Bible Commentaries
Nahum 2

Verses 1-7

Nah 2:1-7

The Destruction of Assyria and Nineveh (Nahum 2:1-7)

“He that dashes in pieces is come up against thee: keep the fortress, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily. For Jehovah restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine branches” (Nahum 2:1-2). “He that dashes in pieces” is none other than the Babylonians. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad… Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war: and with thee will I break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms” (Jeremiah 51:7; Jeremiah 51:20). Jehovah would use Babylon to destroy Assyria and there would be no amount of fortification that would stop them. Assyria had emptied out the land of Israel and now they were to be punished for their “vile” ways (cf. Nahum 1:14).

“The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the cypress spears are brandished. The chariots rage in the streets; they rush to and fro in the broad ways: the appearance of them is like torches; they run like the lightnings” (Nahum 2:3-4). Nahum speaks of Babylonian infantry and chariots as though they have already entered the city of Nineveh to destroy. The scene is one of chaos. Chariots are rushing in every direction as quick as lightning and the people of Nineveh are falling dead.

“He remembers his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared. The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved. And it is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts” (Nahum 2:5-7). Under siege, Nineveh remembers her noble fighters and summons them to the wall of the city. The men, likely out of terror, stumble to their positions on the wall. Meanwhile, the Babylonian “mantelets” are moving toward the city (i.e., towers that sat on four wheels used by a siege army to allow their men protection from arrows and a climbing device [or in some cases battering ram]) over the cities walls). Once the wall is breached a flood of Babylonian infantry men will engulf the city. The city is finished and the women moan in despair.

Verses 8-13

Nah 2:8-13

Nineveh’s Downfall (Nahum 2:8-13)

“But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water: yet they flee away. Stand, stand, they cry; but none looks back” (Nahum 2:8). During days past Nineveh was like an oasis in the desert where men would gladly come. Now; however, people flee in terror. The military general command that the men stay and fight yet the men of war flee and “none looks back.”

“Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture. She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale” (Nahum 2:9-10). Jehovah God speaks to the Babylonians and tells them to take of all the riches of Assyria that have been collected from her plundering of other nations and peoples. The Assyrian treasures are described as having “no end of the store.” When the plundering is complete Assyria will be emptied and void. Nineveh’s inhabitants, once strong and fierce, now are those whose knees knock together in fear and their faces are pale due to their terror. One mightier than they has arrived and humbled them.

“Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid? The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens with ravin” (Nahum 2:11-12). Jehovah poses a question to the Assyrians. Where are all your mighty men who without conscience destroyed and devoured other nations? Where has the fear of your enemies gone? The Assyrians devoured and took captive many yet wherein is their strength now? The point is clear, yes they were and are mighty yet standing against Jehovah God they are melted away and exposed as nothing in comparison to the great God.

“Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions; and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard” (Nahum 2:13). The Assyrian was once the rod of correction in the hands of Jehovah God yet now they are reduced to a shaken, destroyed, and plundered nation. It is a fearful state of being to have Jehovah God say, “I am against thee.”