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1–4. God's judgment over Nineveh, and together with all of Assyria, is already coming to fruition: at the command of Jehovah, strong enemy hordes are approaching Nineveh to take revenge on the Assyrians for all the evil they have done to the people of God. 5–10. A picture of the defeat of Nineveh itself: the siege, capture and plunder of the city, the panic of the inhabitants - the flight of some and the captivity of others. 11–13. A sad picture of the complete desolation of Nineveh, lying in ruins, cast into the dust and destroyed by the power of Jehovah, the avenging God, in contrast to its former greatness and power. Nahum.2:1. The destroyer is rising against you: guard the strongholds, guard the road, strengthen your loins, gather your strength. Nahum.2:2. For the Lord will restore the greatness of Jacob, like the greatness of Israel, because the desolators have laid waste them, and destroyed their vine branches. Nahum.2:3. The shield of his heroes is red; his warriors are dressed in scarlet robes; The chariots sparkle with fire on the day of preparation for battle, and the forest of spears is agitated. Nahum.2:4. Chariots rush through the streets and thunder in the squares; the shine from them is like fire; sparkle like lightning. (Heb. 2–5). If in Nahum 1.15 (Heb. 2:1) speech was only about the messenger of the death of Nineveh and the salvation of Judea, now the prophet vividly contemplates and visually depicts the very fulfillment of God’s judgment over Nineveh, describing future events as if taking place before his eyes. The united forces of the enemies (Babylonians and Medes) going against Nineveh are presented to the prophet as a crusher or a hammer (Hebrew mephitz, mappets, cf. Jer 51.20. Proverbs 25.18), ready to deal a decisive mortal blow to Nineveh (since in the Bible - Jer 51.20; Proverbs 25.18, and on Assyrian monuments the hammer is among the weapons of war, the image of the hammer is clear in relation to Nebuchadnezzar, Jer 51.20–23, as well as later strong and destructive conquerors like Attila the Hun). At the same time, the prophet, with bitter irony, advises Nineveh to hasten to take protective measures: to carefully guard its strongholds and fortifications, to place guards in high places (cf. Avv 2.1; Isa 21.6) to observe which way the enemy will come and from which side he will attack; in addition, in view of the extreme strength and courage of the enemies, the army of Nineveh must be completely ready for a terrible war, muster all its strength and not lose the presence of mind (such complete combat readiness is expressed here by two related turns of phrase: “strengthen (or gird) the loins” (cf. Is 5.27; Job 38.3; Job 40.2) and “gather strength”). But all these measures, according to the deep conviction of the prophet, will be fruitless and in vain. LXX instead of mephitz art. 1 they probably read mephiah (from puah), which is why they translated εμφυσων, glory. inhale (in your face) what a blessed thing. Theodoret refers to God’s gift of new life to the Jews after the death of the Assyrians: “the culprit of this for you is God, who with his wave, as if with a certain breath, crushed them, and freed you from their dominion” (p. 11). But it is more natural, better suited to the context of the speech, to read the Hebrew text, in which the address is not to Judea, but to Nineveh. (Heb. 3). Now the main reason for the fatal strength of the enemies of Nineveh and all the futility of its self-defense efforts is indicated: its enemy will be Jehovah himself, who, precisely through the destruction of Nineveh, hostile to the Kingdom of God, will restore this latter, return the outer beauty and inner sacred greatness (Hebrew gaon, Vulg. Superbiam) of Jacob-Israel, that is, the chosen people of God in general; “You should know,” the blessed one notes here. Theodoret (p. 12) - that Jacob was given the name Jacob by his parents, but the name of Israel was given by God, and both names were adopted by the people descended from Jacob. Therefore, says God: for the disasters that you, Jacob, suffered from the Assyrians, I will punish them for the sake of the virtue of our forefather, according to which I gave it the name Israel.” It is through the destruction of Nineveh that the glory of the people of God, the greatness of the Kingdom of God must be restored, because it was Nineveh - in the person of its kings - Tiglath Pileser Shalmaneser, Sennacherib and others - who gave the great devastators of Israel - this true vineyard of God (Isaiah 5.1), planted by the hand of God, but mercilessly destroyed by enemies (Ps 79.9-14). Now, at the moment of restoration of the beauty of Jacob and the glory of Israel, the time has come for revenge on his former enslavers - the Assyrians (cf. Isa 33.1). (Hebrews 4–5). The Prophet, as it were, already sees the slender, well-armed and menacingly entering ranks of the enemies of Nineveh, and in beautiful poetic lines he paints a picture of the enemy army (Medes and Babylonians): the shield of the heroes is red, Heb. meaddam - perhaps made of red copper (I. Flav. Jude. Ancient. 