하나님나라를 꿈꾸며(Kingdom of God)

3 Woe to pthe bloody city,

all full of lies and plunder—

qno end to the prey!

2  The crack of the whip, and rrumble of the wheel,

sgalloping horse and tbounding chariot!

3  Horsemen charging,

flashing sword and uglittering spear,

vhosts of slain,

heaps of corpses,

dead bodies without end—

they stumble over the bodies!

4  And all for the countless whorings of the wprostitute,

xgraceful and of deadly charms,

who betrays nations with her whorings,

and peoples with her charms.

5  mBehold, I am against you,

declares the Lord of hosts,

and ywill lift up your skirts over your face;

and I will make nations look at zyour nakedness

and kingdoms at your shame.

6  I will throw filth at you

and atreat you with contempt

and make you ba spectacle.

7  And all who look at you cwill shrink from you and say,

“Wasted is dNineveh; ewho will grieve for her?”

fWhere shall I seek comforters for you?

p Ezek. 24:9; [Hab. 2:12]

q [ch. 2:12]

r [ch. 2:4]

s [Judg. 5:22]

t [Joel 2:5]

u Hab. 3:11

v [2 Kgs. 19:35]

w [Rev. 17:2; 18:3]

x [Isa. 47:9, 12]

m [See ch. 2:13 above]

y Jer. 13:22, 26; [Isa. 3:17; 47:3]

z Hab. 2:16

a Mal. 2:9; [ch. 1:14]

b Heb. 10:33; [1 Cor. 4:9]

c Jer. 51:9; Rev. 18:10

d [Zeph. 2:13]; See ch. 1:1

e Isa. 51:19; Jer. 15:5

f Lam. 1:2, 9, 16, 17, 21

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 나 3:1–7.

3 화 있을진저 피의 성이여 그 안에는 거짓이 가득하고 포악이 가득하며 탈취가 떠나지 아니하는도다

2 휙휙 하는 채찍 소리, 윙윙 하는 병거 바퀴 소리, 뛰는 말, 달리는 병거,

3 충돌하는 기병, 번쩍이는 칼, 번개 같은 창, 죽임 당한 자의 떼, 주검의 큰 무더기, 무수한 시체여 사람이 그 시체에 걸려 넘어지니

4 이는 마술에 능숙한 미모의 음녀가 많은 음행을 함이라 그가 그의 음행으로 여러 나라를 미혹하고 그의 마술로 여러 족속을 미혹하느니라

5 보라 내가 네게 말하노니 만군의 여호와의 말씀에 네 치마를 걷어 올려 네 얼굴에 이르게 하고 네 벌거벗은 것을 나라들에게 보이며 네 부끄러운 곳을 뭇 민족에게 보일 것이요

6 내가 또 가증하고 더러운 것들을 네 위에 던져 능욕하여 너를 구경 거리가 되게 하리니

7 그 때에 너를 보는 자가 다 네게서 도망하며 이르기를 니느웨가 황폐하였도다 누가 그것을 위하여 애곡하며 내가 어디서 너를 위로할 자를 구하리요 하리라

 The Holy Bible: New Korean Revised Version, electronic ed. (South Korea, n.d.), 나 3.

1절) 본문은 니느웨 성이 심판당하는 이유를 밝히고 있다. 

그 안에는 거짓이 가득하고 포악이 가득하며 탈취가 떠나지 않고 있었다. 이로 인해서 이 피의 성에는 화가 임했다. 

본문에서 ‘화 있을진저’라는 표현은 하나님의 심판을 표현하는 표현으로 구약에서 53번이나 사용되는데 장례식의 조가로 8번, 관심을 갖기 위한 부르짖음으로 4번, 선지서들에서 다가오는 멸망을 선포할 때 41번 사용되었다. 

피의 성이라는 니느웨, 앗수르에 대한 표현은 매우 적절하다. 앗수르는 고대 근동지역에서 가장 잔인한 민족의 하나로 알려진 민족이었다. 

