Commentary on Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah and Nahum John Calvin
MINOR PROPHETS
yet prevail. 305 He therefore subjoins ---
Nahum 2:6
6. The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.
6. Portae fluviorum apertae sunt, et palatium solutum est.
By the gates of the rivers the Prophet means that part of the city which was most fortified by the river Tigris; for the Tigris flowed close by the city. As then the Tigris was like the strongest defense, (for we know it to have been a most rapid river,) the Prophet ridicules the confidence of the Ninevites, who thought that the access of enemies could be wholly prevented in that part where the Tigris flowed. The gates then of the rivers are opened; that is, your river shall not prevent your enemies from breaking through and penetrating into your city.
We hence see, that the Prophet removes all the hindrances which might have seemed available to keep off enemies; and he did so, not so much for the sake of Nineveh as for the sake of his chosen people, that the Israelites and Jews might know, that that city was no less in the power of God than any other; for God can no less easily pass through rivers than go along the plain, where there is no obstacle. We now see why the Prophet says, that the gates of the rivers were opened: and then he adds, The palace is dissolved; that is, there will be no impediment to prevent the approach of enemies; for all the fortresses will melt away, and that of themselves, as though they were walls of paper, and the stones, as though they were water. He afterwards adds ---
Nahum 2:7
7. And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.
7. Et quae stabat solida (vel, firma) ejecta est in exilium (vel, quae stabat occulta, patefacta est, jussa est ascendere;) et ancillae ejus ducentes tanquam in voce columbarum, plangentes super pectora sua.
There is some ambiguity in these words, and many interpreters think that {,}הצב estab, to be the name of the queen. The queen then they say, of the name of {,}הצב estab, is drawn away into exile; she is bidden to ascend, that she might migrate to a hostile land. But this view is too strained; nor was there any reason to suppose the word to be a proper name, except that there was a wish to say something, and that there was no other conjecture more probable. But I regard their opinion more correct, who refer this to the state of the kingdom; and there is here, I have no doubt, a personification, which is evident if we attend to the meaning. If any one prefers to regard the queen as intended, it would yet be better to take {,}הצבestab, in its proper and real meaning, --- that the queen, previously hid in her palace, and hardly able, through being so delicate, to move a step, --- that she was brought forth to the light; for {,}גלהgele, means to uncover, and also to cast out. If we render it, was made manifest, the Prophet alludes to hiding-places, and means that the queen
305This verse is applied by Grotius and Newcome to the Babylonian and not to the Assyrian king. The last clause seems to favor this opinion, but the second, the other. To render {{יכשלוas a Hiphil, ``They cast down,'' without an objective case, cannot be approved; but they may have been said to ``stumble,'' as the word means, from their great haste, afterwards mentioned. Piscator, Marckius, and Henderson, agree in the view given here. ---
Ed.