Commento su Naum 3:23

robbery Heb. פֶּרֶק, robbery, that one breaks it away from the hand of its owner.

the prey departs not—from its [i.e., the city’s] midst, it will never depart.

The sound of the scourge—The sound of striking the horses was always heard therein.

and the sound of the noise—of the wheels of the chariots.

and galloping horses Heb. דֹּהֵר, skipping and jumping. And so it is in (Jud. 5:22) “By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their mighty ones.”

and the blade of the sword Heb. וְלַהַב ; lame in French; for a knife and a sword are called לַהַב. [Some mss. have: The blade of every sword is called: לַהַב, as in (Jud. 3:22) “And the haft also went in after the blade (הַלַהַב).”

and the burnished spear—A burnished spear, with the light glittering from it. Splendor in O.F, a shine.

yea, the heaps of corpses—They would make many corpses, and there was no count of the bodies of the dead cast therein, to the extent that the passersby would stumble on the bodies of the dead.

Because of the many harlotries of the harlot—Because of the extensive flattery of the city, for they knew how to seduce the kings of the earth to join them, and they would eventually subordinate [these kings] to them.

your skirts Heb. שׁוּלַיִךְ. They are the hems of a woman’s garments.

your nakedness Heb. מַעֲרֵךְ, your exposure, as in (Micah 1:11) “With your private parts exposed (עֶרְיָה).”

detestable things—Filthy garments, which make you detestable. Scripture speaks according to the topic, for he [Nahum] compared her [Nineveh] to a harlot.

like dung Heb. כְּרֹאִי. Like dung, an expression like (Lev. 1:16) “And he shall remove its crop (מֻרְאָתוֹ) with its intestines.”

shall wander away from you—Shall distance himself from you.

Are you better than No-amon—Why should you rely on your wealth and your might? Are you greater than No-amon? That is, Alexandria of Egypt. Amon is an expression of a pedagogue. [Are you greater] than the great No, which trained the kings of Egypt, for they would anoint the kings there?

whose wall was the sea to whom the sea was their rampart and their wall. [This mode of construction is known in Aramaic as] שורה ובר שורה, a wall and the son of a wall [referring to a large wall on the outside, opposite an inside of which is built a small wall].

Cush was [its] strength—The Cushites were its strength.

Put and the Lubim—The Putim and the Lubim, who were your helpers, were also in her [Assyria’s] army.

She, too, went into exile—She, too, went into exile. Nevertheless, their greatness did not stand up before Nebuchadnezzar.

were bound Heb. רֻתְּקוּ, were fettered; an expression similar to (Isa. 40:19) “And chains (וּרְתֻּקוֹת) of silver” and (Ezek. 7:23) “Make the chain (הָרַתּוֹק),” meaning a chain.

in chains Heb. בַזִּקִּים, chains.

You, too—(Even) according to your greatness, [you] shall become drunk like her with the cup of weakness (Cf. Isa. 51:17), and you shall disappear.

All your fortresses—It shall be easy to conquer all your fortified cities and to ravage all that is in their midst, like the fig trees when they are with their first ripe fruits; when the tree is shaken, the first ripe fruits fall into the mouth of the eaters.

fig trees Heb. תְּאֵנִים, fig trees.

they be shaken—which, if they be shaken hard by a man.

Draw siege water for yourself—When a city is about to be besieged, the people of the city gather much water into its midst in barrels, [so that they will have water] to drink during the days of the siege, when there are no cisterns within it [the city].

come into the clay and tread—it, to make bricks therefrom, in order to strengthen the cracks in the wall.

grasp the brickmold—Hold the brickmold, which is made for a mold of the bricks in your hand, to make bricks in it.

You shall be swept away Heb. הִתְכַּבֵּד, with a broom of destruction.

like the nibbling locust—which finishes and destroys completely all the vegetation of the field. Some interpret: -Heb. הִתְכַּבֵּד כַּיָּלֶק. You shall be covered heavily with troops like the nibbling locust, wherein הִתְכַּבֵּד is an expression of a heavy people (עַם כֶּבֶד).

the nibbling locust spreads out and flies away—They will swiftly go out for commerce like the locust that spreads out [its wings] and flies.

Your princes Heb. מִנְּזָרַיִךְ, your princes. The “mem” is a radical and a root of the word, like the “mem” of מִשְׁמַרְתְּךָ, your watch (Num. 18:3); of מִשְׁמַעְתֶּךָ, your service (I Sam. 22:14); and of מִנְעָלֶךָ, your lock (Deut. 33:25). But sometimes the “mem” is defective; e.g., נְזִיר אֶחָיו, the prince of his brothers (Gen. 49:26); and, similarly, לִנְזָרִים, princes (Amos 2:11).

and your marshal Heb. יְטַפְסְרַיִךְ. Your appointees.

like armies of locust Heb. כְּגוֹב גּוֹבָי, like armies of locusts. גּוֹבָי is comme langouste in French, like locusts.

which alight on the walls on a cold day—So is the habit of the numerous locust, the fly, the finishing locust, and the nibbling locust; during the cold times they adhere to the walls, and when warmth comes they fly away from there and go away. So will all your people be exiled.

and it flies away Heb. וְנוֹדַד, and it moves.

and its place is not known where they are—Where they are and where they went.

Your leaders slumber Heb. נָמוּ, an expression of slumber

are at rest—They cannot stand up.

are scattered Heb. נָפָשׁוּ, like נָפֹצוּ, as all letters emanating from one source are interchangeable. “Zayin,” “shin,” “sammech,” and “tzaddi” all emanate from the tip of the tongue and the bottom of the teeth.

No one is pained over your destruction—No one is troubled over your destruction, for everyone rejoices. כֵּהָה is an expression of a darkened thing.

clap hands—to rejoice.