Attack against Nineveh
1One who scatters is coming up against you. v
Man the fortifications!
Watch the road!
Brace yourself!
Summon all your strength! w
2 For the LORD will restore the majesty of Jacob, x
yes, the majesty of Israel,
though ravagers have ravaged them y
and ruined their vine branches. z
3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red;
the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. a
The fittings of the chariot flash like fire b
on the day of its battle preparations,
and the spears are brandished.
4 The chariots dash madly through the streets;
they rush around in the plazas.
They look like torches;
they dart back and forth like lightning.
5 He gives orders to his officers;
they stumble as they advance.
They race to its wall;
the protective shield is set in place.
6 The river gates are opened,
and the palace erodes away. c
7 Beauty is stripped;
she is carried away;
her ladies-in-waiting moan
like the sound of doves d
and beat their breasts. e
8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water
from her first days,
but they are fleeing.
“Stop! Stop! ” they cry,
but no one turns back.
9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! ” f
There is no end to the treasure,
an abundance of every precious thing. g
10 Desolation, decimation, devastation!
Hearts melt, h
knees tremble, i
insides churn, j
every face grows pale! k
11 Where is the lions’ lair, l
or the feeding ground of the young lions,
where the lion and lioness prowled,
and the lion’s cub,
with nothing to frighten them away? m
12 The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed
and strangled prey for its lionesses.
It filled up its dens with the kill,
and its lairs with mauled prey. n
13 Beware, I am against you. o
This is the declaration of the LORD of Armies.
I will make your chariots go up in smoke,
and the sword will devour your young lions. p
I will cut off your prey from the earth,
and the sound of your messengers
will never be heard again. q
2:1–2. Nahum 2:1–2 marks a transition. Nahum 2:1 begins the description of Nineveh’s fall that is taken up again in verse 3 and developed in the rest of the book. Nahum 2:2 concludes the promises of the benefits that Israel will enjoy because of the defeat of its enemies. The attack on Nineveh will result in a scattering of her inhabitants (cf. 3:18). “Man the fortifications” (2:1) are likely ironic words that emphasize the futility of any defense. Nineveh’s destruction and Israel’s restoration (2:2) are sure.
2:3–4. Nineveh has lived and prospered by the sword and will now die by the sword. The assault on Nineveh is relentless, swift, fierce, and irresistible. Nahum 2:3 describes the invader’s dread-inspiring appearance. The soldiers’ shields are red. This, along with the scarlet dress of warriors, when taken with Ezk 23:14, seems to indicate that red characterized Babylonian armies at the time.
2:5–6. The subject of 2:5 is uncertain. It could refer to the commander in Nineveh in his last measures to shore up the city’s defenses; “they stumble as they advance” thus points to the defenders’ ineffectual efforts to prepare for the final onslaught. Alternatively, if this refers to the attackers’ actions, then 3:3 explains the stumbling: the corpses of the defenders are so numerous that the attackers stumble over them in their progress to the city wall.
2:7–10. The city is emptied of its inhabitants and material wealth. Nahum 2:7 describes the captivity and grief of the inhabitants, 2:8 the flight of the defenders. The suffering echoes the suffering that Assyrian armies inflicted on others. Nineveh has been a reservoir, collecting people and wealth. Now the flow is reversed. The pungency of expression and terseness of this passage capture the drastic, unexpected, and rapid turn of events. The spoil was a quantity beyond counting (2:9).
2:11–13. Nineveh, like a lion’s lair, has been a place of security for its people and a repository filled with the plunder of conquered nations (2:11–12). Now Nineveh will be destroyed and robbed. The climax of this section relates the awful and unalterable declaration of the Lord of Armies: “I am against you” (2:13). This expression is used when God is set to act against an obdurate people. These words spell certain doom. But for those who trust God and seek refuge in him, 1:7 applies. The messengers will never again be heard. God has the last word.