Bible Commentaries
Nahum 3

Verses 1-4

CRITICAL NOTES.] The prophet resumes his description of the siege. Blood] Drops of blood shed in murder [Keil]. Lies] Vain promises of help. Depart.] Ceases not to plunder.

Nahum 3:2. Noise] In the charges of war-cars. “This passage is unrivalled by any other, either in sacred or profane literature” [Hend.]. Riders dash along, the flame of the sword, the flash of the lance, and the multitude of the slain, depict the attack and its consequences.

Nahum 3:4. Whoredoms] The reason of the punishment; not idolatry but selfishness, which under the guise of love sought the gratification of lust: the crafty policy to ensnare other States. Selleth] i.e. rob nations of liberty, bring them into bondage or make them tributary (Deuteronomy 32:30; Judges 2:14).

HOMILETICS

GREAT WICKEDNESS.—Nahum 3:1

The prophet in this chapter repeats and confirms the total ruin of Nineveh, because of cruel oppression and blood. The wickedness of the city is set forth in terrible aspects.

1. Cruel murder. “The bloody city.” Its prosperity was tainted with blood. Unrighteous war, oppression of the poor, and manifold bloodshedding are the indictment. “Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!”

II. Treacherous dealing. “It is all full of lies and robbery.” Lies in word and act. Deceit with man, and hyprocrisy before God. Robbery linked with lies, secret treachery and open violence. Full of wickedness. Integrity and truth banished from them, and none upright for whose sake God might spare the city.

III. Constant rapine. “The prey departeth not.” She never ceased, but continued to make a prey upon others. They neither repented nor grew weary of iniquity. Avarice grew more intense, lusts were daily fed, and like a beast they tore in pieces and greedily fed upon their prey. God specially marks and denounces woe upon those who persevere in wicked courses. “Arise, go to Nineveh that great city, and cry against it: for their wickedness is come up before me.”—

“Who, stung by glory, rave and bound away,
The world their field and humankind their prey” [Young].

GREAT JUDGMENTS AND GREAT SINS.—Nahum 3:2-4

The sentence is enlarged, and the woe explained. Terrible are the preparations of the enemy, and the noise of chariots and horsemen sounds already in the ears. The city is filled with the dead, and the judgments of God are severe.

I. Great sins. “Because of the multitude of the whoredoms,” &c.

1. Bewitching other nations. “The mistress of witchcraft.” As harlots try to dement and ensnare by incantations, so Nineveh sought to draw others to her by subtle machinations. The love of gain acts on multitudes like “witchcraft.” They seduce others, hunt after men in excessive lust, and lead them into idolatry and estrangement from God.

2. Enslaving other nations. “That selleth nations.” They have no scruples in the use of unlawful means to get power and subdue others beneath their feet. Art and politics, religion and wealth, were used to make the city great and universal.

3. Selfish aggrandizement. All her skill and artifice in ill-doing were employed to gratify the desire of supremacy. Selfishness is often dressed in love to accomplish its own ends. Religion is made subservient to worldly aims; devilish arts enslave man and offend God. Domestic sanctities are violated, the rights of men are trampled down, and justice is outraged. “Such ambition,” says Sir Walter Scott, “breaks the ties of blood, forgets the obligations of manhood.”

II. Great judgments. Men may glory in skill, increase in power, and pursue wickedness, but God will have a reckoning with them. “Because of the multitude,” &c.

1. Judgments are prepared. “The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses,” &c. Military preparations are great: a formidable army is advancing against the city with irresistible speed and power. The judgments of God are (a) numerous, (b) ready for execution, and (c) will come with overwhelming speed. When sins are small, God is often patient and long-suffering; but when they become notorious and we continue in them, then God will punish them.

2. Judgments experienced. Before, all was beautiful and arranged to allure in the city, but now how different the scene! Everything fills the ear with terror, and the heart with sadness.

(1) The dead innumerable. Death follows death in rapid succession, “and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases.”

(2) The dead in every form. They are slain, and the bodies are carcases, corpses, an oppressive number, without end.

(3) The dead causing the living to stumble. So great the multitude of those who perish, that they lie, a hindrance in every street. “They stumble upon their corpses”—sad scene! an awful warning to others. “To fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city” (Jeremiah 33:5).

HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Nahum 3:1. Filled with deceit. Great cities often great centres of wickedness. Notice,

1. The wickedness, (a) deceit, (b) violence, and (c) blood. God would not have destroyed it on account of idolatry or he would not have sent Jonah: his justice waited for the outbreak of greater violence and impious deeds.

2. The degree of this wickedness. “It is all full of lies.” “She is wholly made up of fraud and falsehood, mendaciorum loquacissima; no truth in her private contracts, no trust in her public transactions and capitulations with other nations; be they never so solemnly confirmed, yet had they no longer force with them than stood with their own profit” [Trapp].

Nahum 3:2. Here we have,

1. The attack. Eager and furious. Noise of whip, rattling of wheels, &c.

2. The results of the attack. Tremendous slaughter, dead bodies everywhere. “Let those,” says an old writer, “that refuse to hear God’s sweet words fear lest they be forced to hear the noise of the whip, the rattling of the wheels, &c. (Psalms 7:12-13; Luke 19:42-44; Proverbs 1:24). The enemy is sent to revenge the quarrel of God’s covenant; the red horse is at the heels of the white” (Revelation 6:4).

Nahum 3:4. The mistress of witchcrafts. The Hebrew not only indicates the subtlety, but the ease by which the great metropolis made itself the centre of nations.

1. The dominion. “Mistress,” meaning power, control, and dominion.

2. The method of gaining the dominion. “Witchcraft.” Treacherous friendships, and allurements, to ensnare and bind to herself other nations. She decked herself like a prostitute to entice from God into sin. But she will lose empire and inhabitants, and become like a widow destitute of children. “These two things shall come to thee in a moment, in one day—the loss of children and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries,” &c. (Isaiah 47:9-12).

Verses 5-7

CRITICAL NOTES.]

Nahum 3:5. Discover] Language suggested by preceding metaphor of an harlot; referring to the custom of stripping captives, male and female, and exposing them to nakedness and insult.

Nahum 3:6. Gazing-stock] A warning to others (Ezekiel 28:17).

Nahum 3:7.] She will be an object of disgust, none will pity the devastated city, for her doom is deserved.

HOMILETICS

RETRIBUTIVE PUNISHMENT.—Nahum 3:5-7

Nineveh is represented in her virgin splendour, and her punishment under the figure of that which is disgraceful to a woman (cf. Isaiah 47:3, and Habakkuk 2:10). God is against her, and her shame shall correspond to her conduct. As she uncovered others, so shall she be uncovered.

I. She will be exposed to nakedness and shame. “I will discover thy skirts upon thy face.” Her long flowing robes, which were part of her pomp and dignity, but which veiled her misdeeds and pride, shall be lifted up as high as possible (Jeremiah 13:22). She will be treated as a harlot, and stripped of her glory and defence. Her face shall blush in fear, and the consciousness of guilt will be read in her features. Nations shall see her nakedness, avoid and despise her. The same means will be taken to display her lewdness that she used to commit it. “I will even gather them round about against thee, will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.”

II. She will be disgraced and insulted. As infamous harlots will she be treated.

1. Made a gazing-stock to men. “I will set thee as a gazing-stock.” The city once feared and renowned shall become a warning to others, and exposed to public infamy. “I will cast thee to the ground; before kings will I give thee, for them to gaze upon thee.”

2. Treated with contempt by God himself. “I will cast abominable filth upon thee.” She had done abominable things before God (Jeremiah 13:27), which she had forgotten, but God will punish her with abominable things. Filth shall be cast upon her and she will be made vile.

III. She will be unpitied and forsaken. “It shall come to pass that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee.” She would be set to be gazed at, and the effects on those who gaze are described.

1. Unpitied. “Who will bemoan her?” There will be none to comfort and relieve her. Unwept and unhonoured, she will fall into the grave. Human misery excites pity, but none pay Nineveh the tribute of sympathy. Those who show no pity to others will find none for themselves.

2. Forsaken. She had measured friendship by profit, and forsaken those who did not trust in her. Now she is repayed, and becomes a terror to all round about her. Such will be the portion of all who disregard God and live for self. They will be stripped of all adornments, bereft of all comfort, and thrown into eternal misery. “These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee?—desolation and destruction, and the famine, and the sword; by whom shall I comfort thee?”

Verses 8-10

CRITICAL NOTES.]

