Nahum 3

Some of you watch, or read, the news more than others. You keep up on current events in the world; you know the hot spots around the world; you can talk about tensions, and wars. You also know how we, as a nation, are relating to other nations. You keep on news about trade wars, and treaties, and alliances. When you do all of this, how do you evaluate the news you hear? How do you decide who is acting rightly, and wrongly, on a global scale? More importantly, how do you think God evaluates the news? What do you suppose God think of nations like the U.S., and Russia, and China? In our passage today, Nahum 3, Yahweh is angry with Ninevah, the capital of Assyria. He announces, again, that He will judge Ninevah-- to humiliate her, and destroy her. This was will the end of the superpower. One of the things that's interesting about Nahum 3 is that Judah isn't mentioned, even one time, anywhere in the chapter. This chapter, at a surface level, is just about two "persons"-- God, and Ninevah. Imagine that you're back in elementary school, and the playground bully was beating up on you at recess. Both you and the bully get called to the principal's office. The principal calls the bully into the office first, while you sit and wait out in hallway. But the principal deliberately leaves the door cracked open, so you can hear everything. And then the principal unloads on the student. He condemns him for his violence, and shames him for his behavior. Then, he expels the bully. The bully will never bother you again. He's done. This, basically, is Nahum 3. Except in Nahum 3, the bully isn't expelled. That's not enough. Here, the bully is publicly shamed, and then killed. That's enough. So as we read Nahum 3, imagine that you are Judah-- you're the little kid waiting in the hallway. You get to overhear Yahweh's words of judgment against Assyria, and take comfort in that. This is a chapter that's supposed to give you hope, and encouragement, and help you trust in God's power and love. I say all of this, but at the same time, what Yahweh is about to do to Ninevah, He is not doing just for Judah. God evaluates, and judges, nations through a particular ethical framework-- and it's maybe not exactly what we'd expect. So let's work our way through the chapter, and then come back to answer this question: "How does God evaluate the nations?" Verse 1: (3:1) Hey, city of blood! All of her is lies; Deception, full of. The prey doesn't depart. Nahum begins by getting Ninevah's attention. But notice how Ninevah is described. Ninevah has two main qualities-- violence, and deception. Each of these qualities, by itself, is a terrible thing to find in cities. No one wants to live in dangerous cities, where you get mugged, or murdered. Where you can't let your children play out on the front lawn because you worry about them getting shot. Where you put steel bars over your windows, and a gun in your nightstand, and you still worry you won't be safe. But the other quality, deception, only makes it worse. Imagine living in a city where you can't trust anyone-- where everyone rips you off. You buy 10 gallons of gas, but only get 9. You buy 5 lbs of apples, but only get 4. You get your car fixed, but the mechanic didn't really fix it the right way-- he cut some corners that shouldn't be cut, and you won't realize it for 5k miles. You go to work, and your boss shorts your pay. You have customers, and they write bad checks, and skip town. When you live in a city like that, inevitably, you become prey. And Nahum says, Ninevah is a city where the prey can't escape. Normally, some prey always gets away from the predator. A lion kills the older, slower, weaker animals in the herd. And while he's busy doing predator things to the carcass, the rest of the herd gets away. Ninevah isn't like that. Lions hunt, and hunt, until there's nothing left. In verses 2-3, Nahum shifts topics. Here, he's going to paint a picture of the future invasion, and destruction, of Ninevah. Now, this has already been described in chapter 2. So this is a good reminder that prophetic books aren't necessarily in chronological/sequential order. This is more like a second picture of the same invasion-- because sometimes, people need to hear something more than once for it to sink in. As I read this, try to picture