살만에셀 (Shalmaneser III) (858-824BC)은 한 도시를 점령하고 나서 다음과 같은 회고를남겼다: “나는 마치 아다드(아시리아의 신)가 폭풍우를 내리듯이 적군들에게 임하여 그들을 죽였다. 그들이 파놓은 방어 구덩이를 그들의 시체로 가득 채웠고 넓은 들판을 그들의 시체로 덮었다. 나는 양털에 빨간물을 들이듯이 산들을 그들의 피로 물들였다. 냐는 많은 병거들과 말을 빼앗았으며 그들의 성읍앞에 해골더미를 쌓았다. 나는 그들의 다른 도시도 불태웠다”(ANET) .

아시리아는 또한 다음과 같은 만행을 일삼았다. 사람의 손, 발,  귀,  코를 자르고 눈을 파내는 것은 일상적으로 하던 일이었다. 사람들의 목을 잘라서 끈으로 동여매어 도성의 문 앞에 쌓아두거나 걸어두었다. 심지어는 살아있는 사람의 가죽을 벗기기까지 했다. 마치 제2차 세계대전 때 독일이 유태인들에게 저지른 만행을 방불케 한다. 아시리아 사람들이 이처럼 잔인하고 포악한 짓들을 일삼았으니 선하신 창조주가 결코 그들의 만행을 오래 방관하실리 없다.

-  3:1 “Woe” is a word characteristic of the prophets. Translators use several different words to communicate the distinctive meaning of the Hebrew word (hôy). “Ho,” “Ah,” “Alas,” and “Shame on you” all describe the meaning of the Hebrew term. The word usually announces a theme of judgment.

Though the term “woe” is found in many books of the Old Testament, the prophets used it most often and in relationship to God’s divine judgment. In the present context the word is a statement rather than a wish. In this sense the usage runs parallel to Nahum’s certainty of the destruction of Nineveh. The GNB catches the inevitable judgment against Nineveh: “Doomed is the lying, murderous city.” Of the fifty-three occurrences in the Old Testament, R. J. Clifford listed three possible uses for hôy: (1) to describe funeral laments (eight times), usually translated “alas”; (2) a cry to get attention (four times), usually translated “ho” or “ah”; (3) and announcement of doom (forty-one times and used only by the prophets), usually translated “woe to.”3

The use of “woe” can be understood as a curse or as a lament. The prophets used the term in both ways.4 As a curse the prophet used the term to indicate the certainty of judgment. In Israel and among other nations, the spoken word possessed the ability to bring its own result. No wonder kings kept scores of loyal prophets always ready to pronounce good things for the king.

Many times the term “woe” is used as a lament (Jer 22:18; 34:5), but this does not seem to be the force of Nahum.5 Nahum confidently predicted the downfall of Nineveh. Any lament would be for effect, not sorrow.6

GNB Good News Bible

3 R. J. Clifford, “The Use of Hôy in the Prophets,” CBQ 28 (1966): 458–64.

4 O. P. Robertson insists the woe exclamation (הוי) “does not precisely communicate a curse, a woe. Instead, it gives expression to an agony, a pain at an offense being witnessed. It hurts to watch people being slowly crushed by a system calculated to squeeze the last breath from the defenseless” (The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, NICOT [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990], 100).

5 R. D. Patterson sees “woe” as a “word drawn from a lamentation liturgy for the dead” (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, WEC, ed. K. Barker [Chicago: Moody, 1991], 81). He finds three parts to the woe oracle: invective (vv. 1, 7), threat (vv. 2–3, 5–6), criticism (v. 4). T. Longman III likewise sees funeral processions in the background, saying: “The association of the word with death probably led the prophets to use it as they foresaw destruction coming” (“Nahum,” in The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical and Expository Commentary, ed. T. E. McComiskey [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993], 812). He then continues, however, in the opposite direction in applying this to Nahum: “In many of the prophetic uses, and certainly in the use here in Nahum, hôy no longer marks an expression of lamentation for the dead. On the contrary, Nahum is far from lamenting the coming destruction of vicious Nineveh. Indeed he can hardly restrain his joy at the prospect. Hôy has become a threat or a curse directed against the enemies of God.”

6 Note the discussion of “woe” by E. R. Dalglish, “Nahum,” in Hosea–Malachi, BBC (Nashville: Broadman, 1972), 7:242; and R. Smith, Micah–Malachi, 86, and E. Gerstenberger, “The Woe Oracles of the Prophets,” JBL 81 (1962): 249–63. Dalglish sees the present verse as an oracle of woe rather than lament and numbers thirty-six of fifty-one occurrences of “woe” as a curse, but Gerstenberger argues against this assessment. R. J. Clifford felt certain that Nahum spoke a word of judgment (CBQ 28 [1996]: 462). D. W. Baker correctly notes that the use of the woe form here is ironic, since the demise of the tyrant would be welcomed, not mourned” (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, TOTC [Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1988], 23b, 36).

 Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, vol. 20, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 218–219.

2-3절) 본절은 매우 생생한 언어로 앗수르가 대적들에게 만행을 당하는 모습을 표현한다. 휙휙 하는 채찍 소리, 윙윙 하는 병거 바퀴 소리, 뛰는 말, 달리는 병거, 충돌하는 기병, 번쩍이는 칼, 번개 같은 창, 죽임 당한 자의 떼, 주검의 큰 무더기, 무수한 시체, 그리고 그 시체에 걸려 넘어지는 사람들

대적들이 말과 병거를 몰고 채찍과 칼, 창을 휘두르면서 수많은 이들을 죽이는 모습을 보여준다. 이들이 달려와 그들의 칼과 창을 휘두를 때마다 사상자가 속출하고 이로 인해서 많은 이들이 도망가다가 시체에 걸려서 넘어진다. 하나님께서는 앗수르가 다른 나라에게 무자비하게 행한대로 갚아주고 계신 것이다. 

4절) 니느웨가 심판을 받아야 하는 이유를 다시 한 번 제시한다. 

앞선 모습처럼 이들이 심판을 당하는 이유는 니느웨가 마술에 능숙한 미모의 음녀로 많은 음행을 행했기 때문이다. 앗수르는 그의 음행으로 여러 나라를 미혹하고 그의 마술로 여러 족속을 미혹했다. 마치 여인이 자신의 미모를 동원하여 뭇 남자들을 홀리고 마술로 속이는 것으로 묘사하고 있는 것이다. 앗수르는 막강한 군사력과 권력을 앞세워서 다른 나라를 착취하고 거짓 약속등을 통해서 다른 나라들을 속였다. 앗수르가 엄청난 부와 권력을 획득한 것에 대해서 하나님께서는 이들의 행위를 창녀의 음행으로 평가하고 있으신 것이다. 

-  3:4 Reasons for Judgment: The Wickedness of Nineveh. This verse uses figurative language to present reasons for the destruction of Nineveh. whorings. As the capital of idolatrous Assyria, Nineveh continually engaged in many violations of God’s will. graceful … deadly charms. Nineveh, with its power and wealth, exerted a corrupting influence throughout the Near East (cf. 2 Kings 16:18). betrays. The monarchy based in Nineveh did not hesitate to use treachery and deceit (see Nah. 3:1) to achieve its aims.

3:4 Nineveh’s punishment prefigures the punishment for the idolatrous seduction of Babylon the prostitute (Rev. 17:1–6; 18:1–3).

 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1716.

-  The theme of Nineveh as a prostitute who enticed the nations continues through v. 7 and is a fairly common theme in Scripture.22 Revelation 17–18 also describe the enemies of God in terms of the harlot. The most common use of the metaphor is found with the people of God. The adultery motif vividly describes the seriousness of the people’s turning away from God. This is not, however, the meaning of the current metaphor. Assyria had not worshiped the Lord. Nahum’s use of the prostitution metaphor stemmed from two sources.

First, Nineveh’s political leadership behaved as a prostitute, enticing poorer and weaker nations with its wealth and charms. “As a harlot dispenses her favors ‘for hire’ …, so Nineveh, like a scheming prostitute, has cunningly sold her military aid to other countries.”23 The weaker nations fell victim to the allure of Assyria’s wealth and power. They looked to Assyria for protection and material wealth, but they soon learned that, like the prostitute, the promises of Assyria only led to destruction. Nineveh “sacrificed any semblance of morality to personal interest.”24

A prime example of the allure of Assyria was the enticement of Ahaz of Judah. During the Syro-Ephraimitic crisis, Ahaz refused to listen to the words of Isaiah the prophet, choosing rather to accept the protection of the Assyrian king (Isa 7:1–8:8). Ahaz rejected the Lord’s protection and aligned himself with Assyria.

Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria happily came to the aid of Ahaz. In the pattern of many other despots, he used the protection of his friend Ahaz as an excuse to take Damascus and to ravage the northern tribes of Israel in 732 b.c. This action set in place the eventual capture of Samaria by the Assyrians in 722 b.c. and began a century of Assyrian domination of Judah. Objects of Assyrian worship were set up in the temple, and Judah followed the path of idolatry championed by Assyria (2 Kgs 16:10–16). During the long reign of Manasseh (696–641 b.c.), Judah prostituted itself by following the harlot Assyria (2 Kgs 21:1–26).

Second, sacred prostitution played a large part in the worship of the chief deity of the Assyrians, Ishtar. Worshipers of Ishtar often referred to her as a prostitute.25 “Nahum’s chief complaint against Nineveh is for its spiritual atrocities.”26 “All because of the wanton lust of a harlot” indicates that Assyria’s destruction (Nah 3:1–3) came because of its evil deeds. The Lord God is the righteous judge of the universe. Evil cannot go unpunished. God will end oppression.

Much like the writer of Proverbs, Nahum described the wiles of the harlot. “For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword” (Prov 5:3–4). She is “fair and graceful, a mistress of witchcraft.” In this instance “sorceries,” or “witchcraft,” refers to her spells and charms.27 “Assyrians were utterly superstitious and wholly dedicated to sorcery.”28 The nations had been spellbound to the power of Assyria only ultimately to regret her allure.

Lines three and four in the Hebrew text use important words (zĕnûnîm, “lust/prostitution,” and kĕšāpîm, “sorceries/witchcraft”) from lines one and two. Assyria the harlot “enslaved” nations by its prostitution. The Hebrew text uses the word “sold” (mākar), thus leading to the idea in the NIV of being sold into slavery. “The corrupt capital sold nations, so that their people individually became slaves to the Assyrians and others.”29 Assyria also enslaved nations by witchcraft. “By unholy means, dark, treacherous dealings, she relegates ‘peoples’ (smaller nations or racial groups, Jer 25:9; Ezek 20:32; Amos 3:2) into slavery.”30 This probably is a correct association. Assyria’s attraction lured nations into league with Assyria only to learn too late that association with Assyria often led to loss of land and loss of life. This is what happened to Samaria and to many other states in Palestine.

22 Longman notes that “from the Israelite perspective, the most wicked types of females were prostitutes and sorceresses. These women sought money and domination beyond acceptable social and religious norms” (“Nahum,” 815).

23 Maier, The Book of Nahum, 302.

24 Armerding, “Habakkuk,” 7:481.

25 Clark and Hatton, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 44.

26 Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 90.

27 Robertson describes Assyria’s sorcery: “The city is no amateur in the art of sorcery. She is a master at black magic. Rather than doing what is right and leaving the future to God, this entire community sets to itself the task of determining the course of the future so that it will result in its own benefit. Employing every means—even resorting to the trade of the wizard—the inhabitants of Nineveh deny the sovereignty of God over the affairs of men” (Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 103).

28 Maier, The Book of Nahum, 302.

NIV New International Version

29 Ibid., 304.

30 Ibid.

 Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, vol. 20, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 223–225.

5-7절) 심판을 선포하시는 하나님

음행하며 유혹하는 음녀인 니느웨는 그가 행한 수치스럽고 가증한 일에 대해서 심판을 받게 될 것이다. 하나님께서는 그의 치마를 걷어 올려서 벌거벗은 부끄러운 모습을 뭇 나라와 민족들에게 보일 것임을 말씀하신다. 또한 하나님께서 가증하고 더러운 것들을 그들 위에 던져서 능욕하여 구경거리가 되게 하신다고 말씀하신다. 그 때에 그(니느웨)를 보는 자가 다 도망하며 ‘니느웨가 황폐되었도도’, ‘누가 그것을 위하여 애곡하며 내가 어디서 너를 위로할 자를 구할까’라고 할 것이다. 

앗수르가 집권했을 때 다른 민족들을 두려워하며 그를 좇았지만 하나님께서 그들을 심판하신 후 앗수르는 멸시와 천대의 대상이 된다. 하나님께서 그들로 부끄러운 모습을 당하게 하실 것이고 가증하고 더러운 것, 오물들을 앗수르에 던져 능욕을 당하게 하실 것이다. 이에 수치와 능욕을 당하는 니느웨를 보고 그에게 다가가 그를(앗수르) 도와주기는 커녕 지저분하게 여기면서 멀리 달아날 것이다. 그가 힘과 권력을 가졌을때는 그에게 머리를 조아렸지만 그가 패배하자 아무도 그를 위해 애곡하거나 위로할 자가 없을 것이다. 

