57 Heb “Emptiness and devastation and being laid waste.” Several English versions attempt to reproduce the assonance, alliteration, and paronomasia of three similarly sounding Hebrew words: בּוּקַָה וּמְבוּקָה וּמְבֻלָּקָה (buqah umévuqah umévullaqah; “Desolation, devastation, and destruction!”; : “Devastation, desolation, and destruction!”). Destruction, devastation, and desolation. The feminine form of each of these terms is used, referring to Nineveh (e.g., : “She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste!”). Conquered cities are often personified as a desolated woman (e.g., Isa 47:1; 54:1).
58 Heb “and melting heart.”
59 Heb “and tottering of knees.”
60 Heb “and shaking in all of the loins.”
61 Heb “all of their faces.”
62 Heb “gather” or “withdraw.” The Piel perfect קִבְּצוּ (qibbétsu) from קָבַץ (qavats, “to gather”) may be nuanced in the intensive sense “to gather glow; to glow [in excitement]” ( קבץ pi. 4) or the privative sense “to take away, withdraw” ( 868 קָבַץ Pi.3). The phrase קִבְּצוּ פָארוּר (qibbétsu pa’rur) is very difficult; it occurs only here and in Joel 2:6 which also describes the fearful facial reaction to an invading army. It probably means: (1) to grow red in fear; (2) to grow pale in fear; or (3) to turn ashen in fear. This difficult phrase may be translated by the modern English idioms: “every face grows pale” or “every face flushes red in fear.”
63 The Hebrew term פָּארוּר (pa’rur) occurs only here and in Joel 2:6 where it also describes a fearful facial reaction. The meaning of פָּארוּר is debated and numerous etymologies have been suggested: (1) From פָּרוּר (parur, “cooking pot”; פָּרוּר): τὸ πρόσωπον πάντων ὡς πρόσκαυμα ξύτρας (to prosōpon pantōn hōs proskauma xutras, “all their faces are like a blackened/burned pot”); et facies omnium sicut nigredo ollae (“all their faces are like a black pot”); Jonathan (“covered with black like a pot”). This approach is adopted by the and : “the faces of them all gather blackness.” (2) From פְּאֵר (pé’er, “beauty”). Taking קָבַץ (qavats) in a private sense (“gather in”), several scholars propose: “to draw in beauty, withdraw color,” hence: “their faces grow pale” (, ); see K&D 26:192–93; A. Haldar, Studies in the Book of Nahum, 59. (3) From פָּרַר (parar, “break in pieces”). Due to fear, their faces have gathered wrinkles. (4) From IV פּרר (“to boil”), related to Arabic ’pr and npr (“to boil”): “their faces glow red in excitement” ( ). (5) From פּאר (“grey, ash grey”): “their faces turn grey” (J. J. Gluck, “parur—paʾrur: A Case of Biblical Paronomasia,” OTWSA 12 [1969]: 21–26). The translation appears to adopt this approach: “all faces turn ashen.”