Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nahum 1:14
And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, [that] no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
14. Asshur is addressed.
house of thy gods ] Perhaps: thy god.
I will make thy grave ] This, according to a common use of the pron., might mean: a grave for thee, consign thee to the grave. More naturally Syr., I will make it thy grave, i.e. probably, the house of thy god. Bickell, turning the phrase “for thou art vile” into a noun by some change of consonants, educes the sense: I will make thy graves to be dunghills. The word “dunghill” is Syr. and Targumic.
15 (Heb 2:1). The ancient foe of Israel is no more, and those who announce his downfall hasten over the mountains proclaiming the good tidings. Judah is bidden hold her feasts, and fulfil her vows, made in the days of her adversity. The same words virtually occur in Isa 52:7. The phrase “perform (pay) vows” is common in the Psalms and later literature, but is found also in early prose, e.g. 2Sa 15:7-8.
the wicked ] Or, the wicked one, Heb. belial, the wrongdoer; whether Asshur personified or the king of Assyria.
pass through thee ] Cf. Joe 3:17; Zec 9:8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee, O Assyrian – In the word I have afflicted thee, the land of Israel is addressed, as usual in Hebrew, in the feminine; here, a change of gender in Hebrew shows the person addressed to be different. : By His command alone, and the word of His power, He cut off the race of the Assyrian, as he says in Wisdom, of Egypt, Thine Almighty word leaped down from heaven, out of Thy royal throne; as a fierce man of war into the midst of a land of destruction, and brought Thine unfeigned commandment as a sharp sword, and standing up filled all things with death, (Wisd. 18:15, 16), or else it may be, He gave command to the Angels His Ministers. God commands beforehand, that, when it comes to pass, it may be known that not by chance, nor by the will of man, nor without His judgment but by the sentence of God the blow came.
No move of thy name be sown – As Isaiah saith, the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned Isa 14:20. He prophesies, not the immediate but the absolute cessation of the Assyrian line. If the prophecy was uttered at the time of Sennacheribs invasion, seventeen years before his death, not Esarhaddon only, but his son Asshurbanipal also, whose career of personal conquest, the last glory of the house of the Sargonides and of the empire, began immediately upon his fathers reign of thirteen years, was probably already born. Asshurbanipal in this case would only have been thirty-one, at the beginning of his energetic reign, and would have died in his fifty-second year. After him followed only an inglorious twenty-two years. The prophet says, the Lord hath commanded. The decree as to Ahabs house was fulfilled in the person of his second son, as to Jeroboam and Baasha in their sons. It waited its appointed time, but was fulfilled in the complete excision of the doomed race.
Out of the house of thy gods will I cut off graven image and molten image – As thou hast done to others Isa 37:19, it shall be done to thee. : And when even the common objects of worship of the Assyrian and Chaldean were not spared, what would be the ruin of the whole city! So little shall thy gods help thee, that there shalt thou be punished, where thou hopest for aid. Graven and molten image shall be thy grave; amid altar and oblations, as thou worshipest idols, thanking them for thy deliverance, shall thy unholy blood be shed, as it was by his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer. Isa 37:38. I will make it thy grave ; , what God makes remains immovable, cannot be changed. But He maketh thy grave in hell, where not only that rich man in the Gospel hath his grave; but all who are or have been like him, and especially thou, O Asshur, of whom it is written, Asshur is there and all her company; his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword. Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living Eze 32:22-23. Graven and molten image, the idols which men adore, the images of their vanity, the created things which they worship instead of the true God (as they whose god is their belly), in which they busy themselves in this life, shall be their destruction in the Day of Judgment.
For thou art vile – Thou honoredst thyself and dishonoredst God, so shalt thou be dishonored , as He saith, Them that honor Me I will honor, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed 1Sa 2:30. So when he had said to Edom, thou art greatly despised Oba 1:2, he adds the ground of it, The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee. For thou art vile Oba 1:3. Great, honored, glorious as Assyria or its ruler were in the eyes of men, the prophet tells him, what he was in himself, being such in the eyes of God, light, empty, as Daniel said to Belshazzar, Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting Dan 5:27, of no account, vile .
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. No more of thy name be sown] No more of you shall be carried away into captivity.
I will make thy grave; for thou art vile] I think this is an address to the Assyrians, and especially to Sennacherib. The text is no obscure intimation of the fact. The house of his gods is to be his grave: and we know that while he was worshipping in the house of his god Nisroch, his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, smote him there that he died, 2Kg 19:37.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The Lord, God of Israel, against whom thou imaginest evil, hath given a commandment; determined with himself, and given charge to the Medes, which in due season they will observe, and, with assistance of the Chaldeans, will fitly execute.
Concerning thee, or against thee, Sennacherib; thy royal family, and the whole kingdom of Assyria. That no more of thy name be sown: though Esar-haddon, son to this Sennacherib, did succeed his father, yet may it be rather said he was never sown. he never took root, but was like seed that, falling on the surface of the earth, there withers and dies; or else, none shall bear thy name and title, but hereafter thy kingdom shall be swallowed up by the power, and silenced in the name, of the Babylonian or Chaldean monarchy.
