Nahum's central woe oracle uniquely combines military imagery ("whip," "rattling wheels," "flashing sword") with sexual metaphors ("expose your nakedness," "lift up your skirts") to depict Nineveh's complete humiliation.
Nahum 3
Woe Oracle Against the Bloody City
1Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery—no end to the prey.
2The noise of the whip, the noise of the rattling of wheels, prancing horses, and bounding chariots,
3the horseman charging, and the flashing sword, the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies. They stumble on their bodies
4because of the multitude of the prostitution of the alluring prostitute, the mistress of witchcraft, who sells nations through her prostitution, and families through her witchcraft.
5“Behold, I am against you,” says the LORD of Armies, “and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.
6I will throw abominable filth on you and make you vile, and will make you a spectacle.
7It will happen that all those who look at you will flee from you, and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste! Who will mourn for her?’ Where will I seek comforters for you?”
Comparison with Thebes
8Are you better than No-Amon, who was situated among the rivers, who had the waters around her, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea?
9Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength. Put and Libya were her helpers.
10Yet was she carried away. She went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets, and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
11You also will be drunken. You will be hidden. You also will seek a stronghold because of the enemy.
12All your fortresses will be like fig trees with the first-ripe figs. If they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.
13Behold, your troops among you are women. The gates of your land are set wide open to your enemies. The fire has devoured your bars.
Final Mockery and Irreversible Doom
14Draw water for the siege. Strengthen your fortresses. Go into the clay, and tread the mortar. Make the brick kiln strong.
15There the fire will devour you. The sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the grasshopper. Multiply like grasshoppers. Multiply like the locust.
16You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the skies. The grasshopper strips and flees away.
17Your guards are like the locusts, and your officials like the swarms of locusts, which settle on the walls on a cold day, but when the sun appears, they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
18Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria. Your nobles lie down. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.
19There is no healing your wound, for your injury is fatal. All who hear the report of you clap their hands over you, for who hasn’t felt your endless cruelty?
Font Size 17pt
Line Spacing
Theme
Nahum concludes his prophecy with a devastating woe oracle against Nineveh, condemning the Assyrian capital as a 'bloody city' filled with violence, deception, and spiritual prostitution. The prophet compares Nineveh's coming fate to that of Thebes (No-Amon), which despite its strength and strategic position was conquered and destroyed, demonstrating that no earthly power can withstand God's judgment. The chapter ends with vivid imagery of Nineveh's complete and irreversible destruction, portraying its leaders as ineffective and its defenses as utterly inadequate against divine wrath.
Context
This final chapter brings Nahum's three-chapter prophecy to its climactic conclusion, fulfilling the promise of Nineveh's destruction that was introduced in chapter 1 and developed through chapter 2.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-7 Woe Oracle Against the Bloody City God pronounces judgment on Nineveh for its violence, deception, and spiritual corruption, promising public humiliation and desolation.
- 8-11 Comparison with Thebes Nahum reminds Nineveh that even the mighty Egyptian city of Thebes fell despite its natural defenses and powerful allies.
- 12-17 Futility of Nineveh's Defenses The prophet describes how Nineveh's fortifications, military preparations, and leadership will prove completely inadequate against God's judgment.
- 18-19 Final Mockery and Irreversible Doom Nahum concludes with a taunt against Assyria's king, declaring that Nineveh's destruction will be complete and celebrated by all who suffered under Assyrian cruelty.
Woe Oracle Against the Bloody City
3:1–3:7 prophecy wrathful
A woe oracle condemning Nineveh as a bloody city full of lies and violence. God promises to expose and humiliate the city, leaving it desolate without comforters.
structural
Nahum's central woe oracle uniquely combines military imagery ("whip," "rattling wheels," "flashing sword") with sexual metaphors ("expose your nakedness," "lift up your skirts") to depict Nineveh's complete humiliation.
Comparison with Thebes
3:8–3:13 prophecy warning
Nahum compares Nineveh's coming fate to the fall of Thebes (No-Amon), showing that even mighty cities with strong allies fall. Nineveh's defenses will prove as weak as ripe figs falling from trees.
geographic
Nahum's reference to Thebes (No-Amon) as having "waters around her" and "the sea" as her wall transforms Egypt's Nile geography into maritime fortress imagery, making this the Bible's only aquatic metaphor for Egyptian military defense.
Final Mockery and Irreversible Doom
3:14–3:19 prophecy triumphant
Final mockery of Nineveh's futile preparations for siege, declaring their doom inevitable and irreversible. The prophecy ends with universal rejoicing over Assyria's fall due to their endless cruelty.
structural
Nahum's final verses uniquely combine military preparation imagery ("draw water," "strengthen fortresses") with agricultural destruction metaphors ("grasshopper," "locust") to mock Nineveh's futile defense attempts.
Insights
Nahum's reference to Thebes (No-Amon) as having "waters around her" and "the sea" as her wall transforms Egypt's Nile geography into maritime fortress imagery, making this the Bible's only aquatic metaphor for Egyptian military defense.
Nahum's final verses uniquely combine military preparation imagery ("draw water," "strengthen fortresses") with agricultural destruction metaphors ("grasshopper," "locust") to mock Nineveh's futile defense attempts.
Cross-References
Connected passages across Scripture
Nahum 3:2 2 references
Nahum 3:3 1 reference
Nahum 3:4 1 reference
Nahum 3:5 1 reference
Nahum 3:7 1 reference
Nahum 3:8 1 reference
Nahum 3:9 5 references
Lexicals 5
Jeremiah 46:9 Lexical
Go up, you horses! Rage, you chariots! Let the mighty men go out: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, wh…
Ezekiel 38:5 Lexical
Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
Ezekiel 30:5 Lexical
“‘“Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the mixed people, Cub, and the children of the land that is allied with them, will fall with…
1 Chronicles 1:8 Lexical
The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
Genesis 10:6 Lexical
The sons of Ham were: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
Nahum 3:10 3 references
Lexicals 3
2 Kings 8:12 Lexical
Hazael said, “Why do you weep, my lord?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israe…
Isaiah 13:16 Lexical
Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped.
Obadiah 1:11 Lexical
In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance and foreigners entered…
Nahum 3:13 1 reference
Nahum 3:14 2 references
Nahum 3:15 3 references
Lexicals 3
Joel 1:4 Lexical
What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten…
Joel 2:25 Lexical
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpill…
Psalms 105:34 Lexical
He spoke, and the locusts came with the grasshoppers, without number.
Nahum 3:16 5 references
Lexicals 5
Exodus 32:13 Lexical
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multip…
Genesis 26:4 Lexical
I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and will give all these lands to your offspring. In your offspri…
Genesis 22:17 Lexical
that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your offspring greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sa…
Nehemiah 9:23 Lexical
You also multiplied their children as the stars of the sky, and brought them into the land concerning which you said to…
Deuteronomy 1:10 Lexical
The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the sky for multitude.
Nahum 3:17 1 reference
Nahum 3:19 3 references
Lexicals 3
Jeremiah 10:19 Lexical
Woe is me because of my injury! My wound is serious; but I said, “Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it.”
Jeremiah 30:12 Lexical
For the LORD says, “Your hurt is incurable. Your wound is grievous.
Jeremiah 14:17 Lexical
“You shall say this word to them: “‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgi…
Interlinear
Word-by-word original language
v. 1
v. 2
v. 3
v. 4
v. 5
v. 6
v. 7
v. 8
v. 9
v. 10
v. 11
v. 12
v. 13
v. 14
v. 15
v. 16
v. 17
v. 18
v. 19
Lemma
Morphology
Semantic Range
Theological Significance
Translation Notes
Key Passages
Historical Context
Places and events in this chapter
Loading map...