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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Nahum 3 Pulpit Commentary</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/nahum/3.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/nahum/3-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">Pulpit Commentary</a> > Nahum 3</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../nahum/2.htm" title="Nahum 2">◄</a> Nahum 3 <a href="../habakkuk/1.htm" title="Habakkuk 1">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Pulpit Commentary</div><div class="chap"><div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-1.htm">Nahum 3:1</a></div><div class="verse">Woe to the bloody city! it <i>is</i> all full of lies <i>and</i> robbery; the prey departeth not;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 1-19.</span> - Part III. THE CAUSE OF THE JUDGMENT - SINS OF THE CITY, WHICH BRING INEVITABLE PUNISHMENT. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 1-7.</span> - § 1. <span class="accented">The prophet specifies the crimes which have brought this ruin upon Nineveh.</span> <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The bloody city;</span> literally, <span class="accented">city of bloods</span>, where Mood is shed without scruple (comp. <a href="/ezekiel/24-6.htm">Ezekiel 24:6, 9</a>; <a href="/habakkuk/2-12.htm">Habakkuk 2:12</a>). The cruelty of the Assyrians is attested by the monuments, in which we see or read how prisoners were impaled alive, flayed, beheaded, dragged to death with ropes passed through rings in their lips, blinded by the king's own hand, hung up by hands or feet to die in slow torture (see Bonomi, pp. 168, etc., 190, etc., 225). Others have their brains beaten out, or their tongues torn out by the roots, while the bleeding heads of the slain are tied round the necks of the living, who are reserved for further torture (Layard, 'Nineveh and Babylon,' p. 456; Rawlinson, 'Ancient Monarchies,' 2:503, etc., edit. 1864). The royal inscriptions recount with exultation the number of the enemies slain and of captives carried away, cities levelled with the ground, plundered, and burnt, lands devastated, fruit trees destroyed, etc. It is all full of lies; <span class="greek">ὅλη ψευδής</span>, "all lie" (Septuagint). The Assyrians used treachery in furthering their conquests, made promises which they never kept, to induce nations to submit to their yoke. Such, doubtless, were those of Rabshakeh (<a href="/isaiah/36-16.htm">Isaiah 36:16</a>). Rawlinson, "Falsehood and treachery... are often employed by the strong, as furnishing short cuts to success, and even, where the moral standard is low, as being in themselves creditable (see Thucyd., 3:83). It certainly was not necessity which made the Assyrians covenant breakers; it seems to have been in part the wantonness of power - because they 'despised the cities, and regarded no man' (<a href="/isaiah/33-8.htm">Isaiah 33:8</a>); perhaps it was in part also their imperfect moral perception, which may have failed to draw the proper distinction between craft and cleverness" ('Ancient Monarchies,' 1:305). <span class="cmt_word">Robbery</span>; rather, <span class="accented">rapine</span>, or <span class="accented">rending in pieces.</span> The figure applies to the way in which a wild beast kills its prey by tearing it to pieces. So the three crimes of Nineveh here enumerated are bloodshed, deceit, and violence. In the uncertainty concerning the word (pereq). rendered "robbery," which only occurs m <a href="/obadiah/1-14.htm">Obadiah 1:14</a>, where it means "crossway," the LXX. translates, <span class="greek">ἀδικίας πλήρης</span>, "full of unrighteousness." The Vulgate is correct, <span class="accented">dilaceratione plena</span>. <span class="cmt_word">The prey departeth not.</span> They go on in the same way, gathering spoil into the city, never ceasing from this crime. The monuments continually record the booty that was brought to Nineveh (see, for instance, the 'Annals of Assurbanipal,' passim; 'Records of the Past,' vol. 9; Schrader, 'Keilinschr.,' 195, etc., 216, 233, etc.; comp. <a href="/isaiah/33-1.htm">Isaiah 33:1</a>). <span class="accented">Septuagint</span>, <span class="greek">Οὐ ψηλαφηθήσεται</span> <span class="greek">θήρα</span>, which gives a sense contradictory to the text, "Prey shall not be handled." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-2.htm">Nahum 3:2</a></div><div class="verse">The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The noise of a whip.</span> The prophet describes the advance of the investing army. He hears the cracking of the whips of the charioteers, and the rattling of the wheels of the chariots, and the galloping horses, and the chariots bounding over the plain. Probably all the expressions in this verso refer to chariots and to horses yoked to them, which varied in number from one to three. The whip was a simple thong attached to a short handle. Comp. Virg., 'Georg.,' 3:106, etc. - <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="accented">"... illi instant verbere torto<br />Et proni dant lora, volat vi fervidus axis;<br />Jamque humiles, jamque elati sublime videntur<br />Aera per vacuum ferri, atque adsurgere in auras."