What do you plot against Yahweh? He will make a full end. Affliction won’t rise up the second time.
Parallel Translations
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What do you plot against Yahweh? He will make a full end. Affliction won’t rise up the second time.
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What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.
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What do ye devise against the LORD? He will make a full end; trouble shall not rise up the second time.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Nahum 1:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 21:11 For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.
- Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against Yahweh.
- Psalms 33:10 Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.
- 2 Corinthians 10:5 throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
- Psalms 2:1-4 Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying, “Let’s break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens will laugh. The Lord will have them in derision.
- Nahum 1:11 There is one gone out of you, who devises evil against Yahweh, who counsels wickedness.
- Isaiah 8:9-10 Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered! Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand, for God is with us.”
- Ezekiel 38:10-11 “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “It will happen in that day that things will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan. You will say, ‘I will go up to the land of unwalled villages. I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
- Acts 4:25-28 who by the mouth of your servant, David, said, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take council together, against the Lord, and against his Christ.’ “For truly, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your council foreordained to happen.
- 1 Samuel 3:12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end.
- 1 Samuel 26:8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has delivered up your enemy into your hand today. Now therefore please let me strike him with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time.”
- 2 Samuel 20:10 But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab’s hand. So he struck him with it in the body, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and didn’t strike him again; and he died. Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Some interpreters so consider this verse also, as though…
Some interpreters so consider this verse also, as though the Prophet had said, that the calamity of the chosen people would not be a destruction, as God would observe some moderation and keep within certain limits. The unbelieving, we know, immediately exult, whenever the children of God are oppressed by adverse things, as though it were all over with the Church. Hence the Prophet here, according to these interpreters, meets and checks this sort of petulance, What imagine ye against God? He will indeed afflict his Church, but he will not repeat her troubles, for he will be satisfied with one affliction. They also think that the kingdom of Judah is here compared with the kingdom of Israel: for the kingdom of Israel had been twice afflicted: for, first, four tribes had been led away, and then the whole kingdom had been overturned. As then one calamity had been inflicted by Shalmanezar, and another by Tiglathpilezar, they suppose that there is here an implied comparison, as though the Prophet said, “God will spare the kingdom of Judah, and will not repeat his vengeance, as it happened to the kingdom of Israel.” But this meaning is forced and too far-fetched. The Prophet then, I doubt not, continues here his discourse, and denounces perpetual ruin on the enemies of the Church. He says first, What imagine ye against Jehovah? He exults over the Assyrians, because they thought that they had to do only with mortals, and also with a mean people, and now worn out by many misfortunes. For we know that the kingdom of Judah had been weakened by many wars before the Assyrians made an irruption into the land: they had suffered two severe and grievous attacks from their neighbors, the king of Israel and the king of Syria; for then it was that they made the Assyrians their confederates. When therefore the Assyrians came against Judea, they thought that they would have no trouble in obtaining victory, as they engaged in war with an insignificant people, and as we have said, worn out by evils. But the Prophet shows here that the war was with the living God, and not with men, as they falsely thought. What then imagine ye against Jehovah? as though he said, “Know ye not that this people are under the care and protection of God? Ye cannot then attack the kingdom of Judah without having God as your opponent. As it is certain that this people are defended by a divine power, there is no reason for you to think that you will be victorious.” At the same time, I know not why the Prophet’s words should be confined to the tribe of Judah, since the purpose was to comfort the Israelites as well as the Jews.
Now this is a very useful doctrine; for the Prophet teaches us in general, that the ungodly, whenever they harass the Church, not only do wrong to men, but also fight with God himself; for he so connects us with himself, that all who hurt us touch the apple of his eye, as he declares in another place, (Zechariah 2:8.) We may then gather invaluable comfort from these words; for we can fully and boldly set up this shield against our enemies, — that they devise their counsels, and make efforts against God, and assail him; for he takes us under his protection for this end, that whenever we are injured, he may stand in the middle as our defender. This is one thing.
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Now in the second clause he adds, that he will make a complete end, Rise up again shall not distress; that is, God is able to reduce you to nothing, so that there will be no need to assail you the second time. This passage, we know, has been turned to this meaning, — that God does not punish men twice nor exceed moderation in his wrath: but this is wholly foreign to the mind of the Prophet. I have also said already that I do not approve of what others have said, who apply this passage to the Church and especially to the kingdom of Judah. For I thus simply interpret the words of the Prophet, — that God can with one onset, when it seems good to him, so destroy his enemies, that there will be no need of striving with them the second time: Il n’y faudra plus retourner, as we say in our language. God then will make a full end; that is, he will be able in one moment to demolish his enemies and the ruin will be complete, that is, the wasting will be entire. There will be no distress again or the second time; for it will be all over with the enemies of God; not that God observes always the same rule when he punishes his enemies, nor does Nahum here prescribe any general rule; but he simply means, that God, whenever it pleases him, instantly destroys his enemies. He afterwards adds —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He showeth that the enterprises of the Assyrians against…
He showeth that the enterprises of the Assyrians against Judah and the Church, were against God, and therefore he would so destroy them at once, that he should not need to return the second time.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Nah 1:9 What do ye imagine against the LORD?…
Nah 1:9 What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.
