Grace Theological
Journal 10.2 (1989) 183-201
[Copyright © 1989
Grace Theological Seminary; cited with permission;
digitally prepared for use at
Gordon and
PLUNDERING THE LION'S DEN-A
PORTRAIT OF DIVINE FURY
(NAHUM 2:3-11)
J. DARYL CHARLES
Two books of the Bible end with a question. Both are
found in
the prophetic corpus of the OT and both are addressing
One, however, depicts
the reluctance of a prophet fleeing the presence
of the Lord--the book of Jonah; the other, written a century
later,
reflects the burden of the prophet Nahum the Elkoshite,
who decrees
the vengeance and fury of the Lord. In the one book,
repents. In the other,
accepted view that Nahum's prophecy dates between 650 and 612 B.C.
(the
fall of
fallen. At approximately 700 B. C., Esarhaddon
had secured his reign
in
some fifty years
later, precipitating a slow deterioration. After 634
B. C., one may speak of
the Assyrian demise, during which time the
Babylonian revolt,
lasting roughly fourteen years, climaxes in the
year 612. It is the league of Babylonians and Medes which
ultimately
destroys
crumbling ("Though they are yet whole and numerous. . .”)
seat of Istar, patron-goddess of war,
had been used as Yahweh's
vessel to judge
herself was to become the besieged. In this vision-oracle of Nahum,
the audience is given a prophetic and exceedingly descriptive
account
of the assault and sack of the Assyrian stronghold.
Structurally, the
sack of
components: the siege (2:1-5), vain resistance with capture and flight
(2:6-10), and the
prophet's exultation over the destruction (
Both Jonah and Nahum are a commentary on the character of
Yahweh. Interestingly, both draw as a reference point from Exod
34:6-7, an allusion to
Yahweh's compassion and slowness to anger.
Jonah ultimately learns
of Yahweh's mercy. It is Nahum who stresses
Yahweh's justice.
* *
*
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According to the command of Assur
and Istar, I did march. . .
(from
the Assurbanipal Annals)1
The immense armies of Assur
I mustered, and went out to conquer
those cities. With powerful
battering-rams I smashed their fortified walls
and reduced them to the
ground. The people together with their possessions
I took as booty. Those cities. . . I devastated,
destroyed, burned with fire.
(from
the Sargon Annals)2
In the might and strength of the great gods, my
lords, I marched
victoriously in
hands full due to my might, I
returned to
destroyed, laid waste and burned
with fire. Their gods, their inhabi-
tants, their cattle and
herds, their possessions, their goods, wagons,
horses, chariots, spears and
other war-materials I led back to
(from
the Assurbanipal Annals)3
I felled with the sword 800 of their combat
troops, I burned 3000
captives from them. 1 did not
leave one of them alive as hostage. I
captured alive. . . their city
ruler. I made a pile of their corpses. I burnt
their adolescent boys and
girls. I flayed. . . their city ruler and draped
his skin over the wall of
the city.
(from
an inscription of Tigiath-Pileser 1)4
In the Genesis 10 table of nations, a brief and
somewhat more
personal narrative is found in the midst of an
otherwise "dry" gene-
alogy delineating the
offspring of Noah's sons following the flood. Of
interest are three particular items: (1) mention
of Nimrod as "a
mighty hunter" (twice in v 9), (2) allusion to
11-12),
and (3) the statement that out of that land "he went forth to
Assur"
(v 11).
Certainly characteristic of his progeny to come, Nim-
rod5 exercised rule from Uruk in the south to
stretching eastward with the
1 S. A. Smith, ed., Die Keilschrifttexte Asurbanipals,
Konigs von Assyrien (668-
626 vor
Christus) (2 vols.;
75 (col. 10).
2 A. G. Lie, ed., The Inscriptions of Sargon II King of
Assyria-Part I: The Annals
(
3 Smith, Keilschrifttexte, 41-42 (col. 5).
4 A. K. Grayson, Assyrian Royal
Inscriptions (2 vols.;
1975) 2.547.
5 Cf. Mic 5:5,
where the prophet employs this older designation for "
context of Assyrian military advance, the
imminent siege of
eschatological promise (5: 1-5).
6 P. E. Botta, The Buried City of the East:
Lib., 1851) 27.
CHARLES: PLUNDERING THE LION'S DEN 185
the establishment of his rule, there is no mention
in the OT of his
kingdom for another 1500 years.
The first allusion to
twenty-first century B.C.,7 from
whence is found the etching of a fish
in the middle of a city drawn in the form of an
ideogram. The fish
emblem was that of the goddess Nina.8 From
the time of the kings of
to Istar, goddess of
love and war, to whom the oldest temple in
in Nahum 3 the blending of both "harlot"
(vv 4-6)9 and "war" (vv 1-3)
imagery.
Many of the reliefs
found in the royal
boast of the pride of
for the king to take part in lion-hunts,11
since such provided the best
training for the battlefield.12 Because the Assyrians
never lacked for
warfare,13 it is thus fitting that
the imagery of roaring, devouring
lions--used to depict Yahweh in chap. 1 and to taunt
the Assyrians in
chap.
2--is exploited in the Nahum prophecy. Here one encounters
vivid representation of the Assyrian war-machine.
Isaiah, a contempo-
rary to Sargon II, described
the advance of the Assyrian juggernaut:
Their roaring is like
that of a lion,
They roar like young
lions;
They growl upon seizing
their prey
And carry it off where
none can rescue.
