1:13 You are too just 1 to tolerate 2 evil;
you are unable to condone 3 wrongdoing.
So why do you put up with such treacherous people? 4
Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour 5 those more righteous than they are? 6
1:15 The Babylonian tyrant 7 pulls them all up with a fishhook;
he hauls them in with his throw net. 8
When he catches 9 them in his dragnet,
he is very happy. 10
2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. 11
He does this so he can build his nest way up high
and escape the clutches of disaster. 12
1 tn Heb “[you] are too pure of eyes.” God’s “eyes” here signify what he looks at with approval. His “eyes” are “pure” in that he refuses to tolerate any wrongdoing in his presence.
2 tn Heb “to see.” Here “see” is figurative for “tolerate,” “put up with.”
3 tn Heb “to look at.” Cf. NEB “who canst not countenance wrongdoing”; NASB “You can not look on wickedness with favor.”
4 tn Heb “Why do you look at treacherous ones?” The verb בָּגַד (bagad, “be treacherous”) is often used of those who are disloyal or who violate agreements. See S. Erlandsson, TDOT 1:470-73.
5 tn Or “swallow up.”
6 tn Heb “more innocent than themselves.”
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Babylonian tyrant) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NASB “The Chaldeans”; NIV “The wicked foe”; NRSV “The enemy”). Babylonian imperialism is here compared to a professional fisherman who repeatedly brings in his catch and has plenty to eat.
8 tn Apparently two different types of fishing nets are referred to here. The חֵרֶם (kherem, “throw net”) was used by fishermen standing on the shore (see Ezek 47:10), while the מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret, “dragnet”) was used by men in a boat. See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 165.
9 tn Heb “and he gathers.”
10 tn Heb “Therefore he is happy and rejoices.” Here two synonyms are joined for emphasis.
11 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
12 tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”
sn Here the Babylonians are compared to a bird, perhaps an eagle, that builds its nest in an inaccessible high place where predators cannot reach it.