These two verses together compare the city of Nineveh to a lions’ den, and its people to lions. The lion was a favorite figure in Assyrian sculpture, and in their inscriptions the Assyrians often boasted of the cruel way they had treated people whom they had conquered. Thus it is particularly apt that Nahum should use the habits of the lion as the basis for his comparison. He starts in verse 11 with a mocking question which in effect rejoices over the fall of Nineveh; then he goes on in verse 12 with a description of the way the lion of Nineveh used to behave in the days of his power. In some languages it will be easier to run the two verses together and first give the description of what Nineveh used to be like, before making the statement of what it is like now that it has fallen. See comments below on verse 12.

The figure of speech in verse 11 is in Hebrew a metaphor, Where is the lions’ den…? The lions’ den refers of course to the city of Nineveh, and Good News Translation makes this explicit by turning the metaphor into a simile, saying “Where now is the city that was like a den of lions…?” Lions’ den may also be expressed as “cave of lions,” or “cave where lions live,” or “place where lions live.” In cultures where the lion is unknown and there is no word for this animal, it will be helpful to say “wild animal named ‘lion,’ ” or use a generic term in the language meaning “wild animal” or “predator (or, flesh eater)” and append the name “lion” to it.

The clause Where is … can be rendered “What has happened to…” in many languages. This question, which includes the whole of verse 11, is a rhetorical question, and is really a way of making a strong statement meaning “Nineveh is now nowhere, it is destroyed.” Compare the use of the questions “Where is … God?” in Psalms 42.3, 10; 115.2; Micah 7.10, and “Where are the gods of…?” in Isaiah 36.19. Some translators may find it more appropriate to use a statement here and say “The city that was like a den of lions … has now been destroyed.”

The cave of the young lions: Good News Translation has “the place where young lions were fed,” and this translates the Hebrew text as it stands (compare Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). However, because the Hebrew word for feeding place normally refers to a place where cattle or sheep graze (compare New Jerusalem Bible “pasture”), a number of scholars think that it does not fit well in a passage that is speaking about lions. By changing the order of two of the letters in the Hebrew, a word meaning cave is obtained instead, and this wording is followed by Revised Standard Version, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, and New English Bible. This gives a better parallelism between the first two lines. If translators follow the cave interpretation, these two lines can be translated as:

• What has happened to the city
that was like a den of lions,
the cave where young lions live?

Where the lion brought his prey: Good News Translation again follows the Hebrew text as it stands, with “where the lion and the lioness would go” (compare New International Version). The Hebrew word for “lioness” was understood by the ancient Greek translators as a slightly different word meaning “to enter.” Some modern translators follow this interpretation and understand the word “to enter” as referring to the lion’s return to his den after being out hunting. Thus Moffatt has “whither the Lion withdrew.” This interpretation also seems to be followed by Revised Standard Version, with its where the lion brought his prey. Many languages have no single word for prey. Some translators may have to use a phrase such as “the animals he killed.”

Even translators who follow the Hebrew as it stands are not all agreed as to its meaning. An alternative to the Good News Translation understanding can be seen in the Jerusalem Bible rendering, “When the lion made his foray the lioness stayed behind.”

The last line is literally where his cubs were, with none to disturb. In some languages this sentence may be expressed “Where nothing can hurt his cubs.” Good News Translation gives the same meaning but with simpler wording, “and their cubs would be safe.” Cubs is a word for the young of wild animals such as lions.

Verse 12 continues the comparison of Nineveh with a group of lions, and describes the conduct of the Assyrian soldiers in the past in terms of a lion hunting to feed his family.

The first two lines are parallel with each other: The lion tore enough for his whelps and strangled prey for his lionesses. Whelps is another word for the young of the lion, especially when they are very small. The picture is of the lion killing some other animal and taking some of its meat back for the lionesses and their offspring to eat. The word strangled is probably best understood as a forceful way of expressing the general meaning “kill.” Lions do in fact strangle their prey by biting the throat to cut off the air supply, especially when they attack larger animals. New English Bible translates “broke the neck”; this is another way lions kill their victims, but it is not the intended meaning of this text. The Hebrew word used here occurs elsewhere only at 2 Samuel 17.23. Good News Translation drops the parallel structure and expresses the meaning in logical order as “The lion killed his prey and tore it to pieces for his mate and her cubs.” Prey here may be rendered as “the animal he hunted.” For his lionesses … may be expressed as “so that his mates … may eat it.” A male lion often has more than one mate.

The second two lines are again parallel with each other: he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh. Since these two lines say the same thing twice, they are put together into one line in Good News Translation as “he filled his den with torn flesh.”

If translators wish to run the two verses together and avoid a rhetorical question, the following may be a suitable translation model (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch):

• In the past Nineveh was like a den of lions, where the lion and lioness would go, where young lions were fed, and the cubs were safe. The lion used to kill his prey and tear it to pieces for his mates and cubs. He would fill his den with torn flesh. But now Nineveh has lost all its power! (or, But now Nineveh has itself been destroyed!)

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 .