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Nahum 2

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Nineveh Warned of the Destroyer 1–2

1
He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thee: keep the fortress, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily. ​
2
For Jehovah restoreth the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches. ​

Terror of the Invading Army 3–5

3
The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the cypress spears are brandished. ​
4
The chariots rage in the streets; they rush to and fro in the broad ways: the appearance of them is like torches; they run like the lightnings. ​
5
He remembereth his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared. ​

The City Falls and is Plundered 6–10

6
The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved. ​
7
And it is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts. ​
8
But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water: yet they flee away. Stand, stand, they cry; but none looketh back. ​
9
Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture. ​
10
She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale. ​

The Lion's Den Is Destroyed 11–13

11
Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid? ​
12
The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens with ravin. ​
13
Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions; and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Nahum 2

Verse 1

He that dasheth in pieces — Puts, to scatter or shatter, the verb of Ps 68:1, ‘let his enemies be scattered’. The orders to Nineveh are mocking, ‘keep the munition’, ‘fortify thy power mightily’. ‘Watch’ is tsaphah, the watchman’s verb, used of the prophets’ own watching in Mic 7:7 and Hab 2:1. Nahum 3:14 repeats the call, ‘fortify thy strong holds’.

Verse 2

the excellency of Jacob — Ga’on is the pride or splendour of the people, the ‘excellency of Jacob whom he loved’ (Ps 47:4), by which the LORD swears in Amos 8:7. ‘Turned away’ is shub, to turn back; the verse is read both as the LORD removing it and as his restoring it. ‘Emptied’ (baqaq) is the verb of Hos 10:1, ‘Israel is an empty vine’.

Verse 3

in the day of his preparation — ‘Preparation’ is kun, to make ready, the verb of ‘the defence shall be prepared’ in v.5, so the attacker’s readying and the city’s are set side by side. ‘Made red’ is adam, and ‘scarlet’ translates tala, a word found only here. The army is named by what it carries, shields, scarlet, chariots and flaming torches, and no nation is named.

Verse 4

The chariots shall rage in the streets — ‘Rage’ is halal, a verb that means to boast or to act madly; the word is more often ‘praise’. ‘Justle’ is shaqaq, to run to and fro. Isaiah gives chariots ‘like a whirlwind’ to the LORD himself: ‘the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots’ (Isa 66:15). The noise of the wheels returns in Nah 3:2.

Verse 5

He shall recount his worthies — ‘Worthies’ is addir, the great ones, called Assyria’s ‘nobles’ in Nah 3:18. ‘Recount’ is zakar, to call to mind. They ‘stumble’ (kashal) on the way to the wall, and the ‘defence’ (sokek, a covering) is made ready. Jeremiah uses the verb of Egypt’s warriors: ‘the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty’ (Jer 46:12).

Verse 6

The gates of the rivers shall be opened — The LORD is the one who opens gates, as he promises Cyrus ‘to open before him the two leaved gates’ (Isa 45:1). ‘Palace’ is heikal, the word for the temple in 1 Kgs 6:5 as well as for a royal hall, and ‘dissolved’ is mug, to melt, the verb of Ps 75:3, ‘The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved’.

Verse 7

Huzzab shall be led away captive — Huzzab is a form of natsab, to be stationed or set up, and the KJV leaves it as a name. Read as ‘she that was established’, the verse speaks of one led away with ‘her maids’ attending her. ‘The voice of doves’ (yonah) is the sound of mourning, as in Isa 38:14 and 59:11, and ‘smote their breasts’ is the gesture of Luke 23:48.

Verse 8

Nineveh is of old like a pool of water — Berekah is a reservoir. The city is old, founded by Asshur (Gen 10:11) and ‘an exceeding great city of three days’ journey’ (Jon 3:3), and the pool and the flight go together: ‘they shall flee away’. ‘Stand, stand’ is amad, the cry to halt, and of those who hear it ‘none shall look back’ (panah, to turn).

Verse 9

Take ye the spoil of silver — Bazaz, to plunder, is the verb of Isa 10:6, where the LORD gives Assyria a charge ‘to take the spoil, and to take the prey’. ‘Pleasant furniture’ is chemdah and keli, ‘desirable vessels’, the pair of words in 2 Chr 36:10, ‘the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD’, carried off to Babylon.

Verse 10

She is empty, and void, and waste — In Hebrew buqah, mebuqah, mebullaqah, three words of one sound. ‘Waste’ (balaq) is found only here and in Isa 24:1, ‘the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste’. ‘All faces shall gather blackness’ is the phrase of Joel 2:6, and ‘his knees smote one against another’ is Belshazzar’s fear (Dan 5:6).

Verse 11

the dwelling of the lions — Four Hebrew words for lion run through vv.11–13: ari, kephir (young lion), labi (old lion) and gur (whelp). The king of Assyria is the lion that ‘devoured’ Israel (Jer 50:17). ‘None made them afraid’ uses charad, the verb of the promise in Mic 4:4 for the LORD’s people, ‘none shall make them afraid’.

Verse 12

The lion did tear in pieces — Taraph, to tear, and the noun tereph, prey, make the pairing of the verse: he tore the prey and filled his dens with it. It is the lion of Ps 17:12, ‘greedy of his prey’. The picture in vv.11–12 is of a household fed by plunder, with whelps and lionesses provided for.

Verse 13

Behold, I am against thee — The words are repeated in Nah 3:5, and Jeremiah has them too (Jer 21:13). The ‘messengers’ (mal’ak) are the ones by whom Assyria ‘reproached the Lord’ (2 Kgs 19:23), and their voice ‘shall no more be heard’. Chariots, young lions, and prey are the three things named to be burned, devoured and cut off.