Nahum 3 · ESV Study Bible

Woe to Nineveh

NAHUM 3 [†] Woe to p the bloody city,

all full of lies and plunder—

q no end to the prey!

2[†] The crack of the whip, and r rumble of the wheel,

s galloping horse and t bounding chariot!

3 Horsemen charging,

flashing sword and u glittering spear,

v hosts of slain,

heaps of corpses,

dead bodies without end—

they stumble over the bodies!

4[^][†] And all for the countless whorings of the w prostitute,

x graceful and of deadly charms,

who betrays nations with her whorings,

and peoples with her charms.

5[†] m Behold, I am against you,

declares the LORD of hosts,

and y will lift up your skirts over your face;

and I will make nations look at z your nakedness

and kingdoms at your shame.

6 I will throw filth at you

and a treat you with contempt

and make you b a spectacle.

7[†] And all who look at you c will shrink from you and say,

“Wasted is d Nineveh; e who will grieve for her?”

f Where shall I seek comforters for you?

8[†] g Are you better than h Thebes [1]

that sat i by the Nile,

with water around her,

her rampart a sea,

and water her wall?

9[†] j Cush was her strength;

Egypt too, and that without limit;

k Put and the l Libyans were her [2] helpers.

10[†] m Yet she became an exile;

she went into captivity;

n her infants were dashed in pieces

at the head of every street;

for her honored men o lots were cast,

p and all her great men were bound in chains.

11[†] q You also will be drunken;

you will go into hiding;

r you will seek a refuge from the enemy.

12[†] All your fortresses are s like fig trees

with first-ripe figs—

if shaken they fall

into the mouth of the eater.

13 Behold, your troops

t are women in your midst.

The gates of your land

are wide open to your enemies;

fire has devoured your bars.

14[†] u Draw water for the siege;

r strengthen your forts;

go into the clay;

tread the mortar;

take hold of the brick mold!

15[†] There will the fire devour you;

the sword will cut you off.

It will v devour you w like the locust.

Multiply yourselves w like the locust;

multiply w like the grasshopper!

16[†] You increased x your merchants

more than the stars of the heavens.

w The locust spreads its wings and flies away.

17[†] Your z princes are w like grasshoppers,

a your scribes [3] like clouds of locusts

settling on the fences

in a day of cold—

when the sun rises, they fly away;

no one knows where they are.

18[†] Your shepherds b are asleep,

O king of Assyria;

c your nobles slumber.

Your people d are scattered on the mountains

with none to gather them.

19 There is no easing your hurt;

e your wound is grievous.

All who hear the news about you

f clap their hands over you.

For g upon whom has not come

your unceasing evil?

NAHUM—NOTE ON 3:4 Reasons for Judgment: The Wickedness of Nineveh. This verse uses figurative language to present reasons for the destruction of Nineveh. whorings. As the capital of idolatrous Assyria, Nineveh continually engaged in many violations of God’s will. graceful … deadly charms. Nineveh, with its power and wealth, exerted a corrupting influence throughout the Near East (cf. 2 Kings 16:18). betrays. The monarchy based in Nineveh did not hesitate to use treachery and deceit (see Nah. 3:1) to achieve its aims.

NAHUM—NOTE ON 3:2–3 Military Action at Nineveh and the Ensuing Slaughter of the Assyrians. Nahum quickly flashes to a vivid picture of the coalition forces attacking and entering Nineveh and slaughtering the Assyrians (cf. 2:3–5). Again, the details seem to come from an eyewitness.

NAHUM—NOTE ON 3:16 You increased your merchants. When Nineveh was the proud capital of a vast empire, her merchants brought enormous wealth to the city. Now, however, these merchants, and the huge treasure in Nineveh, will do the city no good. The locust … flies away. Cf. v. 15. The enemy, having devoured all that there was in Nineveh through plundering (and slaughter and destruction), will quickly leave the scene.

NAHUM—NOTE ON 3:1 Reasons for Judgment: The Violence, Lying, and Greed of Nineveh. bloody. The Assyrians were notorious for the atrocities they committed. lies. Second Kings 18:31–32 is an example of lying ultimately being traced back to the king who ruled from Nineveh (cf. 2 Chron. 28:20). plunder … prey. See Nah. 2:11–13.

NAHUM—NOTE ON 3:11 This verse directly applies vv. 8–10: “Nineveh, you can expect the same!” Just as a drunken man cannot effectively defend himself against an attacker, so Nineveh will not be able to turn back its enemies. hiding. Figuratively, Nineveh will be conquered and humiliated such that, if it could, the city would go into hiding from fear and shame. More literally, this could refer to the remnant band of Assyrians who fled to the west and temporarily had their base at Haran (see Introduction: Purpose, Occasion, and Background). Nineveh will find no refuge, unlike those who put their trust in the Lord (1:7).

NAHUM—NOTE ON 3:12–19 A Taunting Song Presenting Nineveh’s Inevitable Destruction Because of the City’s Incessant Evil. After finishing the analogy with Thebes, the book concludes with a taunting song presenting Nineveh’s total defeat because of the city’s ceaseless evil.

NAHUM—NOTE ON 3:7 who will grieve for her? The answer to the rhetorical question is that no one will grieve or comfort, not even some of those who gave in to the enticements of the alluring prostitute (but had no real love for her). People will shrink back, or flee, in horror at the sight of what will happen to Nineveh.

NAHUM—NOTE ON 3:9 Cush was the region just south of Egypt. Egypt refers to military aid coming from northern Egypt. The location of Put is not certain; perhaps it was situated along the north African coastline, just to the west of Libya, which was just to the west of the Nile delta region of Egypt. While Thebes could count on military assistance from these different areas, Assyria could not rely on help from any region.

NAHUM—NOTE ON 3:12–13 The Assyrian fortresses surrounding Nineveh will be the first to encounter the advancing enemy army. The coalition forces will easily and quickly take these strongholds, with two results: First, the gates of Assyria will be wide open to the enemies since the fortresses which guarded those entrances have been destroyed. Second, the troops, i.e., the soldiers within Nineveh, will be demoralized and filled with fear so that they cannot acquit themselves as men in the coming siege. fire. See 2:13; 3:15. Your bars, that is, the bars or bolts of the gates, which had kept these entrances closed.

NAHUM—NOTE ON 3:15 No matter how well supplied and fortified Nineveh is, there the inhabitants will die. fire. Archaeologists have found evidence of a devastating fire at Nineveh. sword. Cf. 2:13. There will be mass extermination of the Ninevites, as when a locust plague strips the countryside of all vegetation (e.g., Joel 1:4–10). Multiply … locust … grasshopper. Nahum sarcastically tells the Ninevites, in preparation for the siege, to multiply themselves greatly and thus increase their strength.

NAHUM—NOTE ON 3:1–19 Again, Focus on Nineveh: More concerning the Lord’s Coming Judgment. This last major section of the book repeats most of the themes of the preceding section (2:1–13). Absent in ch. 3 is a reference to the plundering of Nineveh (2:9), and new in this section is the comparison of Nineveh’s downfall to the destruction of Thebes (3:8–11).