Nahum 2
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CHAPTER 2
Nineveh to Fall (2:1–13)
1–4 In these last two chapters, the judgment announced in the first chapter is described in vivid detail. An attacker (Babylon and its allies) is advancing against Nineveh; the Ninevites are told to brace themselves (verse 1).
In verse 2, we are told the reason for this attack on Nineveh: the Lord intends to restore . . . Jacob (Israel) to its former splendor. Here Nahum is referring to all of Israel, both northern and southern kingdoms. Assyria destroyed Israel’s splendor; now Assyria will be destroyed itself.
In verses 3–4, the attacker’s soldiers reach the outskirts of Nineveh and get ready to break down the walls of the city.
5–10 He summons his picked troops (verse 5); the “he” probably refers to the “attacker” of verse 1. His troops stumble on their way—perhaps over the dead bodies of the defenders. The river gates, which had blocked the canals running under the city walls, are thrown open (verse 6); the backed-up water washes away part of the wall together with the palace inside, and the attacking troops enter the city through the breach.8 Nineveh becomes like a pool whose water (population) is draining away (verse 8).
11–13 Nineveh is compared to a lions’ den, into which the lion (Assyria) had brought all the prey it had killed (verses 11–12). But that den and all its lions will now be destroyed. Nineveh’s destruction will be brought about not primarily by the attacker (Babylon) but by God Himself: “I am against you,” declares the Lord (verse 13). “The voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.” Nineveh was totally silenced, totally destroyed; indeed, its ruins lay undiscovered for more than two thousand years.9