Nahum 3:8.] She will share the fate of No-Amon, a royal city of Egypt, populous, sacred, and strong (Ezekiel 30:14-15; Jeremiah 46:25), like Nineveh well situated, protected by waters on every side.

Nahum 3:9.] Allies numerous and powerful, yet No (Thebes) could not preserve herself.

Nahum 3:10.] Its inhabitants subjected to all the cruelties and indignities generally inflicted upon conquered people.

THE DESTRUCTION OF SOME A WARNING TO OTHERS.—Nahum 3:8-10

There is no hope for Nineveh, for No-Amon was strong by nature and art, head of many confederate nations; yet was captured and destroyed. The city cannot protect herself. Destruction is sure. Notice how one support after another is taken away.

I. Natural defences will not avail. No was strongly fortified by nature and art. She “was situate among the rivers.” The Nile watered her fields and guarded her walls. Her rampart was the sea. She was considered impregnable. No was one of the grandest and most magnificent cities of antiquity. But no situation can shield from God’s anger. Nations may be secluded from others and encircled by walls and seas, but God can overturn them.

II. Large populations will not avail. “Populous No.” It was a great centre for corn and merchandise, and attracted many people. It supplied the country round about with necessaries. But it was no better or safer on account of its numerous inhabitants. “There is no king saved by the multitude of an host.”

III. Confederate nations will not avail. No’s allies were numerous and strong. Her military resources and Egyptian auxiliaries were immense. Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength. Put and Lubim were ready to help. But vast armies fail to maintain empires against the decree of God. “The strongest battalions melt like snow-flakes when God is against them.” The leagured might of earth is no match for the power of heaven. “The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods and their kings,” &c. (Jeremiah 46:25-26).

HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Nahum 3:8. The ruined cities of antiquity a warning to Christendom. Carthage, Nineveh, and Jerusalem (cf. Matthew 11:24; Luke 10:12-13). Warnings proportioned to sins and privileges.

“It will help to keep us in holy fear of the judgments of God,” says an old author, “to consider that we are not better than those that have fallen under those judgments before us.”

Nahum 3:9. The weakness of all human power before God. The fallacy of trusting in numbers contrasted with faith in God. “Lit. Egypt was strength, and Ethiopia, boundless. He sets forth first the imperial might of No: then her strength from foreign, subdued power. The capital is a sort of impersonation of the might of the State; No, of Egypt, as Nineveh, of Assyria. When the head was cut off, or the heart ceased to beat, all was lost. The might of Egypt and Ethiopia was the might of No, concentrated in her. They were strength, and that strength unmeasured by any human standard. Boundless was the strength which Nineveh had subdued: boundless the store (2–10) which she had accumulated for the spoiler; boundless the carcases of her slain” [Pusey].

Nahum 3:8-10.

1. How firm the standing of Nineveh. Surrounded by water, defended by inner and outer walls, endless in wealth, and powerful in confederacies.

2. How fatal the fall of Nineveh.

(1) Overcome notwithstanding might. “Yet was she carried away.” She became an exile, and her people carried into captivity with heathen barbarities.
(2) All hope of recovery destroyed. (a) Young children were dashed in pieces by a merciless conqueror. (b) Noble men were distributed by lot. “They cast lots for her honourable men,” &c. No pity was shown. (c) Officials, men of state, were treated like slaves. “All her great men were bound in chains” (cf. Ezekiel 13:14-16).

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3

Nahum 3:8-10. No-Ammon. Thebes was renowned for its numerous gates and vast extent. Its remaining ruins describe a circuit of twenty-seven miles [Henderson]. There is no definite historical account of its capture by Assyrians. But from brief notices in Scripture, we have hints of a struggle for supremacy between Assyria and Egypt (cf. 2 Kings 17:4). See Smith’s Dict. of the Bible, article Thebes; and Keil on Nahum 3:8-10.

Verses 10-13

CRITICAL NOTES.]

Nahum 3:11. Drunken] with the cup of Divine anger. A refuge from the enemy sought and not found in other nations.

Nahum 3:12. Strongholds] All the fortifications will be easily taken, like ripe figs they will fall into the mouth of the gatherer (cf. Isaiah 28:4; Revelation 6:13).

Nahum 3:13. Women] Effeminate and timid, or weak and unable to offer resistance (cf. Isaiah 19:6; Jeremiah 50:37).