(Isa
5:29)
Throughout the book of Nahum "Assyrian
propaganda”14 is
being utilized, much of which is found in Isaianic traditions one
hundred years earlier. But whereas Isaiah
portrayed the awesomeness
7 A. Parrot,
8 Note the connection between another
prophet addressing
Jonah.
9 References will follow the Hebrew Bible.
10 A bounty of information is available due
to Assyrian reliefs, most of which
graphically depict facets of Assyrian warfare.
Particularly useful is Y. Yadin's The Art
of Warfare in Biblical Lands (2 vols.; New York-Toronto-London:
McGraw-Hill,
1963), esp. 2.291-314 with corresponding
illustrations.
11 Cf. M. Wolff and D. Opitz, "Jagdpferde in der altorientalischen und klassischen
Kunst,"
AfO 10
(1936) 317-58, esp. 328-30. In
lion sculptures and eight reliefs
were found which showed the king chasing a wild bull
and a lion (see Botta,
12 Parrot,
13 A. Parrot (Nineveh, p. 72)
described peace to the Assyrians as that "unstable
armistice" which was made to be broken. It
was of little use.
14 S. P. Machinist, "
736.
186
GRACE
THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
of
that the northern power is to be felled, and this by
the Lord of Hosts
Himself:
"'I am against you,' says the Lord of Hosts" (
Using
theophany at the outset of his prophetic outcry,
Nahum is not
disposed to depict a mere random demonstration of
Yahweh's might.
Rather,
the "burden" (xW.Ama)15 which he is carrying
(1:1) is focused on
revealing the divine purpose:16 the
anger and fury of the Lord of
Hosts is directed toward judgment. For,
The Lord God has spoken; who can but
prophesy?"17
Who can withstand His indignation?
Who can endure His
fierce anger?
His fury is poured out like fire,
The rocks are shattered
before Him.18
Following
the opening hymn of theophany,19 the divine
purpose
unfolds: the yoke of the Assyrian oppressor is
to be broken (
The
unit 2:3-11 serves graphically and dramatically to give reassur-
ance that the affliction
spoken of in
(
this is how catastrophe will strike
POETIC AND GENRE
ANALYSIS OF 2:3-11
Nah 2:3-11 has been classified in literary type
as a "vision-
oracle" or "vision-report.”20 M.
Sister,21 F. Horst,22 and B. O.
Long23
all build on Hermann Gunkel's
distinction made earlier this century
between NOzhE ("vision")
and rbaDA ("word" or
"hearing"). That is, the
prophet is not merely a messenger of Yahweh (and
hence, the rbaDA).
He
also reports what he has seen (NOzhE). The nature of the
content
found in the vision-report could encompass a threat,
a promise, a
15 The term is derived from xWn, "lift up" or "bear," hence a
"load" (H. S. Gehman,
"The 'Burden' of the Prophets," JQR 31 [1940] 109).
16 H. Schulz, Das Buch Nahum
(BZAW 129; Berlin: de Gruyter, 1973) 74-75.
17 Amos 3:8; cf. 1:2.
18 Nah 1:6.
19 For further discussion of the theophanic hymn, see Schulz, Nahum, pp. 74-
75.
See also J. Jeremias, Theophanie. Geschichte einer alttestamentlichen
Gattung
(Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1965).
20 S. M. Sister, "Die
Typen der prophetischen Visionen in der Bibel." MGWJ 78
(1934)
399-430. Others following suit are A. S. van der Woude (Jona, Nahum [Amster-
dam:
Nijkerk, 1978] 97), R. F. Ungem-Sternberg
and H. Lamparter (Der Tag des
Gerichtes Gottes [
Habakkuk-Zephanja [
21"Typen," 399-430.
22 "Die Visionsschilderungen der Propheten," EvTh 20 (1960) 193-205.
23 "Reports of
Visions among the Prophets," JBL
95 (1976) 353-65.
CHARLES: PLUNDERING THE LION'S DEN 187
rebuke, a word of consolation, a judgment-speech, or a
call to listen.
Horst
describes the vision-report as the announcement of the intrinsic
out-working of Yahweh's purpose as perceived by the
prophet,24
whereby image and word are closely linked.25
Such a definition would
indeed fit Nahum's oracle.
The language and style of the vision are living
and dramatic, full
of intensity and force. Scene upon scene storms
upon the reader's
mind, with an acceleration throughout the book
reaching a near-fever
pitch. In effect, the audience finds itself amidst
the destruction and
ruin, feeling the full impact with the inner eye.
Apocalyptic in char-
acter, the vision-report depicts
Yahweh's hand behind all The audi-
ence is enveloped in the
sobering awareness of divine retribution.
The prophet is a genuine literary artist.
Included in the variety of
his literary modes are a hymn (1:2-9), a threat (
a salvation-oracle (I: 12-2:3), a vision-report
(2:4-10), a taunt (
and 3:7-10), a woe-oracle (3:1-3) and a rhetorical
accusation (
Specifically
in 2:3-11, he utilizes four particular devices: sound-play,
irony, repetition and striking imagery. The latter is
perhaps most
evident, engulfing the whole of the
vision-report and playing upon
several of
deluge (vv 7-8), the palace (v 7), the temple cult of Istar (v 8),
military plunder and the taking of spoils (v 10),
and helpless reaction
to siege and fall (v 1 I). In examining the
vision-report, one cannot
help but be struck by the abundance of parallel or
contrasting images:
2:3 Jacob //
"restoring"
vs. "wasting" and "ruining"
2:4 "shield" // "chariots"
// "spears"
"reddening"
// "making scarlet"
"covering"
// "array"
2:5 "raging" //
"reverberating"
"torches"
// "lightning"
2:6 nobles of the past vs. stumbling of the
present
"stumbling"
vs. "dashing"
2:7 "sluice-gates" opening // palace
dissolving
24 While the task of the prophet was to
"forth-tell" the hrhy
rbaD; it is erroneous to
extract the prophetic-predictive element from
the context of his utterances, as is so
often the case among modern readers. Indeed Nahum is
affirming the sovereignty of
Yahweh
and triumph in history, yet it is significantly before (note the pro-in
profh<thj), not after, the event
(contra A. S. van der Woude,
"The Book of Nahum: A
Letter Written in Exile," OTS [1977] 108-26). Furthermore,
(
25 Horst, "Visionsschilderungen," 193-205.
188
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2:8 the city's "queen”26 //
"her maidens"
moaning // "beating the
breasts"
2:9 "pool of waters" // "its
waters"
two cries vs. no one
looking
silver and gold //
"store"
"precious
things" // "glory" or "wealth"
"melting
heart" // "buckling knees"
"trembling
bodies" // "paling faces"
2:3-11 AS A UNIT
The vision-report contained in 2:3-11 follows an
oracle to
in which comfort (
promised. The prophet's message is emphatic:
"Now I will break. . ."
Though
tables are about to be turned. Yahweh will restore
"
to its prestige (2:3a). How is it, then, that the
tables will be turned?
The
prophet offers a vivid preview in the climactic vision-report of
2:3-11.
Following the dramatic fall of
"lion" in 2:12-13. How is it, voices the prophet, that
the "plunderer"
has become the "plundered"?! The first of
two divine affirmations
then
ensues: "'I am against you,' says the Lord of Hosts" (
order to view 2:3-11 in the context of the whole
prophecy, we would
suggest the following structure for the book as
a whole:28
1: 1 Introduction
:2-10 Hymn
of Theophany: the Lord Comes in Judgment
:12-2:2 Oracle
of Hope to
2:3a Transition:
the Announcement
:3b-11 Vision-
Report: the Plunder of
: 12-13 Taunt: Where are the Lions?
:14 Threat:
Promised Destruction
3:1-3 Judgment Speech: Woe to the War-Goddess
:4-6 Judgment
Speech: Woe to the Love-Goddess
:7 Taunt:
:8-10 Taunt:
26 One's rendering of 2:8 pending. See pp.
8-9.
27 Also in 3:5.
28 For a helpful discussion on the
structure of Nahum, see
Weltreich im Urteil der Propheten (Gottingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht,
1908) 177-79.
CHARLES: PLUNDERING THE LION'S DEN 189
: 11-18 Threat:
: 19 Taunt/ Accusation: Final Word on
COMMENTARY
2:3
As in the closing question of
clause29 to introduce the
vision-report: "Indeed the Lord is restoring
the splendor of Jacob . . ." The Hebrew
particle yKi ("for,"
"indeed")
underscores the divine purpose behind
restorative work of Yahweh. Verse 3 is emphatic
("even the glory of
Yahweh
would storm the enemy's citadel, 2:2 serves as a call
to
watch, to man the ramparts. It is to the Ninevites that the commands
"climb the ramparts," "keep watch" and
"keep guard" are spoken. In
Assyrian
reliefs, the ramparts are always manned.30
However, in 2:1,
the roles are reversed. The inhabitants of
besieged. It is they who will need to deal with
the assault. The
reversal is demonstrated in 2:3b. Those normally
"devastating" (qqaBA),
the Assynans, are now on
the receiving end: "the devastators are
being devastated.”31
Verse 3 shows that Yahweh works within history.32
His work is
one of "restonng"
(bUw), as in Ps 126:1:
"When the Lord restored the
fortunes of
Yahweh
is restoring Jacob's/
(NOxGA). In Isa
14:11, NOxGA is the "pomp"
of the king of
to be cast down. In Isa
23:9, it is the "pride" of
of Hosts would stain. Similarly, in Jer 13:9, Yahweh declares that He
would mar the "pride" of
is the "pride" of Jacob which the Lord
abhors. Here, however, the
NOxGA is being restored,
insofar as the Assyrian yoke is to be loosened.
29 Of the six yKi-clauses in Nahum (
to give accent:
Nahum," JNWSL
7 (1979) 6.
30 Parrot,
31 See J. Halevy,"Le Livre de
Nahum," RevSem
13 (1905) 107.
32 C. A. Keller, "Die theologische Bewiiltigung der geschichtlichen Wirklichkeit in
der Prophetie
Nahums," VT
22 (1972) 411, is of the opinion that Nahum alludes to
few--if any--specific facts regarding history.
Contrarily, we would argue that Nahum
is quite accurate in depicting specifics of
disregard what has been commonly known regarding
example, A. Parrot (cf. n. 7) and P. E. Botta (cf. n. 6). Also, A. H. Layard,
and Its Remains (2 vols.;
475-
76. In truth, the accuracy of the prophet is astounding.
190
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The
tone of 2:3 is not so much "restorative" in an exilic sense,33 as it
is firstly in an imminent sense (release from
dreaded Assyrian domi-
nation in the late seventh century B.C.). And yet, the
restoration of
Jacob,
even
which will be reminiscent of the former monarchy.
