This verse continues to give encouragement to the LORD’s people with a promise of freedom from oppression by the Assyrians. The promise is given in Hebrew through a metaphor drawn from the way oxen were used for plowing. Revised Standard Version gives a literal translation: And now I will break his yoke from off you and will burst your bonds asunder. The yoke was the wooden bar that was put over the neck of the ox, and the bonds were the leather straps used to fasten the yoke to the animal’s neck. If the yoke was broken and the bonds snapped, the animal would be free to go its own way and would not be forced to pull the plow or cart any more. This kind of language is often used in the Scriptures to speak about freedom from oppression (see Lev 26.13; Psa 2.3; Isa 10.27; Jer 28.2, 14; 30.8; Ezek 34.27; and compare Matt 11.29; Acts 15.10; Gal 5.1; 1 Tim 6.1).
In areas where plowing is still done with animals under a yoke, the translator may be able to use similar picture language. However, in areas where this is not done, the translator can express the meaning in nonfigurative language. This is what Good News Translation has done in the first part of the verse: “I will now end Assyria’s power over you.” Another way to say this is “I will now cause Assyria to lose its power over you.” If translators decided that the final line of verse 12 refers to the Assyrians, they should now clearly identify the referent of you here as “my people.” One may say “And now my people, I will end Assyria’s power over you” or “I will cause Assyria to stop ruling over you.”
In the second part of the verse, Good News Translation uses figurative language when it says “I will … break the chains that bind you.” This picture is quite a general one and is not closely linked to animals and plowing. Even translators who cannot keep the metaphor in the first part of the verse may be able to do something similar to Good News Translation in this second part. However, if the translator cannot use figurative language, it is possible to say “and set you free.” So an alternative translation model for this verse is: “I will now cause Assyria to lose its power over you and will set you free.”
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 .