hotter suite tho compBriaon in ver. 15, where sometimes to have been or high or priestly " tlie licker" is the enemy; e.nd it ia moat rank. Jerome translates, pM1Juli tui, though natnml that the prophet should allude to in Jeremiah, loc. cit., he retains the Assyrilm the fate of that commercial wealth which he word. 'fhe Septuagint omits it. Great ho.a j 11st mentioned, aa in previous verses gra11hoppera; 8'1.Darm., of locu8t8 (Amos vii. ho cuntmsta the riches and power of Nineveh 1). Which camp in the hedgee in the oold with tho ruin that awuits them. day. Locusts become torpid in cold wee.ther; Ver. 17.-Thy orowned. The word min• so the captains and princes of Nineveh a.re nezar is found only here, ,md, e.a its deri va- paralyzed and useless in the day of calamity. tion is uncertain, it he.a received various They 11.ee a.we.y. Thus the Assyrian army interpretations. The AnglicF,n Version de- perishes e.nd leaves no trace behind. The rives the word from nezer, "a diadem," and LXX. adds, "Woe nnto them!" "the crowned" e.re the officials of upper Ver. 18.-Thy shepherds. The priuces re.uk. "High officers of state in Assyria. e.nd counsellors, on whom the safety of the were adorned with diadems, closely re- state depends. Slumber. Sleep the sleep of sembling the lower be.nd of the royal mitre, death-slain in the war (Ps. Ix.xvi. 6). 0 separated from the cap itself. Very com- King of Assyria. The power and evil of monly the head we.a encircled with a simple Nineveh personified, not any particular fillet or hoop, probably of gold, without any king. Shall dwell in the dust ; a.re lying, adornment" (Gosse,• Assyria.,' p.463, quoted or are at reat. in death: Septuagint, '£1<0(µ,n by 8tro.uss; see the figures in Bonomi, 'Tol,s 6uvc/.u,,.,is uov, "Put to sleep thy mighty p. 319). Others derive it from 'llllzar, "to men" (comp. Euripides, 'Hee.,' 473, where separate," in the signification of "those 1<0,µi(w, is need in the sense of "to slay"); separated or selected for war." Septuagint, Vulgate, sepelientur. Is scattered upon the I, uuµµ,K'ros uou: 'i.e. the band of mixed mer- mountains. Their shepherds being dead, ceniuy troops-a rendering in which Words- the flock, the herd of c.ommon people, is worth acquiesces. Knabenbauer (referring scattered abroad e.nd perishes, becanse no to Straasmaier's Assyrian vocabulary) con- man ge.thereth them-there is no one to siders the word to be a transliteration (88 collect them. " The mountains " referred to being resolved into ne) of the Assyrian are those which shut in Assyria on the north. ma-as-sa-ru, which means "guardian," or Ver. 19.-There is no hee.lillg of thy some inferior officer. With this agl'ees the bruise ; there is no a88Uaging of thy hurt Vulgate custodea. As the locusts; i.e. in (Revised Version; J er. x. 19). The ruin is ruultitude. The.t the number of ce.ptains irretrievable ; no one sh111l restore the and superior officers would be very great destroyed kingdom (see Zeph. ii 13, H). may be conjectured from the inscriptions Thy wound is grievo11S; Pessima eat plaga which sometimes enumerate the ce.ptives tua (Vulge.te); 'Ect>ll.e-yµa.v,v ~ ,r/\.71-y/} O'OIJ, carried off from conquered countries. Thus "Thy wound is inflamed." The "wound" in the account of the capture of some in- is the stroke or plague inflicted by God signifieant ne.tion, the then king boasts that (Lev. xxvi. 21 ). She.11 clap the he.nds over he took e.we.y 13,000 fighting men, 1121 thee. All who hear of thy destruction will ce.pte.ins, and 460 superior officers (Stre.uss, rejoice over it (Pa. xlvii. l ; Le.m. ii. 15). in loc.). The prophet's meaning is that if Thy wickedness. The cruelty e.nd oppres- the officers, eto., are so numerous, the multi- sion of Nineveh have been universally felt. tude of soldiers and civilians must be truly If Edam is the type of insidious foes of the immense. Thy .oe.pte.ins. TaphBar is e.n Church's own household, Nineveh is the Assyrian word, occurring only in Jer. Ii. 27. ewblem of open, blaspheming infidelity, It is probe.bly the so.me e.s dupsaN"U, or dip- arrayed in powerful opposition against God's Barri1, of the inscriptions, and is ta.ken to people. In the overthrow of this kingdom signify " e. scribe" (see Schrader, p. 42-1). there is a prophecy of the destruction of all Such officio.ls are often represented on the anti-Christian powers, which shall be utterly monuments (see Le.yard, ii. 184), and seem crushed in the latter de.ys.
HOMILETICS. Vcrs. 1-7.-Woe to Nineveh. I. THREATENED. (Ver. 1.) 1. By the prophet. Jonah (iii. 4) had once before announced the destruction of the Assyrian capital, which threatening, however, was averted by the repentance of its inhabitants; Nahum's prediction was literally fulfilled, because Nineveh in due time filled up the measure of its iniquities. 2. In the name of God. Had Nineveh's doom been pronounced only by Nahum's lips, it had been harmless; but Nahum wa.s the mouthpiece of Jehovah, who already had declared himself against the great o.nd wicked city (eh. ii. 13), and a second time repeats the fact, "Behold, I am against thee, saith 48 THE BOOK OF kNAHUM. [oe. m. 1-10.