Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Nahum 3:8-19

Nineveh has been told that God is against her, and then none can be for her, to stand her in any stead; yet she sets God himself at defiance, and his power and justice, and says, I shall have peace. Threatened folks live long; therefore here the prophet largely shows how vain her confidences would prove and insufficient to ward off the judgment of God. To convince them of this, I. He shows them that other places, which had been as strong and as secure as they, could not keep their ground... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:12

All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the first ripe figs ,.... Upon them, or like them: "and the first ripe figs"; which are easily shook and gathered; and so easily should the fortresses and towers of Nineveh, in which they trusted for safety, be taken by the enemy, not only one, but all of them: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater ; as such ripe fruit is very desirable, and the mouth of a man is open and ready for them; so if he gives the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:13

Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women ,.... Or like women, weak and feeble, fearful and timorous; frightened at the first approach of the enemy; run away, and run up and down in the utmost consternation and distress, having neither skill nor courage to oppose them; some regard may be had to the effeminacy of their king; see Nahum 2:7 . The sense is, they should be at once dispirited, and lose all strength of mind and body, and have neither heads nor hearts to form schemes,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:12

Thy strong holds - The effects of the consternation into which the Ninevites were cast by the assault on their city are here pointed out by a very expressive metaphor; the first-ripe figs, when at full maturity, fell from the tree with the least shake; and so, at the first shake or consternation, all the fortresses of Nineveh were abandoned; and the king, in despair, burnt himself and household in his own palace. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:13

Thy people - are women - They lost all courage, and made no resistance. O vere Phrygiae, neque enim Phryges : "Verily, ye are Phrygian women, not Phrygian men." So said Numanus to the Trojans. Virg., Aen. ix. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:12

Verse 12 The Prophet here declares that the strongholds of the Assyrians would avail them nothing; whether they trusted in the number of their men, or in their walls, or in other defenses, they would be disappointed; for all things, he says, will of themselves fall, even without being much assailed. And he employs a very apposite similitude, “Thy fortifications,” he says, “which thou thinkest to be very strong, shall be like figs; for when the fruit is ripe, and any comes to the tree, as soon... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:13

Verse 13 The Prophet declares here, that the hearts of them all would become soft and effeminate when God would proceed to destroy Nineveh. We have said before that the hearts of men are so in the hand of God, that he melts whatever courage there may be in them, whenever he pleases: and God prepares men for ruin, when he debilitates their hearts, that they cannot bear the sight of their enemies. God indeed can leave in men their perverseness, so that they may ever run furiously into ruin, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nahum 3:1-19

Part III . THE CAUSE OF THE JUDGMENT — SINS OF THE CITY , WHICH BRING INEVITABLE PUNISHMENT . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nahum 3:8-13

§ 2 . The ruin of Nineveh can be averted no more than was that of No-Amon. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nahum 3:8-13

The story of No-Amon. I. THE BRILLIANT CITY . 1 . Its sacred name. No-Amon, in Egyptian, Nu-Amun , or "Dwelling of Amun;" in Greek, θῆβαι , or Thebes, with which corresponded the Egyptian Ta-ape, or "City of Thrones." Originally the capital of a home, it subsequently rose to be a royal city. It became the residence of the Theban dynasty of Pharaohs. Homer describes it as having had a hundred gates ('Iliad,' 9:383). 2 . Its impregnable situation. "Among the... read more

Group of Brands