Nahum 1:14 - Exposition

Concerning thee. The prophet addresses the Assyrian, and announces God's purpose concerning him. That no more of thy name be sown. There is no special reference to Sennacherib in this or the next clause, but the prophet means that the Assyrian people and name shall become extinct. Out of the house of thy gods ( Isaiah 37:38 , whore the murder of Sennacherib in the temple of Nisroch is mentioned). An account of the religion of the Assyrians will be found in Layard, 'Nineveh and its Remains,' vol. 2 ch. 7. Graven image; carved out of wood or stone. Molten ; cast in metal. The two terms comprise every kind of idol, as in Deuteronomy 27:15 ; 17:3 . The Assyrians used to destroy the images of the gods worshipped by conquered nations ( 2 Kings 19:18 ). Bonomi gives a picture of soldiers cutting up the image of some foreign deity, and carrying away the pieces. So should it now be done unto their gods. I will make thy grave. I will consign thee, O Assyrian, and thy idols to oblivion ( Ezekiel 32:22 , etc.). It is not, "I will make it, the temple, thy grave," as those who see a reference to the death of Sennacherib ( 2 Kings 19:37 ) render it; but, "I prepare thy grave"—I doom thee to destruction. The reason is given: For thou art vile; quia inhonoratus es (Vulgate): ὅτι ταχεῖς , "for they are swift". The word is also translated "light," weighed in the balances, and found wanting, as Daniel 5:27 .