The house of thy gods; temples built for their heathenish worship.
Gods; idols, intimating the number of them, and the chiefest of them.
I will cut off; destroy and abolish; so idolatrous conquerors were Gods servants to cut off idolatrous worship and idols of the conquered nations: so did this Sennacherib destroy the idols of the conquered, 2Ki 18:33,34; Isa 37:19; so should they do against the Assyrian idols, who were appointed of God to waste Nineveh.
Cut off the graven image: either it respecteth the universal destruction of the idols, all cut off, not one left; or rather some one more noted, depended on, worshipped, called Nisroch, Isa 37:38, by some thought to be the sun; but nothing in particular is elsewhere recorded of this idol, or its worship.
And the molten image: added either to intimate that all idols should fall in the future ruin of the kingdom, or to let us know that neither the worth of the metal of which the image was made, and the curiosity of the work, nor yet the pretext of sacred as a god, should be any safeguard to it.
I will make thy grave; thou shalt not have a royal, magnificent tomb made by thy successor, or such as honour thee, but thou shalt be either buried in obscurity, or else thy tomb shall relate thy vileness, as it is reported it did by this inscription under Sennacheribs statue in an Egyptian temple, E , Learn to fear God who lookest on me.
For thou art vile; despised since thy defeat before Jerusalem; or rather hast been a vile, profane despiser of God, whom thou hast blasphemed and reproached, and an oppressor of men, whom thou hast slain or enslaved, unworthy of life, and unworthy of a grave when dead.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. that no more of thy name besownthat no more of thy seed, bearing thy name, as kings ofNineveh, be propagated; that thy dynasty become extinct, namely, onthe destruction of Nineveh here foretold; “thee” means theking of Assyria.
will I cut off . . . gravenimageThe Medes under Cyaxares, the joint destroyers of Ninevehwith the Babylonians, hated idolatry, and would delight in destroyingits idols. As the Assyrians had treated the gods of other nations, sotheir own should be treated (2Ki19:18). The Assyrian palaces partook of a sacred character[LAYARD]; so that “houseof thy gods” may refer to the palace. At Khorsabadthere is remaining a representation of a man cutting an idol topieces.
I will make thy graverather,”I will make it (namely, ‘the house of thy gods,’ that is,’Nisroch’) thy grave” (2Ki 19:37;Isa 37:38). Thus, bySennacherib’s being slain in it, Nisroch’s house should be defiled.Neither thy gods, nor thy temple, shall save thee; but the lattershall be thy sepulchre.
thou art vileor, thouart lighter than due weight (Da5:27; compare Job 31:6)[MAURER].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee,…. This is directed to Sennacherib king of Assyria, as the Targum expresses it; and so Jarchi and Kimchi; and signifies the decree of God concerning him, what he had determined to do with him, and how things would be ordered in Providence towards him, agreeably to his design and resolution:
[that] no more of thy name be sown; which is not to be understood that he should have no son and heir to succeed him; for Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead, 2Ki 19:37; and after him, according to Ptolemy’s canon, Saosduchinus and Chyniladanus but the memory of his name should no be spread in the earth; or the fame of it, with any marks of honour and glory, but of shame and disgrace. So the Targum,
“neither shall be any memory of thy name any more:”
out of the house of thy gods will I cut of the graven image and the molten image; called “the house of Nisroch his god”, 2Ki 19:37; where he was slain; and some say that after that it ceased to be a place of worship, being polluted with his blood. Josephus t calls it his own temple, where he usually worshipped, for which he had a peculiar regard, and for his god Nisroch; but who this deity was is not certain. Selden says u, he knew nothing, nor had read anything of him, but what is mentioned in the Scripture. Some of the Jewish writers w take it to be a plank of Noah’s ark; and Mr. Basnage x is of opinion that it is Janus represented by Noah’s ark, who had two faces, before and behind; a fit emblem of Noah, who saw two worlds, one before, and another after the flood. Some say Dagon the god of the Philistines is meant, which is not likely; [See comments on Isa 37:38]; but, be he who he will, there were other idols besides him, both graven and molten, in this temple, as is here expressed; very probably here stood an image of Belus or Pul, the first Assyrian monarch, and who; was deified; and perhaps Adrammelech the god of the Sepharvites was another, since one of Sennacherib’s sons bore this name; and it was usual with the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Babylonians, to give the names of their gods to their princes, or insert them in theirs: here also might be the Assyrian Venus, Derceto, Semiramis, and others: fishes also were worshipped by the Assyrians, in honour of Derceto; and doves in remembrance of Semiramis, said to be nourished by one in her infancy, and turned into one at her death; hence those creatures became sacred in Assyria, and were not suffered to be touched and killed, as Philo observed at Askelon; [See comments on Ho 11:11]; and Lucian y at Hieropolis in Syria; where, he says, of all birds, they think the dove most holy; so that they count it very unlawful to touch them; and if by chance they do, they reckon themselves unclean that whole day; hence you may see them frequently in their houses conversing familiarly with them, generally feeding on the ground, without any fear; and he also says z the Assyrians sacrifice to a dove, and which he must have known, since he himself was an Assyrian, as he tells us; but, whatever these graven and molten images were, it is here predicted they should be utterly demolished. The sense is, that whereas Sennacherib’s empire should be destroyed, and his capital taken, the temple where he worshipped would be defaced, and all his gods he gloried of, all his images, both graven and molten, would be cut to pieces, falling into the conqueror’s hands, as was usual in such cases; these would not be able to defend him or his, or secure them from the vengeance of God, whom he had blasphemed:
