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... [ Continue Reading ]
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 say c, to... [ Continue Reading ]
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" e; 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 Benja... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
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 i... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GATES OF THE RIVERS SHALL BE OPENED,.... Of Diava and Adiava, or Lycus and Caprus, between which, according to some writers i, 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, b... [ Continue Reading ]
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, Psalms 45:9 who, when the royal palace was destroyed,... [ Continue Reading ]
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;... [ Continue Reading ]
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 thi... [ Continue Reading ]
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; Nahum 1:8. Various words are... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
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 ine... [ Continue Reading ]