Nahum 3:1-4

Nineveh's Downfall

1 Woe to the city of blood,^[a] totally deceitful, full of plunder, never without prey.

2 The crack of the whip and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and jolting chariot!^[b]

3 Charging horseman, flashing sword, shining spear; heaps of slain, mounds of corpses, dead bodies without end- they stumble over their dead.

4 Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute, the attractive mistress of sorcery, who betrays nations by her prostitution and clans by her witchcraft,^[c]

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.

Footnotes

• [a] Ezk 24:6,9
• [b] Jdg 5:22; Jb 39:24; Jr 47:3
• [c] 2 Kg 9:22; Pr 7:10-23; Rv 17:5