Cathcart34 cor-
rectly notes that the phrase
"like the splendor of
fluous;35 rather, it reinforces
the ideal notion of
the metaphor of "wasted vines" present in
v 3 also appears in Hos
10:1,
in which context
2:4
With almost apocalyptic fervor, Nahum describes
the array of
war-materials "in the day of
preparation." The shields of the warriors
are "made red" (MdexA) and the valiant men are "in scarlet" (flaTA).36 The
imagery derived from the red color is fantastic
and fear-evoking.37
Some
would corroborate Ezek 23:6 and 14 (reference to the Assyrian
violet) with the notion that red was the color of the
Babylonian and
Median
armies,38 and thus, Nahum is seeing their
approach.39 As
to the "reddened shields," several
explanations have been advanced:
(1)
a dying or treating of the leather, as in 2 Sam 1:21
and Isa 21:5,40
(2)
the reflection of the sun against copper, as in 1 Macc
color of victorious might,42 and (4) blood
dripping.43 Since the con-
text still entails "preparation," (OnykihE MOyB;),
the latter explanation
would be insufficient. However, to be conclusive on
the "reddening" is
33 Contra van der Woude, "Letter,"
108-26.
34 "More
Studies," 6.
35 Contra van der Woude ("Letter,"
118) who dates Nahum during the exile.
36 Interestingly, both Mdexa and flaTA appear together in Isa
37 Consider the red appearance of the
apocalyptic horseman in Rev 6:4 and the
dragon of red in Rev 12:3.
38 Gadd ("Fall," 475) notes that a combined assault of
Babylonians, Medes and
Scythians
resulted in
city had been made for three years prior.
39 See for example, P. Billerbeck
and A. Jeremias, "Der Untergang Ninevehs und
die Weiss agung des Nahum
von Elkosch," BA 3 (1898) 97, and E. Sellin, Das Zwolf-
prophetenbuch (2 vols.;
40 J. H. Eaton, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk
and Zephaniah (London: SCM, 1961)
65,
and earlier, B. Duhm, "Anmerkungen
zu den zwolf Propheten," ZAW 31 (1911)
103.
41 A. B. Davidson and C. O. Lanchester, The Books of
Nahum, Habakkuk and
Zephaniah (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1920)26.
42 von Ungern-Sternberg,
Der Tag, 228.
43 J. M. P. Smith, A Critical and
Exegetical Commentary on Micah, Zephaniah,
Nahum, Habakkuk, Obadiah and Joel (Edinburgh: Clark, rep.
1974) 312.
CHARLES: PLUNDERING THE LION'S DEN 191
impossible. The NgemA was a smaller shield,
probably made of leather
and coated with grease.44
Many interesting explanations for the tOdlAP;-wxeB; have been
offered in the history of the text. A. Haldar considered this hapax
legomenon to
be enigmatic ("perhaps an epithet for fire").45 Some
consider it to have been a metal instrument of
some type.46 A. Bil-
lerbeck and A. Jeremias,47
having earlier construed it to be a technical
military term, would seem to be most accurate. In
describing the
reliefs found among the remains
of
to the grandeur with which even the horses pulling
the Assyrian
chariots (cf. vv 4 and 5) were clad. Embroidered
cloths were fre-
quently draped over the backs
of the steeds.49 Ezekiel seems to have
this very thing in view when he states "Dedan was your merchant in
elegant saddle blankets" (27:19). The
"horses" or "chariots" or "char-
gers"50 flashing as fire would
evoke a fearsome image, just as the bk,r,
of Hab 1:
Their horses are swifter than leopards,
Fiercer
than wolves at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
Their horsemen come from
afar. . . 52
Moreover,
the "cover" draped over the horses leading the war-chariots
could have furnished a third "red" object,
along with the shield and
uniform. Indeed, "flashing as fire"
would be a fitting description.53
The "spears quivering" (UlfAr;hA
Mywirb;ha) were the spears (similar to
the Akkadian
"staff," parussu)54
of the cavalry (the second fighting
44 T. K. Cheyne
("Influence on
devised a more fanciful emendation and rendering
of v 4: "The warriors gird on their
tunics, and the fighting men put on their shoes."
45 A. Haldar,
Studies in the Book of Nahum
(Uppsala: Lundquist, 1947) 44.
46 E.g., Davidson (Books, 26), Smith (Commentary,
314) and Rudolph (Micha-
Nahum, 165).
47 "Untergang," 97.
48 Nineveh
and Its Remains (2 vols.;
49 Cheyne, "Influence,"pp. 106-7, saw this as a harness or
decoration for the horse.
Further,
M. Dietrich and O. Loretz, "Zur
ugaritischen Lexicographie,"
BO 25 (1968)
100-101,
argue that "wool" or "linen," not steel, appears to be the
constitution of
trodlAP;. See also C. H. Gordon,
Ugaritic Textbook (AnOr
38;
Institute, 1965) 2045.
50 S. Davidson, Books, p. 27.
51 A common practice was to use males for
war-horses, whose excitement over
mares was exploited. See M. Pope, "A Mare in
Pharaoh's Chariotry," BASOR 200
(1970) 60.
52 Habakkuk's "burden" is
similar: vengeance and judgment.
53 Cf.
54 T. H. Gaster,
"Two Notes on Nahum," JBL
63 (1944) 52.
