那鴻書 3:15

15 在 那 裡 ， 火 必 燒 滅 你 ； 刀 必 殺 戮 你 ， 吞 滅 你 如 同 蝻 子 。 任 你 加 增 人 數 多 如 蝻 子 ， 多 如 蝗 蟲 罷 ！

那鴻書 3:15 Meaning and Commentary

Nahum 3:15

There shall the fire devour thee
In the strong holds, made ever so firm and secure; either the fire of divine wrath; or the fire of the enemy they should put into them; or the enemy himself, as Kimchi; and so the Targum,

``thither shall come upon thee people who are as strong as fire:''

the sword shall cut thee off; it shall eat thee up as the cankerworm:
that is, the sword of the Medes and Chaldeans shall utterly destroy thee, as the cankerworm is destroyed by rain or fire; or rather, as that creature destroys all herbs, plants, and trees it falls upon, and makes clear riddance of them, so should it be with Nineveh: make thyself many as the cankerworm; make thyself many as the
locust;
which go in swarms, innumerable, and make the air "heavy" in which they fly, and the earth on which they fall, as the word ^F25 signifies. The locust has one of its names, "arbah", in Hebrew, from the large numbers of them; so a multitude of men, and large armies, are often signified in Scripture to be like grasshoppers or locusts, for their numbers; see ( Judges 6:5 ) ( 7:12 ) ( Jeremiah 46:23 ) . So Sithalces king of Thrace is represented ^F26 as swearing, while he was sacrificing, that he would assist the Athenians, having an army that would come like locusts, that is, in such numbers; for so the Greek scholiast on the place says the word used signifies a sort of locusts: the sense is, gather together as many soldiers, and as large an army, as can be obtained to meet the enemy, or cause him to break up the siege: and so we find ^F1 the king of Assyria did; for, perceiving his kingdom in great danger, he sent into all his provinces to raise soldiers, and prepare everything for the siege; but all to no purpose, which is here ironically suggested. The word in the Misnic language, as Kimchi observes, has the signification of sweeping; and some render it, "sweep as the locust" ^F2; which sweeps away and consumes the fruits of the earth; so sweep with the besom of destruction, as Jarchi, either their enemies, sarcastically spoken, or be thou swept by them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 (dbkth) "aggravate", Montanus; "onerate", Tigurine version; "gravem effice te", Burkius.
F26 Aristophan. in Acharnens. Act. 1. Scen. 1.
F1 Diodor. Sicul. l. 2. p. 113.
F2 So R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 39. 1.

那鴻書 3:15 In-Context

13 你 地 上 的 人 民 如 同 婦 女 ； 你 國 中 的 關 口 向 仇 敵 敞 開 ； 你 的 門 閂 被 火 焚 燒 。

14 你 要 打 水 預 備 受 困 ； 要 堅 固 你 的 保 障 ， 踹 土 和 泥 ， 修 補 磚 窯 。

15 在 那 裡 ， 火 必 燒 滅 你 ； 刀 必 殺 戮 你 ， 吞 滅 你 如 同 蝻 子 。 任 你 加 增 人 數 多 如 蝻 子 ， 多 如 蝗 蟲 罷 ！

16 你 增 添 商 賈 ， 多 過 天 上 的 星 ； 蝻 子 吃 盡 而 去 。

17 你 的 首 領 多 如 蝗 蟲 ； 你 的 軍 長 彷 彿 成 群 的 螞 蚱 ， 天 涼 的 時 候 齊 落 在 籬 笆 上 ， 日 頭 一 出 便 都 飛 去 ， 人 不 知 道 落 在 何 處 。