it. It's important that you visualize this: (2) The sound of a whip!, and the sound of the rattling wheel!, and a horse galloping, and a chariot bouncing. (3) Horsemen are leading up1 [into battle], and a flash of a sword, and a flash of a spear, and a multitude of the slain, and a heaviness of corpses,2 and there is no end to the dead bodies. They stumble over their dead bodies. Why do you think Nahum paints this picture of Ninevah's destruction? Sometimes, there are things in life that are genuinely scary. But they don't seem scary, because you don't have the imagination to visualize how horribly something can go wrong. Take a brand new driver, for example. Brand new drivers go flying past kids, because they can't imagine the kids being distracted, and stepping out on the road in front of them. New drivers blow through blind, uncontrolled intersections, because they don't think about how another 15 year old might be hitting the intersection at the same time. New drivers are happy to go the speed limit on icy roads, and slow down like they normally do, because they think their tires are going to work. The basic problem with new drivers is that they lack imagination. They can't picture bad things happening to them. Now, some of you have no problems imagining bad things happening to you. You go through life, in constant fear. You get sick, and assume this is probably it for you. You have a slow week at work, and assume you'll lose your job. Your car makes a bad noise, and you assume it's time for the junkyard (points to self). Where you struggle, maybe, is in imagining good things happening to you. More specifically, you struggle to imagine God doing good things for you. When Nahum is prophesying, Assyria stands as the all-powerful Superpower. If you looked at its armies, and the breadth of his territory, and the defensive anchor of it all-- the capital city of Ninevah-- you'd know that this is a kingdom that will rule forever. How does God/Nahum fight this sense of resignation, and hopelessness? Nahum paints a picture here to build up their imagination. Everyone in Judah knew that violence was something done by Assyria-- not done to them. And everyone would struggle to really hear these words, and accept them as possible. But if Nahum can get you to picture people being cut down in the streets, and fleeing from chariots... he can get you to place your faith in God. God is able to do far more than we can think, or imagine (Eph. 3:20). He is the "God of the Possible." In verses 4-6, Nahum expands on why God's judgment is coming. The "because" comes first, in verse 4, and we have to work a little to understand it: (4) Because of3 the multitudes of the fornications of the whore-- beautiful of charm, a mistress of sorcery,4 the one betraying/selling off5 nations through her fornications, and clans/families through her sorceries-- Here, Ninevah is called a prostitute. She's charming, and beautiful. She's seduced the nations, and then sold them off. What exactly does this mean, concretely? Every nation makes decisions about how it will relate to other nations. Will you live in peace with your neighbor, or at war? Will you open your borders to trade, and to immigration, or will you try to shut them? Part of how you make these decisions, is based on your own strength. When you eye the neighboring cities and nations, how does your army stack up? Can you resist an invasion? Can you defend yourself? On your own, your army may not be able to protect you from every possible threat-- especially if your neighbors join forces against you. And so you go to your neighbors, and ask them if they want to create a defensive pact. Someone attacks you, I'll fight for you. Some attacks me, you'll fight for me. The two of us, militarily, will become one-- at least on defense. The catch is that sometimes, when you make these decisions, you do so from a position of weakness. Think about modern day Syria, for instance. Syria was fighting Western trained and supported "rebels" (mercenaries) across its territory. It was being hit with airstrikes on a regular basis from Israel. Its economy was in shambles because of sanctions. What President Assad needed, very badly, was allies. He needed AA weapons, and tanks, and jets, and oil, and food, and medicine. When Assad went to other