Nahum 3:3

3 Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, ¹spears gleaming, ²Many slain, a mass of corpses, And ³countless dead bodies - They stumble over the dead bodies!

Nahum 3:3 Meaning and Commentary

Nahum 3:3

The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the
glittering spear
Or, "the flame of the sword and the glittering spear" ^F23; he rides with a drawn sword, which, being brandished to and fro, looks like a flame of fire; or with a spear made of polished iron, or steel, which, when vibrated and moved to and fro, glitters like lightning; a large number of which entering the city must be terrible to the inhabitants of it: and [there is] a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcasses;
of dead men lying in the streets, pierced and slain with the bright sword and glittering spear of the Medes and Chaldeans: and [there is] none end of [their] corpses;
the number of them could not be told; they lay so thick in all parts of the city, that there was no telling them: they stumble upon their corpses;
the Ninevites in fleeing, and endeavouring to make their escape, and the Medes and Chaldeans pursuing them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 (tynx qrbw brx bhl) "flammam gladii et fulgorem hastae", Piscator; "flammam gladii et fulgur hastae", Cocceius; "flamma gladii et fulgur lanceae", Burkius.

Nahum 3:3 In-Context

1 Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; Her prey never departs.

2 The noise of the whip, The noise of the rattling of the wheel, Galloping horses And bounding chariots!

3 Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, spears gleaming, Many slain, a mass of corpses, And countless dead bodies - They stumble over the dead bodies!

4 All because of the many harlotries of the harlot, The charming one, the mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations by her harlotries And families by her sorceries.

5 "Behold, I am against you," declares the LORD of hosts; "And I will lift up your skirts over your face, And show to the nations your nakedness And to the kingdoms your disgrace.

Cross References

• 1. Habakkuk 3:11
• 2. Isaiah 34:3; Isaiah 66:16
• 3. Isaiah 37:36; Ezekiel 39:4

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "there is no end to"
• [b]. Lit "their"