Ver. 9. What do ye imagine against the Lord?] Because against his people. So Psa 62:3, "How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence." The blind and bloody Ninevites looked no farther than the Jews, whom they invaded: they considered not that God was engaged in the quarrel of his people. This made the virgin, daughter of Zion, confident of God s help, shake her head in scorn and pity at them, saying, "Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel," Isa 37:22-23. She knew well (though her enemies knew not), that as an unskilful archer in shooting at a beast hitteth a man sometimes; so the Church’s adversaries, in troubling of her trouble Almighty God, who will not fail to be even with them: for he that toucheth God’s people toucheth the apple of his eye, Zec 2:8. "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Act 9:4. It was a simple question of Satan to our Saviour, "What have I to do with thee?" while he vexed a servant of his. Hath he his name from knowledge, and yet could he so mistake him whom he confessed to be the Son of the living God? It is an idle misprision to sever the sense of an injury done to any of the members from the head. Drusius reads the text thus, Quid cogitatis de Domino? what think ye of the Lord? what conceit or opinion have ye of him? Do ye imagine that he cannot perform what he threateneth by his prophets? or that he cannot, when he pleaseth, deliver his people out of your hand?
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He will make an utter end] Not a consumption only, but a consummation. This he is ever doing, as the Hebrew hath it: he is busy about it, and will not fail to finish it; for he useth not to do his work to the halves. Surely a short work will the Lord make in your land, now that he taketh you to do, certo, cito penitus.
Affliction shall not rise up the second time] God will despatch you at one blow. See a like expression 1Sa 26:8. Nineveh had many brushes before, by Phraortes, King of Medes, and his son Cyaxares, and afterwards by the Scythians, whereof see Jer 49:34, and by Astyages, &c. Now Nebuchadnezzar was appointed by God to make an utter end of it, &c. The wicked shall totally and finally be consumed at once. Not so the saints: these he corrects with a rod, those with a grounded staff, Isa 30:32. These in mercy and in measure, in the bunches only, "he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind," Isa 27:8, he stayeth such afflictions as would shake his plants too much, or quite blow them down. But to the wicked he hath no such tender respect: he smites them at the root, and, after many blows, he resolves to have them down. For instance, compare God’s different dealing with Noah and the old world, with Lot and the Sodomites, Israel and the Canaanites, Moses and Pharaoh, David and Saul, &c. "Fret not therefore thyself because of evil doers," Psa 37:1. "When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever," Psa 92:7. Pharaoh had fair way made for him till he came to the midst of the sea; not one wave may rise up against him to wet so much as the hoof of his horse. It was a fair sunshine day when Lot went out of Sodom; but ere night there fell out a dismal change. It was in the spring {a} that the flood came, then when everything was prime and pride: besides that, the world never more flourished in wealth, peace, arts, and all magnificence; yet sudden destruction came upon them, they were all at once buried in one universal grave of waters.
{a} The growing season in Palestine starts in mid-fall and is similar to our spring in the northern hemisphere.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Having declared the dreadfulness of God’s power and anger…
Having declared the dreadfulness of God’s power and anger against the wicked, his goodness towards his people, and denounced future destruction against the Ninevites and Assyrians, he doth now expostulate with them, would know what it is they think of God, what it is they design against him, and on what ground they flatter themselves into such an attempt.
Against the Lord, the God of Israel; for however you, O Ninevites and Assyrians, will look only upon a poor, afflicted people, (weakened by many wars,) and design to swallow them up, yet they are the people of the Lord, and you design against him what you design against them.
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He will make an utter end; he will make your utter desolation to be the issue of your projects, and the punishment of your sins: see Nah 1:8.
Affliction shall not rise up the second time; when that storm which shall overthrow you is past, no other shall arise, because you shall be no more; as if the prophet had said, God will at once and for ever destroy your empire and city.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain These verses seem to point at the destruction of…
These verses seem to point at the destruction of the army of the Assyrians under Sennacherib, which may well be reckoned a part of the burden of Nineveh, the head city of the Assyrian empire, and a pledge of the destruction of Nineveh itself about 100 years after; and this was an event which Isaiah, with whom probably this prophet was contemporary, spoke much of. Now observe here,
I. The great provocation which the Assyrians gave to God, the just and jealous God, for which, though slow to anger, he would take vengeance (Nah 1:11): There is one come out of thee, that imagines evil against the Lord - Sennacherib, and his spokesman Rabshakeh. They framed an evil letter and an evil speech, not only against Hezekiah and his people, but against God himself, reflecting upon him as level with the gods of the heathen, and unable to protect his worshippers, dissuading his people from putting confidence in him, and urging them rather to put themselves under the protection of the great king, the king of Assyria. They contrived to alter the property of Jerusalem, that it should be no longer the city of the Lord, the holy city. This one, this mighty one, so he thinks himself, that comes out of Nineveh, imagining evil against the Lord, brings upon Nineveh this burden. Never was the glorious Majesty of heaven and earth more daringly, more blasphemously affronted than by Sennacherib at that time. He was a wicked counsellor who counselled them to despair of God's protection, and surrender themselves to the king of Assyria, and endeavour to put them out of conceit with Hezekiah's reformation (Isa 36:7); with this wicked counsellor he here expostulates (Nah 1:9): "What do you imagine against the Lord? What a foolish wicked thing it is for you to plot against God, as if you could outwit divine wisdom and overpower omnipotence itself!" Note, There is a great deal imagined against the Lord by the gates of hell, and against the interests of his kingdom in the world; but it will prove a vain thing, Psa 2:1, Psa 2:2. He that sits in heaven laughs at the imaginations of the pretenders to politics against him, and will turn their counsels headlong.