countries seeking help, he was negotiating from a position of weakness. Was he thrilled about it? I'm not sure not. But you make whatever concessions you have to, in order to ensure your survival. Now, five years down the road, Assad may bitterly regret aspects of whatever alliances he's made with Iran, or Russia, or whoever. And he may find himself wanting to change the terms of the deal. God is not okay with this. This is what He accuses Ninevah of doing in Nahum 3-- of seducing other nations into making alliances, and pacts, and deals, when it was convenient for them. And then breaking them, when it was inconvenient, or when it benefited them in some way. To take another example from today's news: Right now, Armenia and Azerbaijan are fighting a somewhat limited war over a contested border. And Armenia, from all accounts, isn't doing very well. Azerbaijan is being given some support from Turkey, and seems to have the upper hand. But Armenia has mutual defensive pact with Russia, and Russia has a military base in that country. Armenia hasn't yet called on Russia to help it, but everyone over there knows, if Azerbaijan pushes too far, the Russian Bear is going to mess them up. Now, if you were President Putin, you'd maybe be tempted in this situation to close your eyes, and let your ally get wiped out. You're not going to gain much from defending Armenia. And if Turkey came to you with a few tons of gold, and asked you to look the other way... ? Assyria had a long history of doing basically this. It would make alliances when it was convenient for them, and break them when it was inconvenient, or when something better came along. So, because Ninevah has been doing this, God will do what? Verse 5-6: (5) LOOK! I am against you --utterance of Yahweh of Armies, and I will lift your skirts over your face, and I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms, your shame, (6) and I will throw upon you detestable things,6 and I will treat you with contempt, and I will make you like a spectacle, In Ancient Israel, when a woman was revealed to be a prostitute, she was stripped naked, and publicly shamed (Isa. 47:3; Jer. 13:22, 26; Ezek. 16:37-39; Hos. 2:3, 9). God says, Ninevah has been prostituting herself, and she will receive a prostitute's punishment. God expects nations to honor their commitments, and keep their word. What God expects of us as individuals, He also expects of nations. Verse 7: (7) and then7, all of the ones seeing you will flee from you, and they will say, "She has been destroyed-- Ninevah!"8 Who will show grief9 for her? From where shall I seek comforters for her?" On the day that Ninevah is destroyed, no one will be sad. Yahweh asks-- where would I find someone to show grief over her, or comfort her? Who would show up when she suffers (Job 2:11)? No one should have to die alone, and be buried alone, without mourners. But God looks around the world, and He says, "Who would I even invite?" Verses 8-16 I'm just going to read: (8) Are you better than Thebes-- the one sitting on the Nile, waters all around her, whose strength was the sea, from water, her wall [was]?10 (9) Cush, her strength [was], and Egypt, And there was no end [to her strength]. Put and the Libyans were your helpers. (10) What's more,11 she into exile went, Into captivity. What's more, her children were dashed to pieces at the corner of every street, while over the honored ones, they cast the lot, while her great ones were bound with chains. (11) What's more, you shall be drunk. You shall pass out/hide yourself.12 What's more, you shall seek refuge from the enemy. (12) All your fortifications are fig trees with first fruits.13 If they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater. (13) LOOK! Your army is women in your midst! To your enemies, surely, the gates of your land are opened. Fire has consumed14 your bars. (14) Waters for a siege, draw water for yourself. Strengthen your fortifications! Step in the mud, and trample on the clay. Seize the brick mold! (15) There, it shall consume you-- fire. It shall cut you off-- the sword.15 It shall consume you like the locust. Multiply yourselves like the locust! (16) You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens. The locust raids/strips,16 and it flies away. Let's pause here. Ninevah had multiplied