Nahum
Chapter 2
Feast in Jerusalem
Look, there on the mountains, the feet of someone bringing good news, someone who proclaims peace. Judah, celebrate your festivals and fulfill your vows. For the wicked have been defeated, and they will no longer attack you.
Assault and Conquest of Nineveh
Against Nineveh, a destroyer advances.Watch the road, man the fortress, brace yourselves, muster your forces.
The Lord will now restoreJacob’s magnificence, like Israel’s splendor.For they had been plundered,laid waste as a ravaged vineyard.
The shields of his soldiers are red; his warriors are dressed in crimson. His chariots shine as if on fire when assembled for battle, while prancing horses and frenzied horsemen wait impatiently for bloody combat.
As chariots rush through the streets and dash wildly across the squares, they resemble flashing torchesor darting lightning bolts.
The chosen troops are called out; ranks break as they charge. Having set up the mantelet, they rushed toward the rampart.
The river gates are opened, and the palace defenses fall.
The goddess is captured along with all her handmaidens,moaning like doves and beating their breasts.
Nineveh resembles a pool with its waters flowing away: All flee, saying, “Stop, stop!” but no one returns.
All kinds of wealth,gold and silver—it is an endless treasure,a heap of the most precious things.
Waste and ruin, desolation and emptiness, failing hearts and trembling knees,terror and agony on all blanched faces!
Where is now the lion’s cave,the den of the cubs where the lion used to bring his prey, and the cubs lie undisturbed?
The lion tore to pieces for his cubs,and strangled for his mates;he filled his caves with preyand his dens with mangled flesh.
The Lord Sabaoth declares: I am coming against you. I will send your chariots up in smoke, hand your young to the sword; cleanse the earth of your plunder, and the voices of your envoyswill be silenced forever.
Commentaries
Feast in Jerusalem.
These verses mark the transition to a new oracle, where the focus shifts from the judgment and destruction of Nineveh to the salvation of Judah.
Assault and Conquest of Nineveh.
The poetic beauty of these verses is lost in translation. Hebrew poetry emphasizes rhythm and sound to depict the relentless pounding of horses’ hooves and terrified hearts (5:11). The city of Nineveh, capital of the mighty Assyrian Empire, fell in 612 B.C. after a siege by the armies of the Medes and Babylonians.
It looks like the besiegers diverted the channels of the Tigris River to break down the terracotta walls (7). The female slaves mentioned in verse 8 would be the women of the king’s harem.
The “lion” is the king of Assyria who used terror, punishment, torture, and unusual humiliations to subjugate and exploit the people (12-14). God punishes violence and the violation of the rights of the most vulnerable both outside and inside Israel. Those who wield power must use it to bring justice to the poorest (Is 10:1-2; Mi 2:1).