Nahum 2

The Overthrow of Nineveh

1 ^[a]The one who ¹scatters has come up against ^[b]you. Man the fortress, watch the road; Strengthen your back, summon all your strength.

2 For the LORD will restore the ²splendor of Jacob ³Like the splendor of Israel, Even though devastators have devastated them And ⁴destroyed their vine branches.

3 The shields of his mighty men are colored red, The warriors are dressed in ⁵scarlet, The chariots are enveloped in flashing steel When he is prepared to march, And the cypress ⁶spears are brandished.

4 The ⁷chariots race madly in the streets, They rush wildly in the squares, Their appearance is like torches, They dash to and fro like lightning flashes.

5 He remembers his ⁸nobles; They ⁹stumble in their march, They hurry to her wall, And the mantelet is set up.

6 The gates of the rivers are opened And the palace is dissolved.

7 It is fixed: She is stripped, she is carried away, And her handmaids are ¹⁰moaning like the sound of doves, ¹¹Beating on their breasts.

8 Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days, Now they are fleeing; "Stop, stop," But ¹²no one turns back.

9 Plunder the silver! Plunder the ¹³gold! For there is no limit to the treasure - Wealth from every kind of desirable object.

10 She is ¹⁴emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste! ¹⁵Hearts are melting and knees knocking! Also anguish is in the whole body And all their ¹⁶faces are grown pale!

11 Where is the den of the lions And the feeding place of the ¹⁷young lions, Where * the lion, lioness and lion's cub prowled, With nothing to disturb them?

12 The lion tore enough for his cubs, Killed enough for his lionesses, And filled his lairs with prey And his dens with torn flesh.

13 "Behold, ¹⁸I am against you," declares the LORD of hosts. "I will ¹⁹burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young lions; I will ²⁰cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard."

Nahum 2 Commentary

Chapter 2

Nineveh's destruction foretold. (1-10) The true cause, their sinning against God, and his appearing against them. (11-13)

Verses 1-10 Nineveh shall not put aside this judgment; there is no counsel or strength against the Lord. God looks upon proud cities, and brings them down. Particular account is given of the terrors wherein the invading enemy shall appear against Nineveh. The empire of Assyria is represented as a queen, about to be led captive to Babylon. Guilt in the conscience fills men with terror in an evil day; and what will treasures or glory do for us in times of distress, or in the day of wrath? Yet for such things how many lose their souls!

Verses 11-13 The kings of Assyria had long been terrible and cruel to their neighbours, but the Lord would destroy their power. Many plead as an excuse for rapine and fraud, that they have families to provide for; but what is thus obtained will never do them any good. Those that fear the Lord, and get honestly what they have, shall not want for themselves and theirs. It is just with God to deprive those of children, or of comfort in them, who take sinful courses to enrich them. Those are not worthy to be heard again, that have spoken reproachfully of God. Let us then come to God upon his mercy-seat, that having peace with him through our Lord Jesus Christ, we may know that he is for us, and that all things shall work together for our everlasting good.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 51:20-23
• 2. Isaiah 60:15
• 3. Ezekiel 37:21-23
• 4. Psalms 80:12, 13
• 5. Ezekiel 23:14, 15
• 6. Job 39:23
• 7. Isaiah 66:15; Jeremiah 4:13; Ezekiel 26:10; Nahum 3:2, 3
• 8. Nahum 3:18
• 9. Jeremiah 46:12
• 10. Isaiah 38:14; Isaiah 59:11
• 11. Isaiah 32:12
• 12. Jeremiah 46:5; Jeremiah 47:3
• 13. Revelation 18:12, 16
• 14. Isaiah 24:1; Isaiah 34:10-13; Nahum 2:2
• 15. Psalms 22:14; Isaiah 13:7, 8; Ezekiel 21:7
• 16. Joel 2:6
• 17. Isaiah 5:29
• 18. Jeremiah 21:13; Ezekiel 5:8; Nahum 3:5
• 19. Joshua 11:6, 9; Psalms 46:9
• 20. Isaiah 49:24, 25; Nahum 3:1

Footnotes

• [a]. Ch 2:2 in Heb
• [b]. Lit "your face"
• [c]. Lit "Make strong your loins"
• [d]. Lit "strengthen power greatly"
• [e]. I.e. those attacking Nineveh
• [f]. Lit "fire of steel"
• [g]. Lit "On the day of his preparation"
• [h]. Lit "broad places"
• [i]. Lit "covering" used in a siege
• [j]. Lit "hearts"
• [k]. Lit "all the loin"
• [l]. Lit "Strangled"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO NAHUM 2

This chapter gives an account of the destruction of the city of Nineveh; describes the instruments of it as very terrible and powerful, and not to be resisted, Na 2:1-4. The manner of taking it, the flight of its inhabitants, and the spoil of its riches and treasures, Na 2:5-10 and the king and the princes thereof, compared to a lion, and a lion's whelp, are insulted as being without a den or dwelling place, because of their cruelty and ravening, for which the Lord was against them, and threatened them with utter ruin, which he brought upon them, Na 2:11-13.