merchants like locusts. Stores, and dealers, were everywhere. And we tend to think of that as a good thing. Merchants increase people's standard of living. It gives them access to things, they otherwise wouldn't have. And you end up better off than you otherwise would. But Nahum says that merchants are like locusts. They take the fruit of your hard work-- your cash, silver, and gold, and they leave what? Nothing of value. You've been stripped clean. And if you walk through the average American's home, it's hard to disagree with him. People are happy to exchange their work for stuff that turns into junk after a year. And you think to yourself, "I've made all this money, and all I have to show for it is this? Along with credit card debt? And I did this voluntarily, of my own free will?" Don't let merchants strip you clean. Use your money wisely. Verse 17: (17) Your royal officials are like locusts, while your officials like a swarm of grasshoppers.17 Settling on the walls on a cold day, when the sun has risen, it flees, and its place isn't known, where they are. Assyria hasn't just multiplied its merchants. It also multiplied its bureaucracy. There's more and more government officials feeding on the working class. And on the day the heat comes, where are they? Where's the help when you need it? Who knows? In verse 18, Nahum (imaginatively) directly addresses the Assyrian king: (18) Your shepherds have fallen asleep, O King of Assyria. Your nobles dwell/slumber.18 They are scattered-- your people-- on the mountains, and there is no one gathering. (19) There is no healing for your injury. Incurable, Your wound is. All of the ones hearing your news have clapped their hands over you, because over whom, has your cruelty not endlessly passed? Savage. On the day the king is mortally wounded, and won't recover, and his people are scattered, what will everyone do? They'll rejoice. They'll clap their hands, and celebrate. Because every single person has felt the king's cruelty. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bible has a lot to say, about topics we don't usually think about. And part of that might be because we only read like a quarter of it, and books like Nahum just get set aside. I said at the beginning I wanted to answer a question. And that question, is this: "On what basis does God evaluate the nations?" What sins does God not tolerate, for nations as a whole? What types of behavior really bother him? (In what follows, G. Bridger, The Message of Obadiah, Nahum and Zephaniah, was extremely helpful.) (1) Violence ("Full of violence and blood") (A) At the international level, some nations are trigger happy. They know they have the biggest armies, and they can bully whoever they want, and invade whoever they want, and no one can touch them. "Might makes right." "In the light of God's revelation in his Word (including the book of Nahum), the Western nations, including the UK and the superpower America, do need to be warned against aggressive trigger-happy wars against other nations, especially when oil or other kinds of wealth can so easily become the chief motivation. Nineveh and the Assyrian superpower were judged because of their aggressive behaviour. On an international, national and even personal level we need to be warned that God is against such behaviour. We are all accountable to the Lord who is sovereign over all nations" (Bridger, G. (2010). The Message of Obadiah, Nahum and Zephaniah: The Kindness and Severity of God. (A. Motyer & D. Tidball, Eds.) (p. 156). Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press.). (B) At a national/regional/individual level When cities are filled with gangs, and violence, and innocent people are being murdered. Baltimore; Chicago. Abortion. (2) Deceitfulness. (A) At the (inter)national level This will be a rant: We live at a time when people have realized how deceitful the U.S. is. We invaded Iraq over fake news. We bombed Syria over fake news about chemical weapons. We make deals with countries, and then break them without cause. And the mainstream media, for the most part, is just a puppet and cheerleader for the government. We are the prostitute-- seducing nations, and then betraying them. And we should not assume that God is okay with this. (b) At the regional/individual level God