8  bNineveh is like a pool

whose waters run away.5

“Halt! Halt!” they cry,

but cnone turns back.

9  Plunder the silver,

plunder the gold!

There is no end of the treasure

or of the wealth of all precious things.

10  dDesolate! Desolation and ruin!

eHearts melt and fknees tremble;

ganguish is in all loins;

hall faces grow pale!

11  Where is the lions’ den,

the feeding place of ithe young lions,

where the lion and lioness went,

where his cubs were, with jnone to disturb?

12  kThe lion tore enough for his cubs

and lstrangled prey for his lionesses;

he filled his caves with prey

and his dens with torn flesh.

13 mBehold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and nI will burn your6 chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and othe voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.

b See ch. 1:1

5 Compare Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

c Jer. 46:5

d See Zeph. 2:13–15

e Ps. 22:14; Isa. 13:7

f Dan. 5:6

g Isa. 21:3

h Joel 2:6

i Isa. 5:29; Jer. 2:15

j See Isa. 17:2

k [Ezek. 19:3]

l [ver. 9; ch. 3:1]

m ch. 3:5; [Zeph. 2:5]; See Ezek. 13:8

n [Ps. 46:9]

6 Hebrew her

o [2 Kgs. 19:9, 23]

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 나 2:8–13.

8 ◎니느웨는 예로부터 물이 모인 못 같더니 이제 모두 도망하니 서라 서라 하나 돌아보는 자가 없도다

9 은을 노략하라 금을 노략하라 그 저축한 것이 무한하고 아름다운 기구가 풍부함이니라

10 니느웨가 공허하였고 황폐하였도다 주민이 낙담하여 그 무릎이 서로 부딪히며 모든 허리가 아프게 되며 모든 낯이 빛을 잃도다

11 이제 사자의 굴이 어디냐 젊은 사자가 먹을 곳이 어디냐 전에는 수사자 암사자가 그 새끼 사자와 함께 거기서 다니되 그것들을 두렵게 할 자가 없었으며

12 수사자가 그 새끼를 위하여 먹이를 충분히 찢고 그의 암사자들을 위하여 움켜 사냥한 것으로 그 굴을 채웠고 찢은 것으로 그 구멍을 채웠었도다

13 만군의 여호와의 말씀에 내가 네 대적이 되어 네 병거들을 불살라 연기가 되게 하고 네 젊은 사자들을 칼로 멸할 것이며 내가 또 네 노략한 것을 땅에서 끊으리니 네 파견자의 목소리가 다시는 들리지 아니하리라 하셨느니라

 The Holy Bible: New Korean Revised Version, electronic ed. (South Korea, n.d.), 나 2:8–13.

8-10절) 약탈 당하는 니느웨

앞서 니느웨가 명시된 적은 없다. 여기에 니느웨가 처음 언급된다. 앞서 6절에서 강들의 수문이 열린 것이 언급되는데 니느웨는 티그리스 강 서쪽 둑에 세워진 도시로 중앙에는 코서 강이 흘렀다. 물이 니느웨를 번성하게 했지만 이제 물로 인해서 심판과 멸망이 임하는 것이다. 

니느웨는 물이 가득한 연못과 같았는데 이제 그 물이 빠져 나가고 있다. 줄줄 새는 연못이 된 것이다.  성안의 사람들이 연합군의 공격으로 인해 모두 도망가는데 ‘서라 서라’라고 외치지만 이를 돌아보는 자가 없다. 본문에서 ‘서라’고 말하는 사람이 침략자들인지 아니면 성을 방어하기 위해서 애쓰는 장교인지 알 수 없다. 이들은 지금 공포에 사로잡혀서 뒤도 돌아보지 않고 도망가고 있는 것이다. 니느웨는 지난 200여년 동안 근동지역의 패권자로 주변 나라들을 침략하여 약탈과 만행을 저질렀다. 이웃 나라들이 가지고 있던 수많은 보물들과 재화들을 약탈했고 또한 그들에게 엄청난 양의 조공을 바치게 하여서 수많은 금과 은, 보물들을 가지고 있었다. 그런데 이제 그 모든 것들을 약탈 당하고 있는 것이다. 풍요롭던 니느웨가 이제 공허하고 황폐하게 되었다. 그곳의 주민들의 상황은 이렇게 묘사된다. ‘떨리는 가슴, 후들거리는 무릎, 끊어질 것 같이 아픈 허리, 그리고 하얗게 질린 얼굴’, 이제까지 주위의 많은 이들의 피눈물을 흘리게 했던 이들이 당하는 고통이다. 위대하던 앗수르는 이제 완전히 무너져 내린 것이다. 

