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Texts -- Nahum 3:1-19 (NET)

Context
Reason for Judgment: Sins of Nineveh
3:1 Woe to the city guilty of bloodshed ! She is full of lies ; she is filled with plunder ; she has hoarded her spoil !
Portrayal of the Destruction of Nineveh
3:2 The chariot drivers will crack their whips ; the chariot wheels will shake the ground ; the chariot horses will gallop ; the war chariots will bolt forward! 3:3 The charioteers will charge ahead ; their swords will flash and their spears will glimmer ! There will be many people slain ; there will be piles of the dead , and countless casualties – so many that people will stumble over the corpses .
Taunt against the Harlot City
3:4 “Because you have acted like a wanton prostitute – a seductive mistress who practices sorcery , who enslaves nations by her harlotry , and entices peoples by her sorcery – 3:5 I am against you,” declares the Lord who commands armies . “I will strip off your clothes ! I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms ; 3:6 I will pelt you with filth ; I will treat you with contempt ; I will make you a public spectacle . 3:7 Everyone who sees you will turn away from you in disgust; they will say , ‘Nineveh has been devastated ! Who will lament for her?’ There will be no one to comfort you!”
Nineveh Will Suffer the Same Fate as Thebes
3:8 You are no more secure than Thebes – she was located on the banks of the Nile ; the waters surrounded her, her rampart was the sea , the water was her wall . 3:9 Cush and Egypt had limitless strength ; Put and the Libyans were among her allies . 3:10 Yet she went into captivity as an exile ; even her infants were smashed to pieces at the head of every street . They cast lots for her nobility ; all her dignitaries were bound with chains . 3:11 You too will act like drunkards ; you will go into hiding ; you too will seek refuge from the enemy .
The Assyrian Defenses Will Fail
3:12 All your fortifications will be like fig trees with first-ripe fruit : If they are shaken , their figs will fall into the mouth of the eater ! 3:13 Your warriors will be like women in your midst ; the gates of your land will be wide open to your enemies ; fire will consume the bars of your gates. 3:14 Draw yourselves water for a siege ! Strengthen your fortifications ! Trample the mud and tread the clay ! Make mud bricks to strengthen your walls!
The Assyrian Defenders Will Flee
3:15 There the fire will consume you; the sword will cut you down ; it will devour you like the young locust would. Multiply yourself like the young locust ; multiply yourself like the flying locust ! 3:16 Increase your merchants more than the stars of heaven ! They are like the young locust which sheds its skin and flies away . 3:17 Your courtiers are like locusts , your officials are like a swarm of locusts ! They encamp in the walls on a cold day , yet when the sun rises , they fly away ; and no one knows where they are.
Concluding Dirge
3:18 Your shepherds are sleeping , O king of Assyria ! Your officers are slumbering ! Your people are scattered like sheep on the mountains and there is no one to regather them! 3:19 Your destruction is like an incurable wound ; your demise is like a fatal injury! All who hear what has happened to you will clap their hands for joy, for no one ever escaped your endless cruelty !

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Assyria

    [isbe] ASSYRIA - a-sir'-i-a: I. GEOGRAPHY II. EARLY HISTORY III. CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS IV. POPULATION V. TRADE AND LAW VI. ART VII. MECHANICS VIII. FURNITURE, POTTERY AND EMBROIDERY IX. LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND SCIENCE X. GOVERNM...
    [nave] ASSYRIA An empire founded by Nimrod, Gen. 10:8-12; Mic. 5:6. It extended from east of the Tigris, Gen. 2:14; 10:11; possibly to Egypt, Gen. 25:18. Its armies invade the land of Israel under Pul, 2 Kin. 15:19; 1 Chr. 5:26; ...

  • Nineveh

    [ebd] First mentioned in Gen. 10:11, which is rendered in the Revised Version, "He [i.e., Nimrod] went forth into Assyria and builded Nineveh." It is not again noticed till the days of Jonah, when it is described (Jonah 3:3; 4:11)...
    [smith] (abode of Ninus), the capital of the ancient kingdom and empire of Assyria. The name appears to be compounded from that of an Assyrian deity "Nin," corresponding, it is conjectured, with the Greek Hercules, and occurring in t...
    [nave] NINEVEH Capital of the Assyrian empire, Gen. 10:11, 12. Contained a population of upwards of one hundred and twenty thousand when Jonah preached, Jonah 4:11. Extent of, Jonah 3:4. Seacherib in, 2 Kin. 19:36, 37; Isa. 37:3...