</span> </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-3.htm">Nahum 3:3</a></div><div class="verse">The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and <i>there is</i> a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and <i>there is</i> none end of <i>their</i> corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - The horseman lifteth up. The Hebrew is more vivid, the words standing in pairs, as if describing the successive onsets of the enemy. So Pusey. It is best to render, "horsemen making to rear;" or as Septuagint. <span class="greek">ἱππέως ἀναβαίνοντος</span>, "horseman mounting;" so the Vulgate; Henderson. Horsemen are seen in the most ancient sculptures of Nimroud, and in the bas-reliefs of Kouyunjik (comp. Judith 2:15; <a href="/ezekiel/23-6.htm">Ezekiel 23:6</a>; Layard, ' Nineveh,' 2:356). <span class="cmt_word">Both the bright sword;</span> better, <span class="accented">and the flaming sword</span> (<a href="/genesis/3-24.htm">Genesis 3:24</a>); literally, <span class="accented">the flame of the sword. <span class="cmt_word"></span>And the glittering spear;</span> literally, <span class="accented">the lightning flash of the spear</span> (<a href="/habakkuk/3-11.htm">Habakkuk 3:11</a>). These are the arms of the foot soldiers. <span class="cmt_word">A multitude of slain.</span> The effect of the assault is described. So numerous are the corpses that one cannot help stumbling over them; the invaders themselves are impeded by the heaps of dead bodies which they have to mount. The LXX. connects this verse with the following, thus. "They shall grow weak in their bodies by reason of the multitude of their fornications." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-4.htm">Nahum 3:4</a></div><div class="verse">Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - The cause is given that has brought this punishment. <span class="cmt_word">Because of the multitude of the whoredoms.</span> This term is commonly applied to idolatry, the swerving from the true God and turning to false deities; and it is thought that it cannot be used in that sense here, as Assyria had always worshipped idols, and could not be said to have forsaken or proved false to the Lord. Hence Hitzig, Keil, and others refer the term to the treacherous friendship and crafty politics by which Nineveh ensnared other states, seeking really only her own interests (comp. <a href="/isaiah/23-17.htm">Isaiah 23:17</a>). But this habit of treachery has been already mentioned in ver. 1 (where see note); and, as Knabenbauer remarks, the Assyrians used no meretricious blandishments to effect their conquests, but the cruel arts of war and the stern ordeal of the sword. It is scarcely probable that the prophet would omit idolatry among the crimes of the Assyrians that called for vengeance, as all their wars were carried on in the name of their gods, and the monarchs professed to be under Divine protection and influence. The term "whoredom" is applied to the idolatry, not only of the Israelites, but to that of Jezebel (<a href="/2_kings/9-22.htm">2 Kings 9:22</a>), who was always a heathen. The idolatry of the Assyrians may very well be so called, because it was a wilful ignoring of the light of nature and natural religion (see Wisd. 13:1; <a href="/romans/1-19.htm">Romans 1:19</a>, etc.). They were careful, too, wherever they carried their arms, to erect there symbols of their deities, and to compel conquered nations to receive them and pay them Divine honour. With this idolatrous worship was associated that gross immorality which even Herodotus (1:199) termed utterly disgraceful (comp. Baruch 6:43). Rightly is Nineveh called <span class="cmt_word">the well favoured harlot</span>; for her splendour and magnificence were unsurpassed, dazzling all beholders and hiding the rottenness that lay below the surface. <span class="cmt_word">The mistress of witchcrafts.</span> She was skilful in employing every art to seduce nations to her side. We hear much of magic in connection with Babylon and the Chaldeans, but not in reference especially to Assyria. The expression here is metaphorical, alluding to the secret practices which she employed to gain her ends and to make her rule attractive (comp. <a href="/revelation/18-2.htm">Revelation 18:2, 3</a>). <span class="cmt_word">That selleth nations.</span> Depriving them of freedom and making them tributary, or, in some cases, actually selling the inhabitants as slaves (comp. <a href="/deuteronomy/32-30.htm">Deuteronomy 32:30</a>; <a href="/judges/2-14.htm">Judges 2:14</a>; <a href="/joel/3-3.htm">Joel 3:3</a>; <a href="/amos/1-6.htm">Amos 1:6, 7</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Families</span>. Not only nations in the aggregate, but smaller bodies, individuals, so that none escape. Septuagint, <span class="greek">λαούς</span>, "peoples." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-5.htm">Nahum 3:5</a></div><div class="verse">Behold, I <i>am</i> against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I am against thee</span> (see note on Nahum 2:13). The Lord will punish Nineveh with the utmost ignominy, treating her ("the whore," ver. 4) like a harlot or adulteress. <span class="cmt_word">Thy skirts.</span> The borders of the long flowing dress which added to her <span class="accented">pomp</span> (comp. <a href="/isaiah/47-2.htm">Isaiah 47:2</a>, etc.; <a href="/jeremiah/13-26.htm">Jeremiah 13:26</a>; <a href="/lamentations/1-8.htm">Lamentations 1:8</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Upon</span> (<span class="accented">before</span>) <span class="cmt_word">thy face.</span> So that thou mayst know thine own shame. <span class="cmt_word">I will show the nations.</span> All men shall see what thou really art, like an adulteress haled before the congregation. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-6.htm">Nahum 3:6</a></div><div class="verse">And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - The metaphor is continued. Nineveh shall be like a vile woman exposed to the insults and ill treatment of the rabble (comp. <a href="/ezekiel/16-37.htm">Ezekiel 16:37</a>, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">A gazing-stock.</span> That all may see thee and take warning. LXX., <span class="greek">εἰς παράδειγμα</span>, "for a public example," which recalls <a href="/matthew/1-19.htm">Matthew 1:19</a>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-7.htm">Nahum 3:7</a></div><div class="verse">And it shall come to pass, <i>that</i> all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Shall flee from thee.</span> As an object of disgust, or fearing to be involved in thy ruin (<a href="/revelation/18-10.htm">Revelation 18:10, 15</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Who will bemoan her?</span> No one will pity her for her well deserved chastisement (<a href="/jeremiah/15-5.htm">Jeremiah 15:5</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Whence shall I seek, etc.?</span> Truly, nowhere in all the world (comp. <a href="/isaiah/51-19.htm">Isaiah 51:19</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-8.htm">Nahum 3:8</a></div><div class="verse">Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, <i>that had</i> the waters round about it, whose rampart <i>was</i> the sea, <i>and</i> her wall <i>was</i> from the sea?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 8-13.</span> - § 2<span class="accented">. The ruin of Nineveh can be averted no more than was that of No-Amon.</span> <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Art thou better than populous No?</span> "Better" probably means here more prosperous. "Populous No" ought to be rendered, <span class="accented">No-Amon, i.e.</span> No of the solar god Amon. This is the celebrated Thebes, in Upper Egypt, called in Egyptian Pa-Amun, "the House of Amun," and in the inscriptions Ni, which is the same word as No. The name Amon is attached because that god was particularly worshipped there. The LXX. has <span class="greek">μερίδα Ἀμμών</span> ("a portion of or for Ammon"), translating the word "No." St. Jerome, misled by his Hebrew teacher, renders, "Alexandria populorum," as if Thebes stood on the site of the much later city of Alexandria; whereas we see from Assurbanipal's annals that he was forty days marching from Memphis, where he defeated Rudammon, to Thebes (see G. Smith, 'Assurbanipal,' p. 55). On the grandeur and magnificence of this city, Denon (quoted by Rawlinson, 'Ancient Monarchies,' 1:309, note 7), writes, "On est fatigue d'ecrire, on est fatigue de lire, on est epouvante de la pensee d'une telle conception; on ne peut croire, meme apres l'avoir vu, a la realite de l'existence de tant de constructions reunies sur un meme point, a leurs dimensions, a la constance obstinee qu'a exigee leur fabrication, aux depenses incalculables de taut de somptuosite" ('Egypte,' 2:226). "In the long and rich valley of the Lower Nile, which extends above five hundred miles from Syene to Memphis, almost any situation might furnish a site for a great city, since, except at Silsilis and at the Gebelein, the valley is never less than two miles wide, the soil is always fertile, good quarries are always at hand, and lavish Nature is so bounteous with her gifts that abundant sustenance can at any point be obtained for a large population. But in this wealth of eligible sites, there are still degrees of eligibility - spots which Nature has distinguished by special favour, and, as it were, marked out for greatness