서론
無標題
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)
本書的標題（主前710年）
¹ 論尼尼微的默示，就是伊勒哥斯人拿鴻所得默示的書。
這標題引導我們思考：1. 耶和華的話在此所針對的那大城；這是尼尼微的默示（the burden of Nineveh），不僅是一個預言、一個沉重的預言，更是一個重壓的預言，是尼尼微难以承受的死重，如同掛在她頸項上的磨石。所關乎的正是尼尼微，以及以她為王城的亞述帝國。約在此前100年，約拿曾奉神的名預言這大城速將傾覆；但那時尼尼微人悔改而得免，那判令並未奏效。那時尼尼微人清楚看見離開惡道對他們何等有利，那是保全他們城市的途徑；然而不久之後他們又重操舊業，變本加厲，成為流人血的城，滿了謊言與強暴。他們對自己的悔改生了悔意，如狗轉回去吃自己所吐的，至終變得比以往更壞。於是神不再如約拿那樣差遣先知到他們那裡，而是差遣這預言，向他們宣讀如今已無可挽回的厄運。注意，悔改若不持續，緩刑也必不延續。人若轉離他們起初所行的善，便只能預期神也必轉離他起初所施的恩，Jer 18:10。2. 在此傳遞耶和華話語的卑微先知：這是伊勒哥斯人拿鴻所得默示的書（the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite）。尼尼微的默示是先知清楚預見的，因為這是他的默示（vision），也是他記錄下來的（這是默示的書），好叫他在世之後，事情可與預言相比對並藉此得著印證。關於先知本人，我們僅有的記載是他是一個伊勒哥斯人（Elkoshite），屬於一座名為Elkes或Elcos的城鎮，據耶柔米（Jerome）所言，該地位於加利利。有人觀察到，聖經對先知本人通常記載甚少，好叫我們的信心不是建立在先知的權威上，而是建立在藉他們撰述預言的聖靈的權威上。
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)
尼尼微的審判；神可畏的大能（主前710年）
² 耶和華是忌邪施報的神。耶和華施報大有忿怒；耶和華向他的敵人施報，向他的仇敵懷怒。 ³ 耶和華不輕易發怒，大有能力，萬不以有罪的為無罪。耶和華乘旋風和暴風而行，雲彩為他腳下的塵土。 ⁴ 他斥責海，使海乾了，使一切江河乾涸。巴珊和迦密衰殘，利巴嫩的花也衰殘。 ⁵ 大山因他震動，小山也都消化；大地在他面前突起，世界和住在其間的也都如此。 ⁶ 他發忿恨，誰能立得住呢？他發烈怒，誰能當得起呢？他的忿怒如火傾倒，磐石因他崩裂。 ⁷ 耶和華本為善，在患難的日子為人的保障，又認得那些投靠他的人。 ⁸ 但他必以漲溢的洪水將那地方全然淹沒，並驅逐他的仇敵進入黑暗。
尼尼微不認識神，不認識那與她爭競的神，因此在此被告知他是怎樣的一位神。我們都當憑信心與此處論及他的話調和；這些話對惡人講論了極大的威嚇，對義人卻賜下安慰。因為這幅對世界之君的榮耀描述，正如雲柱火柱一般，向以色列的一面光明，向埃及人的一面黑暗。願各人從中取自己的份；願罪人讀而戰兢，願聖徒讀而歡呼。神的忿怒在此從天上向他仇敵顯明，他的恩惠與憐憫也在此向他的忠心臣民保證，而他在二者中的全能使他的忿怒極其可畏，又使他的恩惠極其可慕。
