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Nahum Chapter
Two
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO NAHUM 2
This
chapter gives an account of the destruction of the city of Nineveh; describes
the instruments of it as very terrible and powerful, and not to be resisted, Nahum 2:1. The
manner of taking it, the flight of its inhabitants, and the spoil of its riches
and treasures, Nahum 2:5 and the
king and the princes thereof, compared to a lion, and a lion's whelp, are
insulted as being without a den or dwelling place, because of their cruelty and
ravening, for which the Lord was against them, and threatened them with utter
ruin, which he brought upon them, Nahum 2:11.
Nahum 2:1 He who scatters[a] has come
up before your face. Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen your
flanks! Fortify your power mightily.
YLT
1Come up hath a scatterer to
thy face, Keep the bulwark, watch the way, Strengthen the loins, strengthen
power mightily.
He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face,.... O Nineveh,
or land of Assyria; for this is not to be understood of Sennacherib's coming up
against Jerusalem, as Kimchi; but of Nebuchadnezzar against Nineveh, as Aben
Ezra; not Nebuchadnezzar the great, who, the Jewish chronologers sayF3Seder
Olam Rabba, c. 24. p. 69. , took Nineveh in the first year of his reign; but
his father, Nebuchadnezzar the first, called Nabopolassar, who, with Cyaxares
or Ahasuerus the Mede, joined their forces against Nineveh, and took it, see
the Apocrypha:
"But
before he died he heard of the destruction of Nineve, which was taken by
Nabuchodonosor and Assuerus: and before his death he rejoiced over Nineve.' (Tobit 14:15)
and
these together, the Chaldeans and Medes, are the "dasher in pieces";
or, "the hammer"F4מפיץ
"malleus", Drusius, Tarnovius. , as the word may be rendered; and so
Babylon, over which one of these kings reigned, is called the hammer of the
whole earth, Jeremiah 50:23
these came up openly, boldly, to the face of the king of Assyria, attacked him
in his metropolis, not fearing his strength and numbers:
keep the munition; this and what follow are spoken ironically
to the Assyrian king, and inhabitants of Nineveh, to take care of their towers
and garrisons, and fortify them, and fill them with soldiers: and
watch the way; in which the enemy came; secure the passes
and avenues that lead to their city; stop his march, and prevent his access:
make thy loins strong; put on armour, gird on
the sword, prepare for war:
fortify thy power mightily; increase thine army,
exert all thy strength and courage, and do all that is in thy power to do, to
oppose the enemy, and defend thyself; and when all is done, it will be in vain.
Nahum 2:2 2 For
the Lord will restore the excellence of Jacob Like the excellence of Israel,
For the emptiers have emptied them out And ruined their vine branches.
YLT
2For turned back hath
Jehovah to the excellency of Jacob, As [to] the excellency of Israel, For
emptied them out have emptiers, And their branches they have marred.
For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the
excellency of Israel,.... Or, "will render" a recompence for, or
"revenge the pride of Jacob"F5כי
שב יהוה את
גאון יעקב "ulciscitur
enim Jehova adhibitam in Jacobaeos superbiam", Castalio; "reponit
Deus Assyrio illam superbiam quam ipse in Jacobo et Israele exercuit",
Grotius; "quia reddidit superbiam", &c. Tirinus. ; all that
insolence, and those injuries done in a proud and haughty manner by Sennacherib
king of Assyria to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; invading their land,
taking their fenced cities, and besieging their metropolis; and in an audacious
manner threatening them with utter destruction, unless they surrendered; and
also by Shalmaneser, another king of Assyria, who had besieged and took Samaria
the capital city of Israel or the ten tribes, and had carried them captive; and
now Assyria, though it had been the rod of God's anger, and the instrument of
his chastisement and correction of his people, must in its turn suffer and
smart for all this:
for the emptiers have emptied them out: the
Assyrians, partly by their exactions and tributes they demanded, and partly by
their spoil and plunder, had stripped Israel and Judah of all, or the greatest
part, of their substance, wealth, and treasure:
and marred their vine branches; their children, their
sons and daughters, slaying them, or carrying them captive. Israel and Judah
are often compared to a vine, and so their posterity to branches: or
"corrupted"F6שחתו
"corruperunt", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator,
Vatablus, Burkius. them, with superstition and idolatry. The Targum interprets
it of their renowned cities; these, and towns and villages, being to the land
as branches to the vine; and which had been ransacked and pillaged by the
Assyrians, and now they should be paid in their own coin.