10절의 처음 ‘니느웨가 공허하였고 황폐하였도다’라는 표현은 히브리어로 비슷한 발음으로 표현된다. 이를 GNB는 이렇게 번역했다. ’Nineveh is destoryed, deserted, desolate!'

-  “Pillaged, plundered, and stripped” all sound alike in Hebrew and have similar meanings (bûqâ ûmĕbûqâ ûmĕbullāqâ).64 Though different translations attempt to duplicate the paronomasia into English (e.g., GNB uses “Nineveh is destroyed, deserted, desolate!”), the power of Nahum’s message comes through without the duplication of the Hebrew verse. Nahum’s pictorial language vividly describes the fear of the people of Nineveh. “The sight would send such a shudder through the strongest people that uncontrollable trembling would seize the entire body and their faces blanch. The portrayal is one of abject terror, painted again in synecdoche and picturesque brevity: melting hearts, knees knocking together, bodies writhing, faces made colorless with fright.”65 Nineveh’s reign of terror would end. In Nineveh the people faint before the sure end of Assyria’s dominance.

64 Robertson notes the rhythmic effect of Nahum’s language. “Each successive word is slightly longer than the former, so that a rhythmic buildup reinforces the message. The first two terms occur only here in the OT, and the third appears elsewhere only in Isa 24:1, where it is connected again with the verb bāqaq” (Robertson, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 94).

GNB Good News Bible

65 Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 64.

 Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, vol. 20, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 210.

11-12절) 사자는 힘과 민첩성, 주권을 상징하는 짐승으로 동물의 왕으로 불리운다. 이 강력한 포식자가 잡아 먹히는 짐승들에게는 두려움의 표상이었다. 전통적으로 앗수르는 자신들을 사자와 연관시켰다. 앗수를 왕들은 자신들을 사자로 묘사했고, 그들의 수호신 이스타르가 암사자로, 혹은 사자를 타고 있는 모습으로 자주 등장한다. 

선지자는 ‘사자의 굴이 어디 있느냐?’, ‘젊은 사가가 먹을 곳이 어디 있느냐’라고 묻는다. 이전에는 수사자 암사자가 그 새끼 사자와 함께 거기서 다닐 때 그것들을 두렵게 할 자가 없었다는 것이다. 그곳에서 수사자가 그 새끼를 위해서 먹이를 충분히 찢고 그의 암사자를 위해서 움켜 사냥한 것으로 그 굴을 채웠고 찢은 것으로 그 구멍을 채웠었다. 

그런데 이제 그 굴이 없어졌다는 것이다. 12절은 이전 앗수르가 얼마나 포악하게 주변을 침략하여 빼앗고 약탈했는지를 보여준다. 그들은 자신들의 배를 치우고 자신들의 자녀들을 위해서 남들을 무자비하게 착취하였다. 이제 그 사자의 굴이 없어져 버린 것이다. 

-  Assyrian chronicles and sculpture repeatedly referred to the lion. Assyrian kings often presented themselves in terms that resembled the behavior of lions,71 and the Assyrians boasted of their cruelty toward their enemies. Ishtar, the Assyrian goddess, was often represented as a lioness or as mounted on a lion’s back.72 Nahum thus mocked Assyria’s tactics and its success. To the people of Judah the effect was: How the mighty have fallen!

