Nahum 3:2

2 Hear the crack of whips, the rumble of wheels! Horses’ hooves pound, and chariots clatter wildly.

Nahum 3:2 Meaning and Commentary

Nahum 3:2

The noise of a whip
Of a horseman or chariot driver whipping his horses to make speed to Nineveh, and enter into it, so near as to be heard by the inhabitants of it; and is thus represented in order to strike terror into them: and the noise of the rattling of the wheels;
that is, of the chariots upon the stones, whose drivers drove Jehu like, making the utmost haste they could to get in first, and seize the prey: and of the pransing horses;
or bounding steeds, upon a full gallop; either with horsemen on them riding full speed to partake of the booty; or in chariots, in which they caper and prance, and shake the ground as they go; hence it follows: and of the jumping chariots;
which, through the swiftness of the motion, seem to leap and dance as they run along.

Nahum 3:2 In-Context

1 What sorrow awaits Nineveh, the city of murder and lies! She is crammed with wealth and is never without victims.
2 Hear the crack of whips, the rumble of wheels! Horses’ hooves pound, and chariots clatter wildly.
3 See the flashing swords and glittering spears as the charioteers charge past! There are countless casualties, heaps of bodies— so many bodies that people stumble over them.
4 All this because Nineveh, the beautiful and faithless city, mistress of deadly charms, enticed the nations with her beauty. She taught them all her magic, enchanting people everywhere.
5 “I am your enemy!” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “And now I will lift your skirts and show all the earth your nakedness and shame.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.