The Bloody City (Nahum 3:1-4)

This study was done using the Amplified Bible, which I don't have permission to publish, so I will replace the verses here with the American Standard Version.  Because of that some of the comments may not totally make sense because the AMP has expanded explanations.  I would highly recommend going to a site like BibleGateway.com where you can read the AMP version for free.

Nahum Chapter 3: 

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

 Nineveh certainly was a bloody city.  It's kings were known for awful brutality.  When they defeated their enemies there would lead their captives by putting hooks through their noses and even execute them by skinning them alive.

It was full of lies as are many nations, particularly the nobles and politicians.  They make great promises to nations and peoples in order to convince them to submit, but in the end do not fulfill their end of the bargain.

2 The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels, and prancing horses, and bounding chariots,

A.  Such distinct sounds the inhabitants of the city would have hear from far off.  The cracking of the whip also indicates haste, the rushing onslaught toward the great city. 

3 the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies; they stumble upon their bodies;-

A.  Such a large multitude of flashing swords and gleaming spears would have been terrible to look at from the city walls.  Then, when they burst into the city the bodies became innumerable.  The stumbling was by both the horsemen and the fleeing Ninevites who were forced to trip over the bodies of their own family and friends.  The horsemen, having no respect for those they killed continued forward, trampling the bodies of their victims.

4 All because of the multitude of the harlotries [of Nineveh], the well-favored harlot, the mistress of deadly charms who betrays and sells nations through her whoredoms [idolatry] and peoples through her enchantments.

 Harlotry in fact was a mainstay of Assyria, John Gill explains: "...all the Assyrian women must be harlots, since they were obliged once in their lifetime to lie with a stranger in the temple of Venus, whom the Assyrians call Mylitta, as Herodotus (b) and Strabo (c) relate; to all which here may be an allusion: and particularly the inhabitants of this city had all the arts of address and insinuation to deceive others as harlots have; and both men and women very probably were given to whoredom and adultery in a literal sense as is generally the case where luxury and intemperance abound; and especially were grossly guilty of idolatry, which in Scripture is frequently expressed by whoredom and adultery; worshiping Bel, Nisroch and other deities and which was highly provoking to God; and therefore for these things, his judgement came upon them, before and after described."

Nineveh had a long history of enslaving nations.  Those nations which rose up and destroyed it were enslaved nations before that time.  

Ashurbanipal - Lion Slayer? (Nahum 2:6-13)

This study was done using the Amplified Bible, which I don't have permission to publish, so I will replace the verses here with the American Standard Version.  Because of that some of the comments may not totally make sense because the AMP has expanded explanations.  I would highly recommend going to a site like BibleGateway.com where you can read the AMP version for free.

6 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.

     A.  Despite the great efforts of the Ninevites to survive and fight back, God's judgement and the prophecy of Nahum was unstoppable.  According to John Gill, the rivers here are, "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, broke down the walls of the city for two and a half miles, and opened a way for the Medes and Chaldeans to enter in...".  It was the overflowing of the river Tigris that truly sealed the fate of the Ninevites.  They could have possibly fought for longer and held off the powerful attack the the Babylonians had it not been for the flooding that destroyed their walls.

7 And it is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts.

It is decreed.  Once God decrees something, there is nothing that can stop it.  Not the largest armies, wisest men, or thickest walls. 

Some translations have the word Huzzab instead of "She".  This is because Hebrew word "Huzzab" means "Appointed", and there has been debate as to whether Huzzab is the name of the queen, who would have very likely been taken captive as was the custom in those days, or is this referring to Nineveh itself.  This is unknown for sure, however in my opinion the fact that this passage specifically refers to "her maids" makes me lean toward Huzzab indeed being the queen.

8 But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water: yet they flee away. Stand, stand, they cry; but none looketh back.

    A.  Nineveh as a standing pool is an reference to the age of the city, Nineveh was founded by Nimrod (Genesis 10:11) the great hunter before the Lord.  It had been strong for a very long time, but now, even with such deep roots the people fled in chaos.  The bravest of their champions called for them to stand their ground, but they would not listen even to them.

9 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture.

   A.  It is truly incredible the accuracy of Nahum's description of what would happen. Babylonian accounts of the siege of Nineveh describe that they actually stopped their advance toward the city because the surrounding temples and villages were so full of plunder, they decided to take their times and divvy it up before making their way into the main city.