and celebrity. Such a position is that which the traveller reaches when, passing through the gorge of the Gebelein, he emerges upon the magnificent plain, at least ten miles in width, through which the river flows with a course from southwest to northeast for a distance of some forty miles between Erment and Qobt. Here, for the first time since quitting the Nubian desert, does the Nile enter upon a wide and ample space. On either side the hills recede, and a broad green plain, an alluvium of the richest description, spreads itself out on both banks of the stream, dotted with <span class="accented">dom</span> and date palms, sometimes growing singly, sometimes collected into clumps or groves. Here, too, there open out on either side, to the east and to the west, lines of route offering great advantages for trade, on the one hand with the Lesser Oasis and so with the tribes of the African interior, on the other with the western coast of the Red Sea and the spice region of the opposite shore. In the valley of Hammamat, down which passed the ancient route to the coast, are abundant supplies of <span class="accented">breccia verde</span> and of other valuable and rare kinds of stone, while at no great distance to the right and left of the route lie mines of gold, silver, and lead, anciently prolific, though exhausted now for many ages. Somewhat more remote, yet readily accessible by a frequented route, was the emerald region of Gebel Zabara, where the mines are still worked" (Rawlinson, 'Ancient Egypt,' 2:124, etc.). Thebes was situated on both banks of the Nile, the principal portion lying on the east; the Necropolis and Memnonia were on the west. It seems never to have been surrounded with a wall (notwithstanding its "hundred gates"), the river and canals forming a sufficient defence. At the present time the ruins are some twenty-seven miles in circuit, including Luxor and the remains of the great temple at Karnak. <span class="cmt_word">The sea.</span> The Nile formed its rampart. Great rivers are called seas in the poetical books. Thus <a href="/isaiah/19-5.htm">Isaiah 19:5</a>; <a href="/isaiah/27-1.htm">Isaiah 27:1</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/51-36.htm">Jeremiah 51:36</a>. <span class="cmt_word">Her wall was from the sea;</span> or, <span class="accented">of the sea.</span> The sea was her wall. Septuagint, <span class="greek">ὅδωρ τὰ τείχη αὐτῆς</span>, "water her walls." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-9.htm">Nahum 3:9</a></div><div class="verse">Ethiopia and Egypt <i>were</i> her strength, and <i>it was</i> infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength.</span> Urdamaneh, or Rudammon, in whose time this capture of No-Amon took place, was son and successor of Tirhalrah, who is called expressly King of Ethiopia (<a href="/2_kings/19-9.htm">2 Kings 19:9</a>; <a href="/isaiah/37-9.htm">Isaiah 37:9</a>). Egypt. The Egyptians proper, combined with the Ethiopians, formed the kingdom of Egypt under the twenty-fifth, the Ethiopian, dynasty. And it was infinite. The power of Egypt was boundless, its forces in numerable (see <a href="/2_chronicles/12-3.htm">2 Chronicles 12:3</a>). Pusey notes a remark of Cato (in Steph. Byzant. ap. Boch., 4:27) that the Egyptians connected with Thebes amounted to seven millions. In <a href="/isaiah/18.htm">Isaiah 18-20</a>. Ethiopia and Egypt are represented as combined against Assyria, and conquered by it (Wordsworth). Septuagint, <span class="greek">Οὐκ ἔστῃ τέρας τῆς φυγῆς</span>, <span class="accented"> There was no limit of the flight. This is thought by Jerome to be connected with the previous verses, and to refer to Nineveh. Put and Lubim were thy helpers. No- Amon is here suddenly addressed. Put, or Punt, designates either a part of Arabia or that part of the coast of Egypt opposite to it (see Ebers, 'AEgypt. und die Buch. Mos.,' p. 64, etc.). Luhim are the Lybians, dwelling on the west of the Canopic mouth of the Nile. Thus the enumeration of the forces of Thebes is regularly arranged, beginning with the south, Ethiopia, then through Egypt proper to the north, and then to the provinces on the east and west (Knabenbauer). The Vulgate translates the two terms, <span class="accented">Africa et Libya.</span> The LXX. combines them in one, <span class="greek">Λίβυες</span>. These peoples are named together elsewhere: <span class="accented">e.g.</span> <a href="/jeremiah/46-9.htm">Jeremiah 46:9</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/27-10.htm">Ezekiel 27:10</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/30-5.htm">Ezekiel 30:5</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/38-5.htm">Ezekiel 38:5</a>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-10.htm">Nahum 3:10</a></div><div class="verse">Yet <i>was</i> 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 honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 10.