huz'-ab (hutstsabh, only in Nahum 2:7 the King James Version and the Revised Version margin): Its meaning is doubtful. According to Gesenius, it is a verb, Hoph. of tsabhabh, "flow," hence, to be rendered with preceding verse, "The palace is dissolved and made to flow down." Wordsworth made it Pual of natsabh, "fix": "The palace is dissolved, though established." Septuagint renders with the next word, he hupostasis apokaluphthe, "The foundation (or treasure) is uncovered." the King James Version, the Revised Version margin and the American Standard Revised Version text make it Hoph. of natsabh, "fix," hence, "It is decreed." Perhaps more probably, with the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) text and the American Revised Version margin, it is a name, or noun with the article (or the corruption of such a word), referring either to the Assyrian queen, or personifying Nineveh. No such queen is now known, but Assyriology may throw light. The "name" interpretation accords best with the general trend of the passage, which describes the discomfiture of a royal personage. BDB calls it "perhaps textual error." The Massoretic vocalization may be at fault.

Philip Wendell Crannell

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

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