Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · Nahum Chapter 2

Nahum 2:1. Before thy face— There can be no doubt that this should be read before his face; namely, of that Belial spoken of in the last verse, and whose mighty men are mentioned in the third verse. It is plain from Nah 2:2 that the desolator was come up, not against Judah, but against the Assyrians. Houbigant renders it, for the Lord hath restored the glory of Jacob, as the glory of Israel, after the desolaters have exhausted them, &c. Dr. Warburton reads the latter part of the first and the second verse thus, Strengthen the garrison, guard the passes, invigorate the loins, exert your force mightily. Nahum 2:2. For the Lord hath returned the pride against Jacob, and the pride against Israel: for the emptiers have exhausted them, &c.

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Nahum 2:3. The shield—is made red— In this and the two following verses we have a most animated and