I will make thy grave, for thou art vile: the Targum is,
“there will I put thy grave;”
that is, in the house of thy god, as Aben Ezra, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, interpret it; where he was slain by two of his sons, as before observed; and this judgment came upon him by the will of God, because he was a loose vile creature; because he had vilified the true God, and reproached him, as unable to deliver Hezekiah and his people out of his hands. The Targum paraphrases it,
“because this is easy before me;”
what the Lord could easily do, make his idol temple his grave; or, however, take away his life, and lay his honour in the dust: or it may be rendered, “I will put [upon] thy grave that thou art vile” a; he, who thought to have a superb monument over his grave, and an epitaph inscribed on it to his immortal honour, as kings used to have; this shall be the sepulchral inscription,
“here lies a vile, wicked, and contemptible man;”
so Abarbinel. There was a statue of this king in an Egyptian temple, as Herodotus b relates, according, as many think, with this inscription on it,
“whosoever looks on me, let him be religious;”
though I rather think it was a statue of Sethon the priest of Vulcan, and last king of Egypt. Here ends the first chapter in some Hebrew copies, and in the Syriac and Arabic versions, and in Aben Ezra.
t Antiqu. l. 10. c. 1. sect. 5. u De Dis Syris, Syntagm. 2. c. 10. p. 329. w Vid. Jarchi in Isaiam, c. 37, 38. x In Calmet’s Dictionary, in the word “Samaritans”. y De Dea Syria. z In Jupiter Tragoedus. a . b ‘ , . Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 141.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Nahum explains more clearly, and without a figure, what he had previously said of darkness, — that the kingdom of Nineveh would be so overturned, that it could never recruit its strength and return again to its pristine state. He indeed addresses the king himself, but under his person he includes no doubt the whole kingdom.
Commanded then has Jehovah, he says, respecting thee, let there not be sown of thy name; that is, God has so decreed, that the memory of thy name shall not survive: for to sow from the name of one, is to extend his fame. When, therefore, God entirely exterminates a race from the world, or when he obliterates a nation, he is said to command that there should not be sown of such a name; that is, that there should be no propagation of that name. In short, our Prophet denounces on the Assyrians a ruin, from which they were never to rise again. And when such a command is ascribed to God, it means, that by the sole bidding of God both nations and kingdoms are propagated, and are also abolished and destroyed: for what is said of individuals ought to be extended to all nations, ‘Seed, or the fruit of the womb,’ as it is said in the Psalms, ‘is the peculiar gift of God,’ (Psa 127:0.) For how comes it, that many are without children, while others have a large and a numerous family, except that God blesses some, and makes others barren? The same is to be thought of nations; the Lord propagates them and preserves their memory; but when it seems good to him, he reduces them to nothing, so that no seed remains. And when the Prophet testifies, that this is the command of Jehovah, he confirms the faith of the Israelites and of the Jews, that they might not doubt, but that the Assyrians would perish without any hope of restoration; for it was so decreed by Heaven.
He afterwards adds, From the house, or from the temple, of thy gods will I cut off graven images. It is probable, and it is the commonly received opinion, that the Prophet alludes here to Sennacherib, who was slain in the temple of his idol by his own sons, shortly after his return from Judea, when the siege of the holy city was miraculously raised through the instrumentality of an angel. As then he was slain in the temple, and it was by his murder profaned, I am inclined to receive what almost all others maintain, that there is here a reference to his person: but, at the same time, the Prophet no doubt describes, under the person of one king, the destruction and ruin of the whole kingdom. Gods indeed, did at that time make known what he had determined respecting the empire of Nineveh and all the Assyrians; for from this event followed also the change, that Nebuchodonosor transferred the empire to Babylon, and that the whole race, and every one who assumed power, became detestable. When, therefore, the Assyrians were torn by intestine discords, it was an easy matter for the Chaldeans to conquer them. Hence the Prophet does not here predict respecting one king only; but as his murder was, as it were, a prelude of the common ruin, the Prophet relates this history as being worthy of being remembered, — that the temple would be profaned by the murder of Sennacherib, and that then the monarchy would be soon transferred to the Chaldeans.
When he says, I will appoint thy sepulcher, he connects this clause with the former; for how was it that idols were cut off from that temple, except that that tragic deed rendered the place detestable? For there is no one who feels not a horror at such a base crime as that of children killing their father with their own hands. We know when a proud woman at Rome ordered her chariot to be drawn over the dead body of her father, the road was counted polluted. So also the temple was no doubt viewed as polluted by the murder of the king. Then these two clauses ought to be read together, that God would cut off idols and graven images from the temple, — and then, that the sepulcher of Sennacherib would be there.
