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LXX Nahum

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 1

1 The burden of Nineveh: the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2 God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; the Lord avenges with fierce anger; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he cuts off his enemies. 3 The Lord is longsuffering, and his power is great, and the Lord will not hold any guiltless: his way is in destruction and in the whirlwind, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4 He threatens the sea, and dries it up, and exhausts all the rivers: the land of Bashan, and Carmel are brought low, and the flourishing trees of Lebanon have come to nothing. 5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills are shaken, and the earth recoils at his presence, even the world, and all that dwell in it. 6 Who shall stand before his anger? and who shall withstand in his furious anger? his fury brings to nothing kingdoms, and the rocks are burst apart by him. 7 The Lord is good to those who wait on him in the day of affliction; and he knows those who revere him. 8 But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end: darkness shall pursue those that rise up against him and his enemies. 9 What do you devise against the Lord? he will make a complete end: he will not take vengeance by affliction twice at the same time. 10 For the enemy shall be laid bare even to the foundation, and shall be devoured as twisted yew, and as stubble fully dry. 11 Out of you shall proceed a device against the Lord, counseling evil things hostile to him. 12 Thus says the Lord who rules over many waters,⁠ They shall be sent away in just this way, and the report of you shall not be heard any more. 13 And now I will break his rod from you, and will burst your bonds. 14 And the Lord shall give a command concerning you; there shall no more of your name be scattered: I will utterly destroy the carved images out of the house of your god, and the molten images: I will make your grave; for they are swift.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Nahum 1:12 and LXX Nahum 1:12

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

The Hebrew version of Nahum introduces an oracle with a typical messenger formula naming God as the speaker. The Greek translation instead titles him the ruler of many waters, turning the introduction into a claim that God masters the chaotic sea.

Passages

Nahum 1:12

Hebrew Bible
11 From you, O Nineveh, one has marched forth who plots evil against the Lord, a wicked military strategist. 12 This is what the Lord says: “Even though they are powerful—and what is more, even though their army is numerous—nevertheless, they will be destroyed and trickle away! Although I afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. 13 And now, I will break Assyria’s yoke bar from your neck; I will tear apart the shackles that are on you.”
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Nahum

LXX Nahum 1:12

Septuagint
11 Out of you shall proceed a device against the Lord, counseling evil things hostile to him. 12 Thus says the Lord who rules over many waters, They shall be sent away in just this way, and the report of you shall not be heard any more. 13 And now I will break his rod from you, and will burst your bonds.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Nahum

References

... Interestingly, the very same idea of the rule over the waters, absent in the Masoretic Text of Zechariah 9:10 (מים עד-ים), is found only one other place in the Greek Bible, namely in Nahum 1:12 Old Greek: τάδε λέγει κύριος κατάρχων ὑδάτων πολλῶν (this says the Lord who rules over many waters). Again, the Masoretic Text of Nahum 1:12 has a typical prophetic introduction: כה אמר יהוה - This is what the Lord says, without any reference to the rule over water. Since the idea of ruling over waters is attested in the literature in Ugarit (the god ’Ilu rules over the sea), Fabry suggested that its presence in Nahum 1:12 Old Greek and Zechariah 9:9 Old Greek must be a reflection of ’a quite enigmatical Canaanite renaissance.’ ...
Adam Kubis, The Book of Zechariah in the Gospel of John (Paris: J. Gabalda et Cie, 2012), 65–66.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Nahum 1:12 and LXX Nahum 1:12

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