Nahum asked two rhetorical questions. The effect was to ask, Where now was the lion’s den where he fed his cubs and dwelt in safety? What had happened to mighty Nineveh? God’s judgment had come even to the lion’s den—to Nineveh. The people of Judah no longer would fear the savagery of the lion of Assyria. Coggins and Re’emi point out that on another level “Yahweh himself can be alluded to in the prophetic tradition as a lion (cf. the picture of his roaring in Amos 1:2 and the direct comparison made in Amos 3:8), and that tradition appears to have been in our prophet’s mind in this poem.” They recognize, however, that the more prominent reference here is to the Assyrian rulers as lions.73

Nahum used several words meaning lion, thus driving home the point of Nineveh’s demise.74 In a sense Nahum spoke of the entire Assyrian society. Kings, queens, and princes manifested the beastly traits of lions. All suffered the fate of ruin. They no longer could enjoy the spoil of the nations. They no longer could dwell in safety. Most importantly, they no longer could command fear from the peoples of the world.

The “lion’s den” is a metaphor for Nineveh, a place of safety and rejoicing over the prey. “The place where they fed their young” usually refers to a pasture in Hebrew but may here be understood as “feeding place.”75 The place “where the lion and lioness went” is another metaphor for Nineveh.76 In this place the lion, lioness, and the whelps could roam in safety, oblivious to the dangers of the outside world. All such safety ended for Nineveh.

71 Robertson, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 95.

72 J. D. W. Watts, “Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah,” 114.

73 Coggins and Re’emi, Israel among the Nations, 44. See Isa 5:29.

74 Nahum spoke of the full-grown male lion (אַריֵה), the lioness or possibly Asiatic lion (לָבִיא), the young lion (כְפִיר), and the whelp (גוּר).

75 BHS suggests transposing two Hb. letters, resulting in “cave” rather than “pasture” or “feeding place.” While the transposition better fits the parallelism, the sense of the passage is not unduly affected by “feeding place,” and no manuscript or versional evidence exists to strengthen the transposition. Maier (The Book of Nahum, 278–79) says the emphasis is not on a pasture as a locality but on the food provided by the pasture. Thus he translates “fodder,” which he sees as a figure for “booty.” Patterson (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 77) argues that the term refers to “open country” and “may intend simply the district where the lion’s cave was found.”

76 The LXX uses εἰσελθεῖν, “to enter,” which in Hb. (לָבוֹא) would be only slightly different from lioness (לָבִיא). Those who follow the LXX understand this as a reference to the lion’s return to his den after hunting.

 Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, vol. 20, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 212–213.

13절) 사자처럼 호령하던 앗수르가 이렇게 갑자기 무너져버린 이유는 무엇인가? 바로 여호와 하나님이 그들의 대적이 되셨기 때문이다. 하나님께서는 이처럼 무자비하게 다른 이들을 억압하여 풍요로움을 누리는 것을 용납하지 않으시고 그들을 심판하신 것이다. 

만군의 여호와께서 앗수르의 대적이 되셔서 그들의 병거를 불살라 연기가 되게 하고 젊은 사자들을 칼로 멸한 것이며 당에서 네가 노략한 것을 끊을 것이며 또한 더이상 너의 파견자의 목소리가 들리지 않을 것이다라고 말씀하셨다. 

만군의 여호와께서 우리편이 되시면 대적할 자들이 없다. 반대로 하나님께서 우리의 반대편, 대적이 되시면 이에 견딜 자가 없다. 앗수르는 하나님의 대적이 되어 병거들이 불타없어지고, 젊은 사자들, 젊은이들을 멸하심으로 그들의 미래가 없어지게 하셨다. 또한 모든 노략한 것을 빼았겼고 도움을 청하기 위해서 달려가는 파견자들의 목소리가 들리지 않게 하셨다. 결국 완전한 멸망을 당함으로 다시는 회복되지 못할 것임을 말하는 것이다. 

병거, 젊은 사자, 노략한 것, 파견자는 모두 앗수르의 강력함을 상징하는 것들이다. 그런데 하나님께서 이 모든 것들을 파하실 것임을 말하고 있는 것이다. 

앞서 3-4절의 병거는 불타고, 젊은 사자는 죽임을 당한다. 1장 15절에서 이스라엘에 화평을 전하는 자의 소리는 들리겠지만 앗수르의 메신저의 소리를 다시 들리지 않게 될 것이다. 

