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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Nahum 3

This chapter goes on with the burden of Nineveh, and concludes it. I. The sins of that great city are charged upon it, murder (Nah. 3:1), whoredom and witchcraft (Nah. 3:4), and a general extent of wickedness, Nah. 3:19. II. Judgments are here threatened against it, blood for blood (Nah. 3:2, 3), and shame for shameful sins, Nah. 3:5-7. III. Instances are given of the like desolations brought upon other places for the like sins, Nah. 3:8-11. IV. The overthrow of all those things which they... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Nahum 3:1-7

Here is, I. Nineveh arraigned and indicted. It is a high charge that is here drawn up against that great city, and neither her numbers nor her grandeur shall secure her from prosecution. 1. It is a city of blood, in which a great deal of innocent blood is shed by unrighteous war, or under colour and pretence of public justice, or by suffering barbarous murders to go unpunished; for this the righteous God will make inquisition. 2. It is all full of lies; truth is banished from among them; there... read more

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

INTRODUCTION TO NAHUM 3 In this chapter is contained the prophecy of the destruction of Nineveh, and with it the whole Assyrian empire; the causes of which, besides those before mentioned, were the murders, lies, and robberies it was full of, Nahum 3:1 for which it should be swiftly and cruelly destroyed, Nahum 3:2 as also its whoredoms and witchcrafts, or idolatry, by which nations and families were seduced, Nahum 3:4 and hence she should be treated as a harlot, her nakedness... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:1

Woe to the bloody city ,.... Nineveh, in which many murders were daily committed; innocent blood shed; the lives of men taken away, under the colour of justice, by false witnesses, and other unlawful methods; and which was continually making war with neighbouring nations, and shedding their blood, which it stuck not at, to enlarge its wealth and dominions; and therefore "woe" is denounced against it; and it is threatened with the righteous judgments of God, with all sorts of calamity and... read more

John Gill

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

The noise of a whip ,.... Of a horseman or chariot driver whipping his horses to make speed to Nineveh, and enter into it, so near as to be heard by the inhabitants of it; and is thus represented in order to strike terror into them: and the noise of the rattling of the wheels ; that is, of the chariots upon the stones, whose drivers drove Jehu like, making the utmost haste they could to get in first, and seize the prey: and of the pransing horses ; or bounding steeds, upon a full... read more

John Gill

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

The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear ,.... Or, "the flame of the sword and the glittering spear" F23 להב חרב וברק חנית "flammam gladii et fulgorem hastae", Piscator; "flammam gladii et fulgur hastae", Cocceius; "flamma gladii et fulgur lanceae", Burkius. ; he rides with a drawn sword, which, being brandished to and fro, looks like a flame of fire; or with a spear made of polished iron, or steel, which, when vibrated and moved to and fro,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:4

Because of the multitudes of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot ,.... Meaning Nineveh; which, as it was an ancient city, was a well built one; full of stately and beautiful buildings, the seat of the kings of Assyria, and the metropolis of the nation, and abounded with wealth and riches; perhaps here may be an allusion to the name of the city, and to the signification of it; for Nineveh may have its name from the beauty of it, and be read, in Hebrew, נאי נוה or נוי , and may... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:5

Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts ,.... Because her doings were against him; See Gill on Nahum 2:13 , and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face ; turn up the skirts of her garments over her head, and thereby discover what should be concealed, than which nothing is more disagreeable and abominable to modest persons; it is here threatened she should be used in character as a harlot, or as women oftentimes are by rude soldiers, when a city is taken by them: and I... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:6

And I will cast abominable filth upon thee ,.... As dirt and dung, or any or everything that is abominable and filthy; and which is thrown at harlots publicly disgraced, and as used to be at persons when carted. The meaning is, that this city and its inhabitants should be stripped of everything that was great and glorious in them, and should be reduced to the utmost shame and ignominy: and make thee vile : mean, abject, contemptible, the offscouring of all things; rejected and... read more

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