2:1 munition. The Hebrew word suggests this to be a fortification.

2:2 turned away. The Hebrew word for “turned away” basically means “turned back” or “turned again,” but is translated in very many different ways, depending on context. In this context (which is the coming destruction of Nineveh), it probably refers to Israel’s subjugation and deportation as a cause of the coming judgment on Nineveh. Some modern translations translate it “restored,” with reference to Israel’s future return after Assyria’s defeat.

2:3 flaming torches. The red shields and armor are said to have been used both by Assyria and by the Medes, who later participated with the Babylonians in Nineveh’s capture and obliteration. Although both armies used chariots, the meaning of the “flaming torches” is not clear. An intriguing possibility is that the prophetic vision here again mixes both near and far fulfillments. The prophet also sees in the distance, as it were, an end-time battle, with great tanks engaged in warfare. In the context of a prophet writing in 650 B.C. or so, these would best be described as “chariots with flaming torches.”

2:4 like the lightnings. Chariots that “run like the lightnings” would hardly be an appropriate description of battle chariots of the Medes, unless the metaphor is grossly exaggerated. It might be better again to see here a vision of an end-time battle, with tanks, strafing airplanes, and other speeding armored vehicles.

2:7 Huzzab. Huzzab was not the name of either Nineveh’s queen nor its goddess. The word means “established,” so probably refers in irony to Nineveh itself, as the great city which had considered itself permanently “established” as the world’s chief city, now being led away captive.