192
GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
unit), whose shafts were made of wood,55
and not those of the foot-
soldiers, who, serving as shock troops, were
decisive in assaulting the
fortified walls.56
2:5
The chariots "rage" in the streets and
they "reverberate as thun-
der”57 in the squares. Nahum is using vivid
imagery to heighten the
effect of the vision-report. Note how effective the
"echo" notion is in
the "broad ways" or "squares.”58
The "streets" would most likely be
in the suburban areas.59 Significantly,
weapon, the chariot corps, was comprised of highly
developed chariots
drawn by a team of three horses with a two- or
three-man crew.6o The
raging back and forth of enemy chariots within the
city would indi-
cate, at any rate, that the
double fortifications of the Assyrian capital
were of no avail.61
In 2:5b, the prophet further depicts the mad
fury of the invading
chariots storming through
lightning. C. H. Gordon62 maintains dyPilA ("torch") to be a non-
Semitic
loan-word and suggests that new kinds of torches and lamps
were introduced by the technically superior
Philistines.
looks for the Akkadian
equivalent in the Mari texts.
The following rendering then of v 5 would relate
the climactic
level of intensity which has been building in 2:3-11
thus far:
In the streets the chariots are madly raging;
They reverberate in the
open squares,
Their appearance being like torches
That
give
flashes of lightning.
2:6
In v 6, we incur a stroke of irony as Nahum
alludes to past!
Assyrian
military splendor which is contrasted with the present de-
55 Cf.
56 Yadin, Warfare, 291.
57 J. Reider,
"Studies in Hebrew Roots and Their Etymology," AJSL 34 (1917) 68.
58 Cathcart
(Nahum, 90) notes that it is in the squares that people will be yelling ,
(cf.
v 9: Udm;fE Udm;fi).
59 S. Billerbeck
and Jeremias, "Untergang,"
p. 100.
60 Yadin, Warfare, 297-98. The third horse served
as a replacement (by the time of
Sargon
II, some chariots even utilized a team of four horses). Under Assurbanipal, the
chariot became most advanced, carrying a crew of
four men-a driver, an archer, and
two shield-bearers.
61 See n. 71 on the somewhat exaggerated
ancient descriptions of
cations, which, to be sure,
reflect superior defensive measures.
62 "Homer and the
Bible," HUCA 26 (1955) 61.
63 "Zur Etymologie on Lappid 'Fackel,'" ZAW 74 (1962) 323.
CHARLES: PLUNDERING THE LION'S DEN 193
bacle. Instead of exhibiting
valor and courage as that of old ("he
recalls
the nobles" of past military campaigns), they are now stumbling
in their own steps. Contra T. H. Gaster64
and K. Cathcart65 ("he
musters") as well as J. M. P. Smith66
("he summons"), the context
seems to require a touch of irony-irony which
provides the appro-
priate contrast to the
"stumbling" or "staggering" (lwaBA). Here the
LXX,
mnhsqh<sontai oi[ megista?nej au]tw?n
("they recall their great
men "), catches the correct sense, as does W.
Rudolph:67 "He remem-
bers his men of pomp."
They "hasten" or "press" to
the wall, that is, the fortress-wall,
not the wall of the temple (contra Eaton),68
for the process of the
siege is being intensified.
outside and its walls cannot withhold the flood
of incoming assailants.
In
Volume II of his
hearses the procedure of how the city would have
been stormed. The
first step was the use of the battering-ram. Isa 37:33, Jer 32:24 and
Ezek
"towers." The Assyrian army utilized infantry, cavalry
and chariot
corps. What distinguished Assyrian military prowess
was its ability to
combine the storming of the ramparts, scaling of
the city-walls,
tunneling, exploiting breaches in the walls and
the use of psycho-
logical warfare against the enemy.70
Ezekiel's symbolizing of siege
upon
a fort against it; build a ramp, set up camps
against it and battering-
rams around it" (4:2).
Ladders were used against the gates of the city
as well as to scale
the walls at vulnerable points. Soldiers would man
the base of the
ladders to provide defense.71
"Preparing the cover" (j`kes.oha
Nkahu) refers
to the mobile protective covers which were put up
to shield the
assailants from stones, arrows, etc., being hurled
from the wall.72
64 "Two Notes,"
52.
65 More
Studies, 6.
66 Commentary, 314.
67 Micha-Nahum, 168.
68 Obadiah,
Nahum, 65.
69 pp.281-86.
70 See, for example, Yadin,
in Warfare, pp. 318-23. In no other
period, writes
Yadin, was warfare on
fortified cities so highly developed as by the Assyrians (p. 313).
71 Xenophon, in Anabasis 3.4.7, parts of which are
reproduced in P. Haupt,
"Xenophon's Account of the Fall of
(cited in Layard,
thickness of twenty-five feet. Further, it was to
have included 1500 towers (each of
which was 200 feet high), being constructed by a corvee of 1,400,000 men over a period
of eight years. Xenophon
viewed the ruins some 200 years after the city's destruction.
72 Parrot,
are laying siege, one is immediately struck by the
large top-curved shield of the
194
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Further,
battering-rams, which had appeared during the reign of
Assurbanipal,73 aided in storming the gates and walls. Soldiers operat-
ing them (the mechanism
consisted of a wooden frame perched on a
chassis with six wheels)74 were
covered on the sides by shields.75 This
scene, as depicted in v 6, is illustrated frequently
on Ninevite reliefs.
