하나님나라를 꿈꾸며(Kingdom of God)

2 oThe scatterer has come up against you.

pMan the ramparts;

watch the road;

dress for battle;1

collect all your strength.

2  For qthe Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob

as the majesty of Israel,

for plunderers have plundered them

and rruined their branches.

3  The shield of his mighty men is red;

shis soldiers are clothed in scarlet.

The chariots come with flashing metal

on the day he musters them;

the cypress spears are brandished.

4  tThe chariots race madly through the streets;

they rush to and fro through the squares;

they gleam like torches;

they dart like lightning.

5  He remembers uhis officers;

vthey stumble as they go,

they hasten to the wall;

the siege tower2 is set up.

6  wThe river gates are opened;

the palace xmelts away;

7  its mistress3 is ystripped;4 she is carried off,

her slave girls zlamenting,

moaning like doves

and beating their breasts.

o [Jer. 51:20]

p [Jer. 51:12]

1 Hebrew gird your loins

q [Isa. 37:31]

r See Ps. 80:8–13; Isa. 5:1–7

s [Ezek. 23:14, 15]

t [ch. 3:2]

u ch. 3:18

v Jer. 46:12

2 Or the mantelet

w [Isa. 45:1]

x [Isa. 14:31]

3 The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered its mistress is uncertain

y [Isa. 22:8]

4 Or exiled

z Isa. 38:14

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 나 2:1–7.

2 파괴하는 자가 너를 치러 올라왔나니 너는 산성을 지키며 길을 파수하며 네 허리를 견고히 묶고 네 힘을 크게 굳게 할지어다

2 여호와께서 야곱의 영광을 회복하시되 이스라엘의 영광 같게 하시나니 이는 약탈자들이 약탈하였고 또 그들의 포도나무 가지를 없이 하였음이라

3 그의 용사들의 방패는 붉고 그의 무사들의 옷도 붉으며 그 항오를 벌이는 날에 병거의 쇠가 번쩍이고 노송나무 창이 요동하는도다

4 그 병거는 미친 듯이 거리를 달리며 대로에서 이리저리 빨리 달리니 그 모양이 횃불 같고 빠르기가 번개 같도다

5 그가 그의 존귀한 자들을 생각해 내니 그들이 엎드러질 듯이 달려서 급히 성에 이르러 막을 것을 준비하도다

6 강들의 수문이 열리고 왕궁이 소멸되며

7 정한 대로 왕후가 벌거벗은 몸으로 끌려가니 그 모든 시녀들이 가슴을 치며 비둘기 같이 슬피 우는도다

 The Holy Bible: New Korean Revised Version, electronic ed. (South Korea, n.d.), 나 2:1–7.

본문은 니느웨가 어떻게 멸망하는지를 보여준다. 

1절) 나훔 선지자는 니느웨에 적군이 쳐들어왔고 이에 니느웨(앗수르)에게 이를 대적하여 잘 방어해보라고 말한다. 이는 그들의 멸망을 바라는 비웃음에 가깝다. 선지자는 그들에게 

산성(요새)를 지키며

길을 파수하며

네 허리를 견고히 묶고 

네 힘을 크게 굳게하라고 충고한다. 

하지만 본문은 아직 명시적으로 누가 누구를 치는지를 특정하고 있지는 않는다. 이는 선지서의 예언의 특성이다. 이후 8절이 되어서야 이 멸망의 대상이 니느웨라고 특정한다. 

니느웨를 파괴하는 자들이 누구였을까? 나훔은 누가 니느웨를 공격할지를 알고 있었을까? 아마도 메대인과 바벨론인 그리고 스구디아인으로 구성된 연합군이었을 것이다. 나훔은 정확히 누가 니느웨를 공격할지는 몰랐지만 바로 하나님께서 이 일을 이루실 것을 알았다. 앗수르는 주변의 나라들을 매우 무자비하게 짓밟아 왔다. 이들을 이제 하나님께서 치시는 것이다. 

