Nahum 2:6

Nahum 2:7 seems to picture a scene in the palace subsequent to the fall of the city, but certainty is impossible, since the text is in several places very obscure, as a comparison of A.V. with R.V. will readily show. R.V. reads, “And it is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts.” The first difficulty is in the Hebrew huzzabh, which A.V. takes as a proper noun, while R.V. translates it as a verb form, “it is decreed,” that is, by Jehovah. According to the Revisers, the rest of Nahum 2:7 contains the substance of the decree. “She” they seem to interpret of Nineveh (8), personified as a queen; the “handmaids” are the inhabitants mourning over the fate of their city. It is very doubtful, however, that huzzabh can be translated “it is decreed”; and even if it could be thus translated, the statement of the decree in the midst of the description of the fall of the city sounds peculiar. The tone of the entire verse suggests that it is descriptive of the fate of the queen and of the mourning of her attendants. Therefore, from the earliest times, huzzabh has been interpreted as in some way denoting the queen, either as a proper name, or as an epithet descriptive of her. As a proper name it is not known otherwise; it might, perhaps, be a foreign name; as an epithet it is difficult of explanation in its present form. Kimchi connected it with the verb used in Psalms 45:9, “at thy right hand doth stand the queen”; hence the queen might be called “the one standing”; but, aside from the peculiarity of such expression, the form of the verb used here would remain unexplained. Hitzig changes the vowel points and reads “the lizard,” and he suggests that this name is applied to the queen because she, like this “creature which takes refuge in holes,” has taken refuge in out-of-the-way places in the palace. Some, following the usage of the Arabic, suggest the meaning “litter” (Isaiah 66:20), and then “the lady carried in the litter,” that is, the queen. All these suggestions are ingenious but improbable. Others think that the noun “queen” has dropped out or that huzzabh is a corruption of that noun. The difficulty is still unsolved, but the probability is that the subject of the verbs in 7a is the queen.

Led away captive Better, R.V., “uncovered,” or discovered, in the secret place where she sought to hide.

Brought up R.V., “carried away,” into exile. A.V. is to be preferred; she is dragged up from her hiding place.

Lead her Better, R.V., “moan.”

As with the voice of doves The sighs and wails of mourners are often compared to the mourning of doves (Isaiah 59:11; Ezekiel 7:16). The comparison is found also in Arabic and Assyrian; in the latter language the dove is called summatu, “she who mourns.”

Tabering R.V., “beating.”

Upon their breasts A common gesture of grief or despair among the Jews (Josephus, Antiquities, 16: 7, 5; Luke 18:13; Luke 23:27).