The prophet describes, as though himself an eyewitness, the army advancing against Nineveh. The shield of his mighty men is made red. "His heroes" may be either God's heroes, as sent by him to war against the evil city, or those of the "dasher in pieces" of Nahum 2:1.
The shields of the early Assyrians were usually circular or oval in shape, formed of wicker work, with a central boss of wood or metal. In the latest period they were made straight at bottom and rounded only at top (Rawlinson's 'Anc.
Mon.,' 1.440). Some bronze shields have been brought to England from Nineveh; these are circular, about two feet and a half in diameter, the rim bending inwards, and forming a deep groove round the edge.
The handles are of iron, and fastened by six bosses or nails, the heads of which form an ornament on the outer face of the shield. There were used also in sieges tall oblong shields, sufficient to protect the entire body, constructed of wicker work or the hides of animals.
The shields are said to be "made red," either because they were really so coloured (though the monuments have not confirmed this opinion), or else because of the polished copper with which they were sometimes covered (Josephus, 'Ant.
,' 13.12. 5). Septuagint, pointing differently, ὅπλα δυναστείας αὐτῶν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων, "the arms of their power from among men." Are in scarlet. The word rendered "scarlet" is found nowhere else.
Septuagint, mistaking the word, ἐμπαίζοντας ἐν πυρί, "sporting in fire:" Vulgate, in coccineis. It is derived from the term applied to the coccus, or worm which was used in dyeing to give to cloth a deep scarlet colour (Henderson).
Some have seen in the colour of the soldiers' garments an emblem of the Divine wrath of which they were the appointed ministers. This colour was much affected by combatants in old times as in modern days.
Professor Edwards quotes Aelian, 'Var. Hist.' 6.6, "it was necessary to enter into battle clothed in purple, that the colour might denote a certain dignity, and if drops of blood from wounds were sprinkled on it, it became terrible to the enemy" (comp.
Xen; 'Cyrop.,' 1.3, 2). Red or purple seems to have been the favourite colour of the Medea and Babylonians (Ezekiel 23:14), blue or violet that of the Assyrians (Ezekiel 23:6; Ezekiel 28:23, etc.) (Orelli).
The chariots shall be with flaming torches; literally, are with fire of steels; i.e. flash with steel, and so the clause should be translated, as in the Revised Version. Commentators generally refer the description to the steel bosses of the wheels; but the Assyrian chariots (and those of the Medes and Chaldeans were not dissimilar) were conspicuous for shining metal, hung round with gleaming weapons and figures of the heavenly bodies, carrying bright armed warriors, the homes covered with trappings, which flashed under the sunshine, and fastened to poles of glittering steel.
There is no trace in the monuments of chariots armed with scythes, which seem to have been unknown before the time of Cyrus. They are first mentioned in 2 Macc. 13:2 (see Livy, 37.41). The word peladoth, translated "torches," is an ἅπαξ λεγόμενον.
The LXX. renders it, αἱ ἡνίαι, "the reins," whence Jerome obtained his version, igneae habenae curruum; but it means, "things made of iron or steel,"and by critics uninstructed in monumental discoveries was naturally referred to the scythes with which chariots were armed in later times, instead of to the gleaming metal with which they were adorned.
In the day of his preparation. When the Lord marshals the host for battle, as Isaiah 13:4. The fir trees shall be terribly shaken, i.e. the spears with their fir or cypress shafts are brandished. So Homer often calls the spear "the ash," from the material of which the handle was made (comp.
'Il.,' 16:143; 22:225, etc.). The Septuagint rendering is very far from the present text, οἱ ἱππεῖς θορυβηθήσονται, "The horsemen shall be thrown into confusion." Nor is the Vulgate any better, Agitatores cosopiti sunt, which is explained to mean that the invaders are so carried away by their courage and fury, that they act as if intoxicated.
"Sensus utique non spernedus," says a Roman Catholic commentator, "at unum desidero, ut scil. ex verbo ipso fluat"—which is certainly not the case. The text is possibly corrupt, and might be corrected from the Septuagint.
Certainly there seems to be no other passage in the Hebrew Scriptures where the metaphor of "cypress" is used for "a spear." After the mention of the chariots, it is not unnatural that the writer should proceed, "and the riders are in active motion," urging their horses with hand and whip and gesture (see Knabenbauer, in loc.
).