Nahum 2:5

5 [The king of Ninveh] assigns his officers; they stumble as they march; they hurry to its wall and set up shields to protect the battering ram.

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 [Ninveh's] warriors are [dyed] red; the soldiers are wearing scarlet. The steel of the chariots flashes like fire as they prepare for battle. The cypress [spears] are poisoned.
4 The chariots rush madly about in the streets, jostling each other in the open places; their appearance is like torches, they run here and there like lightning.
5 [The king of Ninveh] assigns his officers; they stumble as they march; they hurry to its wall and set up shields to protect the battering ram.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace melts away.
7 Its mistress is stripped and carried away; her handmaids moan, they sound like doves, as they beat their breasts.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.