Nahum 2:5

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.)

Nahum 2:5 Meaning and Commentary

Nahum 2:5

He shall recount his worthies
Either the dasher in pieces, ( Nahum 2:1 ) , the kings of Babylon and Media, shall call together their general officers, and muster the forces under then, and put them in mind of their duty, and recount the actions of their ancestors in former times, in order to animate and encourage them to the siege and attack of the city of Nineveh; or the king of Assyria shall recount and muster up his nobles, and the troops under them, to sally out against the enemy, and meet him in the field, and give him battle: they shall stumble in their walk:
being many, and in haste to obey the orders of their commander, shall stumble and fall upon one another; or else the Ninevites in their march out against the enemy shall be discomfited and flee before him, or be dispirited and flee back again: they shall make haste to the wall thereof;
of Nineveh; that is, the Medes and Chaldeans shall make haste thither, to break it down or scale it; or the Ninevites, failing in their sally out, shall betake themselves in all haste to their city walls, and defend themselves under the protection of them: and the defence shall be prepared;
or the "covering": the word F8 used has the signification of a booth or tent, to cover and protect; here it signifies something that was prepared, either by the besiegers, to cover them from the darts and stones of the besieged, as they made their approaches to the walls; or which the besieged covered themselves with from the assaults of the besiegers; rather the former.


FOOTNOTES:

F8 (Kkwoh) "operimentum", Pagninus, Montanus; "integumentum", Calvin; "testudo", Vatablus, Grotius, Cocceius, Burkius.

Nahum 2:5 In-Context

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