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II. The great destruction which God would bring upon them for it, not immediately upon the whole monarchy (the ruin of that was deferred till the measure of their iniquity was full), but,
1. Upon the army; God will make an utter end of that; it shall be totally cut off and ruined at one blow; one fatal stroke of the destroying angel shall lay them dead upon the spot; affliction shall not rise up the second time, for it shall not need. With some sinners God makes a quick despatch, does their business at once. Divine vengeance goes not by one certain rule, nor in one constant track, but one way or other, by acute diseases or chronical ones, by slow deaths or lingering ones, he will make an utter end of all his enemies, who persist in their imaginations against him. We have reason to think that the Assyrian army were mostly of the same spirit, and spoke the same language, with their general, and now God would take them to task, though they did but say as they were taught; and it shall appear that they have laid themselves open to divine wrath by their own act and deed, Nah 1:10. (1.) They are as thorns that entangle one another, and are folded together. They make one another worse, and more inveterate against God and his Israel, harden one another's hearts, and strengthen one another's hands, in their impiety; and therefore God will do with them as the husbandman does with a bush of thorns when he cannot part them: he puts them all into the fire together. (2.) They are as drunken men, intoxicated with pride and rage; and such as they shall be irrecoverably overthrown and destroyed. They shall be as drunkards, besotted to their own ruin, and shall stumble and fall, and make themselves a reproach, and be justly laughed at. (3.) They shall be devoured as stubble fully dry, which is irresistibly and irrecoverably consumed by the flame. The judgments of God are as devouring fire to those that make themselves as stubble to them. It is again threatened concerning this great army (Nah 1:12) that though they be quiet and likewise many, very secure, not fearing the sallies out of the besieged upon them, because they are numerous, yet thus shall they be cut down, or certainly shall they be cut down, as grass and corn are cut down, with as little ado, when he shall pass through, even the destroying angel that is commissioned to cut them down. Note, The security of sinners, and their confidence in their own strength, are often presages of ruin approaching.
2. Upon the king. He imagined evil against the Lord, and shall he escape? No (Nah 1:14): "The Lord has given a commandment concerning thee; the decree has gone forth, that thy name be no more sown, that thy memory perish, that thou be no more talked of as thou hast been, and that the report of thy mighty actions be dispersed upon the wings of fame and celebrated with her trumpet." Because Sennacherib's son reigned in his stead, some make this to point at the overthrow of the Assyrian empire not long after. Note, Those that imagine evil against the Lord hasten evil upon themselves and their own families and interests, and ruin their own names by dishonouring his name. It is further threatened, (1.) That the images he worshipped should be cut off from their temple, the graven image and the molten image out of the house of his gods, which, some think, was fulfilled when Sennacherib was slain by his two sons, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, by which barbarous parricide we may suppose the temple was looked upon as defiled, and was therefore disused, and the images were cut off from it, the worshippers of those images no longer attending there. Or it may be taken more generally to denote the utter ruin of Assyria; the army of the enemy shall lay all waste, and not spare even the images of their gods, by which God would intimate to them that one of the grounds of his controversy with them was their idolatry. (2.) That Sennacherib's grave shall be made there, some think in the house of his god; there he is slain, and there he shall be buried, for he is vile; he lies under this perpetual mark of disgrace, that he had so far lost his interest in the natural affection of his own children that two of them murdered him. Or it may be meant of the ignominious fall of the Assyrian monarchy itself, upon the ruins of which that of Babylon was raised. What a noise was made about the grave of that once formidable state, but now despicable, is largely described, Eze 31:3, Eze 31:11, Eze 31:15, Eze 31:16. Note, Those that make themselves vile by scandalous sins God will make vile by shameful punishments.
III. The great deliverance which God would hereby work for his own people and the city that was called by his name. The ruin of the church's enemies is the salvation of the church, and a very great salvation it was that was wrought for Jerusalem by the overthrow of Sennacherib's army.
1. The siege shall hereby be raised: "Now will I break his yoke from off thee, by which thou art kept in servitude, and will burst thy bonds asunder, by which thou seemest bound over to the Assyrian's wrath." That vast victorious army, when it forced free quarters for itself throughout all the land of Judah, and lived at discretion there, was as yokes and bonds upon them. Jerusalem, when it was besieged, was, as it were, bound and fettered by it; but, when the destroying angel had done his work, Jerusalem's bonds were burst asunder, and it was set at liberty again. This was a figure of the great salvation, by which the Jerusalem that is above is made free, is made free indeed.
2. The enemy shall be so weakened and dispirited that they shall never make any such attempt again, and the end of this trouble shall be so well gained by the grace of God that there shall be no more occasion for such a severe correction. (1.) God will not again afflict Jerusalem; his anger is turned away, and he says, It is enough; for he has by this fright accomplished his whole work upon Mount Zion (Isa 10:12), and therefore "though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more;" the bitter portion shall not be repeated unless there be need and the patient's case call for it; for God doth not afflict willingly. (2.) The enemy shall not dare again to attack Jerusalem (Nah 1:15): The wicked shall no more pass through thee as they have done, to lay all waste, for he is utterly cut off and disabled to do it. His army is cut off, his spirit cut off, and at length he himself is cut off.