-  When Nineveh fell in 612 b.c., the shatterer was a coalition of Medes and Babylonians under Cyaxeres and Nebuchadnezzar. We do not know whether or not Nahum knew this. For Nahum the ultimate shatterer was God himself. No matter who the human agent of destruction might be, God rendered the Assyrians powerless. He planned to rescue the peoples of the world and particularly to rescue his chosen people from the iron hand of the oppressor.

God had decreed the destruction of Nineveh. The only thing the people of Nineveh could do was attempt to defend themselves. Human nature demands that citizens fight to defend their lives and their property even when the cause is hopeless.

 Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, vol. 20, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 197–198.

2절) 선지자는 니느웨에 대한 멸망을 선포하다가 유다를 향한 회복의 메시지를 전한다. 이러한 내용이 부자연스러워 보이지만 앗수르의 멸망이 유다에게는 회복의 메시지이기때문에 문제는 없다. 

하나님께서 앗수르를 심판하시는 이유는 야곱의 영광을 회복시키기 위해서이다. 본문의 영광은 ‘가온’이라는 표현으로 영광, 높음, 위엄, 자부심을 뜻하는 단어이다. 하나님께서는 땅에 떨어진 이스라엘의 명예를 회복시키실 것이다. 

본문의 영광이라는 단어와 포도나무라는 히브리어가 비슷하다. 

-  The word “splendor” (gĕʾôn) refers to the former majesty of the nation Israel. The Hebrew word means “height” (Job 38:11) and thus eminence either as pride (Exod 15:7; Isa 24:14; Mic 5:3) or as presumption (Jer 13:9; Ezek 16:56; Hos 5:7; 7:10).18 By 627 b.c. Israel had fallen to the Assyrians almost a century earlier, and Judah consisted of a small area surrounding Jerusalem. The former splendor of the nation now consisted only of ancient memories. With the ascendance of Josiah to the throne of Judah in 627 b.c. and the corresponding death of Ashurbanipal of Assyria, a series of events began that saw the literal return of much of the glory of Israel.

Some translations use the word “vine” in place of the word “splendor.”19 The two words are the same except for one Hebrew letter. Hebrew parallelism would normally call for “vine” since the last phrase literally reads “and they have ruined their branches.” “Branches” and “vines” would be parallel. The NIV attempts to follow the Hebrew but also to emphasize the importance of the imagery of the vine by translating “and have ruined their vines.”20

The imagery of the vine is present in the use of the word “branches” in the last section of the verse. In the Old Testament the vine often indicated the nation Israel (Gen 49:22; Isa 5:1–7; Jer 2:21; 12:10; Ps 80:8–16). “The overall theme of this verse is not really changed whichever wording is followed” since the difference is between a figurative expression (“vine”) or a literal one (“splendor”).21

18 HALOT 1:169. DCH (2:293) includes “magnificence” among the definitions. It is especially used of the “splendor of the southern region of the Jordan with its lush vegetation, where lions lurked” (I. Cornelius, “גָּאוֹן,” NIDOTTE 1:789).

19 See especially the JB and Moffatt. This involves an unsupported textual emendation of גאוֹנ to גפנ. Against this see Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 58.

NIV New International Version

20 Longman sees “songs” as another possible translation, indicating the cessation of singing during battle. He compares Isa 24 (“Nahum,” 802).

21 Clark and Hatton, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 27.

 Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, vol. 20, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 200.

3-5절) 본 절은 니느웨를 공격하는 자들을 생생하게 묘사한다. 

그 용사들의 방패는 붉고, 그의 무사들의 옷은 붉으며(보라색) 그 항오를 벌이는 날에 병거가 쇠를 번쩍이며 나아오고 노송나무의 창이 요동을 친다. 그 병거는 엄청난 속도로 거리를 달리며 이리저리 달리는 그것이 횃불같고 번개같이 빠르다. 그가 그의 존귀한 자들을 기억하고 그들이 엎어지면서도 달려 돌격하여 급히 성문에 이르러서 성벽을 부수는 장치를 준비한다. 

