Nahum 3:1

Woe to Nineveh

1 Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims!

Nahum 3:1 in Other Translations

1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;

1 Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder— no end to the prey!

1 What sorrow awaits Nineveh, the city of murder and lies! She is crammed with wealth and is never without victims.

1 Doom to Murder City - full of lies, bursting with loot, addicted to violence!

1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and rapine; the prey departeth not.

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

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

1 How terrible it will be for Nineveh! It is a city of murderers! It is full of liars! It's filled with stolen goods! The killing never stops!

Nahum 3:1 Meaning and Commentary

Nahum 3:1

Woe to the bloody city
Nineveh, in which many murders were daily committed; innocent blood shed; the lives of men taken away, under the colour of justice, by false witnesses, and other unlawful methods; and which was continually making war with neighbouring nations, and shedding their blood, which it stuck not at, to enlarge its wealth and dominions; and therefore "woe" is denounced against it; and it is threatened with the righteous judgments of God, with all sorts of calamity and distress: or, "O bloody city", as the Septuagint; for the word used is vocative, and expressive of calling, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi observe: it [is] all full of lies [and] robbery;
the palace and court; the houses of noblemen and common persons were full of flattery and deceit; men of high degree were a lie, and men of low degree vanity; no man could trust another, or believe what he said; there were no truth, honesty, and faithfulness, in conversation or commerce; their warehouses were full of goods, got by rapine and violence; and their streets full of robbers and robberies: the prey departeth not;
they go on in making a prey of their neighbours, in pillaging and plundering their substance; they repent not of such evil practices, nor desist from them; or because of the above sins they shall fall a prey to the enemy, who will not cease plundering them till he has utterly stripped them of all they have; and who is represented in the next verse ( Nahum 3:2 ) as just at hand.

Nahum 3:1 In-Context

1 Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims!

2 The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots!

3 Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses—

4 all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft.

5 “I am against you,” declares the LORD Almighty. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame.

Cross References

• 1. S Ezekiel 22:2; S Micah 3:10
• 2. Psalms 12:2