Translation commentary on Nahum 3:13

Behold is omitted by several modern English translations (Moffatt, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation). Compare comments on 2.13.

Your troops are women in your midst means that they have lost their military skill and courage and cannot fight the enemy (compare Isa 19.16; Jer 51.30). In certain languages it will be necessary to explain this implicit meaning and say “Your soldiers have lost their fighting skill and courage and have become like women.” The Hebrew actually says “your people” (Jerusalem Bible), but clearly the troops (Good News Translation‘s “soldiers”) are in mind, and Revised Standard Version makes this explicit (compare New American Bible, New English Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible).

Because the defenders cannot fight, The gates of your land are wide open to your foes. It is not certain whether The gates of your land refers to the gates of the city of Nineveh itself (compare Jer 15.7) or to the mountain passes that gave entry to the country of Assyria as a whole. The use of your land rather than “your city” suggests the latter, and Good News Translation seems to take it that way. Good News Translation also drops the figurative use of gates and expresses the meaning in plain language as “your country stands defenseless before your enemies.” One may also translate this sentence as “And there is no one to defend you as your enemies attack.” For the translation of “enemies,” see 1.2.

Fire has devoured your bars: these are the bars used to fasten shut the gates of cities (compare Amos 1.5), but it is not clear whether the sense here is literal or figurative. If figurative, then the bars probably stand for the fortresses that guarded the mountain passes which were called gates in the previous clause. If literal, then the bars would be the wooden beams which prevented the gates of Nineveh itself from being opened. Good News Translation follows this interpretation and says “Fire will destroy the bars across your gates.” Probably it is better either to take the gates and bars as both literal, or as both figurative. If translators take both the gates and bars as figurative, a possible translation model is the following: “The borders of your land are wide open to your enemies, and fire will destroy your fortresses.”

Has devoured: the perfect tense has been translated as future in Good News Translation (“will destroy”), as this event is still part of things which will happen in the future.

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 .

Translation commentary on Zephaniah 2:11

Because the people of Moab and Ammon have, in effect, insulted the LORD (verse 10), The LORD will be terrible against them. In particular he will show his superiority over all the gods of the earth. The phrase will be terrible against them (Good News Translation “will terrify them”) may be rendered as “will make them very afraid.” In some languages the idea of “terrify” can be expressed idiomatically; for example, “cause their hearts to fall” or “cause their hearts to shrink.”

Yea, he will famish all the gods of the earth: it is not clear why Revised Standard Version has used the word yea, which is intended to carry emphasis. The Hebrew word usually means “when” (as in New American Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, and New International Version) or “for” (as in Moffatt and New English Bible). Several modern versions (Good News Translation, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) simply omit it here. The verb translated famish literally means “to make thin.” The prophet seems to envisage that, with a lack of people to offer them sacrificial food, the false gods of the heathen nations, including of course the gods of Moab and Ammon, will waste away and in this way come “to nothing” (Good News Translation). Famish all the gods of the earth may be translated as “make the gods of the world (or, the spirits that people worship) so small that nothing is left of them.”

Nations everywhere will then see how futile the worship of false gods is, and as a result all of them will bow down to worship the LORD. Each in its place (Good News Translation “each in its own land”) means that the people of other nations will worship the LORD in their own countries and will not need to go to Jerusalem. In Hebrew the subject of the verb bow down is all the lands of the nations. Since lands cannot bow down, it is clear that the lands stands for their inhabitants. Good News Translation drops the figure of speech and states the nonfigurative meaning as “every nation will worship him, each in its own land.” Of course in certain languages translators will need to make “people” explicit and say “the people of every nation will worship him in their own lands.”

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Zephaniah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Translation commentary on Habakkuk 1:10

Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most English versions appear to ignore the fact that in this verse the Hebrew pronouns in they scoff and They laugh are emphatic. Jerusalem Bible comes closest to representing this, with “They are a people that scoff at kings.” Another way in English to show the emphasis is “These Babylonians are a people who….” This can be repeated at the beginning of the second half of the verse.