13:12, 5; cf. 1 Kings 14.27) or painted red - the color of blood; the clothes of the heroes are crimson or purple, as was especially common for warriors among the Chaldeans, Medes and Persians (the latter, according to Xenophon, borrowed πορφυρους χιτωνας from the Medes; the favorite color of the Babylonians was red, cf. Eze 23.14). Dressed in red clothes, the courageous warriors “expressed courage in their eyes, and how with lights and lightning they terrified (Blessed Theodoret, p. 13), as if fearlessly playing with fire (cf. LXX Glory) and terrified with terrible chariots armed with rows of sickles (Hebrew pelad) and other metal weapons; - everything seems to be on fire; - warriors, full of consciousness of their strength, are eager to fight and impatiently shake a forest of spears. “In the words: the reins of the chariots sparkle with fire through the sparkling reins, the speed of those preparing is indicated and the brilliance of the equipment (επισκευης) of those preparing for war is depicted” (Blessed Jerome, p. 278). (Heb. 5). Continuing to describe the enemy army, the prophet sees how already on the outskirts of Nineveh itself, along its outlying streets leading to the internal fortified parts, numerous cavalry rush and, colliding with each other, produce an unimaginable roar, and, with the speed of movement, the appearance resembles burning torches in the dead of night (cf. Judgment 7.16,20) or even the flash of lightning. “There is such a great number of people coming that the army is mixed up on the way, and nothing can be made out. Also, the chariots themselves, not finding a passage, will, due to their large numbers, collide with each other in the squares. The appearance of the Babylonians is like lamps, like flashing lightning, so that with their appearance they will terrify their opponents before they strike them with the sword” (Blessed Jerome, pp. 278–279). Such is the majestic image of the wrath of God, as subtle as lightning (Deut. 32.41; cf. Zech. 9.14)! In Art. 5–10 (Heb. 6–11) describes: 1) the capture of Nineveh (vv. 5–7) and 2) its plunder (8–10). Nahum.2:5. He calls forth his brave men, but they stumble as they go; They rush to the walls of the city, but the siege has already been established. Nahum.2:6. The river gates open and the palace is destroyed. Nahum.2:7. It is decided: she will be naked and taken captive, and her slaves will moan like doves, striking their chests. (Heb. 6–8). At the very moment of the approaching fatal danger, the king of Assyria will remember his most glorious companions (Heb. addirav), distinguished by prudence and courage, and will gather them all so that, with the assistance of the best warriors, they will be able to repel from the walls of the city the enemy who is ready to invade its center. But all the heroes of Nineveh will turn out to be insignificant: having lost their presence of mind, pushing each other and stumbling along the way, they will rush to the city walls, besieged by the enemy, but it will be too late: the terrible siege battering machines (Heb. gasohekh, Vulg.: umbtaculum) with the warriors hidden in it are already in full battle formation ready to move on their wheels to the walls of Nineveh. “Here, of course,” says Simashkevich (Eminence Mitrofan, op. cit. p. 196 notes), a special kind of wooden machine known to the Assyrians and Babylonians, like a huge tower, mounted on 4 or 6 wheels, under which there was a battering ram (aries) or a machine for breaking walls (karim in Ezekiel 4.2 etc., κρος 2Mac 12.15 )... The arrows located in the upper tier of the machine, with terrible speed, throw arrows in a hail, both from the top of this tower and from its side holes; but they themselves and the ram are completely protected, which is quite consistent with the name of the machine “sohekh”. Wed. P. Kleinert, s. 114. Verse 6 (Heb. 7), namely its first two words: “gate of