Nahum 3:3-4

The Pulpit Commentary - Nahum 3:3

The horseman lifteth up. The Hebrew is more vivid, the words standing in pairs, as if describing the successive onsets of the enemy. So Pusey. It is best to render, "horsemen making to rear;" or as Septuagint. ἱππέως ἀναβαίνοντος , "horseman mounting;" so the Vulgate; Henderson. Horsemen are seen in the most ancient sculptures of Nimroud, and in the bas-reliefs of Kouyunjik (comp. Judith 2:15; Ezekiel 23:6 ; Layard, ' Nineveh,' 2.356). Both the bright sword; better, and the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nahum 3:4

The cause is given that has brought this punishment. Because of the multitude of the whoredoms. This term is commonly applied to idolatry, the swerving from the true God and turning to false deities; and it is thought that it cannot be used in that sense here, as Assyria had always worshipped idols, and could not be said to have forsaken or proved false to the Lord. Hence Hitzig, Keil, and others refer the term to the treacherous friendship and crafty politics by which Nineveh ensnared other... read more

Albert Barnes

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

The horseman lifteth up - Rather, “leading up : the flash of the sword, and the lightning of the spear.” Thus, there are, in all, seven inroads, seven signs, before the complete destruction of Nineveh or the world; as, in the Revelations, all the forerunners of the Judgment of the Great Day are summed up under the voice of seven trumpets and seven vials. Rup.: “God shall not use homes and chariots and other instruments of war, such as are here spoken of, to judge the world, yet, as is just, His... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Nahum 3:4

Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot - There are “multitudes of slain” because of the “multitude of whoredoms” and love of the creature instead of the Creator. So to Babylon Isaiah saith, “they (loss of children and widowhood) shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, for the great abundance of thine enchantments” Isaiah 47:9. The actual use of “enchantments,” for which Babylon was so infamous, is not elsewhere attributed to the... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Nahum 3:2-3

Nahum 3:2-3. The noise of a whip, &c. These verses are highly poetical; the prophet tells them, that he already hears the sound of the whips driving on the horses, and the rattling of the chariot wheels, &c., of their enemies coming against them. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword, &c. In the Hebrew it is, The horseman lifteth up the flame of the sword, and the lightning of the spear, which is more poetical than our rendering. The style of the whole passage is... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Nahum 3:4

Nahum 3:4. Because of the multitude, &c. That is, this judgment is executed upon Nineveh because of the multitude of her whoredoms, by which idolatrous rites seem to be meant, for they are generally called whoredoms in the Scripture. Nineveh is called a well-favoured harlot, because, by her example and influence, she drew in other places to practise the same idolatries and other vices of which she was guilty. That selleth nations through her whoredoms That makes whole nations a... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:1-19

Destroyed because of greed (3:1-19)Not only was Assyria cruel, but it was also greedy. Often it conquered nations solely to plunder them. Nahum likens it to a prostitute, for it thought only of money and pleasure and gave no thought for morality. The prophet gives another vivid picture of the battle scene in Nineveh as God acts in judgment against the guilty people (3:1-4).Like a prostitute Nineveh dressed herself with lavish adornments and lived in luxury by tempting and deceiving others. Her... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Nahum 3:3

bright = gleaming. glittering = flashing. they: i.e. the slayers. Hebrew text margin, with some codices, and four early printed editions, reads "so that they stumble", &c. upon = over. read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Nahum 3:4

Because, &c . Note the Structure, which shows that here, in the member "4-7", we have the cause, corresponding with "Nahum 2:13 ". whoredoms = idolatries. the mistress of witchcrafts . Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 22:18 . Deuteronomy 18:10 ). witchcrafts = sorceries. Compare Isaiah 47:9 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Nahum 3:3

"The horsemen mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies; they stumble upon their bodies."This is a continuation of the description of the attack, beginning at once after the utterance of doom in Nahum 3:1 - "Woe to the bloody city!" The numbers of the dead were so great as to impede the free movement of the attackers."Such a ghastly scene overwhelms the imagination. Again and again, in... read more

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