Nahum 3 Study Notes: Woe to the Bloodstained City
Nahum pronounces woe on Nineveh for its violence, lies, plunder and sorcery, and the LORD declares He will put it to shame. Like mighty Thebes it will fall, its fortresses and officials will fail, and the nations will rejoice over the incurable wound of the cruel king of Assyria.
General
Why does Nahum ask Nineveh whether it is better than Thebes?
Answer: Thebes was strong and well allied, yet it still went captive
Nahum points to Thebes, a great city beside the Nile, surrounded and protected by water (3:8). Cush and Egypt gave it huge strength, and Put and Libya stood with it as allies (3:9). Yet Thebes was still conquered and taken into exile; its children were killed and its leaders were divided by lot and put in chains (3:10). The point is clear: if a city that strong could fall, Nineveh's defenses and allies cannot save it either. A king cannot rely on a large army to save him (Psalm 33:16-17), and the LORD tells the strong not to boast in their strength but in knowing Him (Jeremiah 9:23-24).
- Nahum 3:8-9 (BSB)“Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water? Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies.”Nahum asks whether Nineveh is better than Thebes, a city protected by water and backed by powerful allies.
- Psalm 33:16-17 (BSB)“No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for salvation; even its great strength cannot save.”Neither a large army nor great strength can rescue a king, as the fall of well-defended Thebes shows.
- Jeremiah 9:23-24 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches. But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.”The LORD warns the strong not to boast in their strength but to boast in knowing Him.
Theological
What is the force of the question in 3:8 comparing Nineveh with Thebes?
Answer: Thebes was strong and well allied, yet it still went captive
Thebes stood on the Nile, ringed by water as its defense (3:8), with Cush and Egypt as its limitless strength and Put and Libya as its allies (3:9); yet it went into exile, its little ones were killed, and its nobles were allotted and chained (3:10). The rhetorical question argues from the greater to the lesser: if such a fortress with such allies fell, Nineveh's strength offers no security. Scripture consistently denies that military power can save (Psalm 33:16-17) and forbids the strong to boast in anything but knowing the LORD (Jeremiah 9:23-24).
- Nahum 3:8-9 (BSB)“Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water? Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies.”Nahum asks whether Nineveh is better than Thebes, a city protected by water and backed by powerful allies.
- Psalm 33:16-17 (BSB)“No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for salvation; even its great strength cannot save.”Neither a large army nor great strength can rescue a king, as the fall of well-defended Thebes shows.
- Jeremiah 9:23-24 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches. But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.”The LORD warns the strong not to boast in their strength but to boast in knowing Him.
General
True or False: In 3:12-15 Nineveh's fortresses and preparations for siege are pictured as strong enough to keep the enemy out.
Answer: False
This is false. Like Thebes, Nineveh too will reel as if drunk and look for a place to hide from the enemy (3:11). Its fortresses are compared to fig trees with ripe early figs: when the tree is shaken, the fruit drops straight into the eater's mouth (3:12). Its troops are pictured as weak, and its gates stand wide open with fire burning the bars (3:13). Nahum then tells the city to haul water for the coming siege, reinforce its forts and make bricks, but he says fire and sword will consume it there anyway (3:14-15). If the LORD does not guard a city, guarding it is useless (Psalm 127:1), and no plan can succeed against the LORD (Proverbs 21:30).
- Nahum 3:12-13 (BSB)“All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; when shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater! Look at your troops—they are like your women! The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire consumes their bars.”Nineveh's fortresses are like ripe figs that fall when shaken, and its gates stand open to the enemy.
- Psalm 127:1 (BSB)“A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.”If the LORD does not guard a city, its watchmen keep watch for nothing, as Nineveh's preparations prove useless.
- Proverbs 21:30 (BSB)“There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.”No wisdom or plan can succeed against the LORD, as Nineveh's efforts to strengthen itself fail.
Theological
True or False: In 3:12-15 Nineveh's fortresses and siege preparations are portrayed as able to withstand the enemy.