He adds, For thou art execrable (220) I have rendered קלות, kolut, a thing to be abominated. It may indeed be referred to that history; but I take it by itself as meaning, that Sennacherib was to be abominable, and not he alone, but also the whole royal family, and the monarchy of Nineveh. For it is not consistent, as we have said already, to say, that all these things refer to the person of Sennacherib; for the Prophet speaks of the destruction of the city and nation, and that generally; at the same time, this does not prevent him from referring, as it were, in passing, to the person of Sennacherib.
It must, at the same time, be noticed, that the vain confidence, which the Assyrian kings placed in their idols and graven images, is here indirectly reproved; for we know that idolaters not only confide in their own strength, but that a part of their hope is also founded on their superstitions. Hence the Prophet says, that their temple was to be profaned by God, so that no aid would remain to the Assyrians, to the kings themselves any more than to the whole people. Let us proceed —
(220)
For thou art become vile. — Newcome. Because thou art worthless. — Henderson.
Execrable, or accursed, which the word sometimes means, seems more suitable to the context. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
DESTRUCTION OF FALSE GODS AND VILE MEN . . . Nah. 1:14-15
RV . . . And Jehovah hath given commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown; out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image; I will make thy gave; for thou art vile. Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows; for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.
LXX . . . And the Lord shall give a command concerning thee; there shall no more of thy name be scattered: I will utterly destroy the graven images out of the house of thy god, and molten images: I will make thy grave; for they are swift. Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that brings glad tidings, and publishes peace! O Juda, keep thy feasts, pay thy vows: for they shall no more pass through thee to thy decay.
COMMENTS
JEHOVAH HATH GIVEN COMMANDMENT . . . Nah. 1:14
The decree has gone forth . . . even memory of the Assyrian kings will dim. Their fame will no more be spread abroad. The name i.e. the house and lineage of Sennacherib, will be sown no more.
Actually, Sennacheribs son succeeded him to the throne in Nineveh. It seems Nahums poetic prophecy here personifies the empire in the king. It was only shortly after Sennacherib that Nineveh, the capital, was destroyed.
. . . OUT OF THE HOUSE OF THY GODS . . . Nah. 1:14
Not only will the king and his country be cut off, the gods he worshipped will also perish. In the ancient near-east, as in the contemporary City states of Greece, the defeat of an empire was not just the disgrace of a people, it was the overthrow of a god.
In the case of Assyria, both the dynasty and the deity fell together. The two sons of Sennacherib were killed in the temple while worshipping their chief god, Nisroch. No doubt the desecration of the temple occurred at the same time. Nahums prophecy that the graven and molten images would be cut off was fulfilled very literally.
Not only in the temple, but throughout the land, the conquerors, unlike the later Greeks and Romans who absorbed local gods, smashed the deities of Assyria wherever they were found.
I WILL MAKE THY GRAVE . . .
Some take the latter part of Nah. 1:14 to mean that Sennacheribs grave was actually to be made in the temple of Nisroch. In view of the fact that the temple remained in use some time following his death this seems unlikely.
It is more likely Nahum intends here to foretell the ignominious fall of the Assryian dynasty itself. When Babylon was later building on the ruins of Assyria much was said about the grave of that once formidable empire.
Just how despicable were the sins of Nineveh is described in Eze. 31:3; Eze. 31:11; Eze. 31:15-16. Her downfall was commensurate with the heinousness of her sin. Nahum says simply thou art vile and in this vileness sees the reason for her destruction.
BEHOLD UPON THE MOUNTAIN . . . Nah. 1:15
With these words so familiar to the Christian, Nahum introduces the contrasting comfort of Gods people in comparison to the utter ruin of her enemies. We find these same words in Isa. 52:7 and again in Rom. 10:15. In each case they are words of deliverance.
The destruction of Nineveh, brought on the marching feet of the Babylonian army, burst asunder the bonds of vassalage and set Jerusalem free, albeit her freedom was short-lived, for her sins, as we saw in Micah, were becoming as great as those of Nineveh.
It is no strange thing that three writers inspired by the same Spirit, should use the same words. By so doing they simply give their consent to wholesome truths (1Ti. 6:3) and concur in the same forms of sound words. (2Ti. 1:13)
KEEP THY FEASTS . . . PERFORM THY VOWS
Along with Nahums assurance that they will have no more trouble with Assyria is the subtle warning to remain faithful to Gods covenant. He could not but be aware, as were the other prophets, that Judah herself stood in the way of Gods wrath unless she stood firm in her faith.
During the troublesome days of Assyrias invasion, the feasts had been interrupted. They had made vows to God, that if He would deliver them out of their distress, they would do Him extraordinary service. Now the poet reminds them to perform that which they have promised.
We may also learn a valuable lesson here from Nahum. We are prone, in times of trouble to plead prayerfully for succor and promise service only to forget when the burden has been lifted.
Chapter XIIQuestions
Introduction
1.
Jonah prophesied to Nineveh about __________ years before Nahum.
2.
How do you explain Gods destruction of Nineveh in view of her repentance at Jonahs preaching?
3.
What two phrases in Nah. 1:1 establish the work as inspired Scripture?
4.
God assures His faithful and loyal people of His __________ and at the same time He pronounces His wrath against Nineveh.