expects honesty and integrity at regional and individual levels as well. Maybe 10 years ago, I took my Mercury Sable into the shop, and the mechanic told me the transmission was starting to fail. He wasn't ripping me off-- there were maybe a dozen long metal shavings in the pan. And so, on the next day, I traded the car in for my Buick LeSabre, without telling them about the tranny. I tried to rip them off. Now, they, for their part, sold me a car that every time it rained, water flowed down the windshield, through a hole by the brake pedal, and through the carpet before pooling by the backseat. And that car has been a nightmare of electrical problems since I bought it. Water and electronics don't mix-- or maybe, the moral is, don't buy a GM product from circa 2000. So both of us did our best to be deceitful. Both of us sinned. God expects all people-- but especially his people-- to be honest. To have integrity. To not be deceitful. (3) Cruelty Let's reread verse 19, because I kind of glossed over this: (19) There is no healing for your injury. Incurable, Your wound is. All of the ones hearing your news have clapped their hands over you, because over whom, has your cruelty not endlessly passed? Assyrian kings bragged about how they treated their victims with torture. I don't remember the details-- and the details aren't important. But when you conquer other nations, or capture prisoners, you have an obligation to treat them as human beings, made in God's image. You can't torture them-- no waterboarding, no sleep deprivation, no loud music 24 hours a day. Be victorious; win your battles. But don't be cruel. What sins does God not tolerate? What sins will make God rise up, and come in judgment against people? (1) Violence. (2) Deceitfulness. (3) Cruelty. I read this list, and I think two things: (1) Christians need to be vocal about condemning these sins, in particular, in society. These sins would be tolerated less, if Christians tolerated them less. And these sins would be less common in society, if Christians stopped doing them. (2) Christians should be on their knees, begging, repenting of these sins, and asking God to be merciful toward them, and toward this country. Translation: (3:1) Hey, city of blood! All of her is lies; Deception, full of. The prey doesn't depart. (2) The sound of a whip!, and the sound of the rattling wheel!, and a horse galloping, and a chariot bouncing. (3) Horsemen are leading up19 [into battle], and a flash of a sword, and a flash of a spear, and a multitude of the slain, and a heaviness of corpses,20 and there is no end to the dead bodies. They stumble over their dead bodies. (4) Because of21 the multitudes of the fornications of the whore-- beautiful of charm, a mistress of sorcery,22 the one betraying/selling off23 nations through her fornications, and clans/families through her sorceries-- (5) LOOK! I am against you --utterance of Yahweh of Armies, and I will lift your skirts over your face, and I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms, your shame, (6) and I will throw upon you detestable things,24 and I will treat you with contempt, and I will make you like a spectacle, (7) and then25, all of the ones seeing you will flee from you, and they will say, "She has been destroyed-- Ninevah!"26 Who will show grief27 for her? From where shall I seek comforters for her?" (8) Are you better than Thebes-- the one sitting on the Nile, waters all around her, whose strength was the sea, from water, her wall [was]?28 (9) Cush, her strength [was], and Egypt, And there was no end [to her strength]. Put and the Libyans were your helpers. (10) What's more,29 she into exile went, Into captivity. What's more, her children were dashed to pieces at the corner of every street, while over the honored ones, they cast the lot, while her great ones were bound with chains. (11) What's more, you shall be drunk. You shall pass out/hide yourself.30 What's more, you shall seek refuge from the enemy. (12) All your fortifications are fig trees with first fruits.31 If they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater. (13) LOOK! Your army is women in your midst! To your enemies, surely, the gates of your land are opened. Fire has consumed32 your bars. (14) Waters for a siege, draw water for yourself. Strengthen your