Answer: False
This is false. Like Thebes, Nineveh will stagger as if drunk and seek a hiding place from the enemy (3:11). Its fortresses are like fig trees bearing first-ripe figs that fall into the eater's mouth at a shake (3:12); the troops are weak and the gates lie open with their bars burned (3:13). The ironic commands to draw water, reinforce the forts and work the clay for bricks (3:14) only set up the verdict that fire and sword will consume the city in the very place of its preparations (3:15). Human defense is futile without the LORD's protection (Psalm 127:1), and no counsel can prevail against Him (Proverbs 21:30).
- Nahum 3:12-13 (BSB)“All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; when shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater! Look at your troops—they are like your women! The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire consumes their bars.”Nineveh's fortresses are like ripe figs that fall when shaken, and its gates stand open to the enemy.
- Psalm 127:1 (BSB)“A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.”If the LORD does not guard a city, its watchmen keep watch for nothing, as Nineveh's preparations prove useless.
- Proverbs 21:30 (BSB)“There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.”No wisdom or plan can succeed against the LORD, as Nineveh's efforts to strengthen itself fail.
General
What does the locust imagery in 3:15-17 say about Nineveh's merchants, guards, and officials?
Answer: Though countless, they will vanish when trouble comes
Nahum mockingly tells Nineveh to multiply like locusts (3:15). The city has increased its merchants until they outnumber the stars, but like locusts that strip the land and then fly off, they will be gone (3:16). Its guards and scribes are like swarms of locusts resting on the walls in the chill; once the sun is up they are gone, and nobody can tell where (3:17). Great numbers, trade and officials give no security on the day of judgment. Riches cannot help when God's wrath comes (Proverbs 11:4), and the prophets picture another nation's hired soldiers running off on the day of disaster (Jeremiah 46:21).
- Nahum 3:16-17 (BSB)“You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away. Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day. When the sun rises, they fly away, and no one knows where.”Nineveh's many merchants, guards and scribes are like locusts that fly off and disappear.
- Proverbs 11:4 (BSB)“Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.”Wealth is useless when God's wrath arrives, as Nineveh's great trade cannot save it.
- Jeremiah 46:21 (BSB)“Even the mercenaries among her are like fattened calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee, they will not stand their ground, for the day of calamity is coming upon them—the time of their punishment.”Egypt's hired soldiers likewise turn and run instead of holding their ground when the day of disaster comes.
Theological
What point does the locust imagery of 3:15-17 make about Nineveh's merchants, guards and scribes?
Answer: Though countless, they will vanish when trouble comes
The sarcastic summons to multiply like locusts (3:15) turns into a picture of disappearance: merchants more numerous than the stars depart like locusts that strip the land and leave (3:16), and the guards and scribes, settled like locust swarms on a chilly day, scatter at sunrise to an unknown place (3:17). Commercial and administrative strength evaporates under judgment. Riches profit nothing when wrath falls (Proverbs 11:4), and Jeremiah likewise depicts the paid troops of Egypt fleeing rather than standing firm when disaster strikes (Jeremiah 46:21).
- Nahum 3:16-17 (BSB)“You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away. Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day. When the sun rises, they fly away, and no one knows where.”Nineveh's many merchants, guards and scribes are like locusts that fly off and disappear.
- Proverbs 11:4 (BSB)“Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.”Wealth is useless when God's wrath arrives, as Nineveh's great trade cannot save it.
- Jeremiah 46:21 (BSB)“Even the mercenaries among her are like fattened calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee, they will not stand their ground, for the day of calamity is coming upon them—the time of their punishment.”Egypt's hired soldiers likewise turn and run instead of holding their ground when the day of disaster comes.
General
Why, according to 3:19, do all who hear of Nineveh's fall clap their hands?
Answer: Every one of them had suffered under her endless cruelty
Nahum speaks to the king of Assyria: his shepherds, meaning his leaders, are asleep, and his people are spread over the hills with nobody to bring them back (3:18). His wound is severe and cannot be healed (3:19). Everyone who hears the news claps, because there is no one who has not felt Nineveh's constant cruelty. The LORD who is slow to anger does not leave the guilty unpunished (1:3). The fall of the wicked brings cries of joy (Proverbs 11:10), and what a nation has done comes back on its own head (Obadiah 1:15).