5.
What had been Ninevehs past dealing with Israel?
6.
Comment on the idea that God is a jealous God.
7.
Explain Jehovah is full of wrath!
8.
In light of Nah. 1:3(b) – Nah. 1:7 discuss the power of God.
9.
What is meant by the overrunning flood in Nahim Nah. 1:8?
10.
Show how Ninevehs attempts at self-defense were to prove futile.
11.
What sort of person was Sennacherib?
12.
What was to become of the gods Nineveh worshipped?
13.
Discuss (Nah. 1:15) Behold upon the mountain.
14.
Discuss (Nah. 1:15) keep thy feasts . . . perform thy vows.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(14) And the Lord hath given.Sudden changes of person are a common feature in Hebrew poetry. The denunciation of the Assyrian here passes from the third to the second person. Sennacherib is told that the royal line of Nineveh is to be suddenly exterminateda prediction accomplished when his great-grandson Saracus, the last king of Nineveh, destroyed himself in despair. He is also told that the Assyrian idols are destined to destruction, and that their very temple is to witness his own death; the prophets expression being, I will make it thy grave: for thou art found worthless (lit. light in the balance comp. Dan. 5:27). And it came to pass as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword (Isa. 37:33). The allusion to Sennacheribs death in the temple of Nisroch appears to us unassailable. That it was admitted in the earliest times is shown by the accentuation and the translation given by the Targum. Keils explanation that the Assyrian power personified is addressed, and that I am preparing thy grave is the true rendering, simply emasculates this vigorous passage. If, as is probable, Sennacheribs death had already occurred, it would be strange indeed that Nahum should make no mention of this memorable instance of Divine retribution, while at the same time using words so capable of bearing the allusion.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Nah 1:14. And the Lord hath given, &c. And this is the decree of the Lord concerning thee: there shall hereafter be no seed of thy name. I will take away the graven image from the house of thy god, and I will make a little cottage thy sepulchre, because thou art vile. Nahum denounces against king Sennacherib, who was to be slain, that he should not be buried in the royal sepulchre of his fathers, but in some paltry and obscure cottage by his murderers. Houbigant; who closes the chapter with this verse, and begins the second with the 15th, which refers to the entire destruction of the Assyrian army, and the joy of Judah in consequence. Instead of the wicked, Houbigant reads Belial; referring, as above, to Sennacherib.
REFLECTIONS.1st, At the preaching of Jonah the Ninevites repented, and were spared; but, returning as the dog to their vomit again, Nahum is sent about a hundred years after to pronounce their doom, and bind the heavy burden of God’s wrath upon them.
His prophesy is called The book of the vision of Nahum: it was what God revealed to him, and he wrote in a book, and sent probably to Nineveh. The prophet is called the Elkoshite, from the name of the place of his birth.
2nd, Like the pillar of the cloud and fire, the description of the divine perfections and glory, in the second and following verses, speaks terror to the church’s foes, and comfort to her friends: wrath most fearful and mercy most adorable are here revealed. To Nineveh God makes himself known:
1. As the jealous God, who avengeth the indignities put upon him. The Lord is jealous of his own honour, and will not suffer his glory to be given to idols, nor tamely see his people insulted: he revengeth; thrice it is repeated, to shew the certainty and fearfulness of his vengeance: he is furious, or master of wrath, hath it under command, can restrain or let it loose at his pleasure, and this without that perturbation which ever accompanies it in our minds: he reserveth wrath for his enemies; though spared long by his patience, there is wrath in store for the impenitent; and, though slow to anger, he will not at all acquit the wicked, who, in opposition to all his warnings, persist in their rebellion against him: they will at last be condemned and executed.
2. His power is great, yea, irresistible: if he be angry, yea, but a little, who may abide it? All the elements wait his orders; the wind and storm fulfil his word, and the clouds are the dust of his feet; on these he cometh forth to judgment, and desolation marks his way. At his rebuke the sea, the rivers, are dried, as when of old he opened a way through them for his people to pass over; and the most fruitful spots, as Bashan and Carmel, languish when he is pleased to restrain the dew of heaven. His earthquakes shake the tottering mountains and trembling hills; or the mightiest nations, such as the Assyrian, compared to these for strength, are cast down before his indignation. At his presence the earth is burnt, with the parching sun-beams, or forked lightnings, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein, as it will be at last in the universal conflagration, 2Pe 3:10. Before such indignation, such devouring fire, who can stand, when even the massy rocks are thrown down as stubble before him: so weak, so easily ruined, are the greatest kingdoms, and the most hardened and daring sinners. We may well say of such an omnipotent God, that it is good to have him for our friend, but terrible to meet him as an enemy.
3. His mercy to his faithful people is as great as his wrath towards his enemies. The Lord is good in himself, and in all the dispensations of his providence and grace; a strong-hold in the day of trouble, as Hezekiah found when he was invaded by Sennacherib, and as the faithful will ever prove him to be amid all the trials and temptations with which they are exercised: he knoweth them that trust in him, renouncing every other confidence, and staying themselves on him alone; these he knows, approves, delights in, and will protect and preserve them from the power of evil. But with an over-running flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, of Nineveh; his judgments, like a deluge, shall overwhelm the city and destroy it; and darkness shall pursue his enemies, the darkness of affliction and trouble here below; and hereafter they shall be driven into eternal darkness, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
3rdly, We have a continuation of the dreadful judgments which Jehovah will inflict upon the Ninevites.
