Nahum 1:1
THE BURDEN OF NINEVEH — _i.e._, the _sentence_ against Nineveh (see Isaiah 13:1, Note). On the names Nahum and Elkoshite see Introduction.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BURDEN OF NINEVEH — _i.e._, the _sentence_ against Nineveh (see Isaiah 13:1, Note). On the names Nahum and Elkoshite see Introduction.... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD... FURIOUS. — Better, _A jealous and vengeful God is Jehovah, an avenger is Jehovah, aye, wrathful._ This verse lays the groundwork for the declaration of God’s sentence against the offending city. There are, of course, several passages in the Law which attribute the same character to Jehovah, _... [ Continue Reading ]
(2-8) God’s character a pledge that the oppressor of His servants shall be destroyed.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND GREAT IN POWER. — Better, _but great in power._ Jehovah’s forbearance is not attributable to weakness. To vindicate His power, Nahum, after the manner of other Hebrew poets and prophets, reverts to the wonders of the Exodus (Nahum 1:4). The pillars of cloud and fire in the desert march; the quak... [ Continue Reading ]
IS BURNED. — Better, _heaves. _... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT. — Better, _and._ Jehovah protects His afflicted servants, and therefore He exterminates their oppressor. OVERRUNNING FLOOD. — On the propriety of this figure see Nahum 2:6, Note. THE PLACE THEREOF — _i.e.,_ that of Nineveh. The verse ends, “_and he shall drive his enemies into darkness._”... [ Continue Reading ]
AFFLICTION — _i.e.,_ Nineveh’s affliction of Israel, the same Hebrew word being used in Nahum 1:7 to denote Israel’s “trouble” or “affliction” proceeding from Nineveh. (See also Nahum 1:12.) Nineveh shall not afflict Israel a second time. Applying the whole passage to the destruction of Sennacherib’... [ Continue Reading ]
(9-15) The first revelation of God’s judgment, by the awful overthrow of Sennacherib’s invading army in the reign of Hezekiah.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHILE. — Better, _For they shall be even as bundles of thorn fagots, and even while steeped in their drink they shall be burnt up like stubble fully dry._ Dry thorn cuttings were commonly used as fuel. (See Psalms 58:9; Psalms 118:12; Ecclesiastes 7:6.) The verse compares the victims of Jehovah’... [ Continue Reading ]
COME OUT OF THEE. — Another possible rendering is, _He has retired from thee_ [_i.e., Jerusalem_]_, who imagineth..._ We prefer the rendering of the Authorised Version, and regard the verse as addressed to Nineveh. The reference in the verses following is sufficiently plain for us to identify this e... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS SAITH THE LORD. — Better, _Thus saith Jehovah, Though they be of unimpaired strength and ever so numerous, yet just in that state shall they be cut down, and he_ [viz., the evil counsellor of Nahum 1:11] _shall pass away. Though I have afflicted thee_ [Jerusalem], _I will afflict thee no more._... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW WILL I BREAK. — Similarly Isaiah, “I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountain tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders” (Isaiah 14:25; comp. Jeremiah 30:8).... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD HATH GIVEN. — Sudden changes of person are a common feature in Hebrew poetry. The denunciation of the Assyrian here passes from the third to the second person. Sennacherib is told that the royal line of Nineveh is to be suddenly exterminated — a prediction accomplished when his great-gr... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD UPON THE MOUNTAINS. — It is not plain why this verse has been made the first of Nahum 3 in the Hebrew. It is evidently the finale of the proclamation against the Assyrian invader, and rightly stands in the LXX. as the last verse of Nahum 2. It portrays the announcement of Sennacherib’s fate t... [ Continue Reading ]