Nahum 3:5

5 "Behold, ¹I am against you," declares the LORD of hosts; "And I will ²lift up your skirts over your face, And ³show to the nations your nakedness And to the kingdoms your disgrace.

Nahum 3:5 Meaning and Commentary

Nahum 3:5

Behold, I [am] against thee, saith the Lord of hosts
Because her doings were against him; (See Gill on Nahum 2:13): and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face;
turn up the skirts of her garments over her head, and thereby discover what should be concealed, than which nothing is more disagreeable and abominable to modest persons; it is here threatened she should be used in character as a harlot, or as women oftentimes are by rude soldiers, when a city is taken by them: and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy
shame;
all her charms shall be taken away, and she become odious as a harlot to her former lovers; all her impostures, arts, and tricks, and shameful actions, will be discovered; and her aims and views at universal monarchy will be seen and her weakness to effect it made to appear; and, upon the whole, will become the object of the scorn and derision of kingdoms and nations.

Nahum 3:5 In-Context

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.

6 "I will throw filth on you And make you vile, And set you up as a spectacle.

7 "And it will come about that all who see you Will shrink from you and say, 'Nineveh is devastated! Who will grieve for her?' Where will I seek comforters for you?"

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 50:31; Ezekiel 26:3; Nahum 2:13
• 2. Isaiah 47:2, 3; Jeremiah 13:26
• 3. Ezekiel 16:37

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "uncover your"