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General Information:
Nahum often wrote prophecy in the form of poetry. Hebrew poetry uses different kinds of parallelism. Here he begins to describe the destruction of Nineveh. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/writing-poetry and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism)
The one who will dash you to pieces
The word "you" refers to Nineveh. Nahum speaks of an army or military leader destroying Nineveh as if he were to shatter Nineveh like one would shatter a clay pot. AT: "The one who will destroy you" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor).
The one who will dash you
The person who is "the one" is not clear, so translate using a general term. AT: "Someone who will break you"
is coming up against you
The idiom to "come against" means to attack. AT: "is preparing to attack you" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-idiom)
Man the city walls, guard the roads, make yourselves strong, assemble your armies
Nahum speaks to the people of Nineveh. He tells them to prepare for battle, although he knows that the enemy will destroy the city. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-irony)
Man the city walls
Nineveh had a large, thick wall surrounding it. This refers to placing soldiers on the top of the wall in order to fight off attackers. This can be translated with a more general phrase if necessary. AT: "Man the fortifications" or "Prepare the defenses" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit)
guard the roads
This refers to having soldiers watch the roads leading to the city so that they can keep track of the enemy's approach.
make yourselves strong
This is an idiom that means to prepare oneself for action. Here it applies to military action. AT: "prepare yourselves for battle" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-idiom)
For Yahweh is restoring the majesty of Jacob, like the majesty of Israel
The words "Jacob" and "Israel" are metonyms for the people who are descended from Jacob. Possible meanings are 1) the word "Jacob" refers to the southern kingdom and the word "Israel" refers to the northern kingdom. AT: "For Yahweh is restoring the majesty of Judah, as he promised to restore the majesty of Israel" or 2) both "Jacob" and "Israel" refer to the nation as a whole, included both northern and southern kingdoms and the two lines are parallel. AT: "For Yahweh is restoring the majesty of all Israel" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism)
the plunderers
people who steal things by force, usually in war
destroyed their vine branches
Possible meanings are 1) this is a metaphor in which the Assyrians taking away Israel's possessions by force is spoken of as if Israel were a vine whose branches the Assyrians had stripped bare. AT: "robbed them of all of their possession, like one would strip bare vine branches" or 2) the words "vine branches" are a synecdoche for the agricultural fields throughout the nation. AT: "destroyed their fields of crops" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-synecdoche)