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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

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:7

And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee ,.... As something loathsome and abominable, not fit to be come near unto, or touched; and as astonished and amazed at an object so forlorn and miserable, and lest they should partake of the same punishment: and say, Nineveh is laid waste ; utterly destroyed; its walls broke down, its houses demolished, its substance plundered, and its inhabitants killed, or carried captive; who could have thought it,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:1

Wo to the bloody city! - Nineveh: the threatenings against which are continued in a strain of invective, astonishing for its richness, variety, and energy. One may hear and see the whip crack, the horses prancing, the wheels rumbling, the chariots bounding after the galloping steeds; the reflection from the drawn and highly polished swords; and the hurled spears, like gashes of lightning, dazzling the eyes; the slain lying in heaps, and horses and chariots stumbling over them! O what a... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:4

Because of the multitude of the whoredoms - Above, the Ninevites were represented under the emblem of a lion tearing all to pieces; here they are represented under the emblem of a beautiful harlot or public prostitute, enticing all men to her, inducing the nations to become idolatrous, and, by thus perverting them, rendering them also objects of the Divine wrath. Mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms - Using every means to excite to idolatry; and being, by... read more

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