The first half of the verse says essentially the same thing twice, as is clear from Revised Standard Version, At kings they scoff, and of rulers they make sport. Scoff means to mock or scorn, and make sport means make fun of. It has nothing to do with athletic sports. The idea of scoff (Good News Translation “treat … with contempt”) can be translated in a variety of ways; for example, “They treat kings as if they were nothing,” “They look down their noses at kings,” “They sneer at…,” or “They shake their fingers at….” Make sport (Good News Translation “laugh at”) is similar in meaning but is a more active form of contempt. Here the conquerors are trying to show the defeated rulers how weak and foolish they are. In some languages make sport can be translated as “cause to lose face.” For rulers, see the translation note on “princes” in Nahum 3.17.

The second half of the verse is also in two parts, but in this case the second is not parallel in meaning to the first, so they cannot be combined. The first part is similar to the statements in the first half of the verse (They laugh at every fortress in Revised Standard Version). However, it sounds a little odd in English to laugh at something which is not personal, so Good News Translation turns this statement around and expresses its meaning in plain language as “No fortress can stop them.” Fortress may be translated as “city with strong walls,” or in certain languages as “large group of houses with a strong high wall around it” (see comment on Nahum 3.12). “Stop them” may also be translated as “prevent them from entering,” or “defend itself against them,” or “is an obstacle to them.”

The words they heap up earth and take it refer to one ancient method of besieging a town or fortress. This involved heaping a ramp of earth against its wall until the top of the ramp was level with the top of the wall. Then the attackers could climb the ramp, cross the wall, and capture the town or fortress. See the illustration at the discussion of Nahum 2.1.

Another translation model for this verse is:

• The Babylonian soldiers make fun of kings and laugh at their high officials (or, the chief servants of the kings). No city with strong walls can keep them from entering. They pile up earth against the walls and capture the city.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Translation commentary on Habakkuk 3:5

Some scholars think that here pestilence and plague are personified and spoken of as if they were the LORD’s attendants whose work was to punish his enemies. Diseases were thought of as one of the accompaniments of war (compare 2 Kgs 19.35), and the LORD was often pictured as punishing his enemies with disease (Lev 26.25; Deut 32.24; 2 Sam 24.15-16) or saving his own people from it (Psa 91.3, 6). Such a picture is in keeping with the wider context of verses 3-15. God is still being thought of as directing his actions toward the prophet, and then more widely toward the rest of the world’s inhabitants as they watch him acting in the skies above. Possible translation models in languages which must show the direction of actions are the following: “He sends disease (coming) before him” or “He causes disease to come (down) before him.”

The word translated plague is originally a darting flame and can be used of lightning (Psa 78.48). Fever, the disease which makes people feel hot, was thought to be caused by such flames.

The terms translated pestilence and plague do not refer to any of the specific illnesses known to modern medicine. They are general terms and should be translated by generic words like “disease” or “illness” rather than by specific terms like “malaria” or “typhoid.” Good News Translation renders them as “disease” and “death.” “Death” indicates that the illness is fatal.

Good News Translation has also restructured the sentence to show that God is the agent who is in control of the diseases (“He sends … and commands”). In certain languages it will be helpful to expand this verse slightly and say “He sends disease to go in front of him, and commands death to follow close behind him.”

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Translation commentary on Nahum 2:4

The majority of commentators take this verse as continuing to describe the attackers, though Good News Translation seems to treat it as referring to the defenders by linking it with the first part of verse 5. The majority view seems more probable. Since the assault on the city walls is not mentioned until verse 5, the streets and squares here must refer to areas in the suburbs of Nineveh that were outside the main fortifications. The squares were more open areas where the chariots would have more room to turn (compare New American Bible “wheel in the squares”).

The terms used for the movements of the chariots are very vivid. (See comments on verse 3 for other ways to translate chariots.) For rage Good News Translation uses the expression “dash wildly.” The actual type of movement involved is not so important as the picture the words create of a situation which is frantic and disorderly. Translators should try to create a similar impression by the terms they choose; for example, “run in a confused way,” “race madly,” or “run in an uncontrolled way.”

They gleam like torches, they dart like lightning: these words probably refer again to the way the sun was reflected from the polished metal of the chariots. A torch was a long pole with rags that were soaked in olive oil and then attached to one end of the pole. When the rags were set on fire, the torch gave out light. The comparison with torches stresses brightness, and the comparison with lightning stresses both brightness and speed. These two sentences can be rendered “They gleam like the light from flaming torches, and dart about like flashes of lightning.” The word dart refers to very fast movement, first in one direction and then in another. In languages which do not have a single term for the idea of dart, translators may have to use a phrase; for example, “they rush in one direction and then in another.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Zephaniah 1:6

Again Revised Standard Version keeps the Hebrew sentence structure, continuing the sentence begun in verse 4. Good News Translation begins a new sentence and once more repeats the verb “I will destroy” from verse 4. (For comments on “destroy” see verse 3.)