3. The tidings of this great deliverance shall be published and welcomed with abundance of joy throughout the kingdom, Nah 1:15. While Sennacherib prevailed, and carried all before him, every day brought bad news; but now, behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, the feet of the evangelist; he is seen coming at a distance upon the mountains, as fast as his feet will carry him; and how pleasant a sight is it once more to see a messenger of peace, after we have received so many of Job's messengers! We find these words made use of by another prophet to illustrate the mercy of the deliverance of the people of God out of Babylon (Isa 52:7), not that the prophets stole the word one from another (as those did, Jer 23:30), but speaking by the same Spirit, they often used the same expressions; and it may be of good use for ministers to testify their consent to wholesome truths (Ti1 6:3) by concurring in the same forms of sound words, Ti2 1:13. These words are also quoted by the apostle, both from Isaiah and Nahum, and applied to the great redemption wrought out for us by our Lord Jesus, and the publishing of it to the world by the everlasting gospel, Rom 10:15. Christ's ministers are those messengers of good tidings, that preach peace by Jesus Christ. How beautiful are the feet of those messengers! How welcome their message to those that see their misery and danger by reason of sin! And observe, He that brings these good tidings brings with them a call to Judah to keep her solemn feasts and perform her vows. During the trouble, (1.) The ordinary feasts had been intermitted. Inter arma silent leges - The voice of law cannot be heard amidst the shouts of battle. While Jerusalem was encompassed with armies they could not go thither to worship; but now that the embargo is taken off they must return to the observance of their feasts; and the feasts of the Lord will be doubly sweet to the people of God when they have been for some time deprived of the benefit of them and God graciously restores them their opportunities again, for we are taught the worth of such mercies by the want of them. (2.) They had made vows to God, that, if he would deliver them out of this distress, they would do something extraordinary in his service, to his honour; and now that the deliverance is wrought they are called upon to perform their vows; the promise they had then made must now be made good, for better it is not to vow than to vow and not to pay. And those words, The wicked shall no more pass through thee, may be taken as a promise of the perfecting of the good work of reformation which Hezekiah had begun; the wicked shall not, as they have done, walk on every side, but they shall be cut off, and the baffling of the attempts from the wicked enemies abroad is a mercy indeed to a nation when it is accompanied with the restraint and reformation of the wicked at home, who are its more dangerous enemies.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain What do ye imagine against the Lord?.... O ye…
What do ye imagine against the Lord?.... O ye Ninevites or Assyrians; do you think you can frustrate the designs of the Lord, resist his power, and hinder him from executing what he has threatened and has determined to do? or what mischief is it you devise against his people, which is the same as against himself? can you believe that you shall prosper and succeed, and your schemes be carried into execution, when he, the all wise and all powerful Being, opposes you?
he will make an utter end; of you, as before declared, and will save his people; which may be depended on will certainly be the case:
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affliction shall not rise up the second time; either this should be the last effort the Assyrians would make upon the Jews, which they made under Sennacherib, and this the last time they would afflict them; or rather their own destruction should be so complete that there would be no need to repeat the stroke, or give another blow; the business would be done at once. This seems to contradict a notion of some historians and chronologers, who suppose that Nineveh was destroyed at two different times, and by different persons of the same nations; and so the whole Assyrian empire was twice ruined, which is not likely in itself, and seems contrary to this passage; for though some ascribe it to Arbaces the Mede, and Belesis the Babylonian as Diodorus Siculus (e); and others to Cyaxares the Mede as Herodotus (f), and to Nebuchadnezzar the first, or Nabopolassar the Babylonian in a later period; so Tobit (g) says it was taken by Nebuchadnezzar and Ahasuerus, the same with the Cyaxares of Herodotus; yet all seem to agree that it was taken by the conjunct forces of the Medes and Babylonians; and there are some things similar (h) in all these accounts, which show that there was but one destruction of Nineveh, and of the Assyrian empire.
(e) Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 110, 111. (f) L. 1. sive Clio, c. 106. (g) Tobit 14:15. (h) See the Universal History, vol. 4. c. 8. sect. 5. & vol. 5. p. 22. Margin, & Nicolai Abrami Pharus Vet. Test. l. 6. c. 19. p. 165.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Against the Lord - What you imagine or design…
Against the Lord - What you imagine or design against his people, ye design against him? Make an utter end - He will bring you to utter desolation.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. Affliction shall not rise up the second…
Verse 9. Affliction shall not rise up the second time.] There shall be no need to repeat the judgment; with one blow God will make a full end of the business.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Nah 1:9-10. What do ye imagine against the Lord?…
Nah 1:9-10. What do ye imagine against the Lord? — Having declared the dreadfulness of God’s power and anger against the wicked, his goodness toward his people, and denounced future destruction against the Ninevites; he now expostulates with them, inquiring what it is they design against God, and on what ground they flatter themselves into such an attempt: as if he had said, What a foolish and wicked thing it is for you to plot against Jehovah, as if you could outwit infinite wisdom, and overcome almighty power. He will make an utter end — He will cause your utter desolation to be the issue of your projects, and the punishment of your sins. Affliction shall not rise up the second time — God will at once, and for ever, destroy your city and empire. He will lay you low at one stroke, so that there will be no occasion to repeat it. For while they be folden together as thorns — Or, For as thorns golden or entangled together are thrown into the fire all at once, and easily burned, yea, help to destroy each other; so shall the Ninevites be easily and surely destroyed. And while they are drunken as drunkards — As men drunken and unable to help themselves; who, when any sudden danger arises, are all involved in the same fate. They shall be devoured as stubble fully dry — Which soon catches fire, and breaks out into a flame. The meaning of the whole verse is, that on a sudden they should be involved in a general destruction. Diodorus relates, it was while all the Assyrian army were feasting for their former victories, that their enemies, being informed by some deserters of the negligence and drunkenness in their camp, “assaulted them unexpectedly by night, and falling orderly on them disorderly, and prepared on them unprepared, became masters of the camp, slew many of the soldiers, and drove the rest into the city.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The prophet had in few words summed up the…
The prophet had in few words summed up the close of Nineveh; he now upbraids them with the sin, which should bring it upon them, and foretells the destruction of Sennacherib. Nineveh had, before this, been the instrument of chastising Israel and Judah. Now, the capture of Samaria, which had cast off God, deceived and emboldened it. Its king thought that this was the might of his own arm; and likened the Lord of heaven and earth to the idols of the pagan, and said, “Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?” 2Ki 18:35. He sent “to reproach the living God” 2Ki 19:16 and “defied the Holy One of Israel” (see 2 Kings 19:15-34). His blasphemy was his destruction. It was a war, not simply of ambition, or covetousness, but directly against the power and worship of God.
“What will ye so mightily devise” , “imagine against the Lord?” He Himself, by Himself, is already “making an utter end.” It is in store; the Angel is ready to smite. Idle are man’s devices, when the Lord doeth. “Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us” Isa 8:10. While the rich man was speaking comfort to his soul as to future years, God was making an utter end. “Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee.”
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Affliction shall not rise up the second time - Others have understood this, “affliction shall not rise up the second time,” but shall destroy at once, utterly and finally (compare 1Sa 26:8; 2Sa 20:10): but:
(1) the idiom there, “he did not repeat to him,” as we say, “he did not repeat the blow” is quite different;
(2) it is said “affliction shall not rise up,” itself, as if it could not. The causative of the idiom occurs in 2Sa 12:11, “lo, I will cause evil to rise up against thee;” as he says afterward, “Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more” Nah 1:12. “God,” He had said, “is good for a refuge in the day of affliction;” now, personifying that affliction, he says, that it should be so utterly broken, that it should rise up no more to vex them, as when a serpent’s head is, not wounded only but, crushed and trampled underfoot, so that it cannot again lift itself up. The promises of God are conditioned by our not falling back into sin. He saith to Nineveh, “God will not deliver Judah to thee, as He delivered the ten tribes and Samaria.” Judah repented under Hezekiah, and He not only delivered it from Sennacherib, but never afflicted them again through Assyria. Renewal of sin brings renewal or deepening of punishment. The new and more grievous sins under Manasseh were punished, not through Assyria but through the Chaldeans.
The words have passed into a maxim, “God will not punish the same thing twice,” not in this world and the world to come, i. e., not if repented of. For of the impenitent it is said, “destroy them with a double destruction” Jer 17:18. Chastisement here is a token of God’s mercy; the absence of it, or prosperous sin, of perdition; but if any refuse to be corrected, the chastisement of this life is but the beginning of unending torments.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Affliction. Septuagint add, "for the same thing, or together."…
Affliction. Septuagint add, "for the same thing, or together." (Haydock) --- :Many hence infer, that those who have been slain by God, like the Sodomites, &c., will not be condemned to hell. (Origen, i. Ezec.; St. Jerome.; St. Thomas Aquinas, [Summa Theologiae] 3. p. q. 59. a. 5.) --- But this principle cannot be always correct. (Calmet) --- Their temporal suffering might usher in eternal ones. (St. Gregory, Mor. xviii. 12.) --- Ninive shall perish; so that a second blow will not be requisite, 1 Kings xxvi. 8. (Drusius) (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain What do ye imagine against the Lord?--abrupt address to…
What do ye imagine against the Lord?--abrupt address to the Assyrians. How mad is your attempt, O Assyrians, to resist so powerful a God! What can ye do against such an adversary, successful though ye have been against all other adversaries? Ye imagine ye have to do merely with mortals and with a weak people, and that so you will gain an easy victory; but you have to encounter God, the protector of His people. Parallel to Isa 37:23-29; compare Psa 1:1.
he will make an utter end--The utter overthrow of Sennacherib's host, soon about to take place, is an earnest of the "utter end" of Nineveh itself.
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affliction shall not rise up the second time--Judah's "affliction" caused by the invasion shall never rise again. So Nah 1:12. But CALVIN takes the "affliction" to be that of Assyria: "There will be no need of His inflicting on you a second blow: He will make an utter end of you once for all" (Sa1 3:12; Sa1 26:8; Sa2 20:10). If so, this verse, in contrast to Nah 1:12, will express, Affliction shall visit the Assyrian no more, in a sense very different from that in which God will afflict Judah no more. In the Assyrian's case, because the blow will be fatally final; the latter, because God will make lasting blessedness in Judah's case succeed temporary chastisement. But it seems simpler to refer "affliction" here, as in Nah 1:12, to Judah; indeed destruction, rather than affliction, applies to the Assyrian.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. What do ye imagine against the Lord] Compare…
9. What do ye imagine against the Lord] Compare Nah_1:11 : “out of thee came forth one that imagined evil against the Lord.” This sense, though the natural one, does not connect well with the next clause. Possibly the meaning is, What do ye imagine (think) of the Lord? in regard to Him and His operations. The next words then explain how He is to be thought of, and what His way of operation is: He will make an utter end.
Affliction … the second time] Or, trouble shall not rise twice. Is the statement a threat against Jehovah’s enemies or particularly Nineveh? or is it a promise to Israel? Do the words mean that as the Lord shall make an utter end of Nineveh the trouble that now threatens her shall be once for all? or is the sense that Israel having suffered once from Assyria (Sennacherib) she shall not suffer twice? The use of the word “twice” as well as the connexion seems to favour the former sense, though perhaps the term “affliction” or trouble not unnaturally suggests the second. Comp. 1Sa_26:8, “Let me pin him with the spear to the earth at one stroke (one time) and I will not smite him the second time (lit. I will not repeat to him)”; 2Sa_20:10. The same ambiguity arises in Nah_1:12.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) Affliction—i.e., Nineveh’s affliction of Israel, the same Hebrew…
(9) Affliction—i.e., Nineveh’s affliction of Israel, the same Hebrew word being used in Nah_1:7 to denote Israel’s “trouble” or “affliction” proceeding from Nineveh. (See also Nah_1:12.) Nineveh shall not afflict Israel a second time. Applying the whole passage to the destruction of Sennacherib’s host, we necessarily prefer this to the other possible interpretation—God will not have occasion to send affliction on Nineveh a second time, i.e., this visitation will be so exhaustive that there will be no need to repeat it. For the judgment on Sennacherib was not God’s final visitation.
(9-15) The first revelation of God’s judgment, by the awful overthrow of Sennacherib’s invading army in the reign of Hezekiah.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The prophet suddenly addresses both Jews and Assyrians, encouraging…
The prophet suddenly addresses both Jews and Assyrians, encouraging the former by the thought that God can perform what he promises, and warning the latter that their boasting (comp. Isa_10:9, etc.; Isa_36:20) was vain. What do ye imagine against the Lord? Quid cogitatis contra Dominum? (Vulgate). This rendering regards the question as addressed to the Assyrians, demanding of them what it is that they dare to plot against God; do they presume to fight against him, or to fancy that his threats will not be accomplished? But the sentence is best translated, What think ye of the Lord? Ti logizesye epi torion ; "What devise ye against the Lord?" (Septuagint). This is addressed not only to the Jews in the sense, "Do ye think that he will not accomplish his threat against Nineveh?" but to the Assyrians also. He will make an utter end. This denunciation is repeated from ver. 8 to denote the absolute certainty of the doom. Affliction shall not rise up the second time. The Assyrians shall never again have the power of oppressing Judah as they have ruined Israel there shall be no repetition of Sennacherib"s invasion. Septuagint, Ouk ekdikhsei di en yliqei : Non vindicabit bis in idipsura (Jerome). From this text the Fathers take occasion to discuss the question how it is that God does not punish twice for the same sin.
Vers. 9-14. A wicked counsellor.
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I HIS PERSON.
1. The Assyrian power. Represented in Hezekiah"s reign by Sennacherib; in Manasseh"s (Nahum"s time) by Esar-haddon or Assurbanipal; in each successive reign by the ruling sovereign.
2. The unbelieving world. Of this Assyria was now the symbol, as in former times Egypt had been, as in later days Rome was. (Joh_15:18 Jam_4:4)
3. The unrenewed heart. The curtal mind is enmity against God. (Rom_8:7)
II HIS CHARACTER.
a. Powerful. The Assyrian in Nahum"s age was "in full strength" (ver. 12), a well organized and firmly knit confederacy like "tangled thorns" (ver. 10), which were dangerous to touch, and a multitudinous people (ver. 12) in comparison with which Judah was but a handful. The same elements of power coexist in the unbelieving world force, (Eph_2:2) order, (Eph_6:12) numbers (1Jn_5:19) in comparison with which the Church of God is weak, disunited, and small. The individual transgressor also not unfrequently exhibits an energy, a determination, and a capacity to enlist others upon his side which are wanting in the followers of God and Christ.
b. Self-reliant. Like drunkards drenched in drink (ver. 10), the Assyrians were foolishly confident, and believed themselves to be invincible. In like manner, the unbelieving world in general and the individual sinner in particular, are of opinion that they are more than sufficient to cope with any form of calamity that may assail them, and to ensure their own safety against any foe, bodily or ghostly, earthly or unearthly, human or Divine.
3. Vile.
(1) The Assyrian court was notorious for its gluttony and revelry, especially in the days of Assurbanipal. The world also runs to strange excess of riot in eating and drinking. (Rom_13:13 1Pe_4:4)
(2) The Assyrian people were worshippers of idols (ver. 14); and the world of today has its idols before which it delights to prostrate itself and present homage.
(3) The Assyrian kings were tyrannical, cruel, and oppressive; and so also is the world.
III HIS DESIGNS.
1. Evil. "He counselleth wickedness" (ver. 11) in particular oppression of the people of Jehovah (ver. 13). Such was the aim of Assyria towards Judah; such is the aim of the world towards the Church; and of the unbeliever towards the believer.
2. Impious. His wicked counsels are also directed "against the Lord" (vers. 9, 11). This was the spirit of Assyria as represented by Rabshakeh in the time of Hezekiah; (2Ki_18:28-35 2Ch_32:11-17 Isa_36:7, Isa_36:14, Isa_36:15, 18-20 37:10-13) and of Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentile world, and the unbelieving Jews in the days of Christ; (Act_4:25-28) and is the spirit still of the unrenewed heart. (Rom_8:7)
3. Vain. The fruits of a corrupt "imagination" (vers. 9, 11), they will prove idle and worthless. Assyria"s schemes for the subjugation of Judah came to nought; so resulted in defeat those of Herod and of Pilate, of the Jews and of the Gentiles against the holy Child Jesus; and so will terminate in shame those of wicked men generally against the truth.
IV HIS DOOM.
1. Certain. The decree had gone forth against Assyria when Nahum spoke. "The Lord hath given commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy seed be sown" (ver. 14). A similar decree has gone forth against the ungodly world, (2Pe_3:7 1Jn_2:15-17) and against unbelievers as individuals. (Php_3:19 1Th_1:9)
2. Complete. Of Nineveh Jehovah was to make "a full end," so that no second affliction should be required to destroy them (Calvin, Hitzig), or should be able to proceed from them (Keil, Fausset) against Judah (ver. 9); the Assyrians were to be "destroyed utterly as dry stubble" (ver. 10), "to be cut down and pass away," so that Jehovah should no more (at least by their hand) afflict his people (ver. 12); the royal house was to come to an end, no more of that name being sown (ver. 14); the very divinities of Assyria and Nineveh were to be exterminated (ver. 14). More complete ruin was inconceivable; so will all the enemies of God and Christ be utterly destroyed. (Jer_12:17 Psa_37:38 Mat_21:41 2Pe_2:12)
LESSONS.
1. The danger of forming designs against either God or his people.
2. The wisdom of taking warning in time before it is too late.
3. The certainty that, when God begins the work of judgment, he will also make an end.
Vers. 9, 10. Sin.
"What do ye imagine against the Lord? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry." These words suggest a few thoughts concerning sin.
I THE ESSENCE OF SIN IS SUGGESTED; IT IS HOSTILITY TO GOD. It is something directed against the Lord: it is opposition to the laws, purposes, spirit of God. "The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be". (Rom_8:7) It involves:
1. The basest ingratitude; for to him we owe everything.
2. The greatest injustice; for he has supreme claims to our devotion and obedience.
3. Impious presumption. Frail worms raising their heads against the Infinite!
II THE SEAT OF SIN IS SUGGESTED: IT IS IN THE MIND. "What do ye imagine against the Lord?" Sin is not language, however bad; not actions, however apparently wicked. Words and deeds are no more sin than branches are the sap of the tree. They are the mere effects and expression of sin. Sin is in the mind in the deep secret, mute thoughts of the heart. God"s legislation extends to thought, reaches it in the profoundest abyss. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he". (Pro_23:7) Christ, in his sermon on the mount, taught this. Adultery, robbery, murder, are all perpetrated on the arena of the heart. How necessary the prayer, "Create within us clean hearts, O God"!
III THE FOLLY OF SIN IS SUGGESTED: IT IS OPPOSITION TO OMNIPOTENCE. "What do ye imagine against the Lord? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up a second time." "How mad is your attempt, O Assyrians, to resist so powerful a God! What can ye do against such an Adversary, successful though ye have been against all other adversaries? Ye imagine ye have to do merely with mortals, and with a weak people, and that so you will gain an easy victory; but you have to encounter God, the Protector of his people" (Fausset). In opposing him:
1. He will completely ruin you. "He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time." The literal meaning of this is that the overthrow of Sennacherib"s host was so complete that Judah"s affliction caused by this invasion would never be repeated. The man who opposes God will be utterly ruined.
2. He will completely ruin you, whatever the kind of resistance you may offer. "For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry." You may be combined like a bundle of thorns, offering resistance; you may have all the daring and temerity of drunkards, albeit you "shall be devoured as stubble fully dry." All this was realized in the destruction of his enemy. Oh the folly of sin! Fighting against God is a mad fight. "What do ye imagine against the Lord," then? Sinners, submit. D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain What do ye imagine against the Lord?
Nah_1:9-10
What do ye imagine against the Lord?
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Sin
I. The essence of sin is suggested. It is hostility to God. It is opposition to the laws, purposes, Spirit of God. It involves--
1. The basest of ingratitude.
2. The greatest injustice.
3. Impious presumption.
II. The seat of sin is suggested. It is in the mind. Sin is not language, not mere actions. Sin is in the deep mute thoughts of the hearts. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
III. The folly of sin is suggested. It is opposition to Omnipotence. In opposing Him, remember--
1. He will completely ruin you.
2. He will completely ruin you, whatever the kind of resistance you may offer. Fighting against God is a mad fight. (Homilist.)
Folly of opposing God
Sin, when it is mightiest and most successful, is transitory. Lord Rosebery has been telling us the story of Napoleon the Great. His energy, his intellect, his genius were such that he enlarges the scope of human achievement. Once he fought the Austrians for five consecutive days without taking off his boots or closing his eyes. He was as much the first ruler as the first captain in the world. Ordinary measures do not apply to him; we seem to be trying to span a mountain with a tape. Napoleon was the largest personal force that has come into the modern European world. But his career ended in defeat and exile. At forty-six the man who had dreamed of governing a continent was a captive. His conquests left no mark. The kings whom he made lost their thrones. France was beggared and exhausted by him. Why? Because God was not his God. I am not a man like other men, he asserted himself; the laws of morality could not be intended to apply to me. Therefore I will fear nothing, though wickedness seems to prosper for a time. Such prosperity has no permanence about it. It is better to walk humbly with God than to stand alone on the proudest eminence in the world. (A. Smellie, M. A.)
While they be folden together as thorns.--
National undergrowth
Illustrate by the undergrowth in a great forest. It must be cut; down before anything hopeful can be done with the soil There is a national moral undergrowth: a brutal, vile, wretched population of a most repulsive and dangerous character. Ignorance, sensuality, violence, and irreligion, fostered and perpetuated by drunkenness, forms a dismal, moral undergrowth, where human tigers watch for prey, where foul habits breed disease, where women lose all beauty and joy, and where children--the offspring of immoral parents-are like a nest of unclean birds. What is to be done with this deadly moral undergrowth? Soft measures, easy-going, self-indulgent Christianity are of no use here.
1. Let us take increased care that good and precious seed shall be sown in the hearts of the young. This is of paramount and urgent importance. Take care of the little ones.
2. Seek to reach the people who never enter places of worship.
3. Endeavour to abate incentives to drunkenness.
4. Consecrate yourselves afresh to God, and the work of His kingdom. (George W. McCree.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Nah_1:9.] The city must be destroyed and its inhabitants…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Nah_1:9.] The city must be destroyed and its inhabitants perish. Imagine] By means of defence to ward off danger. Second] time from Assyria (cf. Isa_51:17-23; 2Sa_20:10).
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Nah_1:10. Thorns] twisted together, to appear inseparable, and present a bristling front (2Sa_23:6-7). Drunken] Assyrian kings proverbial for intemperance and revelry.
Nah_1:11. One] Sennacherib. Thee] From Nineveh itself arises its own ruin. Counsellor] Lit. a counsellor of Belial, worthless and bad; designs to overthrow the kingdom of God (Isa_36:14-20).
HOMILETICS
RESISTANCE TO GOD POWERLESS.—Nah_1:9-11
Nahum now turns to the invaders, boldly challenges them for their opposition to Jehovah, again describes their ruin, and for the encouragement of the Jews, adds that they should not be annoyed any more.
I. Resistance to God in its nature. “What do ye imagine against the Lord?”
1. Resistance in thought. “Imagine.” They thought that they had to do with a weak people, and would gain an easy victory. But they had to encounter God. It is vain presumption to plot against him. “There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord.”
2. Resistance in word. Many imagined evil, but one leader was specially prominent in counsel. Sennacherib in the mouth of Rabshakeh advised worthless and wicked plans (cf. Isa_36:14-20). Crafty counsellors are most mischievous, and often bring ruin upon themselves and their country.
3. Resistance in act. Plots ripen into enterprises. Wicked thoughts lead to denial of God’s power and providence; to contempt of God’s people, and opposition to God’s purpose. He sent “to reproach the loving God” (2Ki_19:16), and blasphemed “against the Holy One of Israel” (2Ki_19:22).
II. Resistance in its method. The metaphors of Nah_1:10 may be taken in many senses. Briars and thorns denote hostile armies (Isa_10:17; Isa_27:4).
1. Resistance combined. “Closely interwoven as thorns.” They strengthen one another, and are inveterate towards God. Like the military phalanxes of antiquity, they were armed and arranged to present a bold front. Thorns, “because they cannot be taken with hands” (2Sa_23:6).
2. Resistance audacious. Flushed with success, the Assyrians regarded themselves as invincible, and gave themselves to wine and revelry. Benhadad was smitten while drinking in his pavilions (1Ki_20:16); Belshazzar was feasting when Babylon was taken (Dan_5:1-30). Yet in this condition men have the audacity to resist God. Intoxicated with pride they are prepared for their fall.
III. Resistance in its end. Men’s devices are idle when God works.
1. The people were prepared for ruin. “They shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.” Dry stubble easily takes fire, and thorns folded together are ready for the flames. Wicked men are often compared to stubble, and God’s judgments to devouring fire. Those who defy God’s will only fit themselves for the fire that is never quenched.
2. Ruin was certain. “He makes an utter end.” The destruction is absolutely fixed and sure. No second attempt will be made. One stroke of the Angel destroyed the Assyrian armies. One blast from heaven levelled Nineveh in the dust. Now Nineveh—great Nineveh—the pride of its inhabitants, the terror of its neighbours, and the envy of the world, has fallen. Its celebrity ceased, and its site for ages remained unknown—
“Behold the pride of pomp,
The throne of nations fallen, obscured in dust,
Even yet majestical—the silent soene
Elates the soul” [Dyer].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Nah_1:8-12. When God shakes men as dust from under the summer thrashing-floor, the right hand of a man’s strength is as powerless as the left hand of a man’s weakness, and his wisdom is as folly. What avails the wisdom of the apple to make it cling to the bough when it is ripe in autumn time? or the wisdom of the leaf to hold it fast to the stem when the tempest calls? or the wisdom of the tree to make it stand secure when a rock from the cliff comes crashing down through its puny branches? When God sends storms upon men, they must imitate the humble grass, which saves itself by lying down. Therefore it is said, “Humble yourselves before the mighty hand of God, that in due season he may raise you up” [H. W. Beecher].
Nah_1:14. Name. Thou mayest choose whether thou wilt be remembered to thy praise or to thy shame [Bishop Pilkington].
“He left a name, at which the world grew pale,
To point a moral, or adorn a tale.” [Samuel Johnson.]
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Nahum tells the people of Nineveh how Yahweh will deal with them.
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What are you people plotting against Yahweh?
This rhetorical question emphasizes the futility of making evil plans against Yahweh. AT: "It is futile for you people to plot against Yahweh" (See: Rhetorical Question)
He will make a full end to it
The idiom "make a full end" refers to causing something to exist no longer. AT: "He will completely stop what you do" or "He will cause your plotting to fail" (See: Idiom)
trouble will not rise up a second time
Possible meanings are 1) "trouble" is a metonym for the punishment that Yahweh will inflict upon the people. AT: "Yahweh will not have to punish you a second time" or 2) "trouble" refers to the trouble that the people cause by plotting against Yahweh. AT: "you will not cause trouble a second time" (See: Metonymy)
they will become tangled up like thornbushes
Possible meanings for this metaphor are 1) the people who plot against Yahweh will not be able to free themselves from the trouble that Yahweh will bring upon them, like a person who is tangled up in thornbushes cannot easily free himself or 2) just as thornbushes burn more quickly when they are tangled together, Yahweh will quickly destroy those who plot against him. (See: Metaphor)
they will be saturated in their own drink
Nahum speaks of those who plot against Yahweh suffering the consequences of their plans as if they were completely drunk with alcohol. (See: Metaphor)
they will be completely devoured by fire like dry stubble
Nahum speaks of Yahweh completely destroying those who plot against him as if fire would burn them up like fire burns up dry stubble. This can be stated in active form. AT: "fire will completely devour them like it devours dry stubble" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)
devoured by fire
Nahum speaks of fire burning something completely as if the fire were devouring that thing. AT: "burned up by fire" (See: Metaphor)
promoted wickedness
encouraged people to do wicked things
translationWords
people group
Yahweh
raise
fire
Nineveh
evil
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:9 Why are you scheming: No scheme or human…
1:9 Why are you scheming: No scheme or human plot against God can succeed. Human plans are worthless if they do not match God’s plans (Ps 2; Isa 14:26-27; 23:9).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.