Nahum 2:3 3 The
shields of his mighty men are made red, The valiant men are in
scarlet. The chariots come with flaming torches In the day of his
preparation, And the spears are brandished.[b]
YLT
3The shield of his mighty
ones is become red, Men of might [are in] scarlet, With fiery torches [is] the
chariot in a day of his preparation, And the firs have been caused to tremble.
The shield of his mighty men is made red,.... The
shields of the soldiers in the armies of the Babylonians and Medes, those
dashers in pieces that would come up against Nineveh, should be red; either
with the blood of the slain, or thus coloured on purpose to inject terror to
their enemies; or this may express the lustre of them, which being gilded, or
made of gold or brass, in the rays of the sun glittered, and looked of a fiery
red; see the Apocrypha:
"Now
when the sun shone upon the shields of gold and brass, the mountains glistered
therewith, and shined like lamps of fire.' (1 Maccabees 6:39)
the valiant men are in scarlet; the generals
and other officers of the army were clothed in scarlet; partly to show their
greatness and nobleness, and partly to strike their enemies with terror, and to
hide their blood should they be wounded, and so keep up their own spirits, and
not encourage their enemies:
the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of
his preparation; that is, when the Medes and Chaldeans, under their respective
commander or commanders, shall prepare for the siege of the city, and to make
their onset and attack upon it, the chariots used by them in war, which was
common in those times, would have flaming torches in them; either to guide them
in the night, or to set fire to houses or tents they should meet with, or to
terrify the enemy: or "the chariots shall be as flaming
torches"F7So ב is sometimes used as כ. See Nold. Concord. Ebr. Part. p. 162. No. 728. So
Piscator, and the Tigurine version. ; they should run with such swiftness, that
the wheels, being of iron, or cased with it, should strike fire upon the stones
in such quantities, that they should look like torches flaming:
and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken; with the
motion of the chariots; or this may be interpreted of spears and lances, and
such like instruments of war, made of fir; which should be in such great
numbers, and with so much activity used against the Ninevites, that it would
look like shaking a forest of fir trees. The Targum interprets these of the
great men and generals of their armies glittering in dyed garments; and
Kimchi's father, of the princes and great men of the city of Nineveh, who would
be seized with terror, and reel about like drunken men; and so all that follows
in the next verse Nahum 2:4.
Nahum 2:4 4 The
chariots rage in the streets, They jostle one another in the broad roads; They
seem like torches, They run like lightning.
YLT
4In out-places shine do the
chariots, They go to and fro in broad places, Their appearances [are] like
torches, As lightnings they run.
The chariots shall rage in the streets,.... In the
streets of Nineveh when taken; where they shall be drove in a furious manner
from place to place, the men in them breathing out slaughter and death wherever
they came. Kimchi understands this of the chariots of the Ninevites; who shall
drive about in them in the streets of the city like madmen; not daring to go
out to fight the enemy, being mightier and more numerous than they.
They shall justle one against another in the broad ways; because of
their numbers, and the haste they shall make to spoil and plunder the city; or
the Ninevites shall justle one against another, in their hurry and confusion to
make their escape.
They shall seem like torches; either the chariots of
the Medes and Chaldeans, for the reasons given in the preceding verse Nahum 2:3; or they
themselves, because of their fierceness and cruelty; or the faces of the
Ninevites, being covered with shame, so Kimchi; see Isaiah 13:8.
They shall run like the lightnings; exceeding swiftly, with
irresistible force and power; the above writer interprets this of the Ninevites
also, running from one end of their city to the other in the utmost confusion,
not knowing what to do; but the whole of these two verses Nahum 2:3 seem to
be a description of their enemies.