2:7
There can be little doubt that the "gates
of the rivers" (yrefEwa
tOrhAn.;ha) refer not to the gates to the city, rather to the
"water- or
canal-gates.”76 Bordered on the west side
by the
also divided by a mountain stream running through
the city and
surrounded by a moat which measured fifteen feet
deep and one
hundred fifty feet wide.77 D. J.
Wiseman78 offers the suggestion that
breaches in
high tide of the
advanced a similar notion, maintaining that as
much as twenty fur-
longs (roughly two-and-one-half miles) of wall may
have been swept
away. Regardless of any speculation, the mention in
1:8 of an "over-
running flood"80 and
"devastation," in addition to "pools of water"
and "fleeing" in 2:9, would indicate that
here we are not merely
dealing with a literary metaphor, or with
ancient Near East chaos-
symbolism,81 but rather a literal
flooding of the canal-gates of the
based on traditions they received.84
Assyrian soldier. It protects him from
arrows being shot from the wall above (see
renderings in Y. Yadin,
"The Earliest Representation of a Siege Scene and a 'Scythian
Bow' from Mari," IEJ 22 [1972] 93.
73 Yadin, Warfare, 314.
74 Ibid.
75 Ibid.
76 So P. Humbert,
"La vision de Nahoum 2,4-11,"
AfO 5
(1928) 16; K. Cathcart,
Nahum, p. 95; ibid., More Studies,
p. 7; and P. Machinist, "
77 Haupt, "Xenophon," 99.
78 Chronicles
of Chaldean Kings (626-556 B.C.) in the
79 Buried
City, 37.
80 See the discussion of "water"
in the commentary on 2:9, p. 9. Cf. also R. Borger,
Die Inschriften
Asarhaddons, Konigs von Assyrien (AfO Beih. 9;
lage des Ausgebers,
1958).
81 Contra J. D. W. Watts, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum,
Habakkuk
and Zephaniah (Cambridge: Cambridge U., 1975) 113.
82 Anabasis 3.4.12.
83 Library 2.26-27.
84 From a clay prism of Sennacherib's time,
east side and five on the west or river-side (cf. Sellin, Zwolfprophetenbuch, 2.368).
CHARLES: PLUNDERING THE LION'S DEN 195
A fitting contrast to the "flooding"
of water in the city is Nahum's
image of the "palace melting" (gOmnA lkAyheha). The gutting of the
city is
thorough. The royal palace (not Istar's temple),85 a
work of lofty
magnificence, is dissolved in the
midst of the catastrophe. It is interest-
ing that the palace was
situated on the west side of the city, nearest
the river. Doubtless the prophet has the scenes
which were etched on
the walls of the royal residence--a constant
reminder of
prowess in conquering--in mind as he reports the
vision.
2:8
G. R. Driver86 responded in 1964 to
the hilarity he found in
traditional commentary on Nah 2:8 concerning the
cryptic bca.hu.
Not a
few notions have been offered as to its correct
interpretation.87 These
include (1) the Assyrian proper name Husabu,88
(2) the rabbinic view
that this is an inference to an unknown queen
(queens were made to
"stand”
[htAl.;Gu] at the right hand),89
(3) a transposing of the third word
htAlAfEho, re-pointing it so as
to render it the Hebrew equivalent of the
Assyrian
"queen" (etelletu),90 (4) a contracted form of hbAcefEhA, a
"female idol" (cf. Isa 48:5),91
(5) an emendation to read ybic.;ha ("the
beauty"),92 (6) agreement with the LXX
reading h[ u[po<stasij while
citing the Akkadian gullatu
("column base"),93 (7) a cryptic name for
As
a suggested solution to this problem, we would cite several
factors without seeking radically to emend the
MT: (1) the verb
"carry away" which is immediately following, (2) the
practice of the
Assyrians
after they have laid siege to a city, (3) the feminine
endings
in v 8, (4) the custom of addressing a city by its
queen,97 (5) the
85 Contra Eaton, Obadiah, Nahum, 65.
86 "Farewell to Queen
Huzzab!" JTS 15 (1964) 296-98.
87 M. Breitenreicher
(Nineve und Nahum [Munchen:
Lentner, 1861] 71) counted at
least twenty different renderings.
88 Halevy,
"Nahum," 112.
89 Driver,
"Farewell," 296.
90 van der Woude, "Letter," 114.
91 J. Reider,
"A New Ishtar Epithet in the Bible," JNES
8 (1949) 104-7.
92 Cathcart,
More Studies, 7.
93 H. W. F. Saggs,
"Nahum and the Fall of
94 Davidson, Books, 30.
95 Haldar,
Studies, 52.
96 A. Van Hoonacker,
Les douze petits prophetes (Paris:
Etudes bibliques, 1908)
438.
97 See, for example, A. Fitzgerald,
"The Mythological Background for the Presen-
tation of
CBQ 34 (1972) 403-16. Fitzgerald (p. 405)
notes that ancient capital cities were
virtually equated with their goddesses.
196
GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
forceful role Istar
played in Assyrian war, and therefore, in
demise, and (6) the relationship between bc.hu and "her maidens”98
following. The "bemoaning of her”99
and "breast-beating" in 2:8b and
c appear as consequences of the "carrying
away" in 2:8a. The visual
effect being generated here is one of strong irony. M.
