John Calvin Commentary Nahum 2:1-2

"He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thee: keep the fortress, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily. For Jehovah restoreth the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches." — Nahum 2:1-2 (ASV)

The waster spoken of here by the Prophet, some consider him to have been Sennacherib, and others, Nebuchadnezzar. The verb עלה, ole, is also variously explained: it is often taken metaphorically in Hebrew for vanishing, as we say in French, Il s’en va en fumee; for smoke ascends, and this is the reason for the metaphor.

They then elicit this meaning — that a destroyer had ascended before the face of the chosen people, that is, openly, so that it was evidently God’s work that the Assyrians vanished, who had come to lay waste the whole land. Vanished, then, has the destroyer; and then before thy face, that is, manifestly, and before your eyes.

מצורה נצור, nutsur metsure, guard the fortress; that is, let everyone return to his own city and keep watch, as is usually done, for the country will be left without men.

And watch the way, that is, look out which way Sennacherib took in coming to assail the holy city; that way will now be free from enemies.

And then, keep firm or strengthen the loins, for חזק, chesek, sometimes means to keep firm — keep firm then or strengthen the loins, that you may not relax as before, but stand courageously, for there is no one who can terrify you.

And, lastly, fortify strength greatly, that is, do not doubt that you will hereafter be strong enough to retain your position, for that monarchy will be cut off, which has been an oppression to you.

But others take a different view and say — that the destroyer had ascended, that is, that Sennacherib had come. And what follows, they think, was intended to strike terror, as though the Prophet said, “Now while you are besieged, keep watch, and be careful to preserve your fortresses and strengthen all your strongholds; but all this will avail nothing.

— Why? Because God has taken away the pride of Jacob as he has the pride of Israel.” This is the second explanation. Others again think that the Prophet here addresses the Assyrians, and that Nebuchadnezzar is here called a waster, by whom the empire was removed, and Nineveh, as has often been stated, was destroyed.

According to these interpreters, the Prophet here denounces ruin on the Assyrians in this manner — “The destroyer now ascends before thy face.” The Assyrians might indeed have regarded such a threatening with disdain, when they were surrounded by many provinces and had cities well fortified. “It will not be,” he says, “according to your expectation; the waster will yet come” before thy face; “and however much you may now guard thy fortresses, watch thy ways, and carefully look around to close up every avenue against your enemies, you will yet effect nothing. Strengthen the loins as much as you please and increase your power, yet this will be useless and vain.”

If this view is approved, it will be in confirmation of what has been previously said — that God had now determined to destroy the city Nineveh and the empire possessed by the Assyrians. This meaning then is not unsuitable. But if we receive this view, something additional must also be stated, and that is — that God now designed to destroy Nineveh and its monarchy, because it had humbled his people, the kingdom of Judah, as well as the ten tribes, more than necessary. I cannot proceed further now.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since we are daily chastised by your scourges, we may know that we are justly punished by you, and so examine our whole life, that with true and sincere confession we may humbly flee to your mercy, which is offered to us by your gospel in Christ our Lord. And since you also show us so many favors, may we not be ungrateful, and may no forgetfulness of your grace creep over us, but may we especially exercise ourselves throughout our whole life in the worship of your name and in giving thanks to you, and so offer to you, with our tongues, the sacrifices of praise, that our whole life may be consistent, and thus glorify your name on earth, that at length we may be gathered into your celestial kingdom through the same Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We said yesterday that some interpreters regard these words of the Prophet, Ascended has the destroyer before thy face, guard the fortress, as having a reference to Sennacherib; that is, that God had taken him away and made him disappear like mist. We also said that some elicit this meaning — that Sennacherib ascended into Judea and filled the whole country with terror, and that he had at length laid it wholly waste.

But I am disposed to take their view, who think that this is said of Nebuchadnezzar, the waster of Nineveh. As he had been raised up by God to overturn the tyranny of that city, the Prophet ridicules all the efforts and preparations made by the Ninevites (as is usual when a country is invaded) to oppose him. He therefore says, guard the fortress, watch the way, confirm the loins, and strengthen thy courage greatly. But these are ironical expressions, as though he said that whatever the Ninevites may contrive to defend themselves against the assault of their enemies will all be in vain.

What is now subjoined has been added, in my view, in reference to what had already taken place, that is, that God had taken away the pride of Jacob, as the pride of Israel. Some give this rendering, “God has made to return or to rest;” and they take גאון, gaun, in a good sense, as meaning courage or glory.

The sense, according to these, would be — that God, having routed the army of Sennacherib, or destroyed the Assyrians, would make the ancient glory of his people to return, for both kingdoms had fallen. They then understand this to have been said respecting the restoration of the whole people; and they who translate, “he will make to rest,” think that continual peace is here promised to the Israelites, as well as to the Jews.

But, on the contrary, it appears to me that the Prophet shows that it was the ripened time for the destruction of the city Nineveh, for God had now humbled his people. He had then taken away the pride of Jacob, as the pride of Israel; that is, God, having first corrected the pride of Israel, had also applied the same remedy to Judah. Thus the whole people were humbled and had left off their extreme height, for גאון, gaun, for the most part, is taken in a bad sense, for haughtiness or pride.

This then is the reason why God now declares that the ruin of Nineveh was near at hand; it was so because the Jews and the Israelites had been sufficiently brought down. This sense is the most suitable.

And then for the same purpose is the next clause — that the emptiers had emptied, that is, that robbers had pillaged them and left nothing remaining for them. There is a passage in Isaiah which corresponds with this, where it is said — that when the Lord had completed his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he would then turn his vengeance against the Assyrians (Isaiah 10:12).

But why were they not sooner destroyed? Because the Lord designed to employ them for the purpose of chastising the Jews. Until the whole work of God was completed, that is, until he had so corrected their pride as wholly to cast it down, it was not his purpose to destroy the Ninevites; but they were at length visited with destruction. The same thing our Prophet now teaches us here — that Nebuchadnezzar would come to demolish Nineveh when the Lord had taken away the haughtiness of his people.

What follows, Ανδ τηεψ ηαςε δεστροψεδ τηειρ σηοοτσ, or their branches, I take metaphorically, because the Israelites, as to outward appearances, had been pulled up by the roots. For before the eyes of their enemies they were reduced to nothing, and their very roots were torn up, so that they perceived nothing left.

The Lord indeed always preserved a hidden remnant, but this was done beyond the perceptions of men. But what the Prophet says metaphorically of the ruined branches is to be understood of what was apparent.