Nahum 3:5

3:5 I am against you,” declares the Lord who commands armies. ¹ 

“I will strip off your clothes! ² 

I will show your nakedness to the nations

and your shame to the kingdoms;

Nahum 3:8

Nineveh Will Suffer the Same Fate as Thebes

3:8 You are no more secure ³  than Thebes ⁴  –

she was located on the banks of the Nile;

the waters surrounded her,

her ⁵  rampart ⁶  was the sea,

the water ⁷  was her wall.

[3:5]  ¹ tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts.” See the note on the expression “the Lord who commands armies” in 2:13.

[3:5]  ² tn Heb “I will uncover your skirts over your face.”

[3:8]  ³ tn Heb “Are you better than Thebes?”

[3:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “No-Amon.” The name is transliterated by NAB, NASB; many other English versions employ the equivalent “Thebes.”

[3:8]  ⁵ tn The relative pronoun אֲשֶׁר (’asher) is functioning in a possessive sense: “whose” (Job 37:17; Ps 95:5; Isa 5:28; 49:23; Jer 31:32; see HALOT 98 s.v. 4).

[3:8]  ⁶ tn The consonantal form חיל is vocalized in the MT as חֵיל (khel, “rampart”). The LXX translation ἡ ἀρξή (Jh arxh, “strength”) reflects confusion between the relatively rare חֵיל and the more common חַיִל (khayil, “strength”); see HALOT 310-12.

[3:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “from (the) sea.” The form should be emended to מַיִם (mayim, “water”). This is a figurative description of the Nile River: It functioned like a fortress wall for Thebes.