TEXT [Commentary]

  B.   Second Rhetorical Question (1:7-10)

7 The LORD is good,

a strong refuge when trouble comes.

He is close to those who trust in him.

8 But he will sweep away his enemies[*]

in an overwhelming flood.

He will pursue his foes

into the darkness of night.

9 Why are you scheming against the LORD?

He will destroy you with one blow;

he won’t need to strike twice!

10 His enemies, tangled like thornbushes

and staggering like drunks,

will be burned up like dry stubble in a field.

NOTES

1:7 refuge. Lit., “for a refuge.” The unexpected preposition before the noun has been variously treated either as (1) a comparative particle, “better than” (NJB), (2) an asseverative particle, “yea,” “indeed” (Christensen 1975:22), or (3) intended for an omitted noun, understood on the basis of the LXX so that the line reads, “The Lord is good to those who wait upon him, a place of refuge in the day of affliction” (Roberts 1991:42-45). Despite the difficulty, the MT is defensible—the preposition explained as one providing logical connection, meaning “with respect to” (Gen 17:20; 41:19). This explanation yields the rendering, “The Lord is good as a refuge.” The NLT renders the sense adequately.

He is close. Several suggest an expanded use of yada‘ [TH3045, ZH3359] here, such as “care for” (NIV, NEB) or “recognize” (NJB). Because this verb has a wide semantic range when used of divine knowledge, however, it is perhaps better to translate “and he knows” and leave the precise nuance to the expositor.

1:8 his enemies. The Hebrew reads “its/her place” (cf. NASB; Keil 1954). The NLT follows the lead of the Septuagint and several scholars in repointing the consonants so as to read “those who rise up against him,” hence, “his enemies.” Roberts (1991:42, 45; following Rudolph) repoints the consonants as an abstract noun and translates, “He totally annihilates the opposition.”

into the darkness of night. The NLT renders the phrase according to the sense. The word “night” does not occur in the Hebrew text, however, so other possibilities for understanding “darkness” include the land of death—the final end of the wicked (a thought found in such texts as Job 10:20-22; 17:13; 18:18; Ps 35:6, 8, 10-12), or simply as an idiom for God’s relentless pursuit that brings the final extermination of his foes (Isa 8:22; Zeph 1:15). Robertson (1990:72) observes, “Darkness in Scripture symbolizes distress, terror, mourning, perplexity, and dread. A combination of all these experiences will be the final fruition of Nineveh for all the years that she oppressed and brutalized other nations.”

1:9 Why are you scheming? The NLT views the text as a rhetorical question. It could also be taken as a statement: “whatever you plot against Yahweh” (cf. NIV, NASB). Either way, it corresponds to a similar development in the first section of the hymn (cf. 1:6) and “suggests the idea that any devices against Yahweh are futile” (Longman 1993:795).

He will destroy. Although the NLT renders the sense of this phrase and the rest of the verse adequately, it fails to bring out the many plays on words and sounds that occur between vv. 8 and 9 in the MT (see Longman 1993:795).

1:10 His enemies. Verse 10 is an often debated crux interpretum. Cathcart (1973a:60) affirms: “This must be one of the most difficult texts in the Old Testament. No satisfactory translation of the passage has been offered to date.” Each line of the verse, as well as the sense of the whole, has been subjected to critical scrutiny. The first two images have been particularly troublesome. (1) “Tangled like thornbushes” (lit., “entangled thorns”) has met with such despair of solution that many (e.g., J. M. P. Smith 1911) have dubbed it hopelessly corrupt. Various textual emendations and rearrangements have been attempted, none of which appears to be an improvement upon the basic figure given in the MT. (2) “Staggering like drunks” (lit., “like those drunken from their drink”) is usually translated so as to yield a rendition that emphasizes becoming totally drunk. Although numerous conjectures have been put forward, none has met with scholarly consensus or proved to be entirely satisfactory.

Not only must the difficulty of establishing the precise meanings of the words involved in the two figures be solved, but once the meanings of the first two difficult figures are established, they must be related to the third image of the verse: “like dry stubble in a field.” Some commonality must be found if one is to make good sense of the three parallel lines. The point of the comparison in all three seemingly unrelated cases is that of total consumption: the bush by its thorns, the drunkard by his drink, the stubble by fire. Doubtless each of the lines belongs to the proverbial literature. The three are brought together by Nahum as a fitting conclusion to the hymn to reemphasize the impossibility of God’s enemies ever rising up again after he has judged them. The verse and the whole hymn look forward to God’s judgment of Nineveh. He will make a complete end of the proud city.

burned. The reference to fire not only echoes the concluding lines of the first portion of the hymn (1:6) and adds dramatic pathos to the divine sentence of judgment in this section but is also distinctly accurate: The ruins of Nineveh show abundant evidence of the intense conflagration that consumed the fallen city.

COMMENTARY [Text]

Nahum began the latter portion of his poem with the second of his statements regarding God’s nature. He pointed out that God’s goodness and concern for his own do not diminish his power and determination to judge the wicked. Rather, God’s goodness assures all people that he will execute his judgment equitably.

The careful balance in God’s character is maintained here. Just as the Lord is slow to anger, yet great in power (1:3), so is he a stronghold in the day of distress (1:7; cf. Ps 37:37-40). This declaration stresses that in times of judgment and destruction, the believer may take refuge in the realization that God’s goodness provides protection in the midst of it all. The Scriptures remind us that there is also a richness in God’s goodness by which individuals may be led to repentance (Rom 2:3-4; cf. Ps 145:7-12). Although Nineveh had experienced God’s patience and kindness in Jonah’s day, there would be no repentance in this day and no remittance of God’s judgment.

Nahum pointed out that the Divine Warrior will come against Nineveh like a victorious commander pursuing his foes to the farthest recesses of the earth. Indeed, God’s enemies will come to understand that he will overturn their insolent plotting against him so thoroughly that, like men entangled in thorns or overcome with their own drunkenness, they will be easily overthrown. As dry stubble is devoured by fire, God’s fiery wrath will consume them. They will not devise their devious plot a second time.

The contrast between the fortunes of believers and the wicked is often drawn in the Scriptures (e.g., Pss 1; 37; Prov 4:10-19; Matt 7:13-14, 24-27). Those who trust in God are the ones who know and believe in him (cf. Gen 15:6) and hence have the assurance (Isa 26:3) that God will take note of them in the adversities of life (Pss 17:7; 18:30; 31:19-20), when life’s circumstances rush in upon them like an overwhelming flood (Pss 18:1-6; 32:6-7; 124). Indeed, God’s goodness reaches out to all such believers; he becomes their fortress in distress (Exod 15:2; Pss 27:1-3; 28:8; 91:2; Isa 25:4; Jer 16:19).

Conversely, those who trust in self, who rise up against God, will find that he will, in turn, stand against them. Those who plot against him (Pss 1:1; 2:1-3; 21:11) can be assured that their plotting will self-destruct, leaving them in danger of judgment (cf. Pss 1:4-5; 2:12; Hos 7:15-16).

Taken together with the opening description of God’s character (1:2-6), these verses demonstrate that the Lord is the God of both Israel and the nations. He exercises complete control over the forces and destinies of all creation. Accordingly, people ought to put their trust in him (Isa 26:3-4). Not only should they place their trust in God as their refuge, but theirs should be an absolute and total commitment of life to God. Such a trust entails the reproduction of God’s own character in their lives. The psalmist puts it well:

Trust in the LORD and do good.

Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.

Commit everything you do to the LORD.

Trust him, and he will help you. (Ps 37:3, 5)