당시 첨단무기라고 할 수 있는 병거를 앞세워서 니느웨를 치러 달려오는 적군의 모습을 생생하게 묘사한다. 당시 앗수르를 대적할 나라가 없으리라고 여겨졌지만 선지자는 여호와 하나님께서 이들을 치실 것을 선포한다. 

용사들은 붉은 방패와 자주색 군복을 입었다. 어떤 주석가들은 침략자들의 방패와 군복이 피로 얼룩진 것이라고도 말하지만 적들에게 위압감을 주기 위해서 일부러 붉은 색으로 치장한 것으로 보인다. 당시 앗수르 군인들은 청색 혹은 보라색 군복을 입었던 반면(겔 23:6) 메대와 바벨론 사람들은 붉은 군복을 입었던 것으로 알려져있다.(겔 23:14-15) 침략군들의 창은 그 수를 셀 수 없을 정도로 많고 온 땅을 휩쓸듯이 요동친다. 

번쩍이는 쇠로 무장한 병거가 빠른 속력으로 질주하면서 적들에게 불 화살을 쏘며 돌진한다. 당시 병거는 1-2차 대전시의 탱크와 같았다. 엄청난 위용을 자랑하며 엄청난 속도로 돌진해오는 병거는 두려움의 상징과도 같았을 것이다. 

-  2:3–4 shield … red. Either their shields were painted red, or they were permanently stained with the blood of defeated foes from previous military campaigns. His … he is a reference to the scatterer mentioned in v. 1. The attacking army was a coalition made up of Medes and Babylonians, and possibly Scythians. Cyaxares (625–585 b.c.) was the leader of the Medes (who   p 1715  played the dominant role in the destruction of Nineveh), and Nabopolassar (626–605) led the Babylonians. The streets and squares are those of the suburbs surrounding Nineveh, the first areas to be overrun by the attacking army. flashing metal … gleam like torches. The sunlight reflects off of the metal pieces of the chariots. dart like lightning. This could refer again to the light reflecting, or indicate the swift movement of the chariots.

 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1714–1715.

5절의 전반부 문구는 해석이 난해하다. 이를 ‘정예부대를 앞세우고 넘어지지 않으면서 돌격한다’로 해석하기도 하고 ‘지휘자들이 군대를 지휘한다’로 해석하기도 한다. 달려오는자가 누구인가? 침략군들이 달려오는데 그 침략군들이 넘어진다는 것이다. 이는 엄청난 군대의 사기로 인해서 앞서 동료 군사들이 넘어져도 전혀 멈추지 않고 전진하여 온다는 것으로 그 무엇도 이들을 멈출수 없다는 것이다. 

니느웨 성을 함락시키기 위해서 엄청난 기세로 달려온 이들은 성에 이르러 막을 것(siege tower)를 준비한다. 이는 공성전에서 성벽을 방어하는 수비병들이 공격하는 군사들을 향해서 아래로 던지는 화살이나 창, 돌들과 같은 것들로 부터 그들을 보호해주기 위한 시설물이라고 할 수 있다. 

-  2:5 The attacking army now reaches the wall of Nineveh proper. He remembers. “He” (see v. 3) may be so eager to be involved in the attack that he almost forgets to delegate parts of the operation to his officers. These officers, eager both to join in the attack themselves and to please their superior(s), so rush into the action that they practically stumble over one another. Or, as they move toward Nineveh’s wall, they may stumble over the wreckage in the devastated suburbs. siege tower. This could also be rendered “mantelet” (see ESV footnote), a covering that protects the attacking soldiers from arrows, spears, and other objects thrown down on them by the defenders on the wall.

ESV English Standard Version

 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1715.

6-7절) 강들의 수문이 열리고 왕궁이 소멸되어 왕후가 벌거벗은 몸으로 끌려가니 모든 시녀들이 그들의 가슴을 치며 비둘기 같이 슬피 운다. 