1. The Lord mocks at their impotent designs. What do ye imagine against the Lord? how vain the counsel, how fruitless the attempt! There is one come out of thee, Sennacherib, that imagineth evil against the Lord, to plunder his temple, and make captive his people; a wicked counsellor, who by Rabshakeh advised the people to despair of God’s help, abandon their king, and submit to his yoke, 2Ki 18:29-31 but their policy was as unavailing as their power. See the Annotations.
2. He threatens them with utter ruin. He will make an end of them at once, and there will be no need to repeat the blow; so complete shall be their destruction. Unprofitable as thorns, and like them bound up ready for the burning, and drunken as drunkards, incapable of making resistance, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry, in which the fire rages, and quickly and irrecoverably it is consumed. Thus saith the Lord, whose word is faithful, though they be quiet, secure of success, and likewise many, and therefore fearing no opposition, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. So often do we see sinners cut off in the midst of their carnal security. Nor shall the king escape: the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown; his fame and glory should be spread no farther. Out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image; this should be the case when the capital should fall into the enemies’ hand: I will make thy grave, for thou art vile; which perhaps may refer to king Sennacherib, brought ignominiously to the dust, because of his vileness and wickedness; or to Nineveh, whose inhabitants should be buried in the ruins of the city, because of their iniquities. Note; They who make themselves in God’s sight vile by their sins, shall shortly be made an abhorring unto all flesh.
3. God will save his faithful people out of all their troubles. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more; that is to say, no more by Sennacherib, or his successors in Nineveh, to whom they had been tributary: from their bondage God’s people shall be set free, the figure of that more glorious liberty into which Jesus, our Redeemer, has brought the sons of God. Then shall the glad tidings be diffused through the land of Nineveh destroyed; and peace shall return after the ravages of war. Judah must perform her vows made in the day of distress, and now piously and thankfully to be paid to God for her complete deliverance from so dreadful an enemy. Nor is this only a present mercy; but it is farther promised, that the wicked shall no more pass through thee, he is utterly cut off; no more should they be invaded by them, but the race of Sennacherib, and Nineveh, the seat of empire, should be utterly cut off and destroyed. Note; (1.) The gospel proclaims the glad tidings of pardon and peace by Jesus Christ, and of victory over all our spiritual foes; and beautiful upon the mountains are their feet who publish these tidings of joy (2.) Every mercy that we receive from God should be an engagement to our fidelity, and quicken us in his worship and service.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Nah 1:14 And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, [that] no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
Ver. 14. And the Lord hath given a commandment ] sc. To his upper and lower forces, for he is Lord of hosts, commander-in-chief of all creatures.
Against thee
That no more of thy name be sown
Out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image
I will make thy grave
For thou art vile
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
no more of thy name, &c. : i.e. the dynasty of Nineveh should end.
make = make [it]: i.e. “the house of thy gods”.
grave = sepulchre. Hebrew. keber. See note on Gen 23:4. App-35.
vile = despicable. Compare Isa 37:37, Isa 37:38.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Nah 1:14-15
DESTRUCTION OF FALSE GODS AND VILE MEN . . . Nah 1:14-15
JEHOVAH HATH GIVEN COMMANDMENT . . . Nah 1:14
The decree has gone forth . . . even memory of the Assyrian kings will dim. Their fame will no more be spread abroad. The name i.e. the house and lineage of Sennacherib, will be sown no more. Actually, Sennacheribs son succeeded him to the throne in Nineveh. It seems Nahums poetic prophecy here personifies the empire in the king. It was only shortly after Sennacherib that Nineveh, the capital, was destroyed.
. . . OUT OF THE HOUSE OF THY GODS . . . Nah 1:14
Not only will the king and his country be cut off, the gods he worshipped will also perish. In the ancient near-east, as in the contemporary City states of Greece, the defeat of an empire was not just the disgrace of a people, it was the overthrow of a god. In the case of Assyria, both the dynasty and the deity fell together. The two sons of Sennacherib were killed in the temple while worshipping their chief god, Nisroch. No doubt the desecration of the temple occurred at the same time. Nahums prophecy that the graven and molten images would be cut off was fulfilled very literally. Not only in the temple, but throughout the land, the conquerors, unlike the later Greeks and Romans who absorbed local gods, smashed the deities of Assyria wherever they were found.
Zerr: The language is still addressed to God ‘s people. Idolatry was the national evil for which it was to be sent into captivity. Idols were to be cut off or abolisbed by the effects of the period of exile in a foreign and heathen land. I will make thy grave in Nah 1:14 is figurative. The land of Babylon was to be the grave and the nation of Israel was the corpse, for it underwent national death when Jerusalem was destroyed. (See another statement of this in Isa 22:14; Isa 22:18.)
I WILL MAKE THY GRAVE . . .