-  2:13 I am against you. This divine pronouncement says it all. The final verse of ch. 2 recalls earlier images in the chapter: chariots (vv. 3–4), now up in smoke; young lions (vv. 11–12), now themselves prey to the sword; and messengers, now “no longer … heard” (v. 1 in the Hebrew text [1:15 in the English text]). The Lord’s vengeance (righteous judgment; see note on 1:2), when it comes, is irresistible and final.

ch. chapter

vv. verses in the chapter being commented on

vv. verses in the chapter being commented on

v. verse in the chapter being commented on

 D. A. Carson, ed., NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 1608.

-  “Chariots,” “lions,” “prey,” and “messengers” referred to the strength of the Assyrians. The Lord himself intended to reduce Nineveh’s strength to rubble. Chariots intimidated opposing warriors. At times the chariot contained three soldiers: a driver, a shield bearer, and a warrior. The swift movement of the chariot with the power of its horses and the ferocity of the warrior struck terror in ancient people.86 Again the Lord used Nineveh’s methods to punish them. Nineveh used the chariot to intimidate and to destroy. The warriors of Nineveh left the ruins of its enemies in smoke. God would use the same means to bring an end to Nineveh and to deliver the people of Judah.

The “young lions” connects this verse with the preceding verses, where the lions referred to the power of Nineveh. Though the phrase does not mean much to people unaccustomed to warfare using the sword, the Hebrew text expresses the horror of the sword, “And your young lions will be eaten with the sword.”

The picture of the young lions continues in the next clause: “I will leave you no prey on the earth” (lit., “I will cut off from the earth your prey”). Nineveh had prospered at the expense of its subjugated people. If Nineveh’s armies could not bring back its prey, Nineveh itself would suffer and ultimately fall prey to a greater force.

Nineveh sent its messengers87 and envoys throughout its sphere of influence. Now “the haughty city will have no more representative heralds, for no nation remains to be represented.”88 In Rabshakeh’s negotiations with Hezekiah’s messengers, Rabshakeh’s messengers spoke with the authority of the king and sought to undermine the resistance of the besieged peoples (1 Kgs 18:19–21, 26–27). This shows that “messengers from the Assyrian king were not simply bringers of information; rather, they symbolized the threat that failure to conform to the demand implicit in their message would bring swift and disastrous punishment from the great king of Assyria.”89 Now such messengers were silenced. No one faced their demands anymore. God had spoken the final word.

Verse 13 contains four evidences of the coming end of Nineveh. Because the awesome Lord of the universe is against Nineveh, (1) Nineveh’s chariots would be burned, (2) the sword would devour its soldiers, (3) no prey would be brought back to Nineveh, and (4) the voice of its messengers would be stilled. With vivid words and powerful metaphors, Nahum described the coming destruction of Nineveh as if it had already taken place. The Lord reigns. No nation can long endure that turns its back on God. Israel’s apostasy and Nineveh’s arrogance would both be punished.

Thus “this verse draws together the major motifs and vocabulary of Nahum’s prophecy: the Lord’s inexorable opposition to Nineveh; the destruction of its military resources; the role of ‘sword’ and ‘fire’ that ‘consume’ the enemy; the cutting off of Nineveh and its ‘prey’; the termination of its cruelty, symbolized by the ‘young lions’; and the reversal of fortunes that awaits Assyria and Judah, exemplified in the fate of the ‘heralds.’ ”90

Through these verses the Lord showed himself to be the Lord of the universe, working through history to accomplish his righteous purpose in the world. Nahum declared the Lord’s compassion for Judah by indicating the Lord’s removal of the oppressor.

86 The Hb. text seems strange at this point, reading lit., “I will burn in the smoke her chariot.” The remainder of the verse uses “your” to refer to the Assyrians, and the entire verse is a direct address of the Lord to the Assyrians. For these reasons many translations follow the LXX, which declares God’s intention to burn πλῆθός σου, “your multitude.” BHS proposes “your chariot,” which is followed by the NIV. Other proposals in BHS include “your resting place” and “your thicket.” Each of the proposals has some merit, but the point is clear in all of the ideas: the Lord is against Nineveh and will destroy the power of Nineveh.

87 For “your messengers” the MT has מַלְאָכֵֽכֵה, a “wholly abnormal” form for the second person suffix. GKC (§ 91l) suggests this is a case of dittography with the following ה and recommends reading מַלְאָכַיִךְ.

88 Maier, The Book of Nahum, 286.

89 Coggins and Re’emi, Israel among the Nations, 46.

90 Armerding, “Habakkuk,” 7:479.

 Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, vol. 20, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 215–216.