37 Some scholars connect “in an overwhelming flood” (וּבְשֶׁטֶף עֹבֵר, uvéshetef ’over) with the preceding line: “he protects those who trust him in an overwhelming flood.” However, others connect it with the following line: “But with an overwhelming flood he will make a complete end of its [Nineveh’s] site.” D. T. Tsumura (“Janus Parallelism in Nah 1:8,” 102 [1983]: ) suggests that it does double duty and should be read with both lines: “he knows those who trust him in an overwhelming flood, / but with an overwhelming flood he will make a complete end of its [Nineveh’s] site.” Connecting it with the preceding line creates a tight parallelism and a balanced 5+5 metrical count. Connecting it with the following line harmonizes with Nah 2:9 [8], which describes the walls of Nineveh being destroyed by flood waters, and with historical evidence (Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, 2.27.1–3; Xenophon, Anabasis, 3.4.12) and modern archaeological evidence (A. T. Olmstead, History of Assyria, 637). This might be an example of intentional ambiguity: God will protect his people from the very calamity that he will use to destroy his enemies.
38 Heb “her place.” Alternately, some ancient versions read “his adversaries.” The reads מְקוֹמָהּ (méqomah, “her place”). This is supported by the Dead Sea Scrolls (מקומה, “her place,” found in 4QpNah) and Symmachus (τῆς τόποῦ αὐτοῦ, tēs topou autou, “her place”). The reading of the (τούς ἐπεγειρουμένους, tous epegeiroumenous, “those who rise up [against Him]”) and Aquila (ἀντισταμενω¡ν, antistamenōHn, “adversaries”) reflect מְקּוֹמיהוּ or מְקִימיהוּ or מְקִּמָיו (“his adversaries”), also reflected in the and . Some scholars suggest emending the in the light of the to create a tight parallelism between “his adversaries” (מקומיו) and “his enemies” (וְאֹיְבָיו, vé’oyévayv) which is a parallel word pair elsewhere (Deut 28:7; 2 Sam 22:40–41, 49; Mic 7:6; Ps 59:2). Likewise, Tsumura suggests emending the because the text, as it stands, does not have a clear parallel word for “his enemies” (וְאֹיְבָיו)—emending the ’s מְקוֹמָהּ (“her place”) to מקומיו (“his adversaries”) would result in a parallel word (D. T. Tsumura, “Janus Parallelism in Nah 1:8,” 102 [1983]: ). The editors propose emending the in favor of the Greek tradition. The English versions reflect both textual traditions—several follow the with “her place” and “its site” (, , , , ), while others adopt the reading and emend the Hebrew, resulting in “his adversaries” () or “those who defy him” (). The makes sense as it stands, but the proposed emendation is attractive and involves only the common confusion between ה and יו.
39 The editors propose emending the Masoretic reading יְרַדֶּף (yéraddef, Piel imperfect of רָדַּף [raddaf], “to chase”) to יֶהְדֹּף (yekhdof, Qal imperfect of הָדַף [hadaf], “to thrust away, drive away”). Although הָדַף is used with חֹשֶׁךְ (khoshekh, “darkness”) in Job 18:18 (“he is driven from light into darkness”), the makes good sense as it stands, and is supported by the versions. The conjectural emendation has no support and is unnecessary.