一、他是一位不偏不倚施行公義的神，是忌邪的神，必向他的仇敵施報；讓尼尼微知道這事，在他面前戰兢。他們的偶像微不足道，其中毫無可畏之處。但以色列的神大可敬畏；因為：1. 他對凡否認他的存在或他的任何完美、設立別神與他爭競、破壞他的律法、質問他的作為、譏誚他的話語，或苦待他百姓的人，對他們向他所作的冒犯與侮辱，他都感同身受。願這樣的人知道，耶和華——那唯一又真又活的神——是忌邪施報的神；他為敬拜他之人的安慰而忌邪，為他的地忌邪（Joe 2:18），不容其受損。他是施報的神，他是烈怒的神；他有烈怒（原文如此），並不像人那樣的烈怒——在人裡面那是無法管轄的狂熱（所以他說過，我裡面沒有烈怒，Isa 27:4），而是以一種與公義的神相稱的方式擁有烈怒，使他的公義更為鋒利，並使他在那些否則不會敬畏的人眼中更為可畏。他是忿怒之主（這正是我們讀作他是烈怒的神的希伯來文短語）；他有忿怒，卻是處於他的命令與管轄之下。我們的怒氣常常轄管我們，如同那些不能自制的人一樣；但神總是他怒氣的主，並且為他的怒氣鋪平道路，Ps 78:50。2. 他定意要向那些冒犯他的人清算。此處告訴我們，他不但施報，而且他必施報；他說過要施報，他也起了誓，De 32:40-41。世人中無論誰是他的對頭和仇敵，他必使他們感受他的憤恨；雖然對他仇敵的判決沒有速速執行，他卻為他們存留怒氣，並在震怒之日為怒氣存留他們。對於那些悔改並在他面前謙卑的自己的百姓，他不永遠懷怒；但對他的仇敵，他必永遠傾倒他的怒氣。他萬不以有罪的為無罪——那些犯罪、堅持犯罪而不悔改的人，Na 1:3。那些惡待離棄他們的神的人，就是離棄而永不歸回的人（Ps 18:21），這些他必不定為無罪。謙卑懇求的人必發現他是施恩的；但傲慢求告的人卻不會發現他容易相與，也不會發現憐憫之門向遲來而大聲的「主啊，主啊」敞開。這樣一個向仇敵彰顯神怒氣的啟示，被應用於尼尼微（Na 1:8），也當被一切仍在自己過犯中前行的人應用於自己：他必以漲溢的洪水將那地方全然淹沒。迦勒底的大軍必漫過亞述人的境土，使其盡成荒場。神的審判既奉命而來，對任何百姓都如洪水一般，無法抵擋，也無法迎戰。黑暗必追趕他的仇敵；驚嚇與患難必追隨他們，無論他們往何處去，必追趕他們直到極深的黑暗；他們若以為可以逃離追趕他們的黑暗，反必落入前方那黑暗之中。
二、他是一位擁有不可抵抗之權能的神，能對付他的仇敵，任憑他們人數眾多、勢力強大、剛硬至極。他大有能力（Na 1:3），因此以他為友便是好，以他為敵便是歹。如今，
1. 神的權能在此被宣告，並藉著他在自然界國度中的多個實例得以證明；在自然界裡，我們常在尋常的自然運行中看見其功效的明證，有時也見於那運行令人驚異的改變之中。(1) 若我們仰望空中的各層，便在那裡找到他權能的證據，因為他乘旋風和暴風而行。神無論往何處去，都帶著旋風與暴風同去，為要威嚇他的仇敵，Ps 18:9等。凡有旋風與暴風之處，神都掌管它、轄制它，在其中開路、在其中前行，並藉之成就自己的旨意。他曾從旋風中對約伯說話，甚至狂風也成就他的話。他乘旋風而行，意即他在不可辨識之中前行，他護理的法則對我們而言不可思議；如經上所言，他的路在海中。雲彩為他腳下的塵土；他踐踏雲彩、行於其上，隨己意興起雲彩，如同人用腳揚起灰塵一般。魔鬼之為空中掌權者的首領，不過是出於許可，或毋寧說是篡奪，因為那權能乃在神手中。(2) 若我們的目光轉向深海，便發現海是屬他的，因他造了它；因為當他喜悅之時，他斥責海使它乾了，並使一切供應它的江河乾涸。當他分開紅海與約旦河時，他證明了這權能，並可隨時再照樣而行。(3) 若我們環顧所居之地，便找到他權能的明證——或因夏季的極熱與極旱，或因冬季的嚴寒與冰霜，使巴珊衰殘、迦密衰殘、利巴嫩最嬌艷的花也衰殘。他的權能常見於地震之中，搖撼諸山（Na 1:5），使諸嶺消化，將其夷為平地。他喜悅之時，大地在他面前被燒焦，被烈日烤焦；他也能如待所多瑪那樣，以天火燒之，並在末時將燒滅世界和住在其間的一切。大地及其上一切的工作都必被燒盡。如此，耶和華為大，最有能力。
