Nahum 3:12-19

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 3:12

All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the first ripe figs ,.... Upon them, or like them: "and the first ripe figs"; which are easily shook and gathered; and so easily should the fortresses and towers of Nineveh, in which they trusted for safety, be taken by the enemy, not only one, but all of them: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater ; as such ripe fruit is very desirable, and the mouth of a man is open and ready for them; so if he gives the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:13

Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women ,.... Or like women, weak and feeble, fearful and timorous; frightened at the first approach of the enemy; run away, and run up and down in the utmost consternation and distress, having neither skill nor courage to oppose them; some regard may be had to the effeminacy of their king; see Nahum 2:7 . The sense is, they should be at once dispirited, and lose all strength of mind and body, and have neither heads nor hearts to form schemes,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:14

Draw thee waters for the siege ,.... Before the siege is begun, fetch water from the river, wells, or fountains without the city, and fill cisterns, and such like receptacles of water, with them; that there may be sufficiency of it to hold out, which is often wanting in long sieges; the want of which gives great distress to the besieged: this is put for all necessary provisions, which should be made when a city is in danger of being blocked up: this, and what follows, are said ironically;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:15

There shall the fire devour thee ,.... In the strong holds, made ever so firm and secure; either the fire of divine wrath; or the fire of the enemy they should put into them; or the enemy himself, as Kimchi; and so the Targum, "thither shall come upon thee people who are as strong as fire:' the sword shall cut thee off; it shall eat thee up as the cankerworm : that is, the sword of the Medes and Chaldeans shall utterly destroy thee, as the cankerworm is destroyed by rain or fire; or... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:16

Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven ,.... A hyperbolical expression, setting forth the great number of merchants that were in Nineveh, and in the land of Assyria; who either were the natives of the place, or came thither for the sake of merchandise, which serve to enrich a nation, and therefore are encouraged to settle; and from whom, in a time of war, much benefit might be expected; being able to furnish with money, which is the sinews of war, as well as to give... 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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:18

Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria ,.... Who this king of Assyria was is not easy to say; some think Esarhaddon, who is the last of the kings of Assyria the Scriptures speak of; according to Diodorus Siculus F14 Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 109,115. , Sardanapalus was the last of these kings, and in him the Assyrian monarchy ended; though, according to Alexander Polyhistor F15 Apud Syncell. p. 210. , Saracus, perhaps the Chyniladanus of Ptolemy, was king when Nineveh was destroyed:... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nahum 3:19

There is no healing of thy bruise ,.... Made by the fatal blow given to the empire by the taking of Nineveh; the ruin of it was irreparable and irrecoverable; the city of Nineveh was no more, and the Assyrian empire sunk, and never rose again: or, "there is no contraction of thy bruise" F18 אין כהה "nulla est contractio", Junius & Tremellius, Burkius. ; as when a wound is healed, or near it, the skin round about is wrinkled and contracted. The Targum is, "there is none that... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:12

Thy strong holds - The effects of the consternation into which the Ninevites were cast by the assault on their city are here pointed out by a very expressive metaphor; the first-ripe figs, when at full maturity, fell from the tree with the least shake; and so, at the first shake or consternation, all the fortresses of Nineveh were abandoned; and the king, in despair, burnt himself and household in his own palace. read more

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