fortifications! Step in the mud, and trample on the clay. Seize the brick mold! (15) There, it shall consume you-- fire. It shall cut you off-- the sword.33 It shall consume you like the locust. Multiply yourselves like the locust! (16) You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens. The locust raids/strips,34 and it flies away. (17) Your royal officials are like locusts, while your officials like a swarm of grasshoppers.35 Settling on the walls on a cold day, when the sun has risen, it flees, and its place isn't known, where they are. (18) Your shepherds have fallen asleep, O King of Assyria. Your nobles dwell/slumber.36 They are scattered-- your people-- on the mountains, and there is no one gathering. (19) There is no healing for your injury. Incurable, Your wound is. All of the ones hearing your news have clapped their hands over you, because over whom, has your cruelty not endlessly passed? 1 hiphil of . HALOT: -2. said of a community or of the people: a) to lead up (from the grave) Ezk 37:12f, (from Egypt) Ex 32:1 Dt 20:1 Ju 6:13 see, among others, Wijngaards VT 15 (1965):91-102; Vogels VT 22 (1972):227-29; THAT 2:287f; (out of exile) Jr 16:14f = 23:7f Ezr 1:11 (cf. Ezk 37:12f); (out of the sea יָם meaning the Sea of Reeds) Is 63:11 cj. for הַמַּעֲלֵם rd. with 1QIsa, 2 MSS ־לֶה; b) to lead out as tech. term for raising a troop of forced labourers 1K 5:27 9:15 9:21 parallel with 2C 8:8 (Noth Könige 92f); c) to lead into battle (→ qal 3 d) Jr 50:9 Ezk 16:40 23:46 26:3 2C 36:17.1 2 a stone is "heavy" (Prov. 27:3); "heavy" rising smoke, Isa. 30:27. You know it's a lot of bodies, when you measure by weight, and not number. Also, shows a total disregard for them as people. Just weight to be moved; a logisticial/engineering problem. 3 BHRG 39.14.4.b: (b) Ground (occasionally) More frequent than (a) are instances where מִן denotes the grounds of an event or state of affairs. Typically a negative (#a) or threatening force (#b) is involved." (Ps. 38:19; 104:7) 4 2 Kings 9:22 5 Lots of debate about what this means, and if the Hebrew is right, but Qumran and LXX agree. HALOT: 2. to betray to others, sell off (cf. ZWFalk JSS 12:241ff), God sells his people: Ex 21:7 22:2 Dt 32:30 Ju 2:14 3:8 4:2 10:7 1S 12:9 Is 50:1 Jl 4:8 Ps 44:13, his land Ezk 30:12, an individual Ju 4:9, cj. 1S 23:7 (for נִכַּר rd. מָכַר, :: Honeyman VT 5:222); -Nah 3:4 ? to betray (Arb., Palache 45), alt. cj. כֹּמֶרֶת (cf. מִכְמָר, Sellin), 4QpNah 27 הממכרת (JSS 7:304ff). †5 6 a word usually used for idols. HALOT lists only this verse, as a non-cultic use of the word. 7 updating time reference. 8 Assuming Holmstedt is right about basic subject-object word order, the verb here is fronted as focus. 9 Like Job 2:11, same verb. 10 We understand-- oceans/seas make great walls. 11 "a noteworthy addition." 12 Lots of debate here. If parallel to the preceding line, "passing out" fits well. Normally it means more like, "hiding yourself." DCH: 4. perh. be obscured as to one's senses, be overcome by intoxication, become unconscious, <SUBJ> עִיר city Na 3:11 (unless עלם III be mature; or em. עלף I ni. swoon or עמל ni. be worn with toil*; + שׁכר be drunk).12 13 The Assyrians think they are "ready"; Yahweh says, they are "ready" for eating. 14 prophetic perfect, probably. 15 So you're told, "The walls are falling. Make bricks so we can reinforce them." And there you are, working, when the walls fall. First you know of it, is when the fire/sword get you. 16 reading NIV/NLT, vs. NRSV, adopting #2. פשׁט DCH: b. intrans., strip oneself, undress oneself (Is 32:11), perh. of locust casting its skin (Na 3:16; [unless §2]).16 ;2. raid (against), rush forward, dash ahead, make a dash, i.e. in order to attack people, of soldiers (Jg 9:33, 44, 44; 20:37; 1 S 23:27; 27:8, 10; 30:1, 14; Jb 1:17; 1 C 14:9, 13; 2 C 25:13; 28:18), of robbers (Ho 7:1; [or em.; see Subj.]), perh. of locusts (Na 3:16, [unless §1]).16 17 big government, intruding into every area of life. 18 NET Bible: The MT reads יִשְׁכְּנוּ (yishkénu, "they are settling down; they are lying down") from שָׁכַן (shakhan, "to settle down, to lie down"). The BHS editors suggest emending to יָשְׁנוּ (yashnu, "they are slumbering") in order to produce a tighter parallelism with the parallel verb נָמוּ (namu, "they are sleeping"). However, the MT has