HOMILETICS

THE FATE OF SOME WORSE THAN THAT OF OTHERS.—Nahum 3:10-13

No-Amon suffered greatly, but Nineveh will suffer more. “Thou also shalt be drunken” with the cup of God’s wrath. The greatness of thy anguish shall deprive thee of reason and strength, and stupefy thee like death.

I. The punishment is a Divine judgment. God acts by the same unchanging law in all ages and to all nations. No and Nineveh must alike suffer for sins.

1. Punishment in great degree. Not a mere taste, but drunken. They drink till overwhelmed. The most prudent will lose judgment, and act like a drunken man. “Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.

2. Punishment without refuge. Help shall be sought in vain from others. No stronghold from the enemy. If God forsake, no help can be found in man. In time of justice it is too late to cry for mercy.

3. Punishment ending in ruin. “Thou shalt be hid.” The city once so proud and glorious was buried beneath the mounds, hidden as in a tomb; covered out of sight, and has only lately been discovered. In unearthing Nineveh from its ruins, we read a tale of splendour and power, of cruelty and blood, of sin and retribution.

II. The punishment is easily inflicted. The two figures are strikingly expressive of the extreme ease with which they are overcome.

1. Their valiant men are fain-hearted. “Behold, the people in the midst of thee are women.” Stone-walls should make cowards brave. But in the midst, in the very centre, there is weakness and fear. Warriors, whom no toil wearied and no danger daunted, one and all become helpless as women. Where sin dwells there is no power to resist. When God takes the mettle out of men, the strongest faint away. “The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have remained in their holds; their might hath failed; they became as women” (Jeremiah 51:30; Jeremiah 50:37; Isaiah 19:16).

2. Every avenue opens to the enemy. “The gates of thy land,” the fortified passes and natural barriers on the hills, do not check the invader. Passes have been held by devoted men against countless multitudes (Thermopylæ), but the whole would be open to the enemy, and frontier garrisons would pass away as if consumed by fire.

3. Strongholds would be easily taken. Weak are fortifications against Divine wrath; trees which tremble in the breeze, they only need the breath of God. Wealth and position, self-righteousness and human wisdom, however great and relied upon, are false towers, and will give no refuge at last (Proverbs 18:10). The judgment of God will shatter them and sweep them all away.

4. Everything is ripe for destruction. “Like fig-trees with the first ripe figs.” They are eagerly sought after, ready to fall by the slightest effort, and “will drop into the mouth of the eater.” Without cost or sacrifice the enemy will take the city. The first assault would be successful. What a fearful moral condition, to ripen so easily for the judgment of God. “The wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.”

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3

Nahum 3:11-19. Nahum’s prophecy of the future destruction of Nineveh was fulfilled by the Medes and Babylonians (cf. ch. Nahum 2:1); and according to his prediction, the vast power of Nineveh completely vanished, and its glory was utterly eclipsed, so that in the year B. C. 401, Xenophon passed by the site without learning its name (Xen. Anab. iii. 4–7). Four hundred years afterwards a small fortress was standing on the site, to guard the passsage of the river Tigris (Tacitus, Ann. xii. 13), and opposite to it, on the west bank of the Tigris, has arisen the city of Mosul. In the year 1776, Niebuhr visited the spot, and supposed that what were the heaps of ruins of Nineveh, were natural undulations in the soil (See Rawlinson, i. 326). In more modern times it has been explored by Botta, the French Consul (in 1842), and more recently by Layard and others, who have brought to light those gigantic remains of palaces, statues, and other monuments which testify to the ancient grandeur of Nineveh, and those annalistic inscriptions which confirm the veracity of the prophecies of Nahum and of Isaiah, and of the historical narrative of Holy Scripture: and bear witness to the Divine foreknowledge of the Holy Ghost who speaks in it; to whom with the Father and the Son, Three Persons and one God, be honour and glory now and for evermore. Amen [Wordsworth].

Verses 14-18

CRITICAL NOTES.]

Nahum 3:14. Draw] for a long-continued siege, improve fortifications, put the kiln in order for burning bricks.

Nahum 3:15. Make] Multiply thyself, like the largest and most formidable locusts.

Nahum 3:16.] Traders and merchants increased innumerable as the stars, but fire and sword would devour all.