   B.  According to Gordon Franz*, "Nineveh was the Fort Knox of mid-seventh century BC Mesopotamia. On every Assyrian campaign they removed the silver, gold and precious stones and other items from the cities they sacked. When they bragged about the booty that was taken, silver and gold always topped the list. As an example, after the fall of No-Amon (Thebes), Ashurbanipal bragged that he took:

Silver, gold, precious stones, the goods of his palace, all there was, brightly colored and linen garments, great horses, the people, male and female, two tall obelisks...I removed from their positions and carried them off to Assyria. Heavy plunder, and countless, I carried away from Ni’ [Thebes] (Luckenbill 1989, 2:296,)

* Source: Associates For Biblical Research (http://www.biblearchaeology.org/), Bible and Spade Magazine.

10 She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale.

A.  There is no doubt that this is truly what became the fate of Nineveh.  Utter destruction.  To this day it is still nothing but dust and ruins.  The three Hebrew words for, "Emptiness! Desolation! Utter waste!" Are Bukah, Mebukah, Mebullakah, and are intense, definitive words meant to signify the ominous climax to the battle.

11 Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?

Nineveh was such a powerful city, the crown of a world dominating nation that it is entirely appropriate to compare it to a lion's den.  Assyrian Kings were also expected to be men of great bravery, and lion hunting is often depicted in their art.  Pictured here is an artifact from the British Museum taken from the dig of Nineveh's North Palace.  Here were see Ashurbanipal on a royal lion hunt.  

12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens with ravin.

A.  Nineveh, the lion was the source of power, strength, and wealth for all of Assyria.  As Gordon Franz* stated, it was the Fort Knox of the nation.  Out of it the military decisions to conquer and destroy others came, and the spoils of those conquests were then brought back to the city.

*Source: Associates For Biblical Research (http://www.biblearchaeology.org/), Bible and Spade Magazine.

13 Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah 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.

 God says He will burn the chariots of Nineveh in smoke.  The fires that will burn the city will be so great that the heat from just the smoke will be enough to cook the famous chariots and their riders.

John Wesley states, "Thy messengers - Ambassadors or muster - masters. Probably this refers to Rabshakeh who had blasphemed the living God. Those are not worthy to be heard again, that have once spoken reproachfully against God."

Nahum's Sarcasm (Nahum 2:1-5)

This study was done using the Amplified Bible, which I don't have permission to publish, so I will replace the verses here with the American Standard Version.  Because of that some of the comments may not totally make sense because the AMP has expanded explanations.  I would highly recommend going to a site like BibleGateway.com where you can read the AMP version for free.

Nahum Chapter 2

 1. He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thee: keep the fortress, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.

 As mentioned in the AMP version, this is a sarcastic message to Nineveh by the prophet.  As Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal so Nahum is mocking the Ninevites who were in a time of expansion when this was written.  They were growing in strength and becoming ever stronger, believing that they could not possibly fall.  Nahum knew that for all their strength it would come to a bitter and bloody end, as it certainly did.

2 For Jehovah restoreth the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches.

     A.  What a declaration of redemption!  God's desire has always been to restore the excellency of His people.  They so often open the gates and allow plunderers to come in and empty them of their goods, but God is there waiting to restore and bless.

3 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the cypress spears are brandished.

  A.  The Medes in fact did use red shields and clothing as is depicted in the image of a Median cavalryman here.

Median Cavalryman

It is also likely that the redness of the shields is also in reference to the blood of those killed in the battle.  In the case of the fire and steel it is historically recorded that the Medes and Babylonians always carried torches with them into battle.  Aside from providing light at night, they were also used to honor their gods.

4 The chariots rage in the streets; they rush to and fro in the broad ways: the appearance of them is like torches; they run like the lightnings.

   A.  What an image of desperation and chaos is this prophecy of what Nineveh will look like when that inevitable war was to come.  The wild, bewildered attempts to escape by the Ninevites as they are overrun by torch carrying chariots of the Babylonian army.  Without a doubt the Babylonians used those torches to set homes and anything else they could on fire.  One can only imagine the terror they must have felt when the overwhelming surge of the enemy began to push through the streets.

5 He remembereth his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared.

     A.  At this point, when the siege actually took place, the brilliant king Ashurbanipal had died, and a less effective king, the son of Ashurbanipal, named Sin-shar-ishkun was ruling in Nineveh.  Once Ashurbanipal had died, the kingdom of Assyria began to unravel fairly quickly.  There were multiple violent conflicts, including with his own brother whom he removed from the throne.   He was killed in the attack.