  • Nahum

    [smith] (consolation). Nahum, called "the Elkoshite," is the seventh in order of the minor prophets. His personal history is quite unknown. The site of Elkosh, his native place, is disputed, some placing it in Galilee, others in Assy...
    [nave] NAHUM, one of the minor prophets. Prophesies against the Assyrians; declares the majesty of God and his care for his people, Nah. 1. Foretells the destruction of Nineveh, Nah. 2, 3.

  • Prophecy

    [ebd] or prediction, was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a "miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human sagacity to foresee, disce...

  • LOCUST

    [isbe] LOCUST - lo'-kust: The translation of a large number of Hebrew and Greek words: 1. Names: (1) 'arbeh from the root rabhah, "to increase" (compare Arabic raba', "to increase"). (2) sal`am, from obsolete [?] cal`am, "to swallo...
    [smith] a well-known insect, of the grasshopper family, which commits terrible ravages on vegetation in the countries which it visits. "The common brown locust is about three inches in length, and the general form is that of a grassh...

  • ETHIOPIA

    [ebd] country of burnt faces; the Greek word by which the Hebrew Cush is rendered (Gen. 2:13; 2 Kings 19:9; Esther 1:1; Job 28:19; Ps. 68:31; 87:4), a country which lay to the south of Egypt, beginning at Syene on the First Catara...
    [isbe] ETHIOPIA - e-thi-o'-pi-a (kush; Aithiopia): 1. Location, Extent and Population: Critically speaking Ethiopia may refer only to the Nile valley above the First Cataract, but in ancient as in modern times the term was often us...

  • FORTIFICATION; FORT; FORTIFIED CITIES; FORTRESS

    [isbe] FORTIFICATION; FORT; FORTIFIED CITIES; FORTRESS - for-ti-fi-ka'-shun (including): I. IN RECENT EXCAVATIONS 1. Excavation of Tells 2. Sites 3. Primitive Character 4. Walls 5. Towers 6. Acropolis or Castle 7. Masonry 8. Gates ...

  • WAR; WARFARE

    [isbe] WAR; WARFARE - wor, wor'-far (milchamah, 'anshe m., "men of war," "soldiers"; polemos, polemein, strateuesthai, stratia): 1. Religious Significance 2. Preliminaries 3. Operations of War 4. Strategy 5. Important Requisites 6....

  • Cankerworm

    [ebd] (Heb. yelek), "the licking locust," which licks up the grass of the field; probably the locust at a certain stage of its growth, just as it emerges from the caterpillar state (Joel 1:4; 2:25). The word is rendered "caterpill...
    [nave] CANKERWORM, sent as a judgment, Joel 1:4; 2:25; Nah. 3:15, 16.

  • PUT

    [isbe] PUT - put (puT; Phoud, in Genesis and Chronicles, variant for Genesis Phout, for Chronicles, Phouth): 1. Renderings: In consequence of the identification at the time, the prophets have "Libya" (Libues), except Nab 3:9, where...
    [smith] (1 Chronicles 1:8; Nahum 3:9) [PHUT, PUT]

  • No

    [ebd] or No-A'mon, the home of Amon, the name of Thebes, the ancient capital of what is called the Middle Empire, in Upper or Southern Egypt. "The multitude of No" (Jer. 46:25) is more correctly rendered, as in the Revised Version...
    [nave] NO, a city on the Nile, Jer. 46:25; Ezek. 30:14-16; Nah. 3:8.

  • ARMY

    [isbe] ARMY - ar'-mi (chayil, "army," tsabha', "host," ma`arakhah, "army in battle array" gedhudh, "troop"): 1. The First Campaign of History 2. In the Wilderness 3. The Times after the Conquest 4. In the Early Monarchy 5. From the...

  • BLOODY

    [isbe] BLOODY - blud'-i (dam = "blood" of man or an animal; and where the King James translators have rendered with the adjective "bloody," the Hebrew employs the noun in the construct case, "of blood"): "A bridegroom of blood" (Ex...

