Nahum 3:1-7

Woe to Nineveh

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.
6 I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.
7 All who see you will flee from you and say, ‘Nineveh is in ruins—who will mourn for her?’ Where can I find anyone to comfort you?”

Nahum 3:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NAHUM 3

In this chapter is contained the prophecy of the destruction of Nineveh, and with it the whole Assyrian empire; the causes of which, besides those before mentioned, were the murders, lies, and robberies it was full of, Na 3:1 for which it should be swiftly and cruelly destroyed, Na 3:2,3 as also its whoredoms and witchcrafts, or idolatry, by which nations and families were seduced, Na 3:4 and hence she should be treated as a harlot, her nakedness exposed, and she cast out with contempt, and mocked at by all, Na 3:5-7 and all those things she placed her confidence in are shown to be of no avail; as her situation and fortresses, as she might learn from the case of No Amon, Na 3:8-12 nor the number of her inhabitants, which were weak as women; nor even her merchants, captains, nobles, and king himself, Na 3:13-18 nor the people she was in alliance with, who would now mock at her, her case being irrecoverable and incurable, Na 3:19.

Cross References 16

  • 1. S Ezekiel 22:2; S Micah 3:10
  • 2. Psalms 12:2
  • 3. 2 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 34:3; Jeremiah 47:3
  • 4. S Isaiah 47:9
  • 5. S Isaiah 23:17; Ezekiel 16:25-29
  • 6. S Nahum 2:13
  • 7. S Isaiah 20:4; Jeremiah 13:22
  • 8. S Isaiah 47:3
  • 9. S Exodus 29:14; S Job 9:31
  • 10. S 1 Samuel 2:30; S Jeremiah 51:37
  • 11. Isaiah 14:16
  • 12. S Isaiah 13:14; S Isaiah 31:9
  • 13. S Nahum 1:1
  • 14. S Job 3:14
  • 15. S Jeremiah 15:5
  • 16. S Isaiah 51:19
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