Nahum 2:10

10 On pille, on dévaste, on ravage! Et les coeurs sont abattus, Les genoux chancellent, Tous les reins souffrent, Tous les visages pâlissent.

Nahum 2:10 Meaning and Commentary

Nahum 2:10

She is empty, and void, and waste
The city of Nineveh, empty of inhabitants, being killed, or having fled; and stripped of all its treasures and riches by the enemies; its walls and houses demolished and pulled down, and laid in ruins, and become a heap of rubbish; (See Gill on Nahum 1:8). Various words are here used to ascertain and confirm the thing; and there is an elegant play on words or likeness of sounds, which our language will not express: and the heart melteth;
the heart of every inhabitant of Nineveh melted with fear at the approach of their enemies, their entrance into the city, and plunder of it; flowed like water, or melted like wax; see ( Psalms 22:14 ) : and the knees smite together;
like people in a fright, and when a panic has seized them; and as it was with Belshazzar, ( Daniel 5:6 ) : and much pain [is] in all loins;
like that of women in travail; or of persons in a sudden fright, which gives them a pain in their backs at once: and the faces of them all gather blackness;
like a pot, as the Targum adds; being in great distress and disconsolation, which make men appear in a dismal hue, and their countenances look very dark and gloomy; see ( Joel 2:6 ) .

Nahum 2:10 In-Context

8 Ninive était jadis comme un réservoir plein d'eau.... Les voilà qui fuient.... Arrêtez! arrêtez!... Mais nul ne se retourne....
9 Pillez l'argent! pillez l'or! Il y a des trésors sans fin, Des richesses en objets précieux de toute espèce.
10 On pille, on dévaste, on ravage! Et les coeurs sont abattus, Les genoux chancellent, Tous les reins souffrent, Tous les visages pâlissent.
11 Qu'est devenu ce repaire de lions, Ce pâturage des lionceaux, Où se retiraient le lion, la lionne, le petit du lion, Sans qu'il y eût personne pour les troubler?
12 Le lion déchirait pour ses petits, Etranglait pour ses lionnes; Il remplissait de proie ses antres, De dépouilles ses repaires.
The Louis Segond 1910 is in the public domain.