streams”, “river gate” (Heb. shaare-ganegarot) have always caused bewilderment among interpreters, who have expressed several mutually contradictory interpretations of this verse. In view of the obvious difficulty, even the seeming impossibility of literal understanding of the initial expression, many ancient and new interpreters allowed for a metaphorical explanation of it: so blessed. Jerome paraphrases the entire verse 6 as follows: “the gates of Nineveh, which had a multitude of citizens like rivers, were opened, and the church, that is, its kingdom, was destroyed, and the warrior was taken captive, that is, everyone was taken to Babylon” (p. 27:9; the words we noted in italics in Blessed Jerome explain the expression of the biblical text “gate of streams”). A similar figurative interpretation of the expression in question can be seen in the LXX who convey it in words; πυλαι τω ν πολεων, glory. hail gate. This understanding is also carried out in modern times (De-Wette, Rosenmüller, Gitzg, Umbreit, etc.). However, here, as in the interpretation of any other biblical passage, one should adhere to the general hermeneutic principle - not to deviate from the literal meaning in the explanation of the Holy Scriptures. Scriptures unless absolutely necessary; Moreover, the second half of the verse (“the palace is being destroyed”) must be understood, undoubtedly, in the literal sense. Therefore, the literal interpretation should be recognized as predominant for the first half of the verse. But here two main varieties are possible and exist. One of these interpretations is more specific, the other more general. According to the first interpretation (Kleinert, Prof. Golubeva, etc.), the expression “stream gate” means a gate through which canals flow or are blocked, the name of which was to drain excess water from the city and prevent flooding; In this way, the words in question interpret the flood of the Nineveh rivers Tigris and Kocapa (Khosar), based on the news of Ctesias-Diodorus (Diod. II, 25, 27, 28) that in the 3rd year of the siege of Nineveh by the Babylonians, the water of the Tigris emerging from its banks destroyed a significant part of the city wall, which made it easier for the besiegers to capture the city; it is additionally assumed that the royal palace, the destruction of which is mentioned in the second half of the verse, lay near this wall, destroyed by the flood. But, although the general idea of this interpretation is confirmed not only by the mentioned external historical evidence, but also by the general correspondence to the biblical worldview, which allows for the direct intervention of God in the life of the elements and the latter’s service to the punitive action of God’s judgment (cf. Judge 5.20–21), as well as with individual strokes of the picture drawn by the prophet himself (cf. Nahum 1.8,10; Heb. 2:8,9), however, the assumptions allowed here are, Of course, the weak side of this interpretation. Therefore, preference is given to a more general interpretation of the literal property, according to which the “gate of streams” is a gate lying near streams or lying near streams, a gate sufficiently strengthened not only by art, but also by nature. Not only the less fortified parts of the city, but even the most fortified gates - at the streams - and strongholds, like the royal palace and church (Hebrew heichal has this double meaning), built on artificial terraces (Philipson, Simashkevich, Martin, etc.) LXX to Art. 6 have an increase against the Hebrew χαι η οποστασις αποκαλυφθη, slav. and the estate was revealed, which is blessed. To Theodoret, it means: “what was previously kept in secrecy and closed with many locks has become open to everyone” (p. 13). In the accepted Greek text, these words are assigned to the following 7th verse (in the Slavic text they are placed at the end of verse 6). Even more difficult to interpret are the initial words of Art. 7, especially the first word: gyuzzav, which, due to its incomprehensibility on Jewish grounds, some new biblical scholars (Ruben, Cheyne) are even ready to derive from the Assyrian root eteIIu, (feminine p. eteIIitu, great, sublime). All existing experiences in the interpretation of this word can be reduced to the following three. According to one opinion (Keil, Lange-Kleinert, Strauss, etc.), accepted in the Russian synodal translation, this word can be conveyed impersonally: “decided,” “decreed,” “determined,” and this refers to the verdict of the enemies over Nineveh, which at the same