1:9 All of them intend 1 to do violence;
every face is determined. 2
They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand. 3
3:11 The sun and moon stand still in their courses; 4
the flash of your arrows drives them away, 5
the bright light of your lightning-quick spear. 6
1 tn Heb “come.”
2 tn Heb “The totality of their faces is to the east” (or “is forward”). The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מְגַמַּת (megammat) is unclear. For a discussion of options see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 93. NEB has “a sea of faces rolls on”; NIV “their hordes advance like a desert wind”; NRSV “with faces pressing forward.”
3 tn Heb “and he gathers like sand, prisoners.”
4 tn Heb “in their lofty dwelling places.”
5 tn Or “at the light of your arrows they vanish.”
6 tn Heb “at the brightness of the lightning of your spear.”