Nahum 2

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Nahum 2

We now come closer to Nineveh, that great city; she took, not warning by the destruction of her armies and the fall of her king, and therefore may expect, since she persists in her enmity to God, that he will proceed in his controversy with her. Here is foretold, I. The approach of the enemy that should destroy Nineveh, and the terror of his military preparations, Nah. 2:1-5. II. The taking of the city, Nah. 2:6. III. The captivity of the queen, the flight of the inhabitants, the seizing of... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Nahum 2:1-10

Here is, I. An alarm of war sent to Nineveh, Nah. 2:1. The prophet speaks of it as just at hand, for it is neither doubtful nor far distant: ?Look about thee, and see, he that dashes in pieces has come up before thy face. Nebuchadnezzar, who is noted, and will be yet more so, for dashing nations in pieces, begins with thee, and will dissipate and disperse thee;? so some render the word. Babylon is called the hammer of the whole earth, Jer. 50:23. The attempt of Nebuchadnezzar upon Nineveh is... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Nahum 2:11-13

Here we have Nineveh's ruin, 1. Triumphed in by its neighbours, who now remember against it all the oppressions and abuse of power it had been guilty of in its pomp and prosperity (Nah. 2:11, 12): Where is the dwelling of the lions? It is gone; there appear no remnants, no footsteps, of it. Where is the feeding place of the young lions, where they glutted themselves with prey? The princes of Nineveh had been as lions, as beasts of prey; cruel tyrants are no better, nay, in this respect much... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 2

INTRODUCTION TO NAHUM 2 This chapter gives an account of the destruction of the city of Nineveh; describes the instruments of it as very terrible and powerful, and not to be resisted, Nahum 2:1 . The manner of taking it, the flight of its inhabitants, and the spoil of its riches and treasures, Nahum 2:5 and the king and the princes thereof, compared to a lion, and a lion's whelp, are insulted as being without a den or dwelling place, because of their cruelty and ravening, for which the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 2:1

He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face ,.... O Nineveh, or land of Assyria; for this is not to be understood of Sennacherib's coming up against Jerusalem, as Kimchi; but of Nebuchadnezzar against Nineveh, as Aben Ezra; not Nebuchadnezzar the great, who, the Jewish chronologers say F3 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 24. p. 69. , took Nineveh in the first year of his reign; but his father, Nebuchadnezzar the first, called Nabopolassar, who, with Cyaxares or Ahasuerus the Mede, joined... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 2:2

For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel ,.... Or, "will render" a recompence for, or "revenge the pride of Jacob" F5 כי שב יהוה את גאון יעקב "ulciscitur enim Jehova adhibitam in Jacobaeos superbiam", Castalio; "reponit Deus Assyrio illam superbiam quam ipse in Jacobo et Israele exercuit", Grotius; "quia reddidit superbiam", &c.; Tirinus. ; all that insolence, and those injuries done in a proud and haughty manner by Sennacherib... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 2:3

The shield of his mighty men is made red ,.... The shields of the soldiers in the armies of the Babylonians and Medes, those dashers in pieces that would come up against Nineveh, should be red; either with the blood of the slain, or thus coloured on purpose to inject terror to their enemies; or this may express the lustre of them, which being gilded, or made of gold or brass, in the rays of the sun glittered, and looked of a fiery red; see the Apocrypha: "Now when the sun shone upon the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 2:4

The chariots shall rage in the streets ,.... In the streets of Nineveh when taken; where they shall be drove in a furious manner from place to place, the men in them breathing out slaughter and death wherever they came. Kimchi understands this of the chariots of the Ninevites; who shall drive about in them in the streets of the city like madmen; not daring to go out to fight the enemy, being mightier and more numerous than they. They shall justle one against another in the broad ways ;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 2:5

He shall recount his worthies ,.... Either the dasher in pieces, Nahum 2:1 , the kings of Babylon and Media, shall call together their general officers, and muster the forces under then, and put them in mind of their duty, and recount the actions of their ancestors in former times, in order to animate and encourage them to the siege and attack of the city of Nineveh; or the king of Assyria shall recount and muster up his nobles, and the troops under them, to sally out against the enemy,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 2:6

The gates of the rivers shall be opened ,.... Of Diava and Adiava, or Lycus and Caprus, between which, according to some writers F9 Vid. Fuller. Miscel. Sacr. l. 3. c. 6. , Nineveh was situated; or the gates of the city, which lay nearest to the river Tigris, are meant; or that river itself, the plural for the singular, which overflowing, broke down the walls of the city for two and a half miles, and opened a way for the Medes and Chaldeans to enter in; of which see Nahum 1:8 , ... read more

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