time is God’s determination about it (cf. Nahum 1.14). But in favor of such an understanding it is impossible to cite evidence from any of the ancient translations; Moreover, this understanding narrows the content of the judgment over Nineveh pronounced by Jehovah (Nahum 1.14). Ancient translations, on the contrary, speak more for the recognition of “gyutsav” as a noun (LXX: υποκασις, Vulg; miles). There are two opinions here. The rabbis, Nicholas Lira, Luther, and in modern times Rawlinson, Ewald, Rückert, Zunz, Marty, etc. considered this word to be the proper name of the Queen of Assyria, supposedly captured by the Babylonians during the capture of Nineveh. In this sense, Jonathan's Targum conveys the first half of v. 7:: it regina currui insidens cum deportandis exit. Other interpreters (Schegg, Reinke, Philippson, Prof. Golubev, Simashkevich, etc.), not finding support for this opinion in the text, and no confirmation of it in history, see the symbolic name of Nineveh (as Sesha - Babylon, Jer 25.26; Jer 51.41, or Ariel - for Jerusalem, Is 29.1-2), and such an opinion is justified as biblical analogies (now mentioned by others), as well as the most probable and accepted by production meaning of the word gyuzzav - (gofal from the main natsav) “firmly, firmly established”, hence - considering itself out of danger. A name with such a meaning is quite fitting for Nineveh, the city of excessive arrogance (Zeph 2.15). This city, proud of its strength, beauty and security, will be dishonored by the enemies, who will treat this queen of the country and the entire east as with a slave and a harlot: she will be naked, robbed and taken into captivity (cf. Nahum 3.4–6). If, therefore, the thought of Nineveh in the prophet is inseparable from the image of the captive queen, then this latter image is even more directly suggested in the second half of verse 6: “and her servants will moan like doves, striking their breasts.” If the image of the desecrated queen symbolically represents the capital of the state - Nineveh, then the slaves sharing the grief of their mistress, moaning like doves and indulging only in secret sadness for fear of the enemy, mean not only the inhabitants, the population of Nineveh, but also the cities of the Assyrian kingdom subordinate to her: “the cities and villages subject to Nineveh will share captivity with her, sighing in their hearts and imitating their voice pigeons" (Blessed Theodoret, p. 13). “The slaves of Nineveh should be understood metaphorically as smaller cities, towns and villages. Or, perhaps, the captured women were threatened in front of the eyes of the victors, and the horror will be so strong that sadness will not be expressed even in sobs and screams, but silently, to themselves they will groan and with a dull whisper swallow tears like cooing doves” (Blessed Jerome, p. 279). A similar image appears in Isaiah 38.14; Isa 59.11; Ezekiel 8.16); chest beating cf. Luke 18.18; Luke 23.27. Nahum.2:8. Since its existence, Nineveh has been like a pond full of water, and they are running away. “Stop, stop!” But no one looks back. Nahum.2:9. Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! there is no end to the supply of all precious utensils. Nahum.2:10. She is plundered, devastated and ruined - and her heart melts, her knees shake; everyone had a strong pain in their loins, and everyone’s faces darkened. euro 9–11. Now the prophet proceeds to depict the disastrous state in which Nineveh will find itself after the invasion of its besieging enemies - a state sharply opposed to the previous prosperity, power and greatness of the capital of Assyria. The prophet expresses the former greatness and power of Nineveh primarily by comparing its art. “a pond full of water” (Hebrew kiarehat - maym), which signifies the complete prosperity of Nineveh in all respects: the large number of its inhabitants (peoples and tribes in the Bible are more than once compared to waters, for example, Rev. 18.15), as well as the abundance of all earthly, material and spiritual blessings (this is the meaning of the expressions “living water”, “water of life” in the Bible, Jeremiah 2.13 ff. John 4.10–15; cf. also biblical symbolic images of earthly well-being and future happiness, for example Ps. 13.13; Nineveh has been such “from the time of its existence” (Heb. mimegi; Targum Jonathan miyomekedam “from the days of antiquity”). The last expression is read and conveyed differently in the LXX and in the Vulgate, who obviously read not mime, from days, but