Delcor100 has
correctly noted the context in which 2:8 is found:
ruin. While the
Istar symbolism is absent from Nahum 1, it surfaces
in 2:8 and 3:4-6.
In
texts stemming from the time of Assurbanipal, the
patron-goddess
is frequently called "Istar
of Nineveh, the heavenly queen."101
Once
a siege had been successful, a common scene was to find
women appearing at the walls begging for mercy.102
cedure was that an
indiscriminate slaughter followed. Any women,
children or cattle remaining would be led away
captive by the Assy-
rians on carts drawn by oxen.
If indeed a "queen-type" is the focus of
2:8-and
her cultic devotees are implied in the verse-then it is fitting
that the prophet would announce the breaking of the
Assyrian back-
bone in such symbolic terms: "Istar of Nineveh, genius of war,103 that
"lady of
as the spoil of the Lord of Hosts!" We agree
with L. Gry104 that, at
the very least, Istar
should be in the background of the oracle depict-
ing
tress of tumult," the one "who adorns
battles.”105 Nahum would not
spare so strategic a motif!
2:9
resourceful, through her whole history,106
indeed, from the begin-
98 In a Hurrian
hymn dedicated to Istar, praise is offered twice to
her attendants
(for a translation of the hymn, see H. G. Guterbock,
"A Hurro-Hittite Hymn to Istar,"
JAOS 103 [1983] 155-58.
99 On "moaning," see Ezek 7:16.
On doves and mourning, see Isa 59:11.
100 "Allusions a la deesee
Istar in Nahum 2,81" Bib 58 (1977) 72-73.
101 In his Annals, Assurbanipal
will use this designation twelve times in ten columns
(Stele Rm 1). The text is reproduced
in Smith, Keilschrifttexte,
1.3-83.
102 Layard,
103
One might indeed argue, as M. Weippert (" 'Heiliger Krieg' in
syrien,"
ZAW 84 [1972] 460-93), that
Consider
an excerpt from an Esarhaddon text: "I, Esarhaddon, . .
. in trusting the great
gods, my lords, did not turn my back in the midst of
battle. . . As a lion I waxed
furious. . . To the gods Assur. . . to Istar of Nineveh I lifted my hands. With their
dependable word they sent me . . .: 'Go! Do not
hold back! At your side we go and
slay your enemies.'. . . Quickly I marched on the
way back to
lord of war and battle. . . stood at my side and
loosed their battleplan, so that they all
cried, 'This is our war!'" (cited
from R. Borger, Asarhaddons,
43f.).
104 "Un Episode des Derniers
Jours de Nineve (Nahum ii,8)," RB 7
(1910) 402.
105 From a text of Tiglath-Pileser
I (see Grayson, Inscriptions, p. 52).
106 Cf. Jonah 1:2 and
CHARLES: PLUNDERING THE LION'S DEN 197
ning.107 Her strength, however,
in v 9, is not merely "receding";108 it is
vanishing cataclysmically, "fleeing" (sn). The prophet's depiction here
is reminiscent of an image commonly found in
Assyrian texts: the
king advancing into battle is likened to raging
water,109 symbolic of
terrifying destruction. In sharp contrast to her
proverbial invincibility,
enterprising spirit, and aggression,
impotent. In the prophetic eye, it is Yahweh, the
ruler of the nations
and divine warrior, who manifests Himself as an
overwhelming flood
(1:8).
battle description found in Jeremiah:
What do I see?
They are terrified,
They are retreating,
Their warriors are
defeated.
They flee (sn) in haste without looking
back
And there is terror on
every side.
(46:5)
In spite of man's cry to
"Stay!"
(UdmofE, Udm;fi),
(note the emphatic pronoun xyhi: "the waters of
her") are vanishing.
In
contradistinction to the inundation coming from without, her
strength is vanquished within. Nahum compares the
unstoppable
stormers with the unstable
fleers.
Verse 10 rushes toward fulfillment of Nahum's
opening proclama-
tion: "The Lord takes
vengeance. . . The Lord takes vengeance. . ."
(1:2).
The exhortation is now to plunder. The treasures which
were
brought home by Assurbanipal's
army from
lous.110 The testimony of the
Assyrian kings which became ritual was:
I scattered, I stormed and conquered the town. .
. I carried away
booty."111
I marched. . . ,
destroying, tearing down and burning. . . , carrying
booty away from them which
was beyond counting.112
Of
the tribute one king paid to Sennacherib, the king wrote:
l07 Cf. Gen 10:9-12.
108 Contra Haldar, Studies, p. 55.
109 See Machinist, "
110 See, for example, pp. 5-6 in Smith, Keilschriften.
111 J. B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East (
versity, 1958) 189.
112 Ibid., 191.
198
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. . . thirty talents of
gold, eight hundred talents of silver, precious
stones, antimony, large cuts
of red stone, couches (inlaid) with ivory,
nimedu-chairs (inlaid) with ivory,
elephant hides, ebony-wood, box-
wood (and) all kinds of
valuable treasures, his (own) daughters, con-
cubines, male and female
musicians.113
To be sure, after several hundred years of
military conquest in
which spoils were continuously hauled back home,
have been a store for incomparable wealth. Thus, Nahum's
prophetic
call is to "plunder" (zzaBA used twice). Indeed, "the supply is endless."
