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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 3:17

Thy crowned men are as the locusts ,.... Tributary kings, and hired officers, as some think, who might be distinguished by what they wore on their heads; or their own princes and nobles, who wore coronets or diadems; unless their religious persons are meant, their Nazarites and devotees, their priests; these were like locusts for their number, fear, and flight in time of danger, and for their spoil of the poor; and some locusts have been seen with little crowns on their heads, as those in ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:17

Thy crowned are as the locusts - Thou hast numerous princes and numerous commanders. Which camp in the hedges in the cold day - The locusts are said to lie in shelter about the hedges of fertile spots when the weather is cold or during the night; but as soon as the sun shines out and is hot, they come out to their forage, or take to their wings. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:17

Verse 17 And thy princes are as locusts: this refers to the wicked doings, by which they laid waste almost the whole earth. As then the locusts and chafers, wherever they come, consume every kind of food, devour all the fields, leave nothing, and the whole land becomes a waste; so also have been thy princes; they have been as locusts and thy leaders as the locusts of locusts, that is, as very great locusts; for this form, we know, expresses the superlative degree in Hebrew. Their leaders were... 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 3:14-19

§ 3. In spite of all its efforts and all its resources, Nineveh shall meet with a terrible end. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nahum 3:14-19

The fall of Nineveh. I. PREPARATIONS FOR A SIEGE . ( Nahum 3:14 .) In anticipation of the impending attack upon their capital, the inhabitants of Nineveh are exhorted by Nahum (ironically) to provide for their safety. 1 . For their sustenance. This they should do by laying up within their city a plentiful supply of water for drinking, so as to enable them to withstand a prolonged siege. "Draw thee water for the siege." This, in a land like Assyria, would be likely to give way... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nahum 3:16-18

The instability of material greatness. We have vividly described here— I. MATERIAL GREATNESS . This consisting in: 1 . Extensive commercial relations. "Thou hast multiplied thy merchants" etc. ( Nahum 3:16 ). "The point at which Nineveh was situated was certainly the culminating point of the three quarters of the globe—Europe, Asia, and Africa; and from the very earliest times it was just at the crossing of the Tigris by Nineveh that the great military and commercial roads... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nahum 3:17

Thy crowned. The word minnezar is found only here, and, as its derivation is uncertain, it has received various interpretations. The Anglican Version derives the word from nezer, "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... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Nahum 3:17

Thy crowned are as the locust, and thy captains as the great locusts - What he had said summarily under metaphor, the prophet expands in a likeness. “The crowned” are probably the subordinate princes, of whom Sennacherib said, “Are not my princes altogether kings?” Isaiah 10:8. It has been observed that the headdress of the Assyrian Vizier has the ornament which “throughout the whole series of sculptures is the distinctive mark of royal or quasi-royal authority.” : “All high officers of state,... read more

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