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The Prophets · Old Testament

Nahum 3

Nahum 3: woe to the bloody city, and no healing for Assyria's wound

General context

Woe is pronounced on the bloody city, full of lies and robbery, from which the prey never departs. The sounds of whip, wheels, horses and chariots follow, then the horseman with sword and spear, and a multitude of slain so great that people stumble on corpses. The cause is the whoredoms of the well-favoured harlot, mistress of witchcrafts, who sells nations and families. The Lord of hosts says he is against her and will uncover her skirts, show the nations her nakedness, cast filth on her and make her a gazingstock, so that all who see her flee and ask who will bemoan Nineveh. She is asked whether she is better than populous No, set among rivers with the sea as rampart, with Ethiopia, Egypt, Put and Lubim as her strength; yet No went into captivity, her children dashed in pieces, lots cast for her honourable men. Nineveh too will be drunken and hidden. Her strongholds are ripe figs that fall into the eater's mouth; her people are women; her gates lie open and fire eats her bars. She is told to draw water and tread mortar for a siege, but fire and sword will eat her like the cankerworm. Her merchants outnumber the stars, her crowned ones and captains are locusts that flee when the sun rises. The king of Assyria's shepherds slumber, his nobles lie in the dust, his people scatter on the mountains with none to gather them. There is no healing of the bruise, and all who hear will clap their hands, because everyone has felt her wickedness.

Cited passages: Nahum 3:1, Nahum 3:2, Nahum 3:3, Nahum 3:4, Nahum 3:5, Nahum 3:6, Nahum 3:7, Nahum 3:8, Nahum 3:9, Nahum 3:10, Nahum 3:11, Nahum 3:12, Nahum 3:13, Nahum 3:14, Nahum 3:15, Nahum 3:16, Nahum 3:17, Nahum 3:18, Nahum 3:19

Nahum 3 (KJV)

1Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;

2The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.

3The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:

4Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.

5Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.

6And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.

7And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?

8Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?

9Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.

10Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.

11Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.

12All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.

13Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.

14Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.

15There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.

16Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.

17Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.

18Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.

19There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

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Historical context

The "bloody city" is not named in verse 1; Nineveh is named in verse 7 by the onlookers who ask who will bemoan her, and the king of Assyria is addressed directly in verse 18, the only place the book names the king. The comparison city is "populous No," described as situated among the rivers with the sea for rampart and helped by Ethiopia, Egypt, Put and Lubim; the chapter says No was carried into captivity but does not say by whom or when. The harlot and witchcraft language of verse 4 is the chapter's stated reason for the judgment, together with lies, robbery and prey in verse 1; no treaty, war or king of Nineveh is described. The cankerworm and locust comparisons are applied to the city's merchants, crowned ones and captains, not to an invading army. The killing in verse 3 and the dashing of No's children in verse 10 are stated plainly. The final verse says "all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands," giving the reaction of the nations rather than of Judah, which is not mentioned in this chapter.

Cited passages: Nahum 3:1, Nahum 3:7, Nahum 3:18, Nahum 3:8, Nahum 3:9, Nahum 3:10, Nahum 3:4, Nahum 3:16, Nahum 3:17, Nahum 3:3, Nahum 3:19

Literary context

The chapter opens with a woe and a list of noises without verbs, whip, wheels, horses, chariots, before the horseman appears and corpses pile. Verse 5 repeats the phrase from 2:13, "Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts," and turns the harlot image into public exposure and a gazingstock. The comparison with No is built as a question, "Art thou better," with No's advantages listed before the single "Yet" that undoes them. The siege orders in verse 14 echo the fortifying orders of 2:1 and are answered by "There shall the fire devour thee." The insect images run in sequence: cankerworm, locust, grasshopper, all things that multiply and vanish. The last two verses drop images for direct address to the king of Assyria and a final unanswerable question, "upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?", which is the book's closing word. The clapping of hands sets the nations' relief against the "burden" of the heading in 1:1.

Cited passages: Nahum 3:1, Nahum 3:2, Nahum 3:3, Nahum 3:5, Nahum 2:13, Nahum 3:6, Nahum 3:8, Nahum 3:10, Nahum 3:14, Nahum 2:1, Nahum 3:15, Nahum 3:17, Nahum 3:18, Nahum 3:19, Nahum 1:1

Key moments

  1. Woe to the bloody city (Nahum 3:1). The city full of lies and robbery is placed under woe.
  2. A multitude of slain (Nahum 3:3). The horseman comes with sword and spear, and people stumble on corpses.
  3. Nakedness shown to the nations (Nahum 3:5). The Lord will uncover her skirts and show the kingdoms her shame.
  4. Art thou better than No? (Nahum 3:8). The city is compared with populous No among the rivers.
  5. No carried into captivity (Nahum 3:10). No's children were dashed in pieces and her great men chained.
  6. Locusts that flee at sunrise (Nahum 3:17). Her crowned ones and captains vanish like grasshoppers when the sun rises.
  7. No healing of thy bruise (Nahum 3:19). The king of Assyria hears that his wound is grievous and all will clap their hands.

For reflection

The book ends with everyone who hears clapping their hands and a question about whom Nineveh's wickedness has not touched. What does it mean that the last word of a prophetic book is other nations' relief rather than any word to Judah?