10 She is empty, yea, emptiness and waste, And the heart hath melted, And the knees have smitten together, And great pain `is' in all loins, And the faces of all of them have gathered paleness.
From its face pained are peoples, All faces have gathered paleness.
As waters I have been poured out, And separated themselves have all my bones, My heart hath been like wax, It is melted in the midst of my bowels.
And He stretcheth His hand against the north, And doth destroy Asshur, And he setteth Nineveh for a desolation, A dry land like a wilderness. And crouched in her midst have droves, Every beast of the nation, Both pelican and hedge-hog in her knobs lodge, A voice doth sing at the window, `Destruction `is' at the threshold, For the cedar-work is exposed.' This `is' the exulting city that is dwelling confidently, That is saying in her heart, `I `am', and beside me there is none,' How hath she been for a desolation, A crouching-place for beasts, Every one passing by her doth hiss, He doth shake his hand!
then the king's countenance hath changed, and his thoughts do trouble him, and the joints of his loins are loosed, and his knees are smiting one against another.
Lo, Jehovah is emptying the land, And is making it waste, And hath overturned `it on' its face, And hath scattered its inhabitants.
Therefore, all hands do fail, And every heart of man doth melt. And they have been troubled, Pains and pangs they take, As a travailing woman they are pained, A man at his friend they marvel, The appearance of flames -- their faces!
I have cut off nations, Desolated have been their chief ones, I have laid waste their out-places without any passing by, Destroyed have been their cities, Without man, without inhabitant.
And one strong messenger did take up a stone as a great millstone, and did cast `it' to the sea, saying, `Thus with violence shall Babylon be cast, the great city, and may not be found any more at all; and voice of harpers, and musicians, and pipers, and trumpeters, may not be heard at all in thee any more; and any artizan of any art may not be found at all in thee any more; and noise of a millstone may not be heard at all in thee any more; and light of a lamp may not shine at all in thee any more; and voice of bridegroom and of bride may not be heard at all in thee any more; because thy merchants were the great ones of the earth, because in thy sorcery were all the nations led astray,
And it hath come to pass, Each of thy beholders fleeth from thee, And hath said: `Spoiled is Nineveh, Who doth bemoan for her?' Whence do I seek comforters for thee?
and hast said: Jehovah, Thou, Thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that there is none dwelling in it, from man even unto cattle, for it is a desolation age-during.
I looked `to' the land, and lo, waste and void, And unto the heavens, and their light is not. I have looked `to' the mountains, And lo, they are trembling. And all the hills moved themselves lightly. I have looked, and lo, man is not, And all fowls of the heavens have fled. I have looked, and lo, The fruitful place `is' a wilderness, And all its cities have been broken down, Because of Jehovah, Because of the fierceness of His anger.
By night and by day she is not quenched, To the age go up doth her smoke, From generation to generation she is waste, For ever and ever, none is passing into her. And possess her do pelican and hedge-hog, And owl and raven dwell in her, And He hath stretched out over her A line of vacancy, and stones of emptiness. `To' the kingdom her freemen they call, But there are none there, And all her princes are at an end. And gone up her palaces have thorns, Nettle and bramble `are' in her fortresses, And it hath been a habitation of dragons, A court for daughters of an ostrich. And met have Ziim with Aiim, And the goat for its companion calleth, Only there rested hath the night-owl, And hath found for herself a place of rest. There made her nest hath the bittern, Yea, she layeth, and hath hatched, And hath gathered under her shadow, Only there gathered have been vultures, Each with its companion.
And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, The glory, the excellency of the Chaldeans, Hath been as overthrown by God, With Sodom and with Gomorrah. She doth not sit for ever, Nor continueth unto many generations, Nor doth Arab pitch tent there, And shepherds lie not down there. And Ziim have lain down there, And full have been their houses of howlings, And dwelt there have daughters of an ostrich, And goats do skip there. And Aiim have responded in his forsaken habitations, And dragons in palaces of delight, And near to come `is' her time, And her days are not drawn out!
And we hear, and melt doth our heart, and there hath not stood any more spirit in `any' man, from your presence, for Jehovah your God, He `is' God in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Nahum 2
Commentary on Nahum 2 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 2
We now come closer to Nineveh, that great city; she took, not warning by the destruction of her armies and the fall of her king, and therefore may expect, since she persists in her enmity to God, that he will proceed in his controversy with her. Here is foretold,
All this was fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar, in the first year of his reign, in conjunction with Cyaxares, or Ahasuerus, king of the Medes, conquered Nineveh, and made himself master of the Assyrian monarchy.
Nah 2:1-10
Here is,
Nah 2:11-13
Here we have Nineveh's ruin,