Nahum 2:5 5 He
remembers his nobles; They stumble in their walk; They make haste to her walls,
And the defense is prepared.
YLT
5He doth remember his
honourable ones, They stumble in their goings, They hasten [to] its wall, and
prepared is the covering.
He shall recount his worthies,.... Either the dasher in
pieces, Nahum 2:1, the
kings of Babylon and Media, shall call together their general officers, and
muster the forces under then, and put them in mind of their duty, and recount
the actions of their ancestors in former times, in order to animate and
encourage them to the siege and attack of the city of Nineveh; or the king of
Assyria shall recount and muster up his nobles, and the troops under them, to sally
out against the enemy, and meet him in the field, and give him battle:
they shall stumble in their walk: being many, and in haste
to obey the orders of their commander, shall stumble and fall upon one another;
or else the Ninevites in their march out against the enemy shall be discomfited
and flee before him, or be dispirited and flee back again:
they shall make haste to the wall thereof; of Nineveh;
that is, the Medes and Chaldeans shall make haste thither, to break it down or
scale it; or the Ninevites, failing in their sally out, shall betake themselves
in all haste to their city walls, and defend themselves under the protection of
them:
and the defence shall be prepared; or the
"covering": the wordF8הסוכך
"operimentum", Pagninus, Montanus; "integumentum", Calvin;
"testudo", Vatablus, Grotius, Cocceius, Burkius. used has the
signification of a booth or tent, to cover and protect; here it signifies
something that was prepared, either by the besiegers, to cover them from the
darts and stones of the besieged, as they made their approaches to the walls;
or which the besieged covered themselves with from the assaults of the
besiegers; rather the former.
Nahum 2:6 6 The
gates of the rivers are opened, And the palace is dissolved.
YLT
6Gates of the rivers have
been opened, And the palace is dissolved.
The gates of the rivers shall be opened,.... Of Diava
and Adiava, or Lycus and Caprus, between which, according to some writersF9Vid.
Fuller. Miscel. Sacr. l. 3. c. 6. , Nineveh was situated; or the gates of the
city, which lay nearest to the river Tigris, are meant; or that river itself,
the plural for the singular, which overflowing, broke down the walls of the
city for two and a half miles, and opened a way for the Medes and Chaldeans to
enter in; of which see Nahum 1:8,
and the palace shall be dissolved; by the inundation, or
destroyed by the enemy; meaning the palace of the king, which might be situated
near the river; or the temple of Nisroch the Assyrian deity, or Jupiter Belus;
for the same wordF11ההיכל
"templum", V. L. Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius,
Cocceius. signifies a temple as well as palace.
Nahum 2:7 7 It
is decreed:[c] She shall
be led away captive, She shall be brought up; And her maidservants shall lead her
as with the voice of doves, Beating their breasts.
YLT
7And it is established --
she hath removed, She hath been brought up, And her handmaids are leading as
the voice of doves, Tabering on their hearts.
And Huzzab shall be led away captive,.... The
Targum translates it the queen; and Jarchi and Aben Ezra, after R. Samuel, take
it to be the name of the queen of Assyria; so called, as every queen might, from
her standing at the king's right hand, Psalm 45:9 who,
when the royal palace was destroyed, was taken out, and carried captive with
the rest, who before was in a well settled and tranquil state and condition: or
perhaps the king himself is designed, who may be represented as a woman, as
follows, for his effeminacy; conversing only with women; imitating their voice;
wearing their apparel; and doing their work, spinning, &c. which is the
character historiansF12Diodor. Sicul. l. 2. p. 109, 110. give of the
last king of the Assyrians: someF13Gebhardus apud Burkium in loc.
take it to be the idol Venus, worshipped by the Ninevites: though it may be
meant either of the palace itself, as Kimchi's father, which was firm and well
established; or rather Nineveh itself, thought to be stable and secure, the
inhabitants of which should be carried into a strange land:
she shall be brought up; the queen, or the king,
out of the palace or private retirement, where they were in peace and safety;
or Nineveh, and the inhabitants of it, out of their secure state and condition:
and her maids shall lead her; her maids of honour,
supporting her on the right hand and left, ready to sink and faint under her
misfortunes: this may also be understood of towns and villages, and the
inhabitants of them, that should go into captivity along with Nineveh:
as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts; mourning like
doves, inwardly and secretly, not daring to express their sorrow more publicly,
because of their enemies; but knocking and beating upon their breasts, as men
do upon tabrets or drums, thereby expressing the inward grief of their minds;
see Ezekiel 7:16.
