Nahum 3:1-10

1 Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not.

2 The noise of a whip and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses and of the jumping chariots!

3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear, and there is a multitude of slain and a great number of carcasses. And there is no end of their corpses--they stumble upon their corpses"

4 because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavored harlot, the mistress of witchcraft, that selleth nations through her whoredom, and families through her witchcraft.

5 "Behold, I am against thee," saith the LORD of hosts, "and I will uncover thy skirts upon thy face; and I will show the nations thy nakedness and the kingdoms thy shame.

6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.

7 And it shall come to pass that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee and say, `Nineveh is laid waste! Who will bemoan her?' From whence shall I seek comforters for thee?"

8 Art thou better than populous No, that was situated among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea and her wall was from the sea?

9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.

10 Yet was she carried away; she went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets; and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.

Nahum 3:1-10 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.