the statement a threat against Jehovah’s enemies or particularly Nineveh? or is it a promise to Israel? Do the words mean that as the Lord shall make an utter end of Nineveh the trouble that now threatens her shall be once for all? or is the sense that Israel having suffered once from Assyria (Sennacherib) she shall not suffer twice? The use of the word “twice” as well as the connexion seems to favour the former sense, though perhaps the term “affliction” or trouble not unnaturally suggests the second. Comp. [ 1Sa 26:8], “Let me pin him with the spear to the earth at one stroke (one time) and I will not smite him the second time (lit. I will not repeat to him)”; [ 2Sa 20:10]. The same ambiguity arises in [ Nah 1:12].
10. [ Nah 1:10] can hardly have been handed down in its original state. It may be rendered much as R.V.: for though (they be like) thorns tangled together and drenched as with their drink, they shall be consumed as stubble fully dry. The Ninevites are compared to a tangled thorn hedge soaked with moisture and thus inaccessible to fire, yet the fire of Jehovah shall consume them as suddenly and completely as if they were the driest stubble. For the sense of though, even to prep. ‘ad cf. [ Num 8:4]; [ 1Sa 2:5]; [ Hag 2:19]; [ Job 25:5], and for the sense as with cf. [ Isa 1:25] &c. Of course the words might mean wet or wetted like their drink. It has been usually supposed that in the words “their drink” the prophet refers to the excess and debauchery of the Assyrian court. But a witticism of this sort is altogether improbable. The text is no doubt corrupt. For “drenched as with their drink” Sept. gives “like tangled yew,” or some such plant. The general sense of the text may be conjectured to have been, that though the Ninevites from their strong defences were as unassailable and able to inflict injury as a tangled thorn hedge, they would become the prey of the fire. See a similar comparison to a thorn hedge, [ Mic 7:4]; and on the comparison of enemies or the wicked to thorns, [ 2Sa 23:6-7]; [ Eze 2:6].
11. There is one come out] Rather: out of thee came he (or, one) forth who imagined … who counselled mischief. The reference is probably to Sennacherib. The words are addressed to Nineveh.
12. The verse is very obscure. Sept. partly read differently and partly divided the letters otherwise, and did not find the word likewise in their text, rendering, Thus saith the Lord who ruleth over many waters; and Syr., Thus saith the Lord concerning the heads (rulers?) of many waters. The present text may be rendered with R.V., though they be in full strength and likewise many, even so shall they be cut down, and shall pass away. The word “cut down” as pointed is used elsewhere only of shearing sheep or the hair of the head, and even if the figure were that of thorns as [ Nah 1:10], seems inappropriate. If the figure were that of waters it would be still more unsuitable. The form might come however from the verb used in [ Psa 90:10] (R.V. for it is soon gone the we fly away), meaning “to hasten away.”
knen he shall pass through] better: and they shall pass away, plur. the rig.
Though I have afflicted thee] The natural rendering would be: and if (or, when) I shall afflict thee, I will afflict thee no more. This rendering would make the reference be to Nineveh, and the meaning be that the affliction would be once for all and final. For construction cf. [ Exo 4:14]; [ Num 23:20]. In A.V. reference is to Israel. See on [ Nah 1:9]. If the words referred to Nineveh or Asshur the pronouns might be read as masc., cf. [ Nah 1:13-14].
13 seq. In [ Nah 1:13] Judah is addressed; in [ Nah 1:14] Asshur; again [ Nah 1:15] ([ Heb 2:1]) Judah, and [ Nah 2:1] ([ Heb 2:2]) Asshur; and once more [ Nah 1:2] Judah, and [ Nah 1:3] seq. Asshur. Such frequent interchange of persons is most unnatural. [ Nah 1:13] might be an interpolation or marginal note due to the assumption that Judah is addressed in the words in the end of the preceding verse. Ch. [ Nah 2:2] could hardly stand where it is, though it might follow ch. [ Nah 1:15].
his yoke] i.e. Asshur’s. The form only here, cf. [ Jer 27:2]; [ Jer 28:10]; [ Jer 28:12]; [ Eze 34:27]; [ Lev 26:13]; [ Isa 58:6]. With “burst thy bonds in sunder” cf. [ Psa 2:3], where the words are the same; also [ Jer 30:8].
14. Asshur is addressed.
house of thy gods] Perhaps: thy god.
I will make thy grave] This, according to a common use of the pron., might mean: a grave for thee, consign thee to the grave. More naturally Syr., I will make it thy grave, i.e. probably, the house of thy god. Bickell, turning the phrase “for thou art vile” into a noun by some change of consonants, educes the sense: I will make thy graves to be dunghills. The word “dunghill” is Syr. and Targumic.
15 ([ Heb 2:1]). The ancient foe of Israel is no more, and those who announce his downfall hasten over the mountains proclaiming the good tidings. Judah is bidden hold her feasts, and fulfil her vows, made in the days of her adversity. The same words virtually occur in [ Isa 52:7]. The phrase “perform (pay) vows” is common in the Psalms and later literature, but is found also in early prose, e.g. [ 2Sa 15:7-8].
the wicked] Or, the wicked one, Heb. belial, the wrongdoer; whether Asshur personified or the king of Assyria.
pass through thee] Cf. [ Joe 3:17]; [ Zec 9:8].