Nahum 3:1-4

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.

Nahum 3:1-4 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 8

  • 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

Footnotes 3

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