Nahum 3:17. Crowned] rulers or vassal princes which encamp in the cold and flee away in the sun. “The wings of locusts become stiffened in the cold; but as soon as the warm rays of the sun break through the clouds, they recover animation and fly away.”

Nahum 3:18. Shepherds] Princes and great men, royal counsellors and deputies upon whom the government devolved. Sleep] in death. People] The flock scattered and perished (cf. Numbers 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17).

THE LAST HOPE DESTROYED.—Nahum 3:14-18

The city is laden with guilt, but relies still upon its fortifications and numerical strength of population. The last prop is cut down. There is no hope left. Though provisioned within and strongly defended without, Nineveh must fall, and great will be the fall.

I. Inward provisions will waste away. “Draw the waters for the siege, go into clay, and tread the mortar,” &c. Water, necessary for siege and the support of life, must be procured. She must furnish herself with all manner of provisions to keep her from surrender or starvation. Clay must be prepared, and the kilns made ready for repairing and building strongholds. The conquering nation were to toil and do the work of slaves. But all would be in vain. The fire would devour her bulwarks, and the sword her population. Swift will be the ruin of all who number houses and fortify walls, “but have not looked to the maker thereof, nor have not respected him that fashioned them” (Isaiah 22:10-11).

II. Outward defences will be destroyed. “There shall the fire devour thee.” There, in the very centre of their toil and vast preparations, where the greatest security was relied upon, was the devouring fire. What was considered strongest was destroyed with ease, like locusts eating up the tender grass. Singly, and as a whole, the judgments of God will find men out. “Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.”

III. Immense numbers will fall away. “Make thyself many as the cankerworm.” Make thyself numerous and oppressive as locusts, gather from all quarters men to help, and seek to become mighty in multitudes, yet the foe will consume like creatures which lick up all before them.

1. Wealthy merchants will not defend. Though multiplied above the stars of heaven, and trafficking in despotism, they cannot lay up in store against the wrath of God. Money is the sinews of war, but will not shelter from the consequences of sin. Prosperity suddenly changes into adversity. “The cankerworm spoileth and fleeth away.”

2. Warlike soldiers will not defend. The captains, confederates, and commanders of the army, will melt away, perish like dew before the rising sun. They are but grasshoppers, mighty as they are. “All flesh is grass.”

3. Ruling princes will not defend. “Thy crowned heads are as the locusts,” &c. They subside into quietness in the calamity of the night, and continue their flight in the morning. They are “torpid in the cold and fly in the heat.” Officers of state and subordinate chiefs will be completely annihilated. “Their place is not known where they are.”

4. Great counsellors will not defend. The shepherds slumber in listlessness and excess; sink into torpor and stupidity. The nobles and greatest politicians were benighted and bereft of wisdom. “At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.” Valiant men would dwell in the dust, and be buried in silence. God can soon strip a nation of its great ones, and lay its honour in the dust. Where are they when he deals with them? “Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds, yet he shall perish for ever: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? He shall fly away, as a dream, and shall not be found: neither shall his place any more behold him.”

HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Nahum 3:14. Clay. Mankind still, with mire and clay, build themselves Babels. They go into clay, and become themselves earthly like the mire they steep themselves in. They make themselves strong, as though they thought that their houses would continue for ever. God’s wrath descends, and eats up like a cankerworm [Pusey].

Nahum 3:14-15.

1. Man by his endeavours cannot avert the judgments of God. Nineveh prepared and provisioned herself, but fell after all.

2. Man may presume upon carnal means until he is ruined. Lawful means are necessary, but we must not rely upon them for security. If God be against us no other help can relieve. “Running into God is the only best way to escape him. As to close and get in with him that would strike you doth avoid the blow” [Trapp].

Nahum 3:15. The prophet gives in three words the whole history of Nineveh, its beginning and its end. He had before foretold its destruction, though it should be oppressive as the locust: he had spoken of its commercial wealth; he adds to this, that other source of its wealth, its despoiling warfares and their issue. The heathen conqueror rehearsed his victory, “I came, saw, conquered.” The prophet goes farther, as the issue of all human conquest, “I disappeared” [Pusey].

Nahum 3:15-16.

1. The mightiest of earth are as locusts before him (cf. Isaiah 40:22).

2. The more obstinately they resist, the more irresistible is the judgment.
3. The larger and more numerous they are, the more utterly will they be destroyed [Lange].

