Nun
“Blindly,
These leaders
Wandered
Through the streets,
So defiled
With blood
That no one
Was able
To touch
Their garments.”
These leaders wandered blindly through the streets defiled with the blood of the righteous. Thus no one was able to touch their garments. This verse starts with the Hebrew consonant letter Nun in this acrostic poem.
Nun
“Let us test
Our ways!
Let us examine
Our ways!
Let us return
To Yahweh!
Let us lift up
Our hearts!
Let us lift up
Our hands To God
In heaven!
We have transgressed!
We have rebelled!
You have not
Forgiven us.”
This author admits his sinfulness. He wanted to examine and test all their ways of doing things. He and his friends wanted to return to Yahweh. Thus everyone should lift up their hearts and hands to the heavenly God. He and his comrades had transgressed and rebelled against Yahweh, their God in heaven. Thus Yahweh had not yet forgiven them. These three verses start with the Hebrew consonant letter Nun in this acrostic poem.
Nun
“Your prophets
Have seen
False visions
For you.
They have seen
Deceptive visions.
They have not exposed
Your iniquity
In order to restore
Your fortunes.
But they have seen
False oracles,
Misleading oracles
For you.”
Now we have an element of guilt. This author blames their situation in Jerusalem on the false and deceptive visions of Yahweh’s prophets. Jeremiah often called them the happy prophets, who saw no harm coming. These prophets never challenged the people and their iniquity. They kept talking about restoration with their false and misleading oracles. It almost seems like this is an attempt to say that the prophets had the wrong visions or oracles from Yahweh, rather than the prophets misunderstood these visions or oracles of Yahweh. This verse starts with the Hebrew consonant letter Nun. Each verse after this will use the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet in this acrostic poem.
Nun
“My transgressions
Were bound
Into a yoke.
By his hand
They were
Fastened together.
They were
A weight
On my neck.
They were
Sapping
My strength.
Yahweh handed me over
To those whom
I cannot withstand.”
Once again, Jerusalem spoke in the first person in this personal lament. Jerusalem claimed that her own transgressions were like a yoke around her neck. Yahweh had fashioned this yoke by his hand. He then put this weight on Jerusalem so that her strength was sapped. Finally, Jerusalem was handed over to people that it could not defeat, the Babylonians. This verse starts with the Hebrew consonant letter Nun. Each verse after this will use the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet in this acrostic poem.
“In the days of Moses,
Joshua proved his loyalty
With Caleb
Son of Jephunneh.
They opposed the congregation.
They restrained the people from sin.
They stilled their wicked grumbling.
These two alone were spared
Out of the six hundred thousand infantry.
They led the people into their inheritance,
The land flowing with milk and honey.
The Lord gave Caleb strength.
This remained with him in his old age.
He went up to the hill country.
His children obtained it
For an inheritance.
Thus all the Israelites might see
How good it is to follow the Lord.”
According to Numbers, chapter 14, Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun were the only two people allowed to live long enough to see the Promise Land, because they were the only two that felt like going into the land of Canaan would not be that difficult. The rest of the 600,000 desert wanderers perished and died in the desert wilderness. Not even Moses and Aaron were allowed to make it into the land of milk and honey. The Israelite people had been grumbling, but only Joshua and Caleb convinced them to carry on. Thus Caleb and his family were given a special place in the high country in the new land that they had conquered. Caleb was the ideal warrior and follower of the Lord who lived to a ripe old age with all his strength intact.
“Joshua
Son of Nun
Was mighty in war.
He was the successor of Moses
In the prophetic office.
He became,
As his name implies,
A great savior of God’s elect.
He took vengeance
On the enemies
That rose against them.
Thus he might give Israel
Its inheritance.
How glorious he was
When he lifted his hands.
He brandished his sword
Against the cities.
Who before him,
Ever stood so firm?
He waged the wars of the Lord.
Was it not through him
That the sun stood still?
Did not one day
Become as long as two?
He called upon the Most High,
The Mighty One,
When enemies pressed him on every side.
The great Lord answered him
With hailstones of mighty power.
He overwhelmed that nation in battle.
On the slope
He destroyed his opponents.
Thus the nations might know his armament.
He was fighting
In the sight of the Lord.
He was a devoted follower of the Mighty One.”
Of course, there was a whole biblical book named after Joshua. Sirach lists him as a warrior and a prophet, who succeeded Moses. This son of Nun was a great savior of God’s people. He wiped out the enemies of Israel so that they might have their inheritance. He lifted up his hand as he swung his sword. Before him, no one had ever waged wars for the Lord like him. He stood firm and created miracles with the sun. He called upon the Most High God, the mighty one, when enemies were all around him. The Lord heard his cry so that his enemies were destroyed. Thus all the countries came to know about his fighting strength for the Lord, as a devoted follower of the Mighty one.
Nun
“Your word is a lamp to my feet.
Your word is a light to my path.
I have sworn an oath.
I have confirmed it.
I will observe your righteous ordinances.
I am severely afflicted.
Give me life!
Yahweh!
According to your word!
Accept my offerings of praise!
Yahweh!
Teach me your ordinances!
I hold my life in my hand continually.
But I do not forget your law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me.
But I do not stray from your precepts.
Your decrees are my heritage forever.
They are the joy of my heart.
I incline my heart to perform your statutes,
Forever,
To the end.”
The word of Yahweh is a lamp and a light so that the psalmist might walk in the right path. He had sworn an oath to observe the righteous ordinances. Despite his sufferings, he would continue to offer praise. He wanted to be taught about the ordinances since he never forgot the law. Even when the wicked set a snare for him, he never forgot the law. He never strayed from the precepts of Yahweh. They were his heritage forever, the joy of his heart. He would follow the statutes of Yahweh forever, even to the bitter end. Thus this section on the fourteenth consonant letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Nun, came to an end.
“Ephraim’s daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon as well as Uzzen-sheerah. Rephah was his son, Resheph his son, Telah his son, Tahan his son, Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son, Nun his son, Joshua his son.”
This genealogy is trying to get to Joshua son of Nun. I am not sure if there is enough generations to get there. Sheerah is a daughter of Ephraim who is never mentioned elsewhere. Neither is Uzzen-sheerah found elsewhere. Lower and Upper Beth-horon are in the northwest corner of Benjamin, about 10 miles northwest of Jerusalem, where a famous battle took place under Joshua, chapter 10. This would assume that the Ephraimites were in Canaan before the conquests of Joshua. (1) Rephah, (2) Resheph, and (3) Telah are only mentioned here, nowhere else. This (4) Tahan was a name mentioned earlier. There was a Levite (5) Ladan also. (7) Elishama and his father (6) Ammihud were mentioned as the leaders of the Ephraimites in Numbers, chapters 1, 2, 7, and 10. Of course, (9) Joshua and his father (8) Nun are frequently mentioned in the Exodus story and the book of Joshua, over 200 times. It took 9 generations to get from Ephraim to Joshua, 1 generation after Moses, while it only took 3 generations to get from Levi to Moses, 1 generation older than Joshua.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 