Nahum 3:5-7

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 3:5

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 3:5

I will discover thy skirts upon thy face - It was an ancient, though not a laudable custom, to strip prostitutes naked, or throw their clothes over their heads, and expose them to public view, and public execration. This verse alludes to such a custom. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:6

I will cast abominable filth upon thee - I will set thee as a gazing-stock. This was a punishment precisely like our pillory. They put such women in the pillory as a gazing-stock; and then, children and others threw mud, dirt, and filth of all kinds at them. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:7

Who will bemoan her? - In such cases, who pities the delinquent? She has been the occasion of ruin to multitudes, and now she is deservedly exposed and punished. And so it should be thought concerning Nineveh. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:5

Verse 5 The Prophet confirms here what he has said of the fall of Nineveh; but, as it was stated yesterday, he introduces God as the speaker, that his address might be more powerful. God then testifies here to the Assyrians, that they should have no strife or contention with any mortal being, but with their own judgment; as though he said, “There is no reason for thee to compare thy forces with those of the Chaldeans; but think of this — that I am the punisher of thy crimes. The Chaldeans... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:6

Verse 6 He afterwards adds, I will besprinkle thee with filth, or defilements. The Prophet still alludes to the similitude of a harlot, who is well and sumptuously adorned, and by her charms captivates the eyes of all: but when any one takes mire and filth from the middle of the road, and bespatters her with it, there is then no one who will not turn away his eyes from so filthy an object. But we have already explained the import of this. God is indeed said to besprinkle kingdoms with... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Nahum 3:7

Verse 7 When he says, כל-ראיך, cal-raik, ‘whosoever sees thee,’ we hence learn again that רואי, ruai, at the end of the last verse, is to be taken for example or spectacle; for the Prophet proceeds with the same subject: I will make thee, he says,an example, or a spectacle. — For what purpose? that whosoever sees thee may depart from thee (242) And it was an evidence of horror, though some think it to have been a reward for her cruelty, that no one came to Nineveh, but that she was forsaken by... read more

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