Nahum 3:17. Cowardly rulers.

1. Sheltering for advantage. In the cold day, camping in the hedges, but fleeing away in sunshine.
2. Living only to eat. They are wasters merely, like locusts devouring everything before them.
3. Deserting when they should help, an emblem this of the world’s friendship. Men get what they can out of others, and then bid them farewell in distress. Treacherous friendships abound everywhere.

Dust. All flesh perishes, but the word of God endures for ever [Lange].

HOMILETICS

SLUMBERING SHEPHERDS AND SCATTERED FLOCKS.—Nahum 3:18

I. Shepherds unworthy in their character. They are destitute of counsel; base and idle; careful only for their own profit and safety, and not for the interests of the flock. Efficiency depends upon character in the ministry. Good shepherds care for the sheep, feed and defend them. “The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.”

II. Shepherds negligent in their duty. They sleep and consult their own ease, instead of defending their city and country. Indolence, self-indulgence, and fickleness doth eat like a canker into the ministry of some. Our duties demand entire devotedness of mind and heart. Ministers desecrate their high calling, when they enter it for ease or commercial advantage. Diligence is required in study, visitation, and preaching. “Woe to the idol-shepherd (one wishing to be his own idol and the idol of his flock) that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye.”

III. Shepherds cursed in their efforts. The flock is exposed and scattered, like sheep upon the mountains. They have none to care for them, consequently get lost. They are lost for ever. “No man gathereth them.” Terrible ruin! Fearful responsibility somewhere!

“I am shepherd to another man,
And do not sheer the fleece that I graze” [Shakspeare].

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3

Nahum 3:11-19. Nahum’s prophecy of the future destruction of Nineveh was fulfilled by the Medes and Babylonians (cf. ch. Nahum 2:1); and according to his prediction, the vast power of Nineveh completely vanished, and its glory was utterly eclipsed, so that in the year B. C. 401, Xenophon passed by the site without learning its name (Xen. Anab. iii. 4–7). Four hundred years afterwards a small fortress was standing on the site, to guard the passsage of the river Tigris (Tacitus, Ann. xii. 13), and opposite to it, on the west bank of the Tigris, has arisen the city of Mosul. In the year 1776, Niebuhr visited the spot, and supposed that what were the heaps of ruins of Nineveh, were natural undulations in the soil (See Rawlinson, i. 326). In more modern times it has been explored by Botta, the French Consul (in 1842), and more recently by Layard and others, who have brought to light those gigantic remains of palaces, statues, and other monuments which testify to the ancient grandeur of Nineveh, and those annalistic inscriptions which confirm the veracity of the prophecies of Nahum and of Isaiah, and of the historical narrative of Holy Scripture: and bear witness to the Divine foreknowledge of the Holy Ghost who speaks in it; to whom with the Father and the Son, Three Persons and one God, be honour and glory now and for evermore. Amen [Wordsworth].

Verse 19

CRITICAL NOTES.]

Nahum 3:19. Healing] Softening, or anointing, no cure. Bruise] Fracture or ruin (Proverbs 16:18; Lamentations 2:11).

IRRETRIEVABLE RUIN.—Nahum 3:19

Deliverance is utterly hopeless. The prophet declares the end of a nation which ruled with a rod of iron, and oppressed with unmitigated cruelty.

I. Nineveh cruel will be repaid for her cruelty. “For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?” Monuments and inscriptions prove the pitiless cruelty of Assyria. In sculptures are rows of impaled prisoners, whose eyes were put out, and whose lips were fastened by rings. God had long borne this oppression, but now guilt must be punished. Judgment must fall, and there is not the least hope of recovery. Cruelty and oppression will be rewarded in their own coin.

II. Nineveh ruined will be a joy to others. “All that hear the bruit of thee shall clap their hands over thee.”

1. This joy is great. It is exultation, clapping of hands.

2. This joy is universal. All, for cruelty was extensive, and none can grieve at its termination. The fall of the oppressor is the triumph of the oppressed.

III. Nineveh destroyed will never be restored. There is neither comfort in the affliction nor recovery from it. The wound is incurable. “There is no healing of thy bruise.” There is none to help. She had made no friends in her policy, displayed no signs of repentance in her guilt. Now she must perish without pity and without help. The ruin is total and irretrievable. “How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers,” &c. (Isaiah 14:4-7).