니느웨는 티그리스 강의 서쪽 둑에 세워진 도시로 도시 중심부에 코서 강이 흘러 도시에 생명을 공급했다. 도시 주위의 강은 천연 방어물의 역할을 톡톡히 했다. 하지만 하나님께서 이 싸움에 개입하시자 니느웨에게 유리하게 작용하던 강들이 불리하게 작용하게 된다. 물로 인해서 안전을 보장받았다면 이제 그 물로 인해서 패망하게 된 것이다. 

정확하지는 않지만 범람한 물로 인해서 도시의 방어벽이 무너졌을 것으로 보인다. 침략자들이 강의 상류를 점령하여 수위를 조절했을 것이다. 강의 수문을 막아두었다가 갑자기 수문을 열어 많은 물이 쏟아지게 함으로 도시를 물에 잠기게 했을 것이다. 

방어막이 뚤린 니느웨는 철저하게 유린당한다. 7절의 본문에 왕후(나차브)라는 표현은 매우 난해한 표현이다. 영어 번역본의 대다수는 이제 (니느웨의 멸망이) 선고되었다’라는 의미로 해석한다. 또 다른 학자들은 이를 후잡이라는 이름으로, 이는 앗수르의 수호신인 이스타르라고 해석한다. 이는 전투에 패배함을 통해서 앗수르의 수호신까지 포로로 끌려감으로 그들이 슬퍼하게 될 것이라는 것이다. 더이상 니느웨는 위엄을 유지하지 못하고 적들에게 수치를 당하게 될 것이라는 것이다. 

-  2:6 river gates. The Khoser River flowed through Nineveh; north of the city were dams, most likely with gates to regulate the flow of this river. The besieging coalition could easily have closed the gates (cutting off this water supply), waited until a considerable quantity of water collected, and then opened the gates. The resulting mass of water crashing against and through Nineveh would have done much damage to portions of the city’s wall, system of gates, and internal structures, thus greatly aiding the besiegers. Another river that probably flowed through Nineveh was the Tebiltu, which could have been used by the coalition in the same manner. The destruction caused by the waters no doubt was a factor contributing to the short length of the siege—only three months. The palace melts away because of the floodwaters.

 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1715.

-  2:7 Nahum described the effects of the fall of the city (2:7) once the resistance from the palace collapsed (2:6). Although the effects are certain—people taken into exile, humiliated, and downtrodden—the exact language and meaning is unclear.47 The interpretation hinges on two questions. (1) Should the first Hebrew word in v. 7 be understood as a verb (NIV, “it is decreed”)48 or as the name of the queen or princess of the city of Nineveh? (2) If the word meant a person, does this mean a literal person such as the queen?49

Or does it refer to the city itself or to a goddess of the city?50 If the NIV is correct, the meaning is clear. The city of Nineveh would be stripped and the spoil carried off. The women of Nineveh would go into exile51 as slaves.

Taking the word as a proper name graphically describes the fate of the city. “Huzzab,” the queen of the city, faced humiliation and exile. Among the Hebrews nakedness indicated extreme humiliation, even as it would in modern society. If the queen so suffered, could the ordinary citizens of the city fare any better? The queen’s attendants sorrowfully follow her into exile.52

Another interpretation also deserves consideration. Could the proper name indicate the goddess Ishtar? If so, the idol would be stripped of its valuable decorations and be carried into exile with those who worshiped the goddess. Those sacred prostitutes who served in the temple of Ishtar would go into slavery with their mistress. Meier notes that the Hebrew term for “carried away” carries with it the meaning “to be led up for sacrifice.”53 Such a meaning is certainly appropriate for a defeated nation whose inhabitants are being carried away to serve the victor’s God.

Nahum sought to portray the effects of God’s fighting against the city of Nineveh. The destruction would be complete. No thing and no one could withstand the onslaught of the attacking forces. The palace would collapse under the attack, and the leaders of Nineveh would go into exile in humiliation.

These words must have made a profound impression on the people of Jerusalem. For over a century the people of Israel and Judah suffered under the ruthlessness and oppression of Assyria. Now those leaders who most benefited from the cruel policies of exile, humiliation, and plunder would suffer exile, humiliation, and plunder.

