Nahum 3:1-9

Nineveh's Complete Ruin

1 ¹Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; Her prey never departs.

2 The ²noise of the whip, The noise of the rattling of the wheel, Galloping horses And bounding chariots!

3 Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, ³spears gleaming, ⁴Many slain, a mass of corpses, And ⁵countless dead bodies - They stumble over the dead bodies!

4 All because of the ⁶many harlotries of the harlot, The charming one, the ⁷mistress of sorceries, Who ⁸sells nations by her harlotries And families by her sorceries.

5 "Behold, ⁹I am against you," declares the LORD of hosts; "And I will ¹⁰lift up your skirts over your face, And ¹¹show to the nations your nakedness And to the kingdoms your disgrace.

6 "I will ¹²throw filth on you And ¹³make you vile, And set you up as a ¹⁴spectacle.

7 "And it will come about that all who see you Will shrink from you and say, 'Nineveh is devastated! ¹⁵Who will grieve for her?' Where will I seek comforters for you?"

8 Are you better than ¹⁶No-amon *, Which was situated by the ¹⁷waters of the Nile, With water surrounding her, Whose rampart was the sea, Whose wall consisted of the sea?

9 ¹⁸Ethiopia was her might, And Egypt too, without limits. ¹⁹Put and ²⁰Lubim were among her helpers.

Nahum 3:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NAHUM 3

In this chapter is contained the prophecy of the destruction of Nineveh, and with it the whole Assyrian empire; the causes of which, besides those before mentioned, were the murders, lies, and robberies it was full of, Na 3:1 for which it should be swiftly and cruelly destroyed, Na 3:2,3 as also its whoredoms and witchcrafts, or idolatry, by which nations and families were seduced, Na 3:4 and hence she should be treated as a harlot, her nakedness exposed, and she cast out with contempt, and mocked at by all, Na 3:5-7 and all those things she placed her confidence in are shown to be of no avail; as her situation and fortresses, as she might learn from the case of No Amon, Na 3:8-12 nor the number of her inhabitants, which were weak as women; nor even her merchants, captains, nobles, and king himself, Na 3:13-18 nor the people she was in alliance with, who would now mock at her, her case being irrecoverable and incurable, Na 3:19.

Cross References

• 1. Ezekiel 24:6, 9
• 2. Job 39:22-25; Jeremiah 47:3; Nahum 2:3, 4
• 3. Habakkuk 3:11
• 4. Isaiah 34:3; Isaiah 66:16
• 5. Isaiah 37:36; Ezekiel 39:4
• 6. Isaiah 23:17; Ezekiel 16:25-29; Revelation 17:1, 2
• 7. Is 47:9, 12, 13
• 8. Revelation 18:3
• 9. Jeremiah 50:31; Ezekiel 26:3; Nahum 2:13
• 10. Isaiah 47:2, 3; Jeremiah 13:26
• 11. Ezekiel 16:37
• 12. Job 9:31
• 13. Job 30:8; Malachi 2:9
• 14. Isaiah 14:16; Jeremiah 51:37
• 15. Isaiah 51:19; Jeremiah 15:5
• 16. Jeremiah 46:25; Ezekiel 30:14-16
• 17. Isaiah 19:6-8
• 18. Isaiah 20:5
• 19. Jeremiah 46:9; Ezekiel 27:10; Ezekiel 30:5; Ezekiel 38:5
• 20. 2 Chronicles 12:3; 2 Chronicles 16:8

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "skipping"
• [b]. Lit "there is no end to"
• [c]. Lit "their"
• [d]. Lit "uncover your"
• [e]. Lit "detestable things"
• [f]. Lit "flee"
• [g]. I.e. the city of Amon: Thebes
• [h]. I.e. the Nile
• [i]. I.e. the Nile
• [j]. Lit "your"