Nahum 2:8-13
Nahum 2:8
(KJB)
But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they
shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.
Nineveh is now compared to a standing pool of water which
is another way of saying that they are in a flood of bewilderment.
Just as pools of water are emptied, Nineveh shall be just like those
pools as the people will flee leaving Nineveh an empty shell ripe for total
destruction. The fear will be so
great that none of those who were able to escape will even look back at the
city. The officers will command the
troops to stand their ground but they will not listen and will also commence
fleeing from Nineveh. They too will
not look back as their only thoughts are self-preservation.
Nahum 2:9
(KJB)
Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for
there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.
The Medes and Babylonians are being encouraged to
completely pillage the treasury of the king and all the spoils they can bring
back to Babylon. After hundreds of
years of pillaging other countries and regions, the vast store of treasure
seemed endless so the invaders were for a long time continuing to empty out the
treasury and not only the treasury but they were taking all the royal furniture
which was top of the line goods.
They would also take the furniture from houses and businesses, wherever quality
goods were found. The plundering
would be complete since all their goods were used both for official use and for
recreational usage.
Nahum 2:10
(KJB)
She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth,
and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of
them all gather blackness.
Nineveh has now been defeated and is fallen by the Medes
and Babylonians. After the
plundering, the city sits there as a void and wasted site.
When one of the Ninevites look back at it and see the condition it is in
compared to what it used to be, their heart will be like melting in their chest.
The fear of the invading armies was so great that it caused much fear to
the point that the knees would hit against each other.
The pains they suffered not only were bodily in nature but was emotional
as well since the Ninevites had lost everything.
The faces that once sported a proud look are now dejected because of the
destruction of Nineveh. They no
longer can walk around proud since they now have been brought down to
destruction and are no longer a threat to their neighbors or anyone else,
especially Judah.
Nahum 2:11
(KJB)
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 Lord now gives a railing discourse against Assyria
itself. He asks where the dwelling
place of the lions are, that is, the kings of Assyria from the past such as Pul,
Shalmaneser, and Tiglath-Pileser?
Then he approaches the subject of the feeding place of the young lions, that is,
the princes which are the children of the kings who would be trained to take
over when their fathers would die.
The old lion would be the king of Assyria who walked around without a care
because he knew that he was safe since no one was powerful enough to attack
Assyria and win. The children of
the kings, no matter how young they were would walk around the palace having no
fear since they saw the power of Assyria and because of this they feared no
enemy.
Nahum 2:12
(KJB)
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.
The discourse continues as Assyria being the lion had
ravaged its neighbors and conquered them and stole their wealth and then after
stealing everything they broke down the storehouses.
They plundered to give great expensive gifts to the queen and to the
concubines of the king and those women who also served in the court.
The holes and dens would refer to the storehouses and treasuries of
Assyria that they would fill up with every conquest.
The word “ravin” carries with it the meaning of “tearing in pieces,
devour, pillage, or rob.” Ravin
comes from the French word “ravine” which means “to rob or rapine.”
Rapine means “to plunder.”
Whenever Assyria attacked a nation, they would plunder all of its wealth so
there would be no way that nation could ever rise against Assyria.
Nahum 2:13
(KJB)
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.