Nahum 3:8

Nineveh Will Suffer the Same Fate as Thebes

3:8 You are no more secure ¹  than Thebes ²  –

she was located on the banks of the Nile;

the waters surrounded her,

her ³  rampart ⁴  was the sea,

the water ⁵  was her wall.

[3:8]  ¹ tn Heb “Are you better than Thebes?”

[3:8]  ² tn Heb “No-Amon.” The name is transliterated by NAB, NASB; many other English versions employ the equivalent “Thebes.”

[3:8]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.