The LORD has given commandment about you: the singular you is generally understood to be the king of Assyria (Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or the Assyrian nation as a whole (Good News Translation, New International Version, Bible en français courant). Good News Translation makes the addressees explicit by saying “This is what the LORD has decreed about the Assyrians.” In English the colon (:) shows that the following text states the content of the commandment, or what is “decreed.” In languages which do not use the colon, it will be helpful to render this sentence as “The LORD has decreed about the Assyrians, saying….”
Most versions retain the second-person forms throughout the verse in English, but Good News Translation has changed them all to third person, perhaps to emphasize the change of addressee from the previous two verses.
The commandment or “decree” itself is in three parts. The first one says literally “it shall not be sown from your name any more” (Driver). The word “sow” in this sense refers to having children, who serve as “seed” to carry on the family name. Thus Revised Standard Version has No more shall your name be perpetuated. Good News Translation expresses this meaning in plain language as “They will have no descendants to carry on their name.” The lack of descendants and loss of the family name was regarded as a serious matter in the ancient world (see Deut 7.24; 29.20; 1 Sam 24.21). In some cultures a single term for descendants may be difficult to find. Some languages say this by long, involved expressions such as “children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren” or “the children of their children,” meaning “descendants.” Others have technical expressions similar to “species” or “lineage.” Translators should pick the word or phrase which most naturally refers to those who come from a particular ancestor or group of ancestors.
The second part of the decree speaks of the fall of the gods of Assyria: from the house of your gods I will cut off the graven image and the molten image. The word translated cut off is a common way in Hebrew of referring to destruction (see also verse 12 for a discussion on cut off). Graven images were carved from stone or, more commonly, from wood. Molten images were made by melting metal and pouring it into a mold. Few languages nowadays have separate words for these two different kinds of image. New English Bible uses two words in English, “image and idol,” but there is no particular need to do this. The use of the two words together in Hebrew is a way of referring to all kinds of images (compare Deut 27.15; Isa 48.5; Jer 10.14; Hab 2.18), and a general expression of this type is quite adequate. Good News Translation uses just one English word and says “I will destroy the idols that are in the temples of their gods.”
It was the normal practice of the Assyrians, when they captured a city, to remove the images of the gods (metal or wooden statues) from its temples. This was to show that these gods were less powerful than the gods of Assyria. Nahum here says that the LORD will remove the Assyrian images from their temples to show that he is more powerful than they are. In English the supreme God is differentiated from lesser gods or deities by the use of a capital letter. In many other languages this device is not suitable, or the term for God is only used for the Christian God, so it will seem strange to refer to other gods. There are two possible solutions. Translators may use a term or terms which refer to supernatural beings which non-Christians in the culture worship, or they may use the term for the Christian God with an adjective; for example, “false gods” or “small gods.” This will show that these are beings which are thought to be like God but are not really God. In such languages one can express the second part of the decree as follows: “I will destroy the idols that are in the temples of those false gods of theirs.”
The third part of the decree speaks of the deaths of the Assyrian people. The LORD says to the Assyrians, I will make your grave, that is, for them to be buried in when they are dead. In some languages it will be helpful to supply the words “and bury you” at the end of this sentence and say “I am making a grave for you Assyrians and will bury you….” The picture seems to be of the whole people being killed at once. The reason for this is given as for you are vile. The Hebrew word translated vile means “of no account, worthy of contempt” (compare 1 Sam 2.30). Good News Translation renders this as “they don’t deserve to live!”
Some translators change the Hebrew words underlying make and vile (Revised Standard Version) and translate “I intend to make your tomb an object of shame” (Jerusalem Bible; compare New American Bible). However, the Hebrew makes good sense as it stands, and there is no need to make any change.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A . A Handbook on the Book of Nahum. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .