Deeper Commentary

Nahum Chapter 2

Nahum 2:1 He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your muscles! Fortify your power mightily!- The prophets continually decry all human strength, and so this is said not so much in sarcasm, but because God wants Nineveh to trust in its strength so that it would in due course repent upon seeing how worthless is any human strength. See on Nah. 3:14.

But we could read this as following on from Nah. 1:15, where a messenger comes to Judah with Nahum's message that Assyria is to be destroyed. If indeed this was at the time of the Assyrian encirclement of Jerusalem, then Nah. 2:1 may be addressed to Zion, encouraging them to keep and not surrender the fortress of Zion, and to strengthen themselves in God.

Nahum 2:2 For Yahweh restores the pride of Jacob, as the pride of Israel; for the destroyers have destroyed them, and ruined their vine branches- Clearly the destruction of Nineveh was intended to coincide with the restoration of Jacob, and the shooting forth of his vine branches with fruit upon them. This didn't happen as it could have done in Nahum's time. Jacob didn't bring forth fruit, and his glory was not restored. The restoration of God's Kingdom in Israel was deferred and rescheduled to the last days, when the latter day Assyrian will be destroyed and the repentant Jewish remnant bring forth spiritual fruit. The pride or excellency of Jacob refers to the land promised to Jacob and the patriarchs (s.w. Ps. 47:4; Am. 6:8).

Nahum 2:3 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are dressed in scarlet, the chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the pine spears are brandished- The Assyrians were noted for their red shields and scarlet military uniforms. Now, that red colour was to be due to their own blood.

The destruction of Nineveh by chariots with flaming fire (2:3-5) suggests that the Medes were but representatives of the Cherubim chariots with Angels made as a flame of fire (Ps. 104:4); thus the "worthies" of 2:5 are the Angels, and the work controlled overall by the "Lord of Hosts" (Nah. 3:5)- of Angels. There are several other examples of human armies being described in Angelic language. Our worst enemies are under Angelic control. The Angel who destroyed the Assyrians outside the walls of Jerusalem in Hezekiah's time was to then go to Nineveh and destroy their capital city. But as noted above, this didn't fully happen as intended because the people of God didn't bring forth spiritual fruit (see on :2).

Nahum 2:4 The chariots rage in the streets, they rush back and forth in the broad highways. Their appearance is like torches, they run like lightning- As noted on :3, this is the language of the Angel cherubim; we note the similarity of language with the cherubim visions of Ezekiel ("appearance", "like torches", 'running', "like lightning"). The Angel who destroyed the Assyrians outside the walls of Jerusalem in Hezekiah's time was to then go to Nineveh and destroy their capital city. But as noted above, this didn't fully happen as intended because the people of God didn't bring forth spiritual fruit (see on :2).

Nahum 2:5 He summons his picked troops. They stumble on their way. They dash to protect its wall, and the protective shield is put in place- Missile shields and other such defensive technology is what the nations trust in today as well. Again the message is that the highest human might and technology, the "picked troops", are unable to defend against God's judgment. These troops did not stumble on their way when they were sent against Judah by God (s.w. Is. 5:27), but now they would stumble. The lesson is that God elevates and brings down, and the greatest of men in secular terms are only given their power and glory for a time, to achieve God's wider plan. See on Nah. 3:13.

Nahum 2:6 The gates of the rivers are opened- Various commentators give historical accounts of the fall of Nineveh to the Medes which involve the river being used to overthrow the city, as happened with Babylon. The simple point is that their defences were seemingly unbreachable, but they were breached very easily. And this is a lesson for all who trust in human defences and insurances.

And the palace is dissolved- Some claim that the king of Nineveh burnt the palace over himself. Seeing the palace was also the house of his gods (see on Nah. 1:14), this was a significant recognition that his entire religious and spiritual life had been a failure. He died with his gods, becoming like that which he worshipped.

