Nahum 2:5

5 He musters his officers; they stumble as they press forward. They hurry to the city wall, and the portable shield is set up.

Nahum 2:5 Meaning and Commentary

Nahum 2:5

He shall recount his worthies
Either the dasher in pieces, ( Nahum 2:1 ) , the kings of Babylon and Media, shall call together their general officers, and muster the forces under then, and put them in mind of their duty, and recount the actions of their ancestors in former times, in order to animate and encourage them to the siege and attack of the city of Nineveh; or the king of Assyria shall recount and muster up his nobles, and the troops under them, to sally out against the enemy, and meet him in the field, and give him battle: they shall stumble in their walk:
being many, and in haste to obey the orders of their commander, shall stumble and fall upon one another; or else the Ninevites in their march out against the enemy shall be discomfited and flee before him, or be dispirited and flee back again: they shall make haste to the wall thereof;
of Nineveh; that is, the Medes and Chaldeans shall make haste thither, to break it down or scale it; or the Ninevites, failing in their sally out, shall betake themselves in all haste to their city walls, and defend themselves under the protection of them: and the defence shall be prepared;
or the "covering": the word F8 used has the signification of a booth or tent, to cover and protect; here it signifies something that was prepared, either by the besiegers, to cover them from the darts and stones of the besieged, as they made their approaches to the walls; or which the besieged covered themselves with from the assaults of the besiegers; rather the former.


FOOTNOTES:

F8 (Kkwoh) "operimentum", Pagninus, Montanus; "integumentum", Calvin; "testudo", Vatablus, Grotius, Cocceius, Burkius.

Nahum 2:5 In-Context

3 The shields of his warriors are red; his soldiers are dressed in crimson. The ironwork of the chariots flashes like fire on the day he has prepared; the horses quiver.
4 The chariots race wildly through the streets; they rush back and forth through the squares. They look like flaming torches; they dart like bolts of lightning.
5 He musters his officers; they stumble as they press forward. They hurry to the city wall, and the portable shield is set up.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened; the palace melts.
7 It is decreed: She is sent into exile, carried away, while her female servants moan like doves, beating their breasts.
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