Some take the latter part of Nah 1:14 to mean that Sennacheribs grave was actually to be made in the temple of Nisroch. In view of the fact that the temple remained in use some time following his death this seems unlikely. It is more likely Nahum intends here to foretell the ignominious fall of the Assryian dynasty itself. When Babylon was later building on the ruins of Assyria much was said about the grave of that once formidable empire. Just how despicable were the sins of Nineveh is described in Eze 31:3; Eze 31:11; Eze 31:15-16. Her downfall was commensurate with the heinousness of her sin. Nahum says simply thou art vile and in this vileness sees the reason for her destruction.
BEHOLD UPON THE MOUNTAIN . . . Nah 1:15
With these words so familiar to the Christian, Nahum introduces the contrasting comfort of Gods people in comparison to the utter ruin of her enemies. We find these same words in Isa 52:7 and again in Rom 10:15. In each case they are words of deliverance. The destruction of Nineveh, brought on the marching feet of the Babylonian army, burst asunder the bonds of vassalage and set Jerusalem free, albeit her freedom was short-lived, for her sins, as we saw in Micah, were becoming as great as those of Nineveh. It is no strange thing that three writers inspired by the same Spirit, should use the same words. By so doing they simply give their consent to wholesome truths (1Ti 6:3) and concur in the same forms of sound words. (2Ti 1:13)
Zerr: Once more the prophet leaps from some experience of fleshly Israel to predict a great favor as spiritual Israel (Nah 1:15). The terms used are those of the rituals used by fleshly Israel but are figuratively used in this case, and reter to the spiritual practices under Christ. The prediction is cited by Paul in Rom 10:15.
KEEP THY FEASTS . . . PERFORM THY VOWS
Along with Nahums assurance that they will have no more trouble with Assyria is the subtle warning to remain faithful to Gods covenant. He could not but be aware, as were the other prophets, that Judah herself stood in the way of Gods wrath unless she stood firm in her faith. During the troublesome days of Assyrias invasion, the feasts had been interrupted. They had made vows to God, that if He would deliver them out of their distress, they would do Him extraordinary service. Now the poet reminds them to perform that which they have promised. We may also learn a valuable lesson here from Nahum. We are prone, in times of trouble to plead prayerfully for succor and promise service only to forget when the burden has been lifted.
Questions
Introduction
1. Jonah prophesied to Nineveh about __________ years before Nahum.
2. How do you explain Gods destruction of Nineveh in view of her repentance at Jonahs preaching?
3. What two phrases in Nah 1:1 establish the work as inspired Scripture?
4. God assures His faithful and loyal people of His __________ and at the same time He pronounces His wrath against Nineveh.
5. What had been Ninevehs past dealing with Israel?
6. Comment on the idea that God is a jealous God.
7. Explain Jehovah is full of wrath!
8. In light of Nah 1:3(b)-7 discuss the power of God.
9. What is meant by the overrunning flood in Nahim Nah 1:8?
10. Show how Ninevehs attempts at self-defense were to prove futile.
11. What sort of person was Sennacherib?
12. What was to become of the gods Nineveh worshipped?
13. Discuss (Nah 1:15) Behold upon the mountain.
14. Discuss (Nah 1:15) keep thy feasts . . . perform thy vows.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
given: Psa 71:3, Isa 33:13
that: Psa 109:13, Pro 10:7, Isa 14:20-22
out: Exo 12:12, Lev 26:30, Isa 19:1, Isa 46:1, Isa 46:2, Jer 50:2
I will make: Nah 3:4-6, 2Ki 19:37, 2Ch 32:21
for: 1Sa 3:13, Dan 11:21
Reciprocal: Isa 23:11 – the Lord Isa 27:7 – he smitten Isa 40:24 – they shall not be planted Amo 6:11 – the Lord Nah 1:15 – he Nah 3:6 – make Hab 2:10 – consulted
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Nah 1:14. The language is still addressed to God ‘s people. Idolatry was the national evil for which it was to be sent into captivity. Idols were to be cut off or abolisbed by the effects of the period of exile in a foreign and heathen land. I will make thy grave is figurative. The land of Babylon was to be the grave and the nation of Israel was the corpse, for it underwent national death when Jerusalem was destroyed. (See another statement of this in Isa 22:14; Isa 22:18.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Nah 1:14. And the Lord hath given a commandment God hath determined, concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown The meaning of this seems to be, God had decreed that Sennacheribs family should not long preserve their royal dignity. His son and successor, Esar- haddon, was now probably at mans estate, for he succeeded his father in a little time after his defeat, (2Ki 19:37,) and reigned with great prosperity for many years. But his next successor, or the next but one, was dispossessed of his kingdom by Nabopolassar, father to Nebuchadnezzar, whose family enjoyed the empire of Assyria, or Babylon, as it came then to be called, till the conquest of it by Cyrus. Out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image, &c. All the images which thou worshippest will I destroy. The army of the enemy shall lay all waste, and not spare even the images of thy gods. I will make thy grave, &c. The sense must be supplied from the former sentence: as if he had said, The house of thine idol shall become thy grave. There Sennacherib was dishonourably slain by his own sons, and there, some suppose, he was buried. For thou art vile Held in no esteem, not even by thine own offspring, but disgracefully murdered by them, as having lost all interest even in their natural affection. Or the words may be interpreted of the ignominious fall of the Assyrian monarchy itself, upon the ruins of which that of Babylon was raised. Observe, reader, those that make themselves vile by scandalous sins, God will make vile by shameful punishments.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Nah 1:11; Nah 1:14, Nah 2:1, Nah 2:3-13. The Fall of Nineveh.