  • DAUGHTER

    [isbe] DAUGHTER - do'-ter (bath; thugater): Used in Scriptures in several more or less distinct senses: (a) for daughter in the ordinary, literal sense (Gen 46:25; Ex 1:16); (b) daughter-in-law (Ruth 2:2); (c) grand-daughter or oth...

  • LUBIM

    [isbe] LUBIM - lu'-bim (lubhim): A people mentioned in the Old Testament (2 Ch 12:3; 16:8; Dan 11:43; Nah 3:9). In all these cases the word is translated in the King James Version "Libyans"; in the Revised Version (British and Amer...
    [smith] (dwellers in a thirsty land),a nation mentioned as contributing, together with Cushites and Sukkiim, to Shishak?s army, (2 Chronicles 12:3) and apparently as forming with Cushites the bulk of Zerah?s army, (2 Chronicles...

  • NO-AMON

    [isbe] NO-AMON - no-a'-mon (no' 'amon, Egyptian nut, "a city," with the feminine ending t, and Amon, proper name of a god, City Amon, i.e. the "City," paragraph excellence, of the god Amon; translated in the King James Version "pop...
    [smith] (temple of Amon) (Nahum 3:8) No, (Jeremiah 46:25; Ezekiel 30:14,16) a city of Egypt, better known under the name of Thebes or Diospolis Magna, the ancient and splendid metropolis of upper Egypt The second part of the first fo...

  • CANKER-WORM

    [isbe] CANKER-WORM - kan'-ker-wurm (yeleq, (Joel 1:4; 2:25; Nah 3:15,16)): The name given to a larval stage of the LOCUST (which see). See also CATERPILLAR.

  • War

    [nave] WAR Divine approval of, 2 Sam. 22:35. Civil, Judg. 12:1-6; 20; 2 Sam. 2:12-31; 3:1; 20; 1 Kin. 14:30; 16:21; Isa. 19:2; forbidden, 2 Chr. 11:4; averted, Josh. 22:11-34. Enemy harangued by general of opposing side, 2 Kin. 1...

  • BRUIT

    [ebd] a rumour or report (Jer. 10:22, R.V. "rumour;" Nah. 3:19).
    [isbe] BRUIT - broot (shema`): A word no longer in common use (marked "archaic" and "obsolete" by Murray), signifying a rumor or report. The word occurs in the King James Version Jer 10:22 (the Revised Version (British and American...