- Nahum 3:18-19 (BSB)“O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them. There is no healing for your injury; your wound is severe. All who hear the news of you applaud your downfall, for who has not experienced your constant cruelty?”The king of Assyria's leaders sleep, his people are scattered, the wound is beyond healing, and all who hear rejoice.
- Proverbs 11:10 (BSB)“When the righteous thrive, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.”The downfall of the wicked brings cries of gladness, as the nations rejoice at Nineveh's fall.
- Obadiah 1:15 (BSB)“For the Day of the LORD is near for all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your recompense will return upon your own head.”What a nation has done returns on its own head, as Nineveh's cruelty returns on it.
Theological
According to 3:19, why does everyone who hears of Nineveh's fall applaud?
Answer: Every one of them had suffered under her endless cruelty
The closing address to the king of Assyria pictures his shepherds slumbering and his people scattered with none to gather them (3:18), and declares his wound incurable (3:19). All who hear applaud, because none has escaped Nineveh's unceasing cruelty; the LORD who is slow to anger does not leave the guilty unpunished (1:3). The nations' joy fits the principle that the perishing of the wicked brings rejoicing (Proverbs 11:10) and that a nation's deeds return on its own head (Obadiah 1:15).
- Nahum 3:18-19 (BSB)“O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them. There is no healing for your injury; your wound is severe. All who hear the news of you applaud your downfall, for who has not experienced your constant cruelty?”The king of Assyria's leaders sleep, his people are scattered, the wound is beyond healing, and all who hear rejoice.
- Proverbs 11:10 (BSB)“When the righteous thrive, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.”The downfall of the wicked brings cries of gladness, as the nations rejoice at Nineveh's fall.
- Obadiah 1:15 (BSB)“For the Day of the LORD is near for all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your recompense will return upon your own head.”What a nation has done returns on its own head, as Nineveh's cruelty returns on it.
General
According to 3:7, how will onlookers respond to Nineveh's ruin?
Answer: They will shrink back and ask who could mourn for her
For the second time the LORD of Hosts declares that He is against Nineveh (3:5; compare 2:13). He will put the city to public shame before the nations, treat it with contempt and make it a spectacle (3:5-6). Those who see it will turn away and say that Nineveh is ruined and no one will grieve for it, and the LORD asks where anyone could find comforters for it (3:7). God makes His justice known when the wicked are caught by their own deeds (Psalm 9:16), and people reap what they sow (Galatians 6:7).
- Nahum 3:7 (BSB)“Then all who see you will recoil from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated; who will grieve for her?’ Where can I find comforters for you?””Those who see Nineveh's ruin turn away and ask who could mourn her, and the LORD asks where comforters could be found.
- Psalm 9:16 (BSB)“The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah”The LORD makes His justice known as the wicked are trapped by their own deeds.
- Galatians 6:7 (BSB)“Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.”God is not mocked, and people reap what they sow, as Nineveh reaps public shame.
Theological
According to 3:7, what response will Nineveh's ruin draw from onlookers?
Answer: They will shrink back and ask who could mourn for her
The LORD of Hosts again declares Himself against Nineveh (3:5; compare 2:13) and promises to expose her to the nations, treat her with contempt and make her a spectacle (3:5-6). Onlookers recoil, pronounce her devastated and ask who will mourn her, and the LORD Himself asks where comforters could be found (3:7). The judgment displays the LORD's justice as the wicked are snared by their own works (Psalm 9:16) and reap what they have sown (Galatians 6:7).
- Nahum 3:7 (BSB)“Then all who see you will recoil from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated; who will grieve for her?’ Where can I find comforters for you?””Those who see Nineveh's ruin turn away and ask who could mourn her, and the LORD asks where comforters could be found.
- Psalm 9:16 (BSB)“The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah”The LORD makes His justice known as the wicked are trapped by their own deeds.
- Galatians 6:7 (BSB)“Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.”God is not mocked, and people reap what they sow, as Nineveh reaps public shame.
General
What reason does 3:4 give for the disaster coming on Nineveh?