2. 這特別被應用於他的怒氣。神若是一位全能的神，我們便可由此推論（Na 1:6）：他發忿恨，誰能立得住呢？ 尼尼微人曾一次經歷神不輕易發怒（如他在Na 1:3所言），也許就自恃他們當時所經驗的憐憫，以為可以對他放肆；但他們必發現他既公義忌邪，也是施恩憐憫的；在表明了他怒氣的公義之後，接著他表明其能力，表明他的仇敵完全無力與他抗衡。再剛強再頑梗的罪人，想要在神怒氣的能力前站穩，都是徒然的。(1) 在此看見神如同烈火，可畏而有大能。在此看見他對罪的義憤，並他烈怒的發作，他的忿怒傾倒出來，不像水，卻像火，如同落在所多瑪的火與硫磺，Ps 11:6。地獄正是神烈怒的發作，啟16:19。神的怒氣如此猛烈，擊潰面前一切：磐石因他崩裂——那看似不能動搖的磐石。磐石有時因地底烈火的噴發而崩裂，這不過是神對那些心如磐石之罪人所發烈怒的微弱影像；因為向來沒有人向神剛硬心腸而得以亨通。(2) 在此看見罪人在火前如碎稭，軟弱無能，與神的怒氣極不相稱。[1.] 他們完全無力抵擋，無法抵禦、無法避開其打擊：他發忿恨，誰能立得住呢？ 最驕傲最大膽的罪人不能；不敬虔的全世界不能；不，就是犯罪的天使也不能。[2.] 他們完全無力承受，無法維持精神、保全任何對自己的享受：他發烈怒，誰能當得起呢？ 這怒氣既不可抵抗，也不可忍受。神今世的不悅中，有些影響人尚可承受；但他烈怒的發作，當其直接臨到靈魂之時，誰能受得住呢？所以我們當在他面前敬畏；我們當戰兢，而不犯罪。
三、他是無限憐憫的神；在這一切的怒氣之中，仍記念憐憫。願錫安的罪人害怕——那些仍在自己過犯中前行的人；但願那信靠神的人不在他面前戰兢。因為：1. 他不輕易發怒（Na 1:3），不輕易被激怒，卻樂意向得罪他的人施憐憫，並在他們悔改時重新悅納他們。2. 當他向惡人發怒的記號到處彰顯之時，他顧念自己百姓的平安與安慰（Na 1:7）：耶和華本為善，向那善良的人是善的，對他們，他必作患難之日的保障。注意，那為惡人的威嚇與毀滅而施展的同樣全能，也已受託、並將為保護與滿足他自己的百姓而運用；他能救人也能滅人。在公眾患難之日，當神的審判在全地、使一切荒涼之時，他必作那因信投靠他保護之人的保障——那些在盡本分的道路上、過著倚靠他並奉獻於他的生活的人；他認識他們，承認他們為屬自己的，他注意他們的案件，知道甚麼對他們最好，以及採取甚麼途徑最能有效地為他們解困。他們在世上或許默默無聞、被人輕看，但耶和華認識他們，Ps 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)
亞述軍隊的毀滅；西拿基立的傾覆（主前710年）
⁹ 你們設何謀攻擊耶和華呢？他必將你們全然滅盡；災難不再興起。 ¹⁰ 他們雖如荊棘彼此纏結，又如同喝醉了酒的人，卻必如全然乾透的碎稭被吞滅。 ¹¹ 有一人從你那裡出來，圖謀邪惡攻擊耶和華，是個奸惡的謀士。 ¹² 耶和華如此說：他們雖然安然無恙，而且人多，但他經過之時，必照樣被剪除；我雖曾使你受苦，卻不再使你受苦。 ¹³ 現在我必從你頸項上折斷他的軛，扭開你的繩索。 ¹⁴ 耶和華已經出令攻擊你：你的名不再傳於後代；我必從你神的廟中剪除雕刻的偶像和鑄造的偶像；我必為你預備墳墓，因為你卑賤。 ¹⁵ 看哪！那報好信、傳平安之人的腳登山了！猶大啊，要守你的節期，還你所許的願；因為那惡人必不再從你中間經過，他已全然被剪除。
這些經文似乎指向亞述人在西拿基立手下軍隊的毀滅；這很可算為尼尼微——亞述帝國的首城——默示的一部分，也是約100年後尼尼微本身被毀的憑據；而這件事，正是可能與本先知同時代之以賽亞所多有論及的。如今在此觀察，
一、亞述人向那公義忌邪的神所發出的極大挑釁；為此，神雖不輕易發怒，卻必施報（Na 1:11）：有一人從你那裡出來，圖謀邪惡攻擊耶和華——就是西拿基立，和他的發言人拉伯沙基。他們擬了一封惡信、一篇惡言，不僅針對希西家和她的百姓，更是針對神自己，將他貶為與列國的神無異，並認定他無力保護敬拜他的人，勸他的百姓不要信靠他，反勸他們投靠亞述大王的保護。他們圖謀改變耶路撒冷的所屬，使她不再是屬主的城市、不再是聖城。這一位、這位自以為了不起的，從尼尼微出來，圖謀邪惡攻擊耶和華，便為尼尼微招來了這默示。天地之榮耀君王，從未如當時西拿基立那樣被人如此放膽、如此褻瀆地冒犯過。他是個奸惡的謀士，勸他們放棄神的保護而投降亞述王，又設法使他們對希西家的改革心生厭棄（Isa 36:7）；對這奸惡的謀士，先知在此與他理論（Na 1:9）：你們設何謀攻擊耶和華呢？ 你們圖謀抵擋神，是何等愚昧邪惡的事，彷彿你們能勝過神的智慧、能壓倒全能本身！注意，陰間的權勢向著主，並向著他在世上國度的利益，圖謀了許多事；但這必證明是徒然的，Ps 2:1-2。那坐在天上的必發笑，嗤笑那些自以為能用政治手腕對抗他之人的謀算，並要將他們的計謀傾覆。
二、神因此要降在他們身上的極大毀滅——並非立即臨到整個帝國（那禍患被推遲到他們罪惡滿盈之時），而是：
1. 臨到軍隊；神必將其全然滅盡；它必在一擊之下被全然剪除、化為烏有；滅命天使致命的一擊，必使他們當場仆倒身亡；災難不再興起，因為無此需要。對某些罪人，神速速了結，一舉成事。神的報應並非循一成不變的法則，也不走一條恆定的軌道，但他總要或以急症、或以慢性病，或以速死、或以遲延的死亡，將一切堅持圖謀抵擋他的仇敵全然滅盡。我們有理由認為，亞述軍隊多半與他們的元帥同氣、說同樣的話，如今神要追究他們，雖然他們不過是人云亦云；他們必顯明是因自己的作為，自行招致神的怒氣，Na 1:10。(1) 他們如同荊棘彼此纏結。他們使彼此更壞、對神和他的以色列更加仇視，彼此堅固邪惡的心，在邪僻上彼此壯膽；因此神對他們必如農夫對付一叢無法分開的荊棘一般：將它們一齊投入火中。(2) 他們如同醉酒的人，被驕傲與狂怒所醉；這樣的人必被無可挽回地傾覆毀滅。他們必如同酒醉者，沉迷於自取的毀滅之中，必絆跌仆倒，使自己成了笑柄，正當地被人恥笑。(3) 他們必如同全然乾透的碎稭被吞滅，被火焰不可抗拒、不可挽回地燒盡。神的審判對那些向它自甘如碎稭的人，就如同吞滅的火。關於這大軍，又再被警告（Na 1:12）：他們雖然安然無恙，而且人多——十分安逸，不畏懼被圍困者的突圍，因為人數眾多——但他經過之時，必照樣被剪除，如同草木被割倒一般輕而易舉，當那奉命剪除他們的滅命天使經過之時。注意，罪人的安逸與對自身力量的自信，往往是毀滅將至的預兆。
2. 臨到君王。他圖謀邪惡攻擊耶和華，他能逃脫嗎？不能（Na 1:14）：耶和華已經出令攻擊你；判令已經頒下，你的名不再傳於後代——你的記憶歸於無有，你不再如以往被人談論，你大能作為的傳聞也不再隨名聲之翼散播、隨她的號角廣傳。因為西拿基立的兒子接續他作王，有人便以此指亞述帝國此後不久的傾覆。注意，那些圖謀邪惡攻擊耶和華的人，是將災禍加速到自己和自己的家族與利益之上，並因羞辱他的名而毀了自己的名。又進一步警告：(1) 他所敬拜的偶像必從其廟中被剪除——從他神的家中剪除雕刻的偶像和鑄造的偶像。有人認為這事應驗於西拿基立正在尼斯洛他神的廟裡叩拜之時，被他的兩個兒子所殺；我們可推想因這樁殘暴的弒父之罪，那廟被視為污穢，因而被廢棄，其中的偶像也被剪除，那些偶像的敬拜者不再聚集於此。或者這話可更廣泛地指亞述的徹底傾覆；敵軍必使一切荒涼，甚至不放过他們神的偶像；神藉此要向他們暗示，他與他們爭訟的緣由之一乃是他們的偶像崇拜。(2) 西拿基立的墳墓必在那裡預備，有人以為是在他神的廟中；他在那裡被殺，也必在那裡被葬，因為他卑賤；他常受這永遠的羞辱之記號，就是他竟如此失去自己兒女的天然情感，以致兩個兒子謀害了他。或者這話可指亞述帝國本身可恥的傾覆，巴比倫正是建於其廢墟之上。關於那曾經可畏、如今可鄙之邦國的墳墓，有何等的喧嚷，在Eze 3:3, 11, 15, 16有詳盡描述。注意，那些以可恥的罪使自己卑賤的人，神必以可恥的刑罰使他們卑賤。
三、神藉此為他自己的百姓、為那稱為他名下的城所要成就的極大拯救。教會仇敵的傾覆就是教會的拯救；而藉著西拿基立大軍的覆滅，為耶路撒冷所成就的拯救，實在是極大的拯救。
1. 圍困必因此得以解除：現在我必從你頸項上折斷他的軛——就是那使你受奴役的軛——並扭開你的繩索——就是那使你似乎被綁交於亞述人怒氣之下的繩索。那支所向無敵的大軍，當它在猶大全地強取駐紮、任意而活之時，對他們如同軛與繩索；耶路撒冷被圍困之時，如同被它捆綁鎖住；但當滅命天使作完了他的工，耶路撒冷的繩索就扭開了，重獲自由。這乃是那極大拯救的預表——藉著那拯救，在上的耶路撒冷得以自由，實實在在地自由了。
2. 仇敵必被削弱、灰心喪膽，再不敢作此嘗試；而這場管教的結局必因神的恩典美好達成，此後再無需如此嚴厲的懲治。(1) 神不再苦待耶路撒冷；他的怒氣轉消，他說夠了；因為他藉這驚嚇在錫安山成就了他全部的工（Isa 10:12），所以我雖曾使你受苦，卻不再使你受苦；那苦杯不再傾倒，除非確有必要、並受苦者的病情所需；因為神並不甘心使人受苦。(2) 仇敵不敢再攻擊耶路撒冷（Na 1:15）：那惡人必不再從你中間經過——如他從前所行那樣施行毀壞，因為他已全然被剪除，再無力為之。他的軍隊被剪除，他的勇氣被剪除，至終他自己也被剪除。
3. 這極大拯救的消息必傳遍全國，並帶來豐盛的喜樂而被迎接，Na 1:15。當西拿基立勢如破竹、節節推進之時，每日傳來的都是壞消息；但如今，看哪，那報好信之人的腳登山——傳福音之人的腳蹤；人遠遠地在山上以最快的腳步跑來；在受了約伯一個接一個的報信者之後，再度看見平安的使者，這是何等悅目的景象！我們發現這話被另一位先知用來描繪百姓從巴比倫被救回的恩惠（Isa 52:7）；這不是先知們彼此偷用對方的話（如那些人所行，Jer 23:30），而是因同受一位靈感動，他們常使用相同的表達；傳道人藉著在純正真理上（提前6:3）以同一套純正話語的規模彼此同心（提後1:13），是頗有益處的。這些話也被使徒引用——同時取自以賽亞和拿鴻——並應用於我們主耶穌為我們所成就的極大救贖，以及那藉著永遠的福音向世人所傳揚的，羅10:15。基督的工人就是那些報好信的使者，他們傳基督所成就的平安。那些報信之人的腳蹤何等佳美！ 他們的信息對那些因罪看見自己悲慘與危險的人何等歡迎！當留意，那報好信的也帶來了對猶大的呼召：要守你的節期，還你所許的願。在患難之中，(1) 例行的節期已被擱置。戰時法律緘默。當耶路撒冷被兵丁圍困之時，他們無法上去敬拜；但如今禁令解除，他們必重新守節；主的節期對神的百姓既久被剝奪其益處，當神恩典地恢復他們的機會之時，必倍感甘甜，因為我們因失去而學會這類恩惠的價值。(2) 他們曾向神許願：若他救他們脫離這患難，他們必在他的事奉中為他的榮耀行些格外的事；如今拯救既已成就，他們便被提醒要還願；那時所許的諾言如今必須兌現，因為許願不還，不如不許。而那惡人必不再從你中間經過這話，可視為希西家所開始之改革善工得以完成的應許；惡人必不再如以往那樣在各處橫行，他們必被剪除；而國外惡敵的圖謀受挫，若同時伴隨著國內惡人的受轄制與改革，對一個國家而言實在是極大的恩惠——因為國內的惡人是更危險的仇敵。
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.
在本章中我們看見：一、本書的標題，Na 1:1。二、神榮耀之威嚴的宏偉彰顯，其中交織著對惡人的忿怒與公義，以及對他百姓的憐憫與恩典，並在兩者之中都顯明他的威嚴與大能，Na 1:2-8。三、（如大多數解經家所認為的）將此特別應用於西拿基立和亞述軍隊圍攻耶路撒冷時所遭的毀滅——這是神公義的大能與他憐憫的大能同樣極其難忘而光輝的範例，向他的仇敵宣告了豐盛的威嚇，又向他的忠心僕人發出豐盛的鼓勵，Na 1:9-16。