Nahum Commentaries Series from 4 commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon, Adam Clarke, John Wesley & Matthew Henry
Their combined CHAPTER 2 SUMMARY:
This is a prophecy of the destruction of Nineveh. Remember that Assyria had been one of the great powers that swayed the world, a cruel, tyrannical empire; and God at last determined to destroy Nineveh, which was its seat of government.
Nineveh is now called upon to prepare for the approach of her enemies, the instruments of Jehovah's vengeance and the military array and muster, the very arms and dress, of the Medes and Babylonians in the reigns of Cyaxares and Nabopolassar; their rapid approach to the city; the process of the siege, and the inundation of the river; the capture of the place; the captivity, lamentation, and flight of the inhabitants; the sacking of this immense, wealthy, and exceedingly populous city; and the consequent desolation and terror, are all described in the pathetic, vivid, and sublime imagery of Hebrew poetry. This description is succeeded by a very beautiful and expressive allegory, which is immediately explained, and applied to the city of Nineveh. ....the metropolitan city of the Assyrian empire is also intended by the tender and beautiful simile, in the seventh verse, of a great princess led captive, with her maids of honor attending her, bewailing her and their own condition, by beating their breasts, and by other expressions of sorrow.
Some Verse Highlights:
Charles Spurgeon, Adam Clarke, John Wesley & Matthew Henry
Their combined CHAPTER 2 SUMMARY:
This is a prophecy of the destruction of Nineveh. Remember that Assyria had been one of the great powers that swayed the world, a cruel, tyrannical empire; and God at last determined to destroy Nineveh, which was its seat of government. Nineveh is now called upon to prepare for the approach of her enemies, the instruments of Jehovah's vengeance and the military array and muster, the very arms and dress, of the Medes and Babylonians in the reigns of Cyaxares and Nabopolassar; their rapid approach to the city; the process of the siege, and the inundation of the river; the capture of the place; the captivity, lamentation, and flight of the inhabitants; the sacking of this immense, wealthy, and exceedingly populous city; and the consequent desolation and terror, are all described in the pathetic, vivid, and sublime imagery of Hebrew poetry. This description is succeeded by a very beautiful and expressive allegory, which is immediately explained, and applied to the city of Nineveh. ....the metropolitan city of the Assyrian empire is also intended by the tender and beautiful simile, in the seventh verse, of a great princess led captive, with her maids of honor attending her, bewailing her and their own condition, by beating their breasts, and by other expressions of sorrow.
Some Verse Highlights:
And Huzzab shall be led away captive,
she shall be brought up,
and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
tabering upon their breasts.
Nahum 2:7
Wesley: Huzzab - The queen. The voice of doves - Sighing out their complaints. Upon their breasts - Instead of musical instruments, on which they were used to play, now they only strike their breasts.
Henry: Huzzab shall be led away captive she that was established, thought herself safe because she was concealed and shut up in secret, shall be discovered (so the margin reads it) and shall be led away captive, in greater disgrace than that of common prisoners she shall be brought up in a mock state, and her maids of honor shall lead her, because she is weak and faint.
Clarke: Some think Huzzab signifies Nineveh itself.
Where is the dwelling of the lions,
and the feedingplace of the young lions,
where the lion, even the old lion, walked,
and 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 holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
Nahum 2:11,12
Spurgeon: You will remember how Mr. Layard took out of the ruins at Nineveh those immense lions that now stand in the British Museum. They were the very type of this great empire, that boasted itself in its lion-like strength and ferocity.
Clarke: Where is the dwelling of the lions - Nineveh, the habitation of bold, strong, and ferocious men. The feeding place of the young lions - Whither her victorious and rapacious generals frequently returned to consume the produce of their success. Here they walked at large, and none made them afraid. Wheresoever they turned their arms they were victors; and all nations were afraid of them.
Wesley: Did tear - Formerly fell upon his neighbour nations. His lionesses - Queens, concubines, or ladies in the Assyrian court.
Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD 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
Wesley: I will burn her - Nineveh. In the smoke - The city being first plundered, then burnt; these chariots were burnt in that smoke.Thy prey - Cause thee to cease from making a prey any more. Thy messengers - Embassadors - masters. Probably this refers to Rabshaketh who had blasphemed the living God. Those are not worthy to be heard again, that have once spoken reproachfully against God.
Clarke: The voice of thy messengers - Announcing thy splendid victories, and the vast spoils taken - shall no more be heard - thou and thy riches, and ill-got spoils, shall perish together.
Spurgeon: Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, And whenever that is the case, a man does not need any other adversary. If God be against you, O my dear hearer, what will become of you?