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Yet was she carried away</span>. In spite of her strong position and infinite resources, Thebes was captured and despoiled; and shall Nineveh fare better? Surely not. This capture of Thebes took place <span class="date">B.C. 664</span>, and must have been in men's minds when Nahum wrote his prophecy. The Assyrians twice took Thebes in the days of Assurbanipal. The first time it is merely recorded that the soldiers, under the commander of the satraps, made a slaughter in the city. The second capture is thus described in the monarch's own tablet (Brugsch, 'Egypt,' 1:272-275, Eng. transl.): "Urdamaneh fled alone, and entered Thebes, the city of his kingdom... I directed my march in pursuit of him. I came to Thebes. He saw the strength of my army, and left Thebes, and fled to the city of Kipkip. Of that whole city (Thebes), with thanksgiving to Asur and Istar, my hands took the complete possession. Silver, gold, metals, stones, all the treasures of its palace whatsoever, dyed garments of before and linen, great horses [elephants?] men and women, great and small, works of zakah [basalt?] and marble, their kelal and manzas, the gates of their palace... I tare away and carried to Assyria. I made spoil of the animals of the land without number, and carried them forth in the midst out of Thebes I caused a catalogue to be made of the spoil. I returned in safety to Nineveh" (see a different version in O. Smith, 'Assurbanipal,' p. 52, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">Were dashed in pieces.</span> The prophet describes the usual treatment of captured cities (comp. <a href="/2_kings/8-12.htm">2 Kings 8:12</a>; <a href="/psalms/137-9.htm">Psalm 137:9</a>; <a href="/isaiah/13-16.htm">Isaiah 13:16</a>). <span class="cmt_word">At the top of all the streets.</span> In the most public places, where many streets converge (<a href="/lamentations/2-19.htm">Lamentations 2:19</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Cast lots.</span> The victors divided the nobles among themselves by lot (see note on Obadiah 1:11). <span class="cmt_word">Were bound in chains.</span> We find in the Assyrian monuments delineations of captives with their arms bound together by a rope held by a soldier, sometimes men, sometimes women and children; the women are tearing their hair in despair (see Bonomi, 'Nineveh and its Palaces,' pp. 226, 277). In a bas-relief at Khorsabad captives were led by a rope fastened to a ring in the lip (comp. <a href="/2_kings/19-28.htm">2 Kings 19:28</a>; see Rawlinson, 'Ant. Men.,' 1:904; Layard, 'Nineveh,' fig. 60, and col. 1. p. 376). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-11.htm">Nahum 3:11</a></div><div class="verse">Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Thou also shalt be drunken.</span> Nahum makes the application: The fate of Thebes shall be thine, O Nineveh. Thou shalt drink to the full the cup of God's wrath (see note on Obadiah 1:16; and comp. <a href="/jeremiah/25-15.htm">Jeremiah 25:15, 17, 27</a>). The metaphor indicates the effect of some overwhelming calamity that makes men reel with terror or stupefies them with amazement. <span class="cmt_word">Thou shalt be hid;</span> <span class="accented">thou shalt be powerless</span>, or <span class="accented">reduced to nothing</span>; <span class="greek">Ασῃ ὑπερεωραμένη</span>,"Thou shalt be despised" (Septuagint); <span class="accented">Eris despecta</span> (Vulgate). Nineveh, which was taken and destroyed between <span class="date">B.C. 626</span> and 608, was so effectually "hidden" that its very site was discovered only in late years, and its monuments have only been partially disinterred after immense labour. <span class="cmt_word">Thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy;</span> or, <span class="accented">thou also shalt</span> seek a <span class="accented">stronghold from the enemy.</span> As the Egyptians fled for refuge from one place to another (see note on ver. 10), so shall the Assyrians attempt in vain to escape the enemy. History records that they endeavoured to effect a retreat from Nineveh during the siege (see Introduction, § I.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-12.htm">Nahum 3:12</a></div><div class="verse">All thy strong holds <i>shall be like</i> fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - Shall be like (<span class="accented">are</span>) <span class="cmt_word">fig trees with the first ripe figs</span>. The Assyrians' fortresses are as ready for destruction and as easy to destroy as ripe figs are ready to fall from the tree at the least shake of the eater (<a href="/isaiah/28.htm">Isaiah 28</a>. S). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-13.htm">Nahum 3:13</a></div><div class="verse">Behold, thy people in the midst of thee <i>are</i> women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 13.</span> - The reason why the fortresses are so readily taken is now given. <span class="cmt_word">Are women.</span> The Assyrians were essentially a brave nation, but they should be now no more able to resist the enemy than if they were women (comp. <a href="/isaiah/19-16.htm">Isaiah 19:16</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/1.htm">Jeremiah 1</a>:37; 51:30). <span class="cmt_word">The gates of thy land.</span> The various approaches and passes which lead into Assyria (comp. <a href="/jeremiah/15-7.htm">Jeremiah 15:7</a>; <a href="/micah/5-6.htm">Micah 5:6</a>). So Strabo (11:12. 13) speaks of certain mountain passes as "the Caspian gates" and Xenophon ('Anab.' 1:4. 4) mentions "the gates of Cilicia and Syria." The famous defile that led into Greece was called Thermopylae The fire shall devour thy bars. Hitzig, Keil, and others take the "bars" metaphorically, meaning the forts and castles which defend the passes; but the literal sense is the most natural, as in the parallel passage, <a href="/jeremiah/51-30.htm">Jeremiah 51:30</a> (see note on Amos 1:5). It was the Assyrians' custom to set fire to the gates of any city that they attacked (see Bonomi, 'Nineveh and its Palaces,' pp. 178, 185, 192). "It is incontestable," says Bonomi, in another place, "that, during the excavations, a considerable quantity of charcoal, and even pieces of wood either half burnt or in a perfect state of preservation, were found in many places. The lining of the chambers also bears certain marks of the action of fire. All these things can be explained only by supposing the fall of a burning roof, which calcined the slabs of gypsum, and converted them into dust .... It must have been a violent and prolonged fire to be able to calcine not only a few places, but every part of these slabs, which were ten feet high and several inches thick. So complete a decomposition can be attributed but to intense heat" (ibid., p. 213). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-14.htm">Nahum 3:14</a></div><div class="verse">Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 14-19.</span> - § 3. <span class="accented">In spite of all its efforts and all its resources, Nineveh shall meet with a terrible end.</span> <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 14.</span> - Nahum ironically bids the Ninevites prepare for the siege they were about to sustain. <span class="cmt_word">Draw thee waters for the siege.</span> The drinking water necessary for a long siege is meant. This injunction is not particularly applicable to Nineveh, which from its situation was abundantly supplied with water, unless there was danger that the enemy would divert the courses of the rivers. But the warning would come home with peculiar force to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, among whom Nahum prophesied (<a href="/2_kings/20-20.htm">2 Kings 20:20</a>; <a href="/isaiah/22-11.htm">Isaiah 22:11</a>; <a href="/isaiah/30-20.htm">Isaiah 30:20</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Fortify thy strong holds</span>; <span class="accented">strengthen thy fortresses.</span> Repair all defects in thy defences (<a href="/2_chronicles/11-11.htm">2 Chronicles 11:11</a>). The mode of doing this in the Assyrian fashion is then denoted. <span class="cmt_word">Go into clay, and tread the mortar.</span> The soil round Nineveh was of a tenacious quality; and when moistened with water and kneaded either with feet or hands, with the addition usually of a little chopped straw, was easily formed into bricks. These, even without the aid of fire, became dry and hard in the course of a few days. But it is plain from the investigations of ruins that the Assyrians used both kiln-baked and sun-dried bricks, though the mass of the walls was usually composed of the latter, the more durable material being employed merely as an accessory (see Bouomi, 'Nineveh and its Palaces,' p. 9; Layard, 'Nineveh,' 2:252). Xenophon, 'Anab.,' 3:4. 11, speaks of the brick wall (<span class="greek">πλίνθινον τεῖχος</span>) of a town he calls Mespila. <span class="cmt_word">Make strong the brick kiln.</span> There is an uncertainty about the meaning of the last word (<span class="accented">malben</span>), which occurs only in two other places (<a href="/2_samuel/12-31.htm">2 Samuel 12:31</a> and <a href="/jeremiah/43-9.htm">Jeremiah 43:9</a>). In the latter passage it may possibly mean "a square" or "open quadrangle." Jerome has, <span class="accented">tene laterem</span>; the LXX., <span class="greek">κατακράτησον ὑπερ πλίνθον</span> "make them strong above (equivalent to 'stronger than') brick," connecting it with the following verse. Some translate it, "brick mould." If the Anglican Version is correct, the prophet bids them repair their kilns, unused in the days of prosperity, when they had no need to look to the security of their walls. Virtually the same sense is elicited by rendering, "lay hold of the brick mould." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-15.htm">Nahum 3:15</a></div><div class="verse">There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 15.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">There</span>. In the very place where thou hast taken all these precautions. <span class="cmt_word">Shall the fire devour thee.</span> That fire played a great part in the destruction of Nineveh is asserted by historians and proved by the remains of the city discovered in modern times (see note on ver. 13: also Herod., 1:106; Diod. Sic., 2:25-28; Athen., 12:529). The fate of the last king, who burnt himself and his palace, is a well known story (see Justin, 'Hist.,' 1:3; Eusebius, 'Chronicles,' 1:9; 14:3; 15:7; Syncell., 'Chronicles,' 1:396, edit. Dind.) (Kuabenbauer). <span class="cmt_word">The sword shall cut thee off.</span> While fire destroys the buildings, the sword shall devour the inhabitants of the city. <span class="cmt_word">The cankerworm;</span> literally, <span class="accented">the licker</span> (<a href="/joel/1-4.htm">Joel 1:4</a>). The locust in its earlier stage is thus described (see ver. 16). The figure implies that the destruction of Nineveh should be sudden and complete, as that wrought on vegetation by an inroad of locusts. <span class="cmt_word">Make thyself many.</span> Collect thine armies, gather hosts as innumerable as the locusts, it will be all in vain. The "cankerworm" represented the enemy; the "locusts" represent the Assyrians themselves. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-16.htm">Nahum 3:16</a></div><div class="verse">Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 16.</span> - Its extensive commercial relations shall not save it. <span class="cmt_word">Thou hast multiplied thy merchants.</span> Nineveh was most favourably situated for carrying on commerce with other countries. The roads from Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Phoenicia, that led into Media, Persia, and the interior of Asia, converged at Nineveh, and brought thither merchandise from all lands; and the Assyrians themselves exported their own produce and manufactures to the far West. Among these are enumerated textile fabrics, carpets, dyed attire, and embroidered work, carvings in ivory, gems, spices (see Rawlinson, 'Anc. Mon.,' 2:179, etc.; Layard, 'Nineveh,' 2:414, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">The cankerworm spoileth;</span> or, <span class="accented">spreadeth itself</span> for plunder; Vulgate, <span class="accented">expansus est</span>; Septuagint, <span class="greek">ὥρμησεν</span>, "attacked." The cankerworm (see note on ver. 15) are the enemy,who spread themselves over the rich produce of Nineveh, and then <span class="cmt_word">flee away</span> laden with spoil. Pusey makes the cankerworm represent Nineveh. She spread herself everywhere wasting and plundering, and now she is gone, has disappeared. But the former explanation better suits the comparison in ver. 15, where "the licker" is the enemy; and it is most natural that the prophet should allude to the fate of that commercial wealth which he has just mentioned, as in previous verses he contrasts the riches and power of Nineveh with the ruin that awaits them. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-17.htm">Nahum 3:17</a></div><div class="verse">Thy crowned <i>are</i> as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, <i>but</i> when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they <i>are</i>.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 17.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Thy crowned.</span> The word <span class="accented">minnezar</span> is found only here, and, as its derivation is uncertain, it has received various interpretations. The Anglican Version derives the word from <span class="accented">nezer</span>, "a diadem," and "the crowned" are the officials of upper rank. "High officers of state in Assyria were adorned with diadems, closely resembling the lower baud of the royal mitre, separated from the cap itself. Very commonly the head was encircled with a simple fillet or hoop, probably of gold, without any adornment" (Gosse, 'Assyria,' p. 463, quoted by Strauss; see the figures in Bonomi, p. 319). Others derive it from <span class="accented">nazar.</span> "to separate," in the signification of "those separated or selected for war." Septuagint, <span class="greek">ὁ συμμικτός</span>: <span class="accented">i.e.</span> the band of mixed mercenary troops - a rendering in which Wordsworth acquiesces. Knabenbauer (referring to Strassmaier's Assyrian vocabulary) considers the word to be a transliteration (<span class="accented">ss</span> being resolved into <span class="accented">ne</span>) of the Assyrian <span class="accented">ma-as-sa-ru</span>, which means "guardian," or some inferior officer. With this agrees the Vulgate <span class="accented">custodes. <span class="cmt_word"></span>As the locusts;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> in multitude. That the number of captains and superior officers would be very great may be conjectured from the inscriptions which sometimes enumerate the captives carried off from conquered countries. Thus in the account of the capture of some insignificant nation, the then king boasts that he took away 13,000 fighting men, 1121 captains, and 460 superior officers (Strauss, <span class="accented">in loc</span>.). The prophet's meaning is that if the officers, etc., are so numerous, the multitude of soldiers and civilians must be truly immense. <span class="cmt_word">Thy captains.</span> <span class="accented">Taphsar</span> is an Assyrian word, occurring only in <a href="/jeremiah/51-27.htm">Jeremiah 51:27</a>. It is probably the same as <span class="accented">dupsarru</span> or <span class="accented">dipsarru</span> of the inscriptions, and is taken to signify "a scribe" (see Sehrader, p. 424) Such officials are often represented on the monuments (see Layard, 2:184), and seem sometimes to have been of high or priestly rank. Jerome translates, <span class="accented">parvuli</span> <span class="accented">tui</span>, though in Jeremiah, <span class="accented">loc. cit.</span>, he retains the Assyrian word. The Septuagint omits it. <span class="cmt_word">Great grasshoppers;</span> <span class="accented">swarms of locusts</span> (<a href="/amos/7-1.htm">Amos 7:1</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Which camp in the hedges in the cold day</span>. Locusts become torpid in cold weather; so the captains and princes of Nineveh are paralyzed and useless in the day of calamity. <span class="cmt_word">They flee away.</span> Thus the Assyrian army perishes and leaves no trace behind. The LXX. adds, "Woe unto them!" </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-18.htm">Nahum 3:18</a></div><div class="verse">Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell <i>in the dust</i>: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth <i>them</i>.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 18.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Thy shepherds.</span> The princes and counsellors, on whom the safety of the state depends. <span class="cmt_word">Slumber</span>. Sleep the sleep of death - slain in the war (<a href="/psalms/76-6.htm">Psalm 76:6</a>). <span class="cmt_word">O King of Assyria.</span> The power and evil of Nineveh personified, not any particular king. <span class="cmt_word">Shall dwell</span> in the dust; <span class="accented">are lying</span>, or <span class="accented">are at rest</span>, in death; Septuagint, <span class="greek">Ἐκοίμισε</span> <span class="greek">τοὺς δυνάστας σου</span>, "Put to sleep thy mighty men" (comp. Euripides, 'Hec.,' 473, where <span class="greek">κοιμίζειν</span> is used in the sense of "to slay"): Vulgate, <span class="accented">sepelientur. <span class="cmt_word"></span>Is scattered upon the mountains.</span> Their shepherds being dead, the flock, the herd of common people, is scattered abroad and perishes, because <span class="cmt_word">no man gathereth</span> them - there is no one to collect them. "The mountains" referred to are those which shut in Assyria on the north. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/nahum/3-19.htm">Nahum 3:19</a></div><div class="verse"><i>There is</i> no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 19.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">There is no healing of thy bruise;</span> <span class="accented">there is no assuaging of thy hurt</span> (Revised Version; <a href="/jeremiah/10-19.htm">Jeremiah 10:19</a>). The ruin is irretrievable; no one shall restore the destroyed kingdom (see <a href="/zephaniah/2-13.htm">Zephaniah 2:13, 14</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Thy wound is grievous;</span> <span class="accented">Pessima est plaga tua</span> (Vulgate); <span class="greek">Ἐφλέγμανεν ἡ πληγή σου</span>, "Thy wound is inflamed." The "wound" is the stroke or plague inflicted by God (<a href="/leviticus/26-21.htm">Leviticus 26:21</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Shall clap the hands over thee.</span> All who hear of thy destruction will rejoice over it (<a href="/psalms/47-1.htm">Psalm 47:1</a>; <a href="/lamentations/2-15.htm">Lamentations 2:15</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Thy wickedness.</span> The cruelty and oppression of Nineveh have been universally felt. If Edom is the type of insidious foes of the Church's own household, Nineveh is the emblem of open, blaspheming infidelity, arrayed in powerful opposition against God's people. In the overthrow of this kingdom there is a prophecy of the destruction of all anti-Christian powers, which shall be utterly crushed in the latter days. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. 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