meimeya, her waters (LXX: υδατα αυτης, Vulg. aquae ejus, glorified waters thereof). The general meaning of the passage, however, is the same: the well-being of Nineveh was complete. But now the end has come to him: the city is being abandoned, foreseeing its destruction, by its inhabitants in large crowds, and no encouraging cries of the chief defenders of Nineveh will have any effect; Panic horror has seized the inhabitants, none of them not only thinks of stopping and defending the city, but also does not dare to simply look back (cf. Jeremiah 46.5). “With so many people inhabiting this city that it was like a font filled with water and pouring out an excess, everyone had one thing in mind - to run, without even stopping to look back” (Blessed Theodoret pp. 13-14). (Heb. 10). Left by panic-stricken residents, the city is abandoned to the plunder of the enemy. Since they fled, the Babylonians are told: “plunder the silver, and through sudden devastation, plunder the riches collected over a long time” (Blessed Jerome, p. 81), and the call for the devastation of the city comes as if from Jehovah, i.e. the entire fall of Nineveh will not happen by chance, but by the decree of God’s judgment (cf. Jer 50.26-27; Ezek. 7.19: Hab 2.5–13). “That the collection was bad,” notes on Art. 9th blessed Theodoret (p. 14), - then it will be passed on to others. For many enemies will attack their treasures. The prophet speaks of the future as if it had happened, according to the way of expression that is especially characteristic of Scripture” (LXX read and put at the beginning of Art. 9 not command, nak., but aorist: διηρπαςον, glorified: plunderer). (Heb. 11). The prophet depicts the terrible picture of the complete desolation of Nineveh with extraordinary power of expressiveness - through a combination of three consonant and synonymous, but containing a progressive strengthening of both thought and the sound form itself, the Hebrew words: beech (g) mebuka (g), mebullak (g). But this is only one, external or objective side of the death of Nineveh. The prophet no less expressively depicts the internal, subjective side of the event - the panicky horror of the inhabitants, in which their very hearts seem to melt, their knees relax, and they are ready to fall, their torments and tremors are like the torments of a woman giving birth, their faces, distorted with horror, turned black like cauldrons. Similar pictures of devastation and horror can be found, for example. at the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 24.1–3; Isaiah 13.7–8). “What usually happens during earthquakes, when the structure of the earth trembles and shakes, the same, says the prophet, will happen when enemies fall, because when the hearts are struck with fear and the joints of the knees are weakened, everyone will suffer, like a woman giving birth, their faces will take on a leaden color from the thickening of the blood and will become like the side of the cauldron that is always turned towards the fire” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 14). “Devastated, ruined and tormented, Nineveh is described under the image (sub metaphora) of a captive woman; her heart languishes, her knees are weakened, her loins are broken, and the faces of all her inhabitants, exhausted and disfigured, due to horror and strong fear of enemies, with paleness, seem like burnt pots” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 284). Nahum.2:11. Where is now the lair of lions and that pasture for lion cubs, where the lion, lioness and lion cub walked, and no one frightened them - Nahum.2:12. a lion who steals his puppies for feeding, and strangles his lionesses, and fills his caves with spoil and his lairs with the stolen ones? Nahum.2:13. Behold, I am upon you! says the Lord of hosts. And I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword will devour your lion cubs, and I will destroy your prey from the land, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard. euro 12–14. From the terrible spectacle of destruction and devastation, the prophet is transported in thought to the vanished greatness of ancient Nineveh, and with a feeling of amazement and joy speaks of the impending disappearance of this center of all kinds of treasures obtained by violence and untruth, this true den of lions (vv. 11-12; cf. Zeph 3.3). In the final verse (13, Heb. 14), the prophet lets readers know that what has been spoken and still being spoken is still a prophecy, and not an event, but a prophecy