1:11 They sweep by like the wind and pass on. 1
But the one who considers himself a god will be held guilty.” 2
1:7 They are frightening and terrifying;
they decide for themselves what is right. 3
1:17 Will he then 4 continue to fill and empty his throw net? 5
Will he always 6 destroy 7 nations and spare none? 8
1:4 For this reason the law lacks power, 9
and justice is never carried out. 10
Indeed, 11 the wicked intimidate 12 the innocent. 13
For this reason justice is perverted. 14
2:6 “But all these nations will someday taunt him 15
and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: 16
‘The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead 17
(How long will this go on?) 18 –
he who gets rich by extortion!’ 19
1:6 Look, I am about to empower 20 the Babylonians,
that ruthless 21 and greedy 22 nation.
They sweep across the surface 23 of the earth,
seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.
2:2 The Lord responded: 24
“Write down this message! 25 Record it legibly on tablets,
so the one who announces 26 it may read it easily. 27
2:13 Be sure of this! The Lord who commands armies has decreed:
The nations’ efforts will go up in smoke;
their exhausting work will be for nothing. 28
3:6 He takes his battle position 29 and shakes 30 the earth;
with a mere look he frightens 31 the nations.
The ancient mountains disintegrate; 32
the primeval hills are flattened.
He travels on the ancient roads. 33
1:5 “Look at the nations and pay attention! 34
You will be shocked and amazed! 35
For I will do something in your lifetime 36
that you will not believe even though you are forewarned. 37
2:3 For the message is a witness to what is decreed; 38
it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out. 39
Even if the message 40 is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently; 41
for it will certainly come to pass – it will not arrive late.
3:19 The sovereign Lord is my source of strength. 42
He gives me the agility of a deer; 43
he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. 44
(This prayer is for the song leader. It is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.) 45
1 tn The precise meaning of v. 11a is uncertain. The present translation assumes the first line further describes the Babylonian hordes, comparing them to a destructive wind. Another option is to understand רוּחַ (ruakh) as “spirit,” rather than “wind,” and take the form וְאָשֵׁם (vÿ’ashem) with what precedes (as suggested by the scribal punctuation). Repointing this form as a geminate verb from שָׁמַם (shamam, “be astonished”), one could then translate the line, “The spirit passed on and departed, and I was astonished.” In this case the line would describe the cessation of the divine revelation which began in v. 5. For a detailed defense of this view, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 97-100.
2 tn Heb “and guilty is the one whose strength is his god.” This assumes that אָשֵׁם (’ashem) is a predicate adjective meaning “guilty” and that it relates to what follows.
3 tn Heb “from him his justice, even his lifting up, goes out.” In this context שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et) probably has the nuance “authority.” See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 150.
5 tn Or “therefore.”
6 tn Heb “Will he then empty his throw net?” The words “continue to fill and” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
7 tn Or “continually.”
8 tn Heb “kill.”
9 tn Or “without showing compassion.”
7 tn Heb “the law is numb,” i.e., like a hand that has “fallen asleep” (see Ps 77:2). Cf. NAB “is benumbed”; NIV “is paralyzed.”
8 tn Heb “never goes out.”
9 tn Or “for.”
10 tn Heb “surround” (so NASB, NRSV).
11 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
12 tn Heb “comes out crooked.”
9 tn Heb “Will not these, all of them, take up a taunt against him…?” The rhetorical question assumes the response, “Yes, they will.” The present translation brings out the rhetorical force of the question by rendering it as an affirmation.
10 tn Heb “and a mocking song, riddles, against him? And one will say.”
11 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who increases [what is] not his.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe,” “ah”) was used in funeral laments and carries the connotation of death.
12 tn This question is interjected parenthetically, perhaps to express rhetorically the pain and despair felt by the Babylonians’ victims.
13 tn Heb “and the one who makes himself heavy [i.e., wealthy] [by] debts.” Though only appearing in the first line, the term הוֹי (hoy) is to be understood as elliptical in the second line.
11 tn Heb “raise up” (so KJV, ASV).
12 tn Heb “bitter.” Other translation options for this word in this context include “fierce” (NASB, NRSV); “savage” (NEB); or “grim.”
13 tn Heb “hasty, quick.” Some translate here “impetuous” (so NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “rash,” but in this context greed may very well be the idea. The Babylonians move quickly and recklessly ahead in their greedy quest to expand their empire.
14 tn Heb “the open spaces.”
13 tn Heb “the
14 tn Heb “[the] vision.”
15 tn Or “reads from.”
16 tn Heb “might run,” which here probably means “run [through it quickly with one’s eyes],” that is, read it easily.
15 tn Heb “Is it not, look, from the
17 tn Heb “he stands.”
18 tn This verb has been traditionally understood as “measure” (from מוּד, mud), but the immediately following context (vv. 6b-7) favors the meaning “shake” from מָוד (mavd; see HALOT 555 s.v.).
19 tn Heb “makes [the nations] jump [in fear].”
20 tn Or “crumbled,” broke into pieces.”
21 tn Heb “ancient ways [or, “doings”] are his.” The meaning of this line is unclear. Traditionally it has been translated, “his ways are eternal.” However, in this context (see vv. 3, 7) it is more likely that the line speaks of the
19 tn Or “look among the nations and observe.” The imperatival forms in v. 5 are plural, indicating that the Lord’s message is for the whole nation, not just the prophet.
20 tn The Hebrew text combines the Hitpael and Qal imperatival forms of the verb תָּמַה (tamah, “be amazed”). A literal translation might read, “Shock yourselves and be shocked!” The repetition of sounds draws attention to the statement. The imperatives here have the force of an emphatic assertion. On this use of the imperative in Hebrew, see GKC 324 §110.c and IBHS 572-73 §34.4c.
21 tc Heb “for a work working in your days.” Following the LXX reading, some supply a first person singular pronoun with the participle פֹּעֵל (po’el). Ellipsis of a first singular pronoun before participles is relatively rare (see GKC 360 §116.s); perhaps an original אֲנֹכִי (’anoki; or אֲנִי, ’aniy) followed the initial כִּי (ki) and was omitted by homoioteleuton.
22 tn Heb “you will not believe when it is told.” In this context the force of כִּי (ki) may be “when,” “if,” or “even though.”
21 tn Heb “For the vision is still for the appointed time.” The Hebrew word עוֹד (’od, “still”) is better emended to עֵד (’ed, “witness”) in light of the parallelism (see the note on the word “turn out” in the following line). The “appointed time” refers to the time when the divine judgment anticipated in vv. 6-20 will be realized.
22 tn Heb “and a witness to the end and it does not lie.” The Hebrew term יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) has been traditionally understood as a verb form from the root פּוּחַ (puakh, “puff, blow”; cf. NEB “it will come in breathless haste”; NASB “it hastens toward the goal”) but recent scholarship has demonstrated that it is actually a noun meaning “witness” (cf. NIV “it speaks of the end / and will not prove false”; NRSV “it speaks of the end, and does not lie”). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 106. “The end” corresponds to “the appointed time” of the preceding line and refers to the time when the prophecy to follow will be fulfilled.
23 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the message) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 tn Heb “If it should delay, wait for it.” The Hebrew word חָזוֹן (khazon, “vision, message”) is the subject of the third person verbs in v. 3 and the antecedent of the pronominal suffix in the phrase “for it.”
23 tn Or perhaps, “is my wall,” that is, “my protector.”
24 tn Heb “he makes my feet like those of deer.”
25 tn Heb “he makes me walk on my high places.”
26 tn Heb “For the leader, on my stringed instruments.”