an adequate parallelism because the verb שָׁכַן is often used in reference to the dead lying down in the grave (Job 4:19; 26:5; Ps 94:17; Isa 26:19; see BDB 1015 s.v. שָׁכַן Qal.2.b). This is a figurative expression (hypocatastasis) for someone dying. Although the LXX misunderstood the syntax of this line, the LXX translation ἐκοίμισε (ekoimise, "he has laid low") points to a form of the Masoretic verbal root שָׁכַן.18 19 hiphil of . HALOT: -2. said of a community or of the people: a) to lead up (from the grave) Ezk 37:12f, (from Egypt) Ex 32:1 Dt 20:1 Ju 6:13 see, among others, Wijngaards VT 15 (1965):91-102; Vogels VT 22 (1972):227-29; THAT 2:287f; (out of exile) Jr 16:14f = 23:7f Ezr 1:11 (cf. Ezk 37:12f); (out of the sea יָם meaning the Sea of Reeds) Is 63:11 cj. for הַמַּעֲלֵם rd. with 1QIsa, 2 MSS ־לֶה; b) to lead out as tech. term for raising a troop of forced labourers 1K 5:27 9:15 9:21 parallel with 2C 8:8 (Noth Könige 92f); c) to lead into battle (→ qal 3 d) Jr 50:9 Ezk 16:40 23:46 26:3 2C 36:17.19 20 a stone is "heavy" (Prov. 27:3); "heavy" rising smoke, Isa. 30:27. You know it's a lot of bodies, when you measure by weight, and not number. Also, shows a total disregard for them as people. Just weight to be moved; a logisticial/engineering problem. 21 BHRG 39.14.4.b: (b) Ground (occasionally) More frequent than (a) are instances where מִן denotes the grounds of an event or state of affairs. Typically a negative (#a) or threatening force (#b) is involved." (Ps. 38:19; 104:7) 22 2 Kings 9:22 23 Lots of debate about what this means, and if the Hebrew is right, but Qumran and LXX agree. HALOT: 2. to betray to others, sell off (cf. ZWFalk JSS 12:241ff), God sells his people: Ex 21:7 22:2 Dt 32:30 Ju 2:14 3:8 4:2 10:7 1S 12:9 Is 50:1 Jl 4:8 Ps 44:13, his land Ezk 30:12, an individual Ju 4:9, cj. 1S 23:7 (for נִכַּר rd. מָכַר, :: Honeyman VT 5:222); -Nah 3:4 ? to betray (Arb., Palache 45), alt. cj. כֹּמֶרֶת (cf. מִכְמָר, Sellin), 4QpNah 27 הממכרת (JSS 7:304ff). †23 24 a word usually used for idols. HALOT lists only this verse, as a non-cultic use of the word. 25 updating time reference. 26 Assuming Holmstedt is right about basic subject-object word order, the verb here is fronted as focus. 27 Like Job 2:11, same verb. 28 We understand-- oceans/seas make great walls. 29 "a noteworthy addition." 30 Lots of debate here. If parallel to the preceding line, "passing out" fits well. Normally it means more like, "hiding yourself." DCH: 4. perh. be obscured as to one's senses, be overcome by intoxication, become unconscious, <SUBJ> עִיר city Na 3:11 (unless עלם III be mature; or em. עלף I ni. swoon or עמל ni. be worn with toil*; + שׁכר be drunk).30 31 The Assyrians think they are "ready"; Yahweh says, they are "ready" for eating. 32 prophetic perfect, probably. 33 So you're told, "The walls are falling. Make bricks so we can reinforce them." And there you are, working, when the walls fall. First you know of it, is when the fire/sword get you. 34 reading NIV/NLT, vs. NRSV, adopting #2. פשׁט DCH: b. intrans., strip oneself, undress oneself (Is 32:11), perh. of locust casting its skin (Na 3:16; [unless §2]).34 ;2. raid (against), rush forward, dash ahead, make a dash, i.e. in order to attack people, of soldiers (Jg 9:33, 44, 44; 20:37; 1 S 23:27; 27:8, 10; 30:1, 14; Jb 1:17; 1 C 14:9, 13; 2 C 25:13; 28:18), of robbers (Ho 7:1; [or em.; see Subj.]), perh. of locusts (Na 3:16, [unless §1]).34 35 big government, intruding into every area of life. 36 NET Bible: The MT reads יִשְׁכְּנוּ (yishkénu, "they are settling down; they are lying down") from שָׁכַן (shakhan, "to settle down, to lie down"). The BHS editors suggest emending to יָשְׁנוּ (yashnu, "they are slumbering") in order to produce a tighter parallelism with the parallel verb נָמוּ (namu, "they are sleeping"). However, the MT has an adequate parallelism because the verb שָׁכַן is often used in reference to the dead lying down in the grave (Job 4:19; 26:5; Ps 94:17; Isa 26:19; see BDB 1015 s.v. שָׁכַן Qal.2.b). This is a figurative expression (hypocatastasis) for someone dying. Although the LXX misunderstood the syntax of this line, the LXX translation ἐκοίμισε (ekoimise, "he has laid low") points to a form of the Masoretic verbal root שָׁכַן.36 --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 12