  • Grasshopper

    [ebd] belongs to the class of neuropterous insects called Gryllidae. This insect is not unknown in Palestine. In Judg. 6:5; 7:12; Job 39:30; Jer. 46:23, where the Authorized Version has "grasshopper," the Revised Version more corr...
    [nave] GRASSHOPPER, Num. 13:33; Eccl. 12:5; Isa. 40:22; Nah. 3:17. See: Locust.
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Israel had evidently retaken Ramoth-gilead after Ben-Hadad I had defeated Ahab there 12 years earlier. Israel was now defending it against the attacking Arameans (v. 14). The horsemen and Joram who asked Jehu, "Is it peace?"w...
  • 13:20 The Lord called Jerusalem to look north and she would see people coming.238The city was about to lose the flock of special people over whom the Lord had made her responsible, namely, His people of Judah.13:21 What would...
  • This chapter on Egypt contains three separate prophecies that Jeremiah delivered about the fate of that nation. Their purpose seems to have been to discourage King Jehoiakim (609-598 B.C.) and the pro-Egyptian party in Judah ...
  • ". . . the focus of chap. 6 is on the individual responsibility of the people and prepares the way for the subsequent spoken messages."1216:1-2 The Lord directed Ezekiel to pronounce an oracle of judgment against "the mountai...
  • 16:35-37 Yahweh announced the judgment that He would mete out to Jerusalem because of all her unnatural and rebellious unfaithfulness, idolatry, and bloodshed. He would bring all the nations that Jerusalem had opened her legs...
  • 24:6 Ezekiel was then to announce woe on the bloody city (no longer the holy city) of Jerusalem (cf. Nah. 3:1), which the pot represented (cf. 11:3, 7, 11; Jer. 1:13-14). The pot had rust (Heb. hel'ah) in it that evidently st...
  • 31:1 The Lord gave Ezekiel a third oracle against Egypt in 587 B.C., less than two months after the previous one (30:20-26).31:2 The prophet was to speak this one to Pharaoh Hophra and to the Egyptians. Obviously Ezekiel was ...
  • Jonah's proclamation moved the Ninevites to humble themselves and seek divine mercy.3:5 The people believed in God because of the message from God that Jonah had brought to them. Fasting and wearing sackcloth were signs of se...
  • 5:10-11 In that future eschatological day the Lord also promised to remove the vain sources of security that had always tempted the Israelites represented by horses, chariots, cities, and fortifications (cf. Deut. 17:16).5:12...
  • Some scholars have tried to prove that someone other than Nahum wrote sections of the book (1:1; 1:1-2:3; 1:2-10; 2:4-3:19), but their arguments are largely speculative. Jewish and Christian authorities have long held that Na...
  • Nahum mentioned the fall of the Egyptian city of Thebes (3:8), so we know he wrote after that event, which took place in 663 B.C. The Assyrian king Ashurbanipal conquered it. The prophet predicted the fall of the Assyrian cap...
  • The story that Nahum told is a story of the utter and irrevocable destruction of a great city and a great people. Nahum told the story as prophecy, but what he predicted is now history. Nahum lived when Assyria was threatenin...
  • I. Heading 1:1II. Nineveh's destruction declared 1:2-14A. The anger and goodness of Yahweh 1:2-8B. Yahweh's plans for Nineveh and Judah 1:9-141. The consumption of Nineveh 1:9-112. The liberation of Judah 1:12-133. The termin...
  • The rest of chapter 1 declares Nineveh's destruction in rather hymnic style, and chapters 2 and 3 describe its destruction. Each of these major parts of the book opens with a revelation of Yahweh....
  • The second description of Nineveh's fall is more philosophical than the first one and ends with a statement by Yahweh that gives the reason for its fall (v. 13).2:8 Nineveh had been as placid as the waters around the city for...
  • This description explains further the "why"for Nineveh's fall whereas the first two descriptions in the previous chapter gave more of the actual events, the "what"of it. There is much similarity between the descriptions of th...
  • This section, evidently another message that Nahum delivered concerning Nineveh's fall, begins by comparing it to the fall of another great city. Nahum proceeded to use many figures of speech to describe how various segments ...
  • 2:13 Zephaniah also prophesied the destruction of Assyria to Judah's north (really northeast) and her capital Nineveh (cf. Isa. 13:1-14:27; 21:1-10; Jer. 50-51). Since Nineveh fell to the combined forces of Babylonia, Media, ...
  • The three parables in this series are similar to three concentric circles in their scope. The scope of the parable of the two sons encompassed Israel's leaders (21:28-32). The parable of the wicked tenant farmers exposed the ...
  • Mark gave more precise time intervals than Matthew did. Matthew related the cursing of the fig tree (Matt. 21:12-17) and Jesus' lesson to the disciples the following day (Matt. 21:18-22) back to back.11:12-13 The next day was...
  • 9:1 Again John saw a "star"(cf. 6:13; 8:10), but this time the "star"was an intelligent being. If "fallen"(Gr. peptokota) has theological connotations, the "star"may refer to Satan (vv. 2, 11; cf. 1:20; Job. 38:7; Luke 10:18)...
  • The final three bowl judgments all have political consequences.16:12 The problem that this judgment poses for earth-dwellers is not a result of the judgment itself but its consequences, namely, war. It does not inflict a plag...
  • 17:1 The fact that this chapter describes the judgment of Babylon referred to in 14:8 and 16:19 seems clear. It was one of the angels who poured out the bowl judgments who served as John's guide as he viewed these events in h...
  • 17:7 The angel promised to interpret these revelations that were so baffling to John, particularly the mystery concerning the woman and the beast. More information about the beast follows in verses 7-14 and more about the wom...
  • 18:1 John next saw another scene on earth (Gr. Meta tauta eidon, "After these things I saw,"cf. 4:1). Another angel of the same kind as in 17:1 (i.e., one who descends from heaven to fulfill a special mission; cf. 10:1; 20:1)...
  • 18:21 The angelic act of throwing the millstone into the sea is symbolic of Babylon's fate (cf. Jer. 51:63-64). As it is impossible for that huge stone to rise to the surface, so the economic system that has driven this world...
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