Nah 1:11-14. In days gone by there went out of Nineveh one that planned villainous devices against Yahweh and His people. Now Yahweh has given commandment that his name shall be blotted out, his grave dishonoured, and the temple of his gods robbed of its images.
Nah 1:11. The reference is clearly to Sennacherib.Belial (mg.): i.e. malicious destruction (Nah 1:15*).
Nah 1:14. that no more of thy name be sown: in other words, that Sennacheribs family and nation may be brought to a common end.
Nah 2:1, Nah 2:3-10. In a passage of amazing power the prophet describes the irresistible march of the destroying army against Nineveh, despite his ironical commands to mount guard on the rampart, watch well the road, strengthen the loins, and brace might to the utmost. With blood-red shields and scarlet tunics the assailants dash through the streets and broadways approaching the capital, their war-chariots flashing like torches and darting as lightning, while their nobles speed on to the wall, set up the mantlet, throw open the river-gates, and plunder the once proud city amid universal panic, anguish, and despairing flight.
Nah 1:1. He that dasheth in pieces: lit. the smasher or hammer (Cyaxares and his Medes. p. 60).
Nah 1:3. made red: probably painted (a widespread custom among primitive peoples).in scarlet: the characteristic colour of soldiers tunics, in the ancient East (e.g. Babylonia, Persia, and Sparta) as well as among ourselves.
Nah 1:4. The closing words are highly doubtful. Read per haps, the chargers quiver, in mad excitement (LXX).The streets and broadways (rehoboth) are, of course, those of the suburbs of Nineveh (cf. the Rehoboth-Ir associated with Nineveh in Gen 10:11).
Nah 1:5. The reading is again evidently at fault. By a clever emendation Duhm secures the following text: Straightforward their nobles gallop along their courses.mantelet: lit. covering, probably a movable penthouse to cover the approach of the siege-parties.
Nah 1:6. The gates of the rivers: where the mountain stream Choser and its canals entered the city.is dissolved: melts away (in terror).
Nah 1:7. Huzzab: an obscure word, on which no light has yet been shed. The reference, however, is to the Queen, who is led out of the city dishonoured, her maidens passing with her into captivity, mourning like doves (cf. Isa 38:14, Eze 7:16, etc.), and beating upon their breasts.
Nah 1:8. From of old: a clear result of dittography (p. 42). Render simply, And Nineveh (is become) like a pool (reservoir) of waters fleeing (fast ebbing) awaya fine simile for a city quickly emptied of its inhabitants.
Nah 1:9. A dramatic address to the conquerors.
Nah 1:10. The desolation of the ruined city is depicted in a series of startled exclamations, Emptiness, void, and waste!
Nah 2:11-13. Where now is the den of lions, whither the old lion used to retreat with his lionesses and cubs, filling it with the plunder of the nations? Behold, Yahweh is against that haunt of cruelty, and will burn it with fire, and destroy the lionesses and their cubs together by the sword.
Nah 1:11. For mireh, feeding-place, read probably mearah, cave. The den of lions is Nineveh, to whose ruthless ferocity the records of Assyrian kings bear witness on every column.
Nah 1:13. For rikbah, her chariotry, read probably ribtsek, thy lair, and for malakhek, of thy messengers, millebhothayik, from thy lionesses.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
1:14 And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, [that] no more of thy name be {o} sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
(o) Meaning, Sennacherib, who would have no more children, but be slain in the house of his gods; 2Ki 19:36-37 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. The termination of Nineveh 1:14
The subject reverts to Nineveh.
Yahweh had commanded His heavenly host to manage the world’s affairs so Nineveh’s name (or perhaps the king of Nineveh’s name) would not continue forever. This does not mean that succeeding generations would be completely ignorant of Nineveh and its rulers. More is known about Assyrian literature than that of any other ancient Semitic people except the Hebrews. [Note: See Longman, "Nahum," p. 798.] But the residents, particularly the king, would have no surviving descendants (heirs). [Note: For a chart of the historical fulfillments of Nahum’s prophecies, see The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, p. 1495. Patterson, pp. 105-7, also catalogued some fulfillments.]
The Lord also promised to destroy Nineveh’s idols and remove them from their temples. The Assyrians often carried off the idols of the nations they conquered to demonstrate the superiority of their gods over those of the conquered, as did other ancient Near Eastern nations (cf. 1 Samuel 5). The conquering Medes, however, despised idolatry and did away with multitudes of images that existed in Nineveh. [Note: Charles Lee Feinberg, Jonah Micah and Nahum, p. 132.] Yahweh would prepare Nineveh’s grave since He would bury the contemptible city. It was a great curse in the ancient Near East to have no descendants, and it was a great humiliation to have no gods, but both fates would befall Nineveh.