Nahum 2:8 8 Though
Nineveh of old was like a pool of water, Now they flee away. “Halt!
Halt!” they cry; But no one turns back.
YLT
8And Nineveh [is] as a pool
of waters, From of old it [is] -- and they are fleeing! `Stand ye, stand;' and
none is turning!
But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water,.... This was
a very ancient city, built by Nimrod, as some say; or rather by Ashur, as
appears from Genesis 10:10 and
it was like fish pool, full of people, as it was in the times of Jonah, who for
their number may be compared both to water and to fish; and likewise full of
wealth and riches, which for their instability may be signified by water also;
and moreover, like a pool of standing water, had never been liable to any
commotions and disturbances, but had remained from the beginning in a tranquil
and prosperous state; besides, some regard may be had in a literal sense to its
situation, being watered by the river Tigris, and which was for its profit and
defence: so some copies of the Septuagint read the words,
"Nineveh
is like a pool of water, the waters are her walls:'
and
the Syriac version is,
"Nineveh
is as a lake of water, and is among the waters;'
see
Nahum 1:6,
yet they shall flee away; the waters out of the
pool, the sluices being opened, or the banks broken down; or the people out of
the city, breaches being made in its walls, or its gates opened, and the enemy
entering; when everyone would flee for his life, and make his escape in the
best manner he could:
stand, stand, shall they cry; either the generals and
officers of the king of Assyria's army, to the soldiers running away; or the
more courageous inhabitants of the city, to those that were timorous and seized
with a panic, fleeing in the utmost consternation; or the enemy, as Kimchi, who
shall call to them to stop, promising to spare their lives upon a surrender of
them to them:
but none shall look back; and stand to hear what
is said unto them, but make the best of their way, and flee with all their
might and main.
Nahum 2:9 9 Take
spoil of silver! Take spoil of gold! There is no end of treasure, Or
wealth of every desirable prize.
YLT
9Seize ye silver, seize ye
gold, And there is no end to the prepared things, [To] the abundance of all
desirable vessels.
Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold,.... Of which
there was a great quantity in this rich and populous city: these are the words
of the prophet, or of the Lord by the prophet, to the Medes and Chaldeans, to
seize the spoil of the city, now fallen into their hands; suggesting that this
was by the order and will of God, though they saw it not: or of the generals of
the army of the Medes and Babylonians, giving leave to the common soldiers to
take part of the plunder, there being enough for them all, officers and private
men:
for there is none end of the store and glory out of
all the pleasant furniture: no end of the wealth which had been hoarded
up, and of their household goods and rich apparel, which their coffers, houses,
and wardrobes, were full of, the value of which could not be told. The king of
Assyria, perceiving that he, his family, and his wealth, were like to fall into
the hands of the enemy, caused a pile of wood to be raised, and in it heaped
his gold, silver, and royal apparel, and, enclosing himself, his eunuchs, and
concubines in it, set fire to it, and destroyed himself and them. It is saidF14Athenaeus
apud Rollin's Ancient History, &c. vol. 2. p. 31,32. See the Universal
History, vol. 4. p. 306. there were no less in this pile than a thousand
myriads of talents of gold, which are about fourteen hundred millions sterling,
and ten times as many talents of silver, together with apparel and furniture
unspeakable; and yet, after all this, the princes of the Babylonians and Medes
carried off vast quantities. The Babylonian prince loaded several ships with
the ashes of the pile, and a large quantity of gold and silver, discovered to
him by an eunuch, a deserter; and the Median prince, what of the gold and
silver left out of the pile, which were many talents, that fell into his hands,
he sent to Ecbatana, the royal city of MediaF15Diodor. Sicul. l. 2.
p. 114,115. .
