Nahum 3:5-7

3:5 I am against you,” declares the Lord who commands armies. ¹ 

“I will strip off your clothes! ² 

I will show your nakedness to the nations

and your shame to the kingdoms;

3:6 I will pelt you with filth; ³ 

I will treat you with contempt;

I will make you a public spectacle.

3:7 Everyone who sees you will turn away from you in disgust;

they will say, ‘Nineveh has been devastated!

Who will lament for her?’

There will be no one to comfort you!” ⁴ 

[3:5]  ¹ tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts.” See the note on the expression “the Lord who commands armies” in 2:13.

[3:5]  ² tn Heb “I will uncover your skirts over your face.”

[3:5]  sn Strip off your clothes. In the ancient Near East, the typical punishment for a prostitute was to strip her of her clothes publicly to expose her to open shame, embarrassment, and public ridicule. Because Nineveh had acted like a prostitute, the Lord would punish her as a prostitute.

[3:6]  ³ tn Heb “detestable things”; KJV, ASV “abominable filth”; NCV “filthy garbage.”

[3:7]  ⁴ tc While the MT reads 2nd person feminine singular לָךְ (lakh, “for you”), the LXX reads αὔτή (Jauth, “for her”). The Dead Sea Scrolls from Wadi Murabba’at read לך (“for you”). The MT reading is preferred for several reasons: (1) it is supported by the scrolls from Wadi Murabba’at; (2) it is the most difficult reading; and (3) it explains the origin of the LXX which probably harmonized this with the preceding 3rd person feminine singular pronoun. Abrupt switches from third to second person are commonly found in poetic and prophetic literature (e.g., Deut 32:15; Isa 5:8; Jer 29:19; Job 16:7) as well as in Northwest Semitic curses (see S. Gevirtz, “West-Semitic Curses and the Problem of the Origins of Hebrew Law,” VT 11 [1961]: 147, n. 4).

[3:7]  tn Heb “From whence shall I find comforters for you?”