The people condemned this time are those who, while they may not have taken up the worship of other gods, are no longer active in the worship of the LORD; they have turned back from following the LORD. In many languages one cannot speak of following a person in the sense of “serving.” In such a case translators may say “going with the LORD” or “serving the LORD.” The whole sentence may be restructured as “I will destroy those who have stopped serving me.” For the LORD’s reference to himself in the third person, see comments on verse 5.

In the second half of the verse, Revised Standard Version translates literally the rather technical terms of the Hebrew, seek the LORD and inquire of him. These are expressed in clearer language in Good News Translation‘s “come to me” and “ask me to guide them.” In certain languages it will be helpful to make these last two clauses into a separate sentence and say “These people do not come to me or ask me to guide them.”

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Zephaniah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Translation commentary on Zephaniah 3:7

This verse shows the intended purpose of the LORD’s actions in verse 6 and the actual result, which was quite different from what was desired.

Verse 7 opens with the words I said and then gives a quotation within the main quotation that runs from verse 6 to verse 13. Good News Translation interprets I said to mean “I said to myself” (compare Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant) and translates as “I thought” (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Then it continues by turning the words quoted into indirect speech. Translators may use direct or indirect speech according to the normal patterns of their own language.

In the first two clauses Revised Standard Version uses the third person pronoun she where Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and New International Version use the second person “you.” The Hebrew actually has second person feminine forms in these two clauses (addressing the city, which is feminine in Hebrew) but third person forms in the third and fourth clauses. Such a change of person is somewhat awkward in English. It is not clear whether the Revised Standard Version translators changed the Hebrew text, or whether they made the alteration to third person on translational grounds. Translators should use whichever form best fits the overall paragraph structure in their own language. Note that by using indirect speech Good News Translation avoids this problem.

Surely (Good News Translation “then”) refers back to the words of the LORD in verse 6. Many translators will need to say, for example, “Because of this I thought that my people….” The LORD’s intention was that his own people, on seeing the punishment of gentile nations, would fear me and accept correction. The words “have reverence for” (Good News Translation) give the meaning in this context of the word translated fear in Revised Standard Version and most other modern English versions. The main component of meaning of fear in ordinary usage is “to be afraid of,” whereas the sense intended here is rather that of “respect.” The expression accept correction is the same expression which occurred in verse 2, and its recurrence here helps to tie these paragraphs together.

In the next part of the verse, most modern versions follow the Septuagint in rendering not lose sight or something of similar meaning such as “remember” (compare Bible de Jérusalem, New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). This understanding depends on reading the Hebrew word meʿonah “her dwellings” with different vowels as meʿeneha “from her eyes.” The Hebrew is retained by Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and New International Version as it stands (compare Hebrew Old Testament Text Project), but the Septuagint understanding as found in the majority of modern versions fits the context better, and translators are recommended to follow it.

All that I have enjoined upon her: the Hebrew verb translated enjoined is a word of wide meaning. The basic sense is “to visit” (compare New American Bible), either with the intention of punishing (compare Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible) or of giving responsibility or instruction (compare Moffatt, New English Bible). Revised Standard Version enjoined has the idea of responsibility. Good News Translation has the idea of instruction and expresses it in simple terms as “the lesson I taught them.”

But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt: the final sentence shows the reaction of the people to the lessons the LORD had tried to teach them. Literally it says “but they rose early and corrupted all their doings” (Revised Version). The combination of the verb translated “rise early” with another verb is a favorite expression of Jeremiah (for example, Jer 7.13, 25; 11.7; 25.3, 4). It usually means “to do something persistently or eagerly,” and this is the sense here. The words eager or “eagerly” are used in Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New International Version, and New Jerusalem Bible, but Good News Translation seems to miss this element of meaning. It apparently takes the idea of rising early to refer to time and translates “But soon they were behaving as badly as ever.” An alternative translation model can be “But they were just as eager as before to do all sorts of wicked things.”

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Zephaniah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .