Nahum 3

1 How horrible it will be for that city of bloody violence! It is completely full of lies and stolen goods--never without victims.

2 The sound of the whip! The sound of rattling wheels! Horses gallop! Chariots bounce along!

3 Horses charge! Swords flash! Spears glitter! Many are killed! Dead bodies pile up! There is no end to the corpses! People trip over corpses

4 because of Nineveh's constant prostitution, this very charming mistress of evil magic. She used to sell nations her prostitution and people her evil magic."

5 "I am against you, Nineveh," declares the LORD of Armies. "I will lift up your dress over your face. I will show nations your naked body and kingdoms your disgrace.

6 I will throw filth on you. I will make you look like a fool. I will make you a sight to be seen.

7 Everyone who sees you will run from you, saying, 'Nineveh has been violently destroyed! Who will feel sorry for her?' Where can I find anyone to comfort you?"

8 Are you better than No-amon, which sits by the streams of the Nile with water surrounding her? The sea was [her] defense. The water was her wall.

9 Sudan and Egypt were her endless strength. Put and the Lybians were her help.

10 Even she went into captivity and was exiled. Even her little children were smashed to death at every street corner. Soldiers tossed dice for her important men, and all her best men were bound in chains.

11 Even you, Nineveh, will stagger like a drunk. You will disappear. Even you will look for a fortress [to escape] from the enemy.

12 All your defenses will be like fig trees with the earliest figs. When shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater.

13 Look at your soldiers; they're women! The gates of your country are wide open to your enemies. Fire has destroyed the bars of your gates.

14 Store water for the siege! Strengthen your defenses! Step into the claypits and trample the clay! Grab the brick mold!

15 Fire will consume you there. A sword will cut you down. It will consume you like locusts. Multiply like locusts! Multiply like hungry locusts!

16 You have produced more businessmen than there are stars in the sky. [They are] like locusts that attack and then fly away.

17 Your officers are like locusts, and your scribes are like swarms of locusts that settle on the fences when it is cold. The sun rises, and they scatter in every direction. No one knows where they've gone.

18 Your shepherds, king of Assyria, have fallen into a deep sleep. Your best fighting men are at rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.

19 There is no relief for your collapse. Your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you will clap their hands. Who hasn't suffered from your endless evil?

Nahum 3 Commentary

Chapter 3

The sins and judgments of Nineveh. (1-7) Its utter destruction. (8-19)

Verses 1-7 When proud sinners are brought down, others should learn not to lift themselves up. The fall of this great city should be a lesson to private persons, who increase wealth by fraud and oppression. They are preparing enemies for themselves; and if the Lord sees good to punish them in this world, they will have none to pity them. Every man who seeks his own prosperity, safety, and peace, should not only act in an upright, honourable manner, but with kindness to all.

Verses 8-19 Strong-holds, even the strongest, are no defence against the judgments of God. They shall be unable to do any thing for themselves. The Chaldeans and Medes would devour the land like canker-worms. The Assyrians also would be eaten up by their own numerous hired troops, which seem to be meant by the word rendered "merchants." Those that have done evil to their neighbours, will find it come home to them. Nineveh, and many other cities, states, and empires, have been ruined, and should be a warning to us. Are we better, except as there are some true Christians amongst us, who are a greater security, and a stronger defence, than all the advantages of situation or strength? When the Lord shows himself against a people, every thing they trust in must fail, or prove a disadvantage; but he continues good to Israel. He is a strong-hold for every believer in time of trouble, that cannot be stormed or taken; and he knoweth those that trust in Him.

Chapter Summary

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.