Nahum 2:7 It is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating on their breasts- The reference may be to the queen of Nineveh (AV "Huzzab"), after her husband had committed suicide in the invasion (see on :6). They were the lion and lioness in the den of :11. But this woman clearly stands as symbolic of the city, which is presented as a prostitute in Nah. 3:4. The woman who once lived in solitary confinement with her maids was now stripped naked and led away with her maids bemoaning her.

Nahum 2:8 Like water from a burst dam the people rush away from Nineveh. Stop! Stop! they cry, but no one looks back- This recalls Mosul, modern Nineveh, under siege in 2017 and the jihadists trying to stop the inhabitants fleeing. The flight of "waters" from Nineveh may suggests these were people from the various nations who had been exiled there; for waters often represent Gentile peoples in the Bible. This verse may be the equivalent of the call for God's people to flee out of Babylon, and like Lot fleeing Sodom, not to look back. Again, the Divine intention was that His exiled people repent and return to the land, now that Assyria was suddenly destroyed. But this didn't quite happen; because they didn't repent, just as it didn't quite happen as potentially possible when Babylon fell. The final fulfilment must be in the last days. See on Nah. 3:7.

Nahum 2:9 Take the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold, for there is no end of the booty- This again, as suggested on :8, may be a call not simply to the Medes to pillage Nineveh, but to God's people to treat her as Egypt. They were to take her gold and jewels as Israel had done from Egypt on Passover night, and make their way back to the promised land. Nahum 1 is full of language allusive to the Red Sea and the work of God at the fall of Egypt. As Egypt's chariots were destroyed there, so were Nineveh's to be (:13). They were to grasp the parallels and leave, taking with them the spoil of Egypt.

The glory of all goodly jewels- AV "the glory [of] the pleasant furniture", perhaps a reference to artifacts of Yahweh worship carried away from Judah.

Nahum 2:10 She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown pale- The allusion is to how Assyria had emptied and spoiled (:9) the land of Judah (s.w. Is. 24:3). Faces turned pale, melting hearts and knocking knees is the very language used of what Assyria did to Judah. What Assyria had done to Judah was now being done to her. We see this in the structure of Revelation; the seals of judgment upon Israel are related to the bowls of wrath upon those who judge them.

Nahum 2:11 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 cubs, and no one made them afraid?- Lions were the iconic symbol of Assyria, and Nineveh was their den. The reference to lion and lioness may refer to the king and queen of Nineveh, mentioned in :7. "Where is..." Nineveh would suggest that it was to no longer exist. But it did, and still does in the form of Mosul. This may be an example of where Nahum's prophecy didn't have exact fulfilment; but it will have in the total destruction of the latter day Assyrian. See on Nah. 1:8.

Nahum 2:12 The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with the kill, and his dens with prey- The exiles such as Nahum had been taken to Nineveh; "dens" is how their exile is described (Is. 42:22 s.w.). The "prey" was the spoil taken from places like Judah (Is. 17:14; 24:3). But it was a restored Judah who were to be the lion who took prey (Gen. 49:9 s.w.). Just as Assyria claimed that their kingdom was as the Kingdom of God (Is. 36:16 cp. Mic. 4:4), so they acted as the lion of Judah. They were an anti-Kingdom of God and their king as an anti-Christ, a pseudo Messiah.

Nahum 2:13 Behold, I am against you, says Yahweh of Armies, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth- The destruction of her chariots is another connection with the destruction of the Egyptians; see on :9. Burning chariots was what a faithful Israel were to do to their enemies (Josh. 11:6); again the implication was that Nineveh's destruction was to coincide with the repentance of Israel.

And the voice of your envoys will no longer be heard- This is surely a specific reference to the loud voice of Rabshakeh, the envoy of Sennacherib, outside the walls of Jerusalem in Hezekiah's time. The word for "envoys", malak, is perhaps used about him in Is. 30:4, and certainly in Is. 37:9,14. But Is. 37:36 then says that Yahweh's malak, His Angel / envoy, went out and slew the Assyrian army. Again we see the potential for the fulfilment of the prophecy at Hezekiah's time; but there was only a partial fulfilment because Judah did not repent as required, the repentant exiles didn't return, and so the major fulfilment has been delayed until the last days.