Answer: She lured and betrayed nations through seduction and sorcery
Verse 4 explains the judgment with the word because. Nineveh is pictured as a prostitute and a sorceress who betrays whole nations and clans through her seductions and witchcraft (3:4). The picture is of a city that drew other peoples in by its allure and then betrayed them, a power bound up with sorcery. Sorcery is something the LORD calls detestable (Deuteronomy 18:10-12), and Isaiah says the same about Babylon: its many spells could not save it when disaster came (Isaiah 47:9). Nineveh's charms and sorceries will not save it either.
- Nahum 3:4 (BSB)“because of the many harlotries of the harlot, the seductive mistress of sorcery, who betrays nations by her prostitution and clans by her witchcraft.”Nineveh is pictured as a seductive harlot and sorceress who betrays nations and clans.
- Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (BSB)“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.”Sorcery and spells are abhorrent to God and were part of the reason He drove out the nations.
- Isaiah 47:9 (BSB)“These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells.”Babylon's many sorceries could not protect her from sudden disaster, as Nineveh's could not protect her.
Theological
What ground for judgment does 3:4 supply?
Answer: She lured and betrayed nations through seduction and sorcery
Verse 4 gives the cause: the countless harlotries of a seductive sorceress who sells out nations and clans through her prostitution and witchcraft. The double image portrays Nineveh drawing peoples in by its allure only to betray them, its power bound up with sorcery. Sorcery is an abomination to the LORD and was among the reasons He dispossessed the nations (Deuteronomy 18:10-12), and Isaiah's oracle against Babylon shows that such powers cannot avert God's judgment (Isaiah 47:9).
- Nahum 3:4 (BSB)“because of the many harlotries of the harlot, the seductive mistress of sorcery, who betrays nations by her prostitution and clans by her witchcraft.”Nineveh is pictured as a seductive harlot and sorceress who betrays nations and clans.
- Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (BSB)“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.”Sorcery and spells are abhorrent to God and were part of the reason He drove out the nations.
- Isaiah 47:9 (BSB)“These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells.”Babylon's many sorceries could not protect her from sudden disaster, as Nineveh's could not protect her.
General
What charges against Nineveh open the woe of 3:1?
Answer: Bloodshed, deceit, and constant robbery of other peoples
A woe is a cry announcing grief and judgment. Chapter 3 opens with a woe on Nineveh as a city of bloodshed, a city full of lies and plunder, never without victims (3:1). These are the reasons for its judgment: violence, deceit, and endlessly robbing other peoples. Nahum then describes the attack on the city in a rapid scene of horses, chariots, swords and spears, with countless dead (3:2-3). The violence Nineveh used against others now falls on it. Elsewhere the prophets pronounce woe on any city built by bloodshed (Habakkuk 2:12), and Proverbs lists lying and shedding innocent blood among the things the LORD hates (Proverbs 6:16-17).
- Nahum 3:1 (BSB)“Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey.”The woe names Nineveh as a city of blood, lies and plunder that always has prey.
- Habakkuk 2:12 (BSB)“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by iniquity!”Habakkuk pronounces woe on anyone who founds a town through bloodshed and iniquity.
- Proverbs 6:16-17 (BSB)“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,”Lying and killing the innocent are among the things the LORD hates.
Theological
What indictment opens the woe oracle of 3:1?
Answer: Bloodshed, deceit, and constant robbery of other peoples
The woe of 3:1 names Nineveh a bloodstained city, filled with lies and plunder, always seizing victims, the moral grounds for the judgment that follows. Nahum then compresses the assault into a rapid sequence of whip, wheel, horse, chariot, sword and spear, ending in countless slain (3:2-3): the violence Nineveh practiced returns upon it. The charge matches the prophetic woe on any city established by bloodshed (Habakkuk 2:12) and the wisdom tradition's list of what the LORD hates, including a lying tongue and hands that kill the innocent (Proverbs 6:16-17).
- Nahum 3:1 (BSB)“Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey.”The woe names Nineveh as a city of blood, lies and plunder that always has prey.
- Habakkuk 2:12 (BSB)“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by iniquity!”Habakkuk pronounces woe on anyone who founds a town through bloodshed and iniquity.
- Proverbs 6:16-17 (BSB)“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,”Lying and killing the innocent are among the things the LORD hates.