47 Roberts (Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 60) says the first word of the sentence “has given rise to a host of interpretations, but none of them is convincing.”

NIV New International Version

48 Armerding (“Habakkuk,” 7:477) shows linguistic parallels strongly supporting NIV translation, but Longman (“Nahum,” 806) says this involves an extension of meaning of the verb and is “speculative” and “awkward.” To take it as the name of the Assyrian queen is an option that Longman says has been “properly ridiculed” by G. R. Driver, “Farewell to Queen Huzzab [Nah 2:8]!” JTS 16 (1964), 296–98, and by H. W. F. Saggs, “Nahum and the Fall of Nineveh,” JTS 20 (1969): 220–25. Longman uses background studies of actions accompanying military defeat to defend the “consensus” that has grown that sees the image of a statue of a defeated goddess being stripped, desecrated, and taken away to the enemy’s temple, followed by devotees beating their breasts in mourning. A yodh must be added to the Hebrew text to get the word הבצי, “beauty,” for the image of the goddess. How such a proposal is any less awkward and speculative than the NIV text may be questioned. Roberts (Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 60) says no attempt to read this as “beauty,” or “gazelle,” or “the lizard” “seems very convincing.” So he favors an emended text with no textual support, relying on a word found only in Akk.: העתלּה (hāʿătallâ), cognate with Akk. etelletu, “princess.”

49 Robertson argues: “The context in no way prepares for the mention of an otherwise unknown Assyrian queen” (Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 91). He prefers the verbal interpretation, translating, “It is settled.” Roberts agrees the queen interpretation “is a relatively late proposal, and there is no historical or inscriptional basis for it” (Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 60).

50 The problem arises with the Hb. word וְהֻצַּב, found only here in the Hebrew Bible. Maier (The Book of Nahum, 256) gives up: “It seems impossible to establish its meaning precisely and definitely,” but then he chooses Huzzab, the Assyrian queen. He lists twelve proposed solutions to the problem and then decides the Hebrew term is written defectively without the final yodh and means “gazelle,” an image of beauty for Israel and thus a poetic reference to the Assyrian queen or to the city (pp. 259–63). Without other references such words are only tenuously translated. The NIV follows the Hb. text, where the word could be translated as a hophal perfect meaning “it is fixed” or “it is decreed” (BDB, 662). Other translations take the word as a proper name, “Huzzab” (see KJV and RSV), which referred to the queen of Assyria or to the statue of the goddess Ishtar (for a discussion of the problems of translations see Clark and Hatton, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, 32–33). G. R. Driver surveyed the various options and based on Greek and Aramaic vocabulary translated the verse to read “the [captive] train goes into exile, they and their slave-girls are carried away” (“Farewell to Queen Huzzab!” JTS 15 [1964]: 296–98). Watts sees here something from the temple, perhaps the idol’s pedestal (“Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah,” 113). Patterson (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 69–70) says the solutions follow three patterns: (1) noun meaning “beauty,” or “lady,” or “mistress,” referring either to the city of Nineveh or to the statue of the goddess Ishtar; (2) verb meaning “decreed” or “dissolved”; (3) some emendation of the text. Patterson follows NASB in seeing the word as a passive verb meaning “dissolved or crumbled,” but he then attaches it to v. 6: “the palace collapses and crumbles.”

NIV New International Version

51 “Be exiled” (NIV) represents Hb. גּלּתה, literally, she was stripped. Patterson (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 70) wants to repoint the Hebrew text and read “her exiles, or her captives,” relating it to 3:10 and providing meaning to 2:7 once he has taken the opening word of the Hebrew text and attached it to the previous verse.

52 Women beating on their breasts is a common rite of lamentation in the ancient Near East; see S. N. Kramer, “The Curse of Agade,” ANETS, 214. Coggins and Re’emi (Israel among the Nations, 42) point out that the normal meaning of the Hb. verb used here—נהג—is “to drive” and could refer to the delicate women of the court being herded like animals and driven off to captivity.

53 Maier, The Book of Nahum, 262.

 Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, vol. 20, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 206–208.