that is immutably destined to come true: the historical role of Assyria as a world power, according to the inevitable judgment of God, will irrevocably end; its complete destruction is inevitable. Thus, in this stanza, as well as in the next (III) chapter, not so much new touches are reported on the actual side of the catastrophe awaiting Nineveh, but rather an indication of the internal and external motives of this latter is given. In the usual form of a question among biblical writers, which does not require an answer, but directly presupposes the complete absence of a subject (cf. Is 19.12; Is 33.18, Is 34.19; Is 42.13; 1 Cor 1.20; Jer 13.20; Mal 1.6; Mal 2.17, etc.), the prophet makes a majestic and deeply expressive comparison of cruel Nineveh and its inhabitants with the den of the lion, which in general among all peoples appears, due to its predation and superior strength, as the king of all beasts (cf. Isa 15.9; Jer 4.7; Am 3.8). The prophet calls Nineveh “a habitat of lions,” kings are lions, their sons are lionesses, and the cities under their control are pastures... It is the custom of these animals to strangle the animals they catch and bring them as food to their children. And the Assyrians, crushing entire kingdoms of other peoples, collected tribute from them” (Blessed Theodoret, pp. 14, 15). The deep fidelity of the prophet’s comparison of the Assyrians with lions and Nineveh with their lair is completely justified by the historically known characteristic features of this people and their relationship to the contemporary world, appearing in the same light as in other sacred writers (Isa 5.29,30; Jer 50.17; Joel 1.1, etc.), and on Assyria’s own ancient monuments: images of lions the Assyrians loved to decorate entrances and doors, walls, vessels, weapons, seeing in this, of course, a symbol of their strength and power, so that the figure of a lion was, as it were, a state-national Assyrian coat of arms; The Assyrian kings' own testimonies of their military exploits, read on obelisks and other cuneiform monuments, are in complete harmony with the biblical depictions of the predation and cruelty of the Assyrians as victors. (Heb. 14) The bewilderment that involuntarily arises in the reader when depicting the contrast between the invincible power of cunning Nineveh and its disappearance without a trace from the face of the earth (vv. 11–12), the prophet resolves by pointing to the judgment of almighty God (cf. 3:5a). At the same time, “since the prophet above figuratively mentioned lions and lionesses, hunting and pasture; then, in accordance with this, the extermination of the Assyrians is foreshadowed allegorically. And since the hunters, when the animals are hiding in some caves and do not want to appear out, bringing smoke to the entrances to the caves, force them to come out, and the emerging beast is speared; then God said accordingly that he would give up the entire multitude to smoke and the lions to the sword: this means the burning of the city and the killing of the kings, after which the hunt ended” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 15). The hitherto figurative speech of the prophet in the final phrase of the verse goes directly to the message of the irrevocable destruction of Assyrian rule: “and we will no longer hear the voice of your ambassadors,” which is blessed. Jerome paraphrases this: You will no longer devastate the lands and exact tribute, and your messengers will not be heard in the countries” (p. 289), that is, the ambassadors of the Assyrian king, who carried his commands to the subject peoples and demanded their unquestioning submission to the will and commands of their master; such was the famous Rabshakeh (2 Kings 18.17–37; Isa 36.13–20). This is the judgment of Nineveh by the almighty God - the Lord of Hosts, Heb. Jehovah-Tsebaoth. The triple meaning of this name of God is known: in relation to the hordes of Israel (Ex 6.26; Ex 7.4), in application to the heavenly bodies (Is 40.26; Zeph 1.5, etc.) and especially about the army of Angels (1 Kings 22.19; Is 24.21, cf. in the book of Prof. Priest A. A. Glagolev, Old Testament biblical teaching about Angels. Kyiv, 1900, pp. 238–256). In view of the cult of the heavenly luminaries that existed among the Assyrians, the name of the God of Israel Jehovah of Hosts, by itself, should have indicated to the Assyrians that nothing could save them from the hand of this God, Who is the only Lord of their gods themselves (see Deut. 10.17). You might be interested in: