서론
无标题
英文原文
In this chapter we have, I. The inscription of the book, Na 1:1. II. A magnificent display of the glory of God, in a mixture of wrath and justice against the wicked, and mercy and grace towards his people, and the discovery of his majesty and power in both, Na 1:2-8. III. A particular application of this (as most interpreters think) to the destruction of Sennacherib and the Assyrian army, when they besieged Jerusalem, which was a very memorable and illustrious instance of the power both of God's justice and of his mercy, and spoke abundance of terror to his enemies and encouragement to his faithful servants, Na 1:9-16.
1
Inscription of the Book (710 BC)
书卷标题（主前 710 年）
¹ 论尼尼微的默示。伊勒歌斯人那鸿所得的异象之书。
这标题引导我们思考：第一，此处所传耶和华之言所针对的大城——这是尼尼微的默示，不仅是一篇预言、一篇沉重的预言，更是尼尼微的重担——一块系在它颈项上的磨石。尼尼微是所关切之地，亚述帝国亦然——它是其京城所在。约在此前一百年，约拿曾奉神的名预言这座大城速速倾覆；但那时尼尼微人悔改了，得蒙顾惜，那判语并未生出。尼尼微人那时清楚地看见，从恶道转回对他们有何等大的益处——那便是拯救他们的城；然而不久之后，他们又回到其中；它变得比从前更糟——流人血的城，满了谎言与抢夺。他们为自己的悔改而悔改，如狗回到自己所吐的，终于比以往任何时候都更败坏。于是神差给他们的不是这位先知本人——如约拿那样——而是这篇预言，向他们宣读他们如今已无可挽回的判语。注意，悔改若不持续，缓刑也不会延续。人若转离所开始行的善，便别无他望——只有神转离他所开始施的恩（耶18:10）。第二，此处所传耶和华之言的卑微先知——这是伊勒歌斯人那鸿所得异象之书。尼尼微的默示是先知所清楚预见的，因为那是他的异象；也是他所留于记录的（这是异象之书），为要在他 gone 之后，事件可与预言相比较，从而印证之。我们关于先知本人所得的全部记述，只是他是伊勒歌斯人——属名为Elkes或Elcos的城，据耶柔米所言在加利利。有人注意到，圣经通常对先知本人所述甚少，为要我们的信心不建立在他们的权威上，而建立在赐下预言的圣灵的权威上。
英文原文
Inscription of the Book (710 BC)
¹ The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
This title directs us to consider, 1. The great city against which the word of the Lord is here delivered; it is the burden of Nineveh, not only a prophecy, and a weighty one, but a burdensome prophecy, a dead weight to Nineveh, a mill-stone hanged about its neck. Nineveh was the place concerned, and the Assyrian monarchy, which that was the royal seat of. About 100 years before this Jonah had, in God's name, foretold the speedy overthrow of this great city; but then the Ninevites repented and were spared, and that decree did not bring forth. The Ninevites then saw clearly how much it was to their advantage to turn from their evil way; it was the saving of their city; and yet, soon after, they returned to it again; it became worse than ever, a bloody city, and full of lies and robbery. They repented of their repentance, returned with the dog to his vomit, and at length grew worse than ever they had been. Then God sent them not this prophet, as Jonah, but this prophecy, to read them their doom, which was now irreversible. Note, The reprieve will not be continued if the repentance be not continued in. If men turn from the good they began to do, they can expect no other than that God should turn from the favour he began to show, Jer 18:10. 2. The poor prophet by whom the word of the Lord is here delivered: It is the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. The burden of Nineveh was what the prophet plainly foresaw, for it was his vision, and what he left upon record (it is the book of the vision), that, when he was gone, the event might be compared with the prediction and might confirm it. All the account we have of the prophet himself is that he was an Elkoshite, of the town called Elkes, or Elcos, which, Jerome says, was in Galilee. Some observe that the scripture ordinarily says little of the prophets themselves, that our faith might not stand upon their authority, but upon that of the blessed Spirit by whom their prophecies were indited.
2-8
The Judgment of Nineveh; The Awful Power of God (710 BC)
尼尼微的审判；神可畏的大能（主前 710 年）
² 耶和华是忌邪施报的神；耶和华施报大有忿怒；耶和华向他的对头报仇，向他的仇敌怀怒。 ³ 耶和华不轻易发怒，大有能力，万不以有罪的为无罪；耶和华乘旋风和暴风而行，云彩为他脚下的尘土。 ⁴ 他斥责海，使海干了，使一切江河干涸。巴珊和迦密的树林衰残，黎巴嫩的花也衰残了。 ⁵ 大山因他震动，小山也都消化；他在他面前使世界焚毁，使住在其中的人也如此。 ⁶ 他发烈怒，谁能当得起呢？他的忿怒如火倾倒，磐石因他崩裂。 ⁷ 耶和华本为善，在患难之日作保障；他也认识那信靠他的人。 ⁸ 但他必以涨溢的洪水淹没尼尼微之地，又追赶他的仇敌进入黑暗。
尼尼微不认识神——就是那与她相争的神——所以此处告诉他们他是怎样的神；我们大家都当以信心与此处论他所说的话相和，这话对恶人说了许多可畏之事，对善人则说了安慰之言；因为这位世界之君的荣耀描述，如同云柱火柱一般，有向以色列的发亮一面，也有向埃及人的黑暗一面。让各人从中取自己的分；让罪人读了战兢，让圣徒读了夸胜。神的震怒在此从天上显明，针对他的仇敌；他的恩惠与怜悯在此向忠信的子民保证；而他的全能则兼在二者之中——使他的震怒极其可畏，使他的恩惠极其可慕。
I. 他是不可曲枉之公义的神，是忌邪的神，要向他的仇敌报仇；让尼尼微知道此事，在他面前战兢。他们的偶像是无足轻重之物，其中毫无可畏之处。但以色列的神大可敬畏；因为：第一，他对那些否认他的存在或他任何完美之性、设立别神与他争竞、破坏他的律法、控告他的作为、讥笑他的话语、或虐待他百姓之人所加于他的冒犯与侮辱，深感愤慨。让这样的人知道，耶和华——独一又真又活的神——是忌邪施报的神；他为他敬拜者的安慰而忌邪，为自己的地发热心（珥2:18），不容它受损害。他是施报的，且大有忿怒；他有忿怒（原文如此）——不像人那样的忿怒，在人其中是不受管辖的激情（所以他已说过：我里面没有怒气，赛27:4），而是以合乎公义之神的方式拥有它，为要加添其公义的锋芒，使它对那些否则不存敬畏之心的人更显可畏。他是怒气之主（希伯来文如此表达我们所读的"他大有忿怒"）；他有怒气，但他在掌管之下、在管治之下。我们的怒气往往辖管我们，如那些不能治服己心之人的怒气；但神始终是其怒气的主，并且为她平妥的道路（诗78:50）。第二，他决意与那些如此冒犯他的人算账。此处我们被告知，他不仅施报，更要报仇；他已说过如此，已起誓如此（申32:40-41）。无论谁在人中间作他的对头与仇敌，他必使他们感受他的愤慨；虽然对他的仇敌的判决不速速执行，他却为他们存留忿怒，在震怒之日为他们存留。对自己的百姓——那悔改、在他面前自卑的人——他不永远怀怒；但对他的仇敌，他必永远倾出其怒。他万不以有罪的为无罪——那犯罪、坚持犯罪、不悔改的人（鸿1:3）。那恶念地离开那离开了、永不归回的神的，他必不定他们为无罪（诗18:21）；谦卑的恳求者必发现他恩惠，但傲慢的乞者必不发现他轻易可亲，也不发现怜悯之门为高声却迟延的"主啊主啊"而开。这关于神向他仇敌发怒的启示，被应用于尼尼微（鸿1:8），也当被一切仍在自己过犯中的人应用于自己：他必以涨溢的洪水淹没其地。迦勒底的军队必漫过亚述的国境，使其全然荒废。神的审判既奉命而来，对任何民族而言便如洪水——他们不能挡开，也不能抵挡。黑暗必追赶他的仇敌；惊恐与患难必追随他们，无论他们往何处去，必追赶他们至于全然的黑暗；他们若想逃脱所追赶他们的黑暗，不过是落入在他们前面的黑暗之中。
II. 他是不可抗拒之大能的神，能对付他的仇敌——无论他们何等多、何等强、何等勇。他大有能力（鸿1:3），所以与他为友是好的，与他为敌是坏的。如今此处——
1. 神的大能在此藉着自然之国中各样实例被宣告、被证实；我们总在其中可见其在自然寻常运行中的可见效果，有时则在运行的惊人变化中。第一，我们若仰望天空之域，便在其中发现他权能的证据，因为他乘旋风和暴风而行。神无论何往，都带着旋风和暴风同去，为要惊吓他的仇敌（诗18:9等）。无论何处有旋风和暴风，神都掌管它、控制它、在其中开路、在其中行自己的路、藉它成就自己的旨意。他曾从旋风中回答约伯，连狂风也成就他的话。他乘旋风而行——即他行得不能被人识透，他护理的方法对我们而言不可解；如所说：他的道在海中。云彩为他脚下的尘土；他踏在其上、行在其上，随己意兴起它们，如同人用脚扬起尘土。魔鬼之被称为空中掌权者的首领，不过是因许可——不如说是因篡夺——因为那权能在神手中。第二，我们若观看深渊，便见海是他的，因为他造了它；因为他随己意斥责海，使海干了，使一切江河干涸——那不断供应它的江河。他在分开红海与约但河之时显明了这权能的证据，并能随己意再行同样的事。第三，我们若环顾这地，便在其中发现他权能的证据——当或因夏日的酷热干旱、或因冬日的寒冷冰霜，巴珊和迦密衰残，黎巴嫩的花也衰残——那最美最坚的花也衰残。他的权能常见于地震之中——大山因之震动（鸿1:5），小山因之消化，被夷为平原。当他之时，地在天的面前被烈日焚烧；他也能如对所多玛那样，以天上的火焚烧它；并在末时焚烧世界，和其中一切的居民。地和其中一切的工程都必被烧尽。如此，主为大，大有能力。
2. 这特别被应用于他的怒气。神若是全能的神，我们便可由此推论（鸿1:6）：他发烈怒，谁能当得起呢？ 尼尼微人曾一度体会神不轻易发怒（如他在鸿1:3所说），也许因此妄恃他们那时所经历的怜悯，以为自己可以放胆冒犯他；但他们必发现他既怜悯又有恩惠，也公正而忌邪；他既已显明其怒气之公义，在下一处便显明其怒气之大能，以及他的仇敌完全无力与他相争。最强壮、最强盛的罪人想以自己的力量抵挡神怒气的权能，是徒然的。（一）看神在此为烈火——可畏而大能。此处是他向罪的愤慨，是他烈怒的忿怒；他的忿怒倾倒出来——不像水，而像火——如所多玛所受的火与硫磺（诗11:6）。地狱便是神烈怒的忿怒（启16:19）。神的怒气如此猛烈，以致将一切面前之物击倒：磐石因他崩裂——那看似不能动摇的磐石。磐石有时因地下火的喷发而裂开，这是神向心如磐石之罪人所发烈怒的微弱影像，因为从来无人对他硬心而兴盛。（二）看罪人在此为火前的碎秸——软弱无能，与神的震怒相较极不相称。[一] 他们完全无力抵挡它、抵抗它、推开它的打击：他发烈怒，谁能当得起呢？ 最骄傲最胆大之罪人不能；不敬虔之世不能；不，连犯了罪的天使也不能。[二] 他们完全无力在它之下支撑、保持精神、保有任何对自己的享受：他的烈怒之中，谁能站得住呢？ 它既不可抗拒，也不可忍受。神在今世所发不悦的某些果效，人尚可承受，但当他的烈怒直接临到灵魂之时，谁能受得住呢？所以我们当在他面前可畏；当存敬畏的心，不犯罪。
III. 他是无限怜悯的神；在这一切震怒之中，怜悯仍被记念。锡安中的罪人当惧怕——那仍在过犯中前行的人；但那信靠神的人，不要在他面前战兢。因为：第一，他不轻易发怒（鸿1:3）——不易被激怒，却乐意向得罪他的人施怜悯，在他们悔改之时收纳他们归恩。第二，当他向恶人发作怒气的记号四溢之时，他顾念自己百姓的安全与安慰（鸿1:7）：耶和华本为善——对那为善之人；对他们，他必在患难之日作保障。注意，那为恶人的惊恐与毁灭而运用的同一全能权能，也为他自己百姓的保护与满足而受托、而被运用；他能救也能灭。在公众苦难之日，当神的审判在地上、使一切荒废之时，他必作那因信将自己置于他保护之下之人的保障——那在本分之道上信靠他的人、那过倚赖他、献己于他之生活的人；他认识他们，承认他们为自己的，留意他们的案情，知道什么对他们最好、采取什么途径最能有效地解救他们。他们在世上也许默默无闻、少受重视，但耶和华认识他们（诗1:6）。
英文原文
The Judgment of Nineveh; The Awful Power of God (710 BC)
² God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
³ The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
⁴ He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
⁵ The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
⁶ Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.
⁷ The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.
⁸ But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.
Nineveh knows not God, that God that contends with her, and therefore is here told what a God he is; and it is good for us all to mix faith with that which is here said concerning him, which speaks a great deal of terror to the wicked and comfort to good people; for this glorious description of the Sovereign of the world, like the pillar of cloud and fire, has a bright side towards Israel and a dark side towards the Egyptians. Let each take his portion from it; let sinners read it and tremble; let saints read it and triumph. The wrath of God is here revealed from heaven against him enemies, his favour and mercy are here assured to his faithful loyal subjects, and his almighty power in both, making his wrath very terrible and his favour very desirable.
I. He is a God of inflexible justice, a jealous God, and will take vengeance on his enemies; let Nineveh know this, and tremble before him. Their idols are insignificant things; there is nothing formidable in them. But the God of Israel is greatly to be feared; for, 1. He resents the affronts and indignities done him by those that deny his being or any of his perfections, that set up other gods in competition with him, that destroy his laws, arraign his proceedings, ridicule his word, or are abusive to his people. Let such know that Jehovah, the one only living and true God, is a jealous God, and a revenger; he is jealous for the comfort of his worshippers, jealous for his land (Joe 2:18), and will not have that injured. He is a revenger, and he is furious; he has fury (so the word is), not as man has it, in whom it is an ungoverned passion (so he has said, Fury is not in me, Isa 27:4), but he has it in such a way as becomes the righteous God, to put an edge upon his justice, and to make it appear more terrible to those who otherwise would stand in no awe of it. He is Lord of anger (so the Hebrew phrase is for that which we read, he is furious); he has anger, but he has it at command and under government. Our anger is often lord over us, as theirs that have no rule over their own spirits, but God is always Lord of his anger and weighs a path to it, Ps 78:50. 2. He resolves to reckon with those that put those affronts upon him. We are told here, not only that he is a revenger, but that he will take vengeance; he has said he will, he has sworn it, De 32:40,41. Whoever are his adversaries and enemies among men, he will make them feel his resentments; and, though the sentence against his enemies is not executed speedily, yet he reserves wrath for them and reserves them for it in the day of wrath. Against his own people, who repent and humble themselves before him, he keeps not his anger for ever, but against his enemies he will for ever let out his anger. He will not at all acquit the wicked that sin, and stand to it, and do not repent, Na 1:3. Those wickedly depart from their God that depart, and never return (Ps 18:21), and these he will not acquit. Humble supplicants will find him gracious, but scornful beggars will not find him easy, or that the door of mercy will be opened to a loud, but late, Lord, Lord. This revelation of the wrath of God against his enemies is applied to Nineveh (Na 1:8), and should be applied by all those to themselves who go on still in their trespasses: With an over-running flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof. The army of the Chaldeans shall overrun the country of the Assyrians, and lay it all waste. God's judgments, when they come with commission, are like a deluge to any people, which they cannot keep off nor make head against. Darkness shall pursue his enemies; terror and trouble shall follow them, whithersoever they go, shall pursue them to utter darkness; if they think to flee from the darkness which pursues them they will but fall into that which is before them.
II. He is a God of irresistible power, and is able to deal with his enemies, be they ever so many, ever so mighty, ever so hardy. He is great in power (Na 1:3), and therefore it is good having him our friend and bad having him our enemy. Now here,
1. The power of God is asserted and proved by divers instances of it in the kingdom of nature, where we always find its visible effects in the ordinary course of nature, and sometimes in the surprising alterations of that course. (1.) If we look up into the regions of the air, there we shall find proofs of his power, for he has his ways in the whirlwind and the storm. Which way soever God goes he carries a whirlwind and a storm along with him, for the terror of his enemies, Ps 18:9, etc. And, wherever there is a whirlwind and a storm, God has the command of it, the control of it, makes his way through it, goes on his way in it, and serves his own purposes by it. He spoke to Job out of the whirlwind, and even stormy winds fulfil his word. He has his way in the whirlwind, that is, he goes on undiscerned, and the methods of his providence are to us unaccountable; as it is said, His way is in the sea. The clouds are the dust of his feet; he treads on them, walks on them, raises them when he pleases, as a man with his feet raises a cloud of dust. It is but by permission, or usurpation rather, that the devil is the prince of the power of the air, for that power is in God's hand. (2.) If we cast our eye upon the great deeps, there we find that the sea is his, for he made it; for, when he pleases, he rebukes the sea and makes it dry, by drying up all the rivers with which it is continually supplied. He gave those proofs of his power when he divided the Red Sea and Jordan, and can do the same again whenever he pleases. (3.) If we look round us on this earth, we find proofs of his power, when, either by the extreme heat and drought of summer or the cold and frost of winter, Bashan languishes, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languishes, the choicest and strongest flower languishes. His power is often seen in earthquakes, which shake the mountains (Na 1:5), melt the hills, and melt them down, and level them with the plains. When he pleases the earth is burnt at his presence by the scorching heat of the sun, and he could burn it with fire from heaven, as he did Sodom, and at the end of time he will burn the world and all that dwell therein. The earth, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. Thus great is the Lord and of great power.
2. This is particularly applied to his anger. If God be an almighty God, we may thence infer (Na 1:6), Who can stand before his indignation? The Ninevites had once found God slow to anger (as he says Na 1:3), and perhaps presumed upon the mercy they had then had experience of, and thought they might make bold with him; but they will find he is just and jealous as well as merciful and gracious, and, having shown the justice of his wrath, in the next he shows the power of it, and the utter insufficiency of his enemies to contend with him. It is in vain for the stoutest and strongest of sinners to think to make their part good against the power of God's anger. (1.) See God here as a consuming fire, terrible and mighty. Here is his indignation against sin, and the fierceness of his anger, his fury poured out, not like water, but like fire, like the fire and brimstone rained on Sodom, Ps 11:6. Hell is the fierceness of God's anger, re 16:19. God's anger is so fierce that it beats down all before it: The rocks are thrown down by him, which seemed immovable. Rocks have sometimes been rent by the eruption of subterraneous fires, which is a faint resemblance of the fierceness of God's anger against sinners whose hearts are rocky, for none ever hardened their hearts against him and prospered. (2.) See sinners here are stubble before the fire, weak and impotent, and a very unequal match for the wrath of God. [1.] They are utterly unable to bear up against it, so as to resist it, and put by the strokes of it: Who can stand before his indignation? Not the proudest and most daring sinner; not the world of the ungodly; no, not the angels that sinned. [2.] They are utterly unable to bear up under it so as to keep up their spirits, and preserve any enjoyment of themselves: Who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? As it is irresistible, so it is intolerable. Some of the effects of God's displeasure in this world a man may bear up under, but the fierceness of his anger, when it fastens immediately upon the soul, who can bear? Let us therefore fear before him; let us stand in awe, and not sin.
III. He is a God of infinite mercy; and in the midst of all this wrath mercy is remembered. Let the sinners in Zion be afraid, that go on still in their transgressions, but let not those that trust in God tremble before him. For, 1. He is slow to anger (Na 1:3), not easily provoked, but ready to show mercy to those who have offended him and to receive them into favour upon their repentance. 2. When the tokens of his rage against the wicked are abroad he takes care for the safety and comfort of his own people (Na 1:7): The Lord is good to those that are good, and to them he will be a stronghold in the day of trouble. Note, The same almighty power that is exerted for the terror and destruction of the wicked is engaged, and shall be employed, for the protection and satisfaction of his own people; he is able both to save and to destroy. In the day of public trouble, when God's judgments are in the earth, laying all waste, he will be a place of defence to those that by faith put themselves under his protection, those that trust in him in the way of their duty, that live a life of dependence upon him, and devotedness to him; he knows them, he owns them for his, he takes cognizance of their case, knows what is best for them, and what course to take most effectually for their relief. They are perhaps obscure and little regarded in the world, but the Lord knows them, Ps 1:6.
9-15
Destruction of the Assyrian Army; Overthrow of Sennacherib (710 BC)
亚述大军的毁灭；西拿基立的覆没（主前 710 年）
⁹ 你们图谋何事攻击耶和华？他必从根本上灭绝；灾难不再兴起。 ¹⁰ 他们如荆棘纠缠在一起，他们如酒醉之人沉醉，他们必如干透的碎秸被吞灭。 ¹¹ 有一人从你那里出来，图谋恶事攻击耶和华，设恶计的谋士。 ¹² 耶和华如此说：他们虽然安然无虑，并且人数众多，也必这样被剪除；他经过之时，我虽曾使你受苦，却不再使你受苦了。 ¹³ 现在我必从他身上折断你的轭，扭开你的绳索。 ¹⁴ 耶和华已经出令论到你说：不再使你的名被传扬；我必从你神的庙中，除掉雕刻的偶像和铸造的偶像；我必为你预备坟墓，因为你被轻贱。 ¹⁵ 看哪，报好信传平安之人的脚登山说：犹大啊，当守你的节期，还你所许的愿；因为恶人不再从你中间经过，他已全然剪除。
这几节经文似乎指向亚述人在西拿基立之下大军的毁灭——这可恰当地算为尼尼微（亚述帝国的首城）之默示的一部分，也是约一百年后尼尼微本身毁灭的凭据；这是以赛亚（这位先知大概与他同时代）多次论及的事件。在此当注意——
I. 亚述人向神——那公正而忌邪的神——所给的重大冒犯，为此，他虽不轻易发怒，却必报仇（鸿1:11）：有一人从你那里出来，图谋恶事攻击耶和华——西拿基立，和他的发言人拉伯沙基。他们拟定了一封恶信、一篇恶言，不仅针对希西家与其百姓，更针对神自己——将他贬为与外邦的神同等，无力保护他的敬拜者，劝他的百姓不要信靠他，反劝他们投靠大王、亚述王。他们图谋改变耶路撒冷的归属，使之不再为主之城、圣城。这一位——这一位强者，他如此自视——从尼尼微出来，图谋恶事攻击耶和华，便是这尼尼微之默示的缘由。天地的荣耀威严从未如西拿基立当时那样被大胆地、亵渎地冒犯。他是设恶计的谋士——劝他们放弃神的保护，向亚述王投降，并企图使他们厌弃希西家的改革（赛36:7）；先知在此与此恶谋士争辩（鸿1:9）：你们图谋何事攻击耶和华？ 你们图谋抵挡神是何等愚蠢邪恶的事——仿佛你们能以智胜神的智慧、以力胜全能本身！注意，阴间的门户向主图谋甚多，也向他国度在人间的利益图谋甚多；但这必证明是徒然（诗2:1-2）。那坐在天上的必嗤笑那些自以为能以政治图谋抵挡他之人的幻想，并将他们的计谋头朝下倾覆。
II. 神因此所要降于他们的大毁灭——不是立即临于整个帝国（其倾覆被推迟，直到其罪孽的量满盈），而是——
1. 临于军队；神必从根本上灭绝它；它必在一次打击中被全然剪除灭亡；灭命天使的一次致命打击必使他们当场死于原地；灾难不再兴起——因为不必再起。对某些罪人神速速了结，一击即毕其事。神的报应不循一条固定的法则，也不取一条恒定的轨道，但或此或彼——或急症或慢性病，或速死或缠绵——他必从根本上灭绝一切坚持向他图谋的仇敌。我们有理由想，亚述军多半与其将军同心同言，如今神要追究他们——虽然他们不过是照所教的而言；他们必显明是凭自己的行为亲手将自己敞开于神圣震怒之下（鸿1:10）。（一）他们如荆棘，彼此缠绕，纠缠在一起。他们彼此使对方更糟、更激烈地反对神与他的以色列，彼此坚硬化心、强化手于其不敬虔之中；所以神要待他们如农夫之待一丛不能分开的荆棘：将它们一并投入火中。（二）他们如酒醉之人，因骄傲与狂怒而沉醉；这样的人必无可挽回地被倾覆毁灭。他们必如酒醉者，痴迷以致自毁，必绊跌仆倒，自取羞辱，公正地被人嗤笑。（三）他们必如干透的碎秸被吞灭——被火焰不可抗、无可挽回地吞尽。神的审判对于那使自己如碎秸于其前的人，如同吞灭之火。关于这支大军，再次宣告（鸿1:12）：他们虽然安然无虑，并且人数众多——极其安逸，不怕被围者出击，因为他们人多——然而也必这样被剪除，或说他们必被剪除，如草与谷之被割——毫不费力，当他经过之时——即受命剪除他们的灭命天使。注意，罪人的安逸与对己力的自信，往往是毁灭将临的预兆。
2. 临于王。他图谋恶事攻击耶和华，他能逃脱吗？不能（鸿1:14）：耶和华已经出令论到你说——判语已经发出，不再使你的名被传扬——使你的记念消灭，使你不再如从前被谈论，使你大能作为的报告不再展翅飞扬、不再以其号角传扬。因为西拿基立之子继他位，有人将此理解为不久后亚述帝国的覆没。注意，那些图谋恶事攻击耶和华的人，是将灾祸速速加于自己、加于自己的家人与利益，并以羞辱他的名而毁掉自己的名。进一步宣告：（一）他所敬拜的偶像必从其庙中被剪除——雕刻的偶像和铸造的偶像，从他神的庙中。有人以为这在西拿基立正在他神尼斯洛庙中叩拜之时被他的两个儿子所杀时便应验了；我们可想象因这野蛮的弑父，庙被视为污秽，因而被废弃，偶像便从其中被剪除——那些偶像的敬拜者不再在那里聚集。或更笼统地理解为指亚述的全然倾覆；敌军必尽行荒废，连他们神的偶像也不放过，藉此神向他们表明其争辩的缘由之一便是他们的偶像崇拜。（二）西拿基立的坟墓必在那里被预备——有人以为在他神的庙中；他在那里被杀，也必在那里被葬，因为他被轻贱；他带着这永久的羞辱记号——他竟如此丧失自己儿女天然的亲情，以致两个儿子谋杀了他。或可理解为亚述帝国本身可耻的倾覆，在其废墟之上巴比伦被建立。那曾经可畏、如今可鄙之国的坟墓曾引起何等的喧嚣，以西结（结3:3,11,15,16——此处原文为结32章之误引）曾详加描述。注意，那些以可耻之罪使自己卑贱的人，神必以羞辱之罚使他们卑贱。
III. 神因此要为他自己的百姓、为那称为他名下的城所成就的大拯救。教会仇敌的倾覆便是教会的拯救——而因西拿基立大军的覆没为耶路撒冷所成就的，实在是大拯救。
1. 围困因此得以解除：现在我必从他身上折断你的轭——那使你服于奴役的，并扭开你的绳索——那使你似乎被绑交于亚述人之怒的。那支庞大得胜的大军，当它在犹大全地强行驻扎、任意生活之时，对他们是如轭如索。耶路撒冷被围之时，仿佛被它捆绑束缚；但当灭命天使作完其工，耶路撒冷的绳索便被扭开，重得自由。这是那大拯救的影像——藉此那在上的耶路撒冷得以自由，得以实在自由。
2. 仇敌必如此削弱丧胆，以致永不再作此尝试；这苦难的结局必因神的恩典如此美好地达到，以致不再有如此严厉惩治的必要。（一）神不再惩治耶路撒冷；他的怒气转消，他说：够了；因为他已藉此惊吓在锡安山、耶路撒冷成就一切工作（赛10:12），所以我虽曾使你受苦，却不再使你受苦了；苦杯不再重复，除非有此需要、除非病人的情形要求如此；因为神不甘心使人受苦。（二）仇敌不敢再来攻击耶路撒冷（鸿1:15）：恶人不再从你中间经过——如他们素常所行的，要尽行荒废，因为他已全然剪除，无力再行。他的军被剪除，他的灵被剪除，终于他自己也被剪除。
3. 这大拯救的消息必在全境传扬，以丰足的喜乐欢迎（鸿1:15）。当西拿基立得势、势如破竹之时，每日带来坏消息；但如今，看哪，在山上，报好信之人的脚——传福音之人的脚；人远远看见他在山上尽快赶来；在我们受了约拿那么多个凶信之后，再次看见平安的使者，是何等悦目的景象！我们看见另一位先知使用这些话，以描绘神百姓从巴比伦得解救之怜悯（赛52:7）——并不是先知彼此偷用话语（如那些人所行的，耶23:30），而是因受同一位圣灵感动，他们常使用相同的表达；传道人见证他们对纯正真理（提前6:3）的同意，藉着在相同的信实的话语的形式（提后1:13）上同心合意，可能甚有益处。这些话也被使徒引用——既引自以赛亚也引自那鸿——应用于我们主耶稣为我们所成就的大救赎，以及藉着永远的福音将其传于世人（罗10:15）。基督的使者就是那些报好信的使者，传藉耶稣基督之和平。那些使者之脚何等佳美！ 他们的信息对于那些因罪而看见自己悲惨与危险的人何等受欢迎！当注意，那报好信的也带着对犹大的呼召——守她的节期、还她所许的愿。在患难之中，（一）素常的节期已被中断。兵戈之声中法律沉默。耶路撒冷既被军队围困，他们不能上去敬拜；但如今禁令既撤，他们必须恢复守节；主的节期对神的百姓，在他们一度被剥夺其益处、而神恩惠地恢复他们的机会之后，必加倍甘甜——因为我们乃是藉着缺乏而学会此类怜悯的价值。（二）他们曾向神许愿——他若救他们脱离此难，他们必在他的事奉中为他荣耀作些非常之事；如今拯救既已成就，他们受召还愿；那时所许的应许如今必须兑现，因为许愿不还不如不许。而恶人不再从你中间经过这话，可作为对希西家所开始的改革善工之成全的应许；恶人不再如他们素常所行的，在各处往来，他们必被剪除；而当国外恶敌的图谋被挫败之时，若同时国内恶人受约束、得改革——他们本是更危险的敌人——那对一国而言实在是怜悯。
英文原文
Destruction of the Assyrian Army; Overthrow of Sennacherib (710 BC)
⁹ What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.
¹⁰ For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.
¹¹ There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor.
¹² Thus saith the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.
¹³ For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.
¹⁴ And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
¹⁵ Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.
These verses seem to point at the destruction of the army of the Assyrians under Sennacherib, which may well be reckoned a part of the burden of Nineveh, the head city of the Assyrian empire, and a pledge of the destruction of Nineveh itself about 100 years after; and this was an event which Isaiah, with whom probably this prophet was contemporary, spoke much of. Now observe here,
I. The great provocation which the Assyrians gave to God, the just and jealous God, for which, though slow to anger, he would take vengeance (Na 1:11): There is one come out of thee, that imagines evil against the Lord—Sennacherib, and his spokesman Rabshakeh. They framed an evil letter and an evil speech, not only against Hezekiah and his people, but against God himself, reflecting upon him as level with the gods of the heathen, and unable to protect his worshippers, dissuading his people from putting confidence in him, and urging them rather to put themselves under the protection of the great king, the king of Assyria. They contrived to alter the property of Jerusalem, that it should be no longer the city of the Lord, the holy city. This one, this mighty one, so he thinks himself, that comes out of Nineveh, imagining evil against the Lord, brings upon Nineveh this burden. Never was the glorious Majesty of heaven and earth more daringly, more blasphemously affronted than by Sennacherib at that time. He was a wicked counsellor who counselled them to despair of God's protection, and surrender themselves to the king of Assyria, and endeavour to put them out of conceit with Hezekiah's reformation (Isa 36:7); with this wicked counsellor he here expostulates (Na 1:9): "What do you imagine against the Lord? What a foolish wicked thing it is for you to plot against God, as if you could outwit divine wisdom and overpower omnipotence itself!" Note, There is a great deal imagined against the Lord by the gates of hell, and against the interests of his kingdom in the world; but it will prove a vain thing, Ps 2:1,2. He that sits in heaven laughs at the imaginations of the pretenders to politics against him, and will turn their counsels headlong.
II. The great destruction which God would bring upon them for it, not immediately upon the whole monarchy (the ruin of that was deferred till the measure of their iniquity was full), but,
1. Upon the army; God will make an utter end of that; it shall be totally cut off and ruined at one blow; one fatal stroke of the destroying angel shall lay them dead upon the spot; affliction shall not rise up the second time, for it shall not need. With some sinners God makes a quick despatch, does their business at once. Divine vengeance goes not by one certain rule, nor in one constant track, but one way or other, by acute diseases or chronical ones, by slow deaths or lingering ones, he will make an utter end of all his enemies, who persist in their imaginations against him. We have reason to think that the Assyrian army were mostly of the same spirit, and spoke the same language, with their general, and now God would take them to task, though they did but say as they were taught; and it shall appear that they have laid themselves open to divine wrath by their own act and deed, Na 1:10. (1.) They are as thorns that entangle one another, and are folded together. They make one another worse, and more inveterate against God and his Israel, harden one another's hearts, and strengthen one another's hands, in their impiety; and therefore God will do with them as the husbandman does with a bush of thorns when he cannot part them: he puts them all into the fire together. (2.) They are as drunken men, intoxicated with pride and rage; and such as they shall be irrecoverably overthrown and destroyed. They shall be as drunkards, besotted to their own ruin, and shall stumble and fall, and make themselves a reproach, and be justly laughed at. (3.) They shall be devoured as stubble fully dry, which is irresistibly and irrecoverably consumed by the flame. The judgments of God are as devouring fire to those that make themselves as stubble to them. It is again threatened concerning this great army (Na 1:12) that though they be quiet and likewise many, very secure, not fearing the sallies out of the besieged upon them, because they are numerous, yet thus shall they be cut down, or certainly shall they be cut down, as grass and corn are cut down, with as little ado, when he shall pass through, even the destroying angel that is commissioned to cut them down. Note, The security of sinners, and their confidence in their own strength, are often presages of ruin approaching.
2. Upon the king. He imagined evil against the Lord, and shall he escape? No (Na 1:14): "The Lord has given a commandment concerning thee; the decree has gone forth, that thy name be no more sown, that thy memory perish, that thou be no more talked of as thou hast been, and that the report of thy mighty actions be dispersed upon the wings of fame and celebrated with her trumpet." Because Sennacherib's son reigned in his stead, some make this to point at the overthrow of the Assyrian empire not long after. Note, Those that imagine evil against the Lord hasten evil upon themselves and their own families and interests, and ruin their own names by dishonouring his name. It is further threatened, (1.) That the images he worshipped should be cut off from their temple, the graven image and the molten image out of the house of his gods, which, some think, was fulfilled when Sennacherib was slain by his two sons, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, by which barbarous parricide we may suppose the temple was looked upon as defiled, and was therefore disused, and the images were cut off from it, the worshippers of those images no longer attending there. Or it may be taken more generally to denote the utter ruin of Assyria; the army of the enemy shall lay all waste, and not spare even the images of their gods, by which God would intimate to them that one of the grounds of his controversy with them was their idolatry. (2.) That Sennacherib's grave shall be made there, some think in the house of his god; there he is slain, and there he shall be buried, for he is vile; he lies under this perpetual mark of disgrace, that he had so far lost his interest in the natural affection of his own children that two of them murdered him. Or it may be meant of the ignominious fall of the Assyrian monarchy itself, upon the ruins of which that of Babylon was raised. What a noise was made about the grave of that once formidable state, but now despicable, is largely described, Eze 3:3,11,15,16. Note, Those that make themselves vile by scandalous sins God will make vile by shameful punishments.
III. The great deliverance which God would hereby work for his own people and the city that was called by his name. The ruin of the church's enemies is the salvation of the church, and a very great salvation it was that was wrought for Jerusalem by the overthrow of Sennacherib's army.
1. The siege shall hereby be raised: "Now will I break his yoke from off thee, by which thou art kept in servitude, and will burst thy bonds asunder, by which thou seemest bound over to the Assyrian's wrath." That vast victorious army, when it forced free quarters for itself throughout all the land of Judah, and lived at discretion there, was as yokes and bonds upon them. Jerusalem, when it was besieged, was, as it were, bound and fettered by it; but, when the destroying angel had done his work, Jerusalem's bonds were burst asunder, and it was set at liberty again. This was a figure of the great salvation, by which the Jerusalem that is above is made free, is made free indeed.
2. The enemy shall be so weakened and dispirited that they shall never make any such attempt again, and the end of this trouble shall be so well gained by the grace of God that there shall be no more occasion for such a severe correction. (1.) God will not again afflict Jerusalem; his anger is turned away, and he says, It is enough; for he has by this fright accomplished his whole work upon Mount Zion (Isa 10:12), and therefore "though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more;" the bitter portion shall not be repeated unless there be need and the patient's case call for it; for God doth not afflict willingly. (2.) The enemy shall not dare again to attack Jerusalem (Na 1:15): The wicked shall no more pass through thee as they have done, to lay all waste, for he is utterly cut off and disabled to do it. His army is cut off, his spirit cut off, and at length he himself is cut off.
3. The tidings of this great deliverance shall be published and welcomed with abundance of joy throughout the kingdom, Na 1:15. While Sennacherib prevailed, and carried all before him, every day brought bad news; but now, behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, the feet of the evangelist; he is seen coming at a distance upon the mountains, as fast as his feet will carry him; and how pleasant a sight is it once more to see a messenger of peace, after we have received so many of Job's messengers! We find these words made use of by another prophet to illustrate the mercy of the deliverance of the people of God out of Babylon (Isa 52:7), not that the prophets stole the word one from another (as those did, Jer 23:30), but speaking by the same Spirit, they often used the same expressions; and it may be of good use for ministers to testify their consent to wholesome truths (1Ti 6:3) by concurring in the same forms of sound words, 2Ti 1:13. These words are also quoted by the apostle, both from Isaiah and Nahum, and applied to the great redemption wrought out for us by our Lord Jesus, and the publishing of it to the world by the everlasting gospel, Ro 10:15. Christ's ministers are those messengers of good tidings, that preach peace by Jesus Christ. How beautiful are the feet of those messengers! How welcome their message to those that see their misery and danger by reason of sin! And observe, He that brings these good tidings brings with them a call to Judah to keep her solemn feasts and perform her vows. During the trouble, (1.) The ordinary feasts had been intermitted. Inter arma silent leges—The voice of law cannot be heard amidst the shouts of battle. While Jerusalem was encompassed with armies they could not go thither to worship; but now that the embargo is taken off they must return to the observance of their feasts; and the feasts of the Lord will be doubly sweet to the people of God when they have been for some time deprived of the benefit of them and God graciously restores them their opportunities again, for we are taught the worth of such mercies by the want of them. (2.) They had made vows to God, that, if he would deliver them out of this distress, they would do something extraordinary in his service, to his honour; and now that the deliverance is wrought they are called upon to perform their vows; the promise they had then made must now be made good, for better it is not to vow than to vow and not to pay. And those words, The wicked shall no more pass through thee, may be taken as a promise of the perfecting of the good work of reformation which Hezekiah had begun; the wicked shall not, as they have done, walk on every side, but they shall be cut off, and the baffling of the attempts from the wicked enemies abroad is a mercy indeed to a nation when it is accompanied with the restraint and reformation of the wicked at home, who are its more dangerous enemies.
在本章中我们有以下内容：I. 本书的标题（鸿 1:1）。II. 神荣耀的宏伟彰显——在对恶人的烈怒与公义中，并对他百姓的怜悯与恩典中，两者都显明了他的威严与权能（鸿 1:2-8）。III. （如大多数解经家所认为的）将此特别应用于西拿基立与亚述军兵围困耶路撒冷时的毁灭；那是神公义之权能与怜悯之权能两者极其难忘、极其光辉的实例，向他的仇敌宣告了极大的恐怖，又向他的忠仆宣告了极大的鼓励（鸿 1:9-16）。