Nahum 2:10 10 She
is empty, desolate, and waste! The heart melts, and the knees shake; Much pain is
in every side, And all their faces are drained of color.[d]
YLT
10She is empty, yea,
emptiness and waste, And the heart hath melted, And the knees have smitten
together, And great pain [is] in all loins, And the faces of all of them have
gathered paleness.
She is empty, and void, and waste,.... The city of Nineveh,
empty of inhabitants, being killed, or having fled; and stripped of all its
treasures and riches by the enemies; its walls and houses demolished and pulled
down, and laid in ruins, and become a heap of rubbish; See Gill on Nahum 1:8. Various
words are here used to ascertain and confirm the thing; and there is an elegant
play on words or likeness of sounds, which our language will not express:
and the heart melteth; the heart of every
inhabitant of Nineveh melted with fear at the approach of their enemies, their
entrance into the city, and plunder of it; flowed like water, or melted like
wax; see Psalm 22:14,
and the knees smite together; like people in a fright,
and when a panic has seized them; and as it was with Belshazzar, Daniel 5:6,
and much pain is in all loins; like that of
women in travail; or of persons in a sudden fright, which gives them a pain in
their backs at once:
and the faces of them all gather blackness; like a pot,
as the Targum adds; being in great distress and disconsolation, which make men
appear in a dismal hue, and their countenances look very dark and gloomy; see Joel 2:6.
Nahum 2:11 11 Where
is the dwelling of the lions, And the feeding place of the young lions, Where
the lion walked, the lioness and lion’s cub, And no one made them
afraid?
YLT
11Where [is] the habitation
of lionesses? And a feeding-place it [is] for young lions Where walked hath a
lion, an old lion, A lion's whelp, and there is none troubling.
Where is the dwelling of the lions?.... Of the
kings of Assyria, comparable to lions for their strength, courage, and cruelty,
tyranny, and oppression; such as Pul, Tiglathpileser, Shalmaneser, and
Sennacherib. So the Targum,
"where
are the habitations of kings?'
these
are the words, either of the prophet, or of the people that had seen this city
in its glory, and now see it in its ruins; and so desolate and waste, as that
it could scarcely be said where it once stood:
and the feedingplace of the young lions? the sons of
the kings of Assyria, the princes of the blood, and who were of the same blood,
temper, and disposition of their ancestors, and were born, brought up, and
educated, in Nineveh the royal city. So the Targum,
"and
the dwelling houses of the princes,'
or
governors:
where the lion, even the old lion, walked: not
Nebuchadnezzar, as Jerom, who entered into Nineveh the den of those lions, or
seat of the Assyrians, and took it, and walked about in it, as the conqueror
and possessor of it; but rather Nimrod, that old lion and tyrant, if he was the
first founder of this city, as some say; though it does not seem so much to
design any particular person, but the kings of Assyria in general, even the
most cruel and savage, as the old lion is. So the Targum in the plural number,
"whither
the kings went;'
and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid: there were
none to resist their power, curb their insolence, and put a stop to their
cruelty and oppression; or make them afraid of pursuing such methods. The
Targum is,
"there
they leave their children, even as a lion that continues in hunting with
confidence, and there is none that terrifies.'
Nahum 2:12 12 The
lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, Killed for his lionesses, Filled his
caves with prey, And his dens with flesh.
YLT
12The lion is tearing parts
[for] his whelps, And is strangling for his lionesses, And he doth fill [with]
prey his holes, And his habitations [with] rapine.
The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps,.... The
metaphor is still continued; and the kings of Assyria are compared to lions
that hunt for their prey, and, having found it, tear it in pieces, and carry
home a sufficiency for their whelps. It is a notion that is advanced by some
writers, as HerodotusF16Thalia, sive l. 3. c. 108. , that the
lioness, the strongest and boldest creature, brings forth but once in its life,
and then but one; which GelliusF17Noctes Atticae, l. 13. c. 7.
confutes by the testimonies of Homer and Aristotle; and it appears from the
prophet here to be a false one, as well as from Ezekiel 19:2 thus
the Assyrians made war on other nations, and pillaged and plundered them, to
enlarge their dominions, provide for their posterity, and enrich their
children:
and strangled for his lionesses; that is, strangled other
beasts, as the lion first does, when it seizes a creature, and then tears it in
pieces, and brings it to the she lion in the den with its whelps. These
"lionesses" design the wives and concubines of the kings of Assyria,
among whom they parted the spoils of their neighbours. So the Targum,
"kings
bring rapine to their wives, and a prey to their children;'
that
is, riches, which they have taken from others by force and rapine: thus CiceroF18Orat.
8. in Verrem, l. 3. p. 509. observes of the kings of Persia and Syria, that
they had many wives, and gave cities to them after this manner; this city for
their headdress, this for the neck, and the other for the hair; the expenses of
them:
and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravine; as the lion
fills his dens and lurking holes with the prey he has seized and ravened; so
the kings of Assyria filled their palaces, treasures, magazines, towers,
cities, and towns, with the wealth and riches they took by force from other
nations; as the Targum,
"and
they filled their treasuries with rapine, and their palaces with spoil.'
Nahum 2:13 13 “Behold,
I am against you,” says the Lord of hosts,
“I will burn your[e] chariots
in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey
from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more.”
YLT
13Lo, I [am] against thee, An
affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, And I have burned in smoke its chariot, And
thy young lions consume doth a sword, And I have cut off from the land thy
prey, And not heard any more is the voice of thy messengers!
Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts,.... Against
Nineveh, and the whole Assyrian empire, for such rapine, violence, and
oppression, their kings had been guilty of; and if he, who is the Lord of
hosts, of all the armies of heaven and earth, was against them, nothing but
ruin must inevitably ensue: or, "I come unto thee"F19הנני אליך "ad te venturus
sum", Vatablus; "ego ad te venio", Drusius. ; or will shortly
come unto thee, and reckon with thee for all this; will visit thee in a way of
wrath and vengeance. The Targum is,
"behold,
I will send my fury upon thee:'
and I will burn her chariots in the smoke; either those
in which the inhabitants of Nineveh rode in great splendour about the city; or
those which were used in war with their enemies; and this he would do "in
the smoke"; or, "unto smoke", as the Vulgate Latin version; or,
"into smoke", as the SyriacF20בעשן
"in fumum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. ; easily, quickly, at
once, suddenly, so that they should evaporate into smoke, and be no more; or,
with fire, as the Targum; that is, as Kimchi interprets it, with a great fire,
whose smoke is seen afar off; and may be figuratively understood of the smoke
of divine wrath, as Aben Ezra explains it:
and the sword shall devour thy young lions; the swords of
the Medes and Chaldeans shall destroy the princes, the sons of their king. The
Targum interprets this of towns or villages destroyed thereby:
and I will cut thy prey from the earth; cut them off
that they should no more prey upon their neighbours; and what they had got
should be taken away from them, and be of no use to them:
and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard; in foreign
courts, demanding homage and subjection; exacting and collecting tribute;
blaspheming the God of heaven, and menacing his people, as Rabshakeh, a
messenger of one of these kings, did; and which is mentioned by most of the
Jewish commentators as being then a recent thing. Some render it, "the
voice", or "noise of thy jaw teeth"F21קול מלאככה "vox dentium
molarium", Calvin. ; alluding to the lion's breaking the bones of its
prey, which is done with a great noise; signifying that such cruelty and
oppression the Assyrians had been guilty of should be used no more; or rather,
as R. Judah ben Balaam observes, as it signifies the noise of the teeth
devouring the prey, it is as if it was said, I will cut off thy prey from the
earth; and Ben Melech says that, in the Persian language, grinding stones are
expressed by this word, and teeth are called grinders; see Ecclesiastes 12:3.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)