Nahum 2:3-13

3 The shield(s) of strong men of him be fiery, men of the host be in red clothes; reins of fire of [the] chariot(s), in the day of his making ready; and the leaders thereof be asleep. (The shields of their strong men be painted fiery red, the men in their army be clothed in red clothes; the reins of the chariots flash like fire, on the day of their preparation for battle; and their leaders be on alert.)
4 In ways they be troubled together, carts of four horses be hurtled together in streets; the sight of them as lamps, as lightnings running about. (On the ways they make the people altogether troubled, or full of fear, yea, carts with four horses hurtle through the streets; they look like lamps, like lightning running about.)
5 He shall bethink of his strong men, they shall fall in their ways; and swiftly they shall go up on the walls thereof, and [the] shadowing place shall be made ready. (They shall call out their strong men, and they shall stumble as they hastily make their way forward; but they shall go up swiftly on the walls, and prepare the battering-rams for the siege.)
6 Gates of floods be opened, and the temple is broken down to [the] earth. (The gates by the river be opened, and the palace is broken into, and falleth down to the ground.)
7 And a knight is led away captive, and the handmaids thereof shall be driven sorrowing as culvers, grutching in their hearts. (And their horsemen be led away captive, and the slave-girls there be driven away, sorrowing like doves, grumbling in their hearts.)
8 And Nineveh, as a cistern of waters the waters thereof; forsooth they fled; Stand ye, stand ye, (they cried,) and there is not that shall turn again. (And so Nineveh was made like a water cistern, yea, like its water, as it fled away; Stand ye! stand ye in your place! they cried; but there was no one who turned back.)
9 Ravish ye silver, ravish ye gold; and there is none end of riches, of all desirable vessels. (Steal ye the silver, rob ye the gold; yea, there is no end of the riches, of all their desirable vessels.)
10 It is destroyed, and cut, and rent, (or torn), and heart failing, and unknitting of small knees, and failing in all reins; and the face of all be as (the) blackness of a pot.
11 Where is the dwelling of lions, and [the] pastures of whelps of lions? To which city the lion went, that the whelp of the lion should enter thither, and there is not that shall make afeared. (Where now is the lions? den, and the pastures of the lion's cubs? To which city the lion went in first, so that the lion's cubs could enter in there afterward, and there would be no one who would make them afraid.)
12 The lion took enough to his whelps, and slew to his lionesses; and filled their dens with prey, and his couch with raven. (The lion took enough for his cubs, and killed prey for his lionesses; yea, he filled their dens with prey, and his lair with spoils.)
13 Lo! I to thee, saith the Lord God of hosts; and I shall burn thy carts of four horses till to the highest, and sword shall eat thy small lions (Lo! I am against thee, saith the Lord God of hosts; and I shall burn up thy carts with four horses unto smoke, and the sword shall eat thy small lions); and I shall destroy thy prey from the land, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.

Nahum 2:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NAHUM 2

This chapter gives an account of the destruction of the city of Nineveh; describes the instruments of it as very terrible and powerful, and not to be resisted, Na 2:1-4. The manner of taking it, the flight of its inhabitants, and the spoil of its riches and treasures, Na 2:5-10 and the king and the princes thereof, compared to a lion, and a lion's whelp, are insulted as being without a den or dwelling place, because of their cruelty and ravening, for which the Lord was against them, and threatened them with utter ruin, which he brought upon them, Na 2:11-13.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.