In v 11 is contained a picture which D. Hillers114
would describe
as a "reaction to bad news," stated
mildly! The reaction is a result of
being "pillaged," "plundered" and
"stripped" (note the strong asso-
nance of the Hebrew verbs in
v 11: hqAUB, hq.AUbm; and hqAl.Abum;). People's
knees are knocking, hearts have melted, faces wax
pale, literally
"withdrawing their color" (rUrxpA
UcB;qi Ml.Aku ynep;),115
and their loins are,
as it were, in travail. Similar descriptions are
found elsewhere in the
prophetic corpus. Jeremiah asks sarcastically,
Then why do I see every strong man
With
his hands on his stomach as a woman in labor?
And every face waxed pale?
(30:6)
And
similarly, by Isaiah:
. . . every
hand will go limp,
Every man's heart will
melt.
Terror will seize them.
Pain and anguish will
grip them;
They will writhe in pain
as a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at
each other,
Their
faces aflame.
(13:7-8)
Indeed,
Nahum's depiction is a reaction to very bad news. Nine-
veh's hour has finally come.
113 Ibid., 200-202.
114"A Convention in Hebrew Literature:
The Reaction to Bad News," ZAW 77
(1965)
86-90.
115 This very same expression is found in
Joe1 2:6b.
CHARLES: PLUNDERING THE LION'S DEN 199
CONCLUSION: THE “LION-HUNT”
With the use of utterly fantastic imagery and
fiery zeal, the
prophet Nahum has pronounced a vision-oracle
against
Assyrian stronghold. As if standing in the
royal palace himself and
gazing at the spectacular reliefs
depicting the king of
fears nothing as he hunts his lions and trains for
war, the prophet
adds a taunting epilogue:
Where now is the lion's den,
The place where they fed
their young,
Where the lion and
lioness went,
And
the cubs, with nothing to fear?
The lion killed enough
for his cubs
And strangled the prey
for his mate,
Filling his lairs with
the kill
And
his dens with the prey.
(2:12-13)
It is the Lord of Hosts Who
promises to combat the lion-king of
become stalked by Yahweh. True irony is at work. In
remembers one more time the insatiable craving of
the Assyrians for
plunder, before announcing that tOxbAc; hvhy,
would cut off His prey
from the earth (
The lion-imagery employed by the prophet is
crucial, for it
represents the self-asserting autonomy with which
one acts. Of the
fearsome northern empire it has been stated:
. . . the terrifying
mask that was deliberately turned toward the outside
world was undeniably
effective. The Old Testament reflects in numerous
poignant passages the fear
inspired by Assyrian military might and by
the ruthless aggressiveness
directed against all those nations that found
themselves in the path of Assyrian
expansion.117
However, the hunter had now become the hunted.
116 Yahweh's threat in v 14, "I will burn. . . the sword will devour. . . I will cut
off. . . ," may reflect, as K. Cathcart ("Treaty-Curses and the Book of Nahum," CBQ
35
[1973] 179-87) has suggested, the curse invoked on a party breaking an ancient
treaty.
117 H. D. Laswell
et al., Propaganda and Communication in
World History--I: The
Symbolic Instrument in
Early Times
(Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1979) 133-34.
200
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BIBLICAL-THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF NAH 2:3-11
Divine Kingship
The divine kingship of Yahweh is a central theme
of the OT. He
rules over the chaos-waters, over the forces of
nature, over all the
nations surrounding
larly prominent in the
prophetic corpus, and especially so among the
eighth-century B.C. prophets.118
In Isaiah, the theme emerges chiefly
from a restorative point of view. Cyrus is
hand-picked to carry out
the divine purpose (44:28). That Yahweh reigns is,
in effect, Isaiah's
"gospel."
Nebuchadnezzar is called "the servant of
Yahweh" by Jeremiah
(25:9
and 27:6). In principle, this designation extends to the pagan
rulers, even the likes of Sargon, Sennacherib and Assurbanipal. In
Daniel,
Yahweh is expressly the One removing and promoting
kings
(
As
for the Nahum prophecy, it is
tarily--must submit to the
will and purpose of Yahweh, the Lord of
Hosts.
Divine Justice
Both Jonah and Nahum end with a question.
of Istar, called
"the great city" (Jonah 1:2 and
ness had risen before the Lord (Jonah 1:2), had been
extended mercy
some one hundred years prior to the Nahum prophecy.
However, in
the end, her would was "grievous" and no
"healing" was possible, so
widespread was her cruelty (Nah
do not escape divine wrath. Yahweh is the Supreme
Avenger (Nah
1:2).119
Divine Warfare
Nahum's prophecy illustrates a significant
motif: the divine "re-
versal" of events
concerning
of the conquest until the exile, Yahweh manifested
Himself as the
"divine warrior." On one level, He fought for
nations (in which category the Nahum oracle
fits). When
breached covenant, however, Yahweh fought against
His people.
Either
way, the prophets were adamant that it was Yahweh Who was
doing the fighting.
118 For example, Nah 2:1 (
on the mountains, the feet of the one who brings
good news, the one who proclaims
peace."
119 On the contrast of Nahum to Jonah, see
T. F. Glasson, "The Final Question in
Nahum
and Jonah," ExpTim
81 (1969) 54-55.
CHARLES: PLUNDERING THE LION'S DEN 201
The exercise of divine warring in the OT is
frequently termed the
"Day of Yahweh." Normally depicting
calamity, upheaval and distress
transpiring at a particular juncture in
Yahweh"
involved
"day" was "now" (
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Theological Seminary
www.grace.edu
Please
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