Nahum 2:1

1 He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your loins! Fortify your power mightily!

Nahum 2:1 Meaning and Commentary

Nahum 2:1

He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face
O Nineveh, or land of Assyria; for this is not to be understood of Sennacherib's coming up against Jerusalem, as Kimchi; but of Nebuchadnezzar against Nineveh, as Aben Ezra; not Nebuchadnezzar the great, who, the Jewish chronologers say F3, took Nineveh in the first year of his reign; but his father, Nebuchadnezzar the first, called Nabopolassar, who, with Cyaxares or Ahasuerus the Mede, joined their forces against Nineveh, and took it, see the Apocrypha: ``But before he died he heard of the destruction of Nineve, which was taken by Nabuchodonosor and Assuerus: and before his death he rejoiced over Nineve.'' (Tobit 14:15) and these together, the Chaldeans and Medes, are the "dasher in pieces"; or, "the hammer" F4, as the word may be rendered; and so Babylon, over which one of these kings reigned, is called the hammer of the whole earth, ( Jeremiah 50:23 ) these came up openly, boldly, to the face of the king of Assyria, attacked him in his metropolis, not fearing his strength and numbers: keep the munition;
this and what follow are spoken ironically to the Assyrian king, and inhabitants of Nineveh, to take care of their towers and garrisons, and fortify them, and fill them with soldiers: and watch the way;
in which the enemy came; secure the passes and avenues that lead to their city; stop his march, and prevent his access: make [thy] loins strong;
put on armour, gird on the sword, prepare for war: fortify [thy] power mightily;
increase thine army, exert all thy strength and courage, and do all that is in thy power to do, to oppose the enemy, and defend thyself; and when all is done, it will be in vain.


FOOTNOTES:

F3 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 24. p. 69.
F4 (Uypm) "malleus", Drusius, Tarnovius.

Nahum 2:1 In-Context

1 He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your loins! Fortify your power mightily!
2 For the LORD restores the excellency of Ya`akov, as the excellency of Yisra'el; for the destroyers have destroyed them, and ruined their vine branches.
3 The shield of his mighty men is made red. The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the pine spears are brandished.
4 The chariots rage in the streets. They rush back and forth in the broad ways. Their appearance is like torches. They run like the lightnings.
5 He summons his picked troops. They stumble on their way. They dash to its wall, and the protective shield is put in place.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.