Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has a section heading at this point covering verses 11-14. It can be expressed in English as “The LORD will finally end the power of Assyria.”
Revised Standard Version translates this verse as a question, whereas in other major versions it is a statement. What Revised Standard Version has done here is to carry over into verse 11 the word which in Hebrew is the last word of verse 10, the word translated “utterly” in Revised Version, Jerusalem Bible. Revised Standard Version has also changed one letter of the Hebrew word and assumed different vowels. Instead of “utterly” Revised Standard Version‘s conjecture has the marker of a negative question, which accounts for the question form in Revised Standard Version. Since verse 11 makes sense without this change, translators are not recommended to follow it.
In Hebrew the opening words of the verse are from you, and Good News Translation adds the name “Nineveh” to make it explicit that the prophet is here addressing the capital city of Assyria (compare Bible en français courant). The rest of the sentence is an accusation expressed in Good News Translation as “From you … came a man full of wicked schemes, who plotted against the LORD.”
Who plotted evil against the LORD: the word for plotted is the same Hebrew word as that used in verse 9. The Hebrew says plotted evil, but because the word plotted already carries bad overtones, Good News Translation has left the word evil implicit. However, in languages which do not have a single word for “plotted,” it will be necessary to say something like “made evil plans” or “planned to do evil things against.” This description is generally understood to be a reference to Sennacherib, who was king of Assyria from 705 to 681 B.C. and who besieged Jerusalem in 701 in the days when Hezekiah was king of Judah (see 2 Kgs 18.13–19.37). The prophet considers action against the city of Jerusalem to be the same as action against the LORD.
Counseled villainy: the word translated villainy is the word which appears in other passages in the King James Version (King James Version) and in Revised Version as the name “Belial” (compare for instance Judges 19.22; 1 Sam 2.12; 1 Kgs 21.10; 2 Cor 6.15). Jerusalem Bible retains the word here as a name and translates “a man with the mind of Belial.” The word “Belial” means “worthlessness,” and in most languages it will be better to translate this meaning, since “Belial” as a name will not be very familiar to most readers. The words counseled villainy are expressed in more modern language in Good News Translation as “full of wicked schemes.” This phrase may be rendered in some languages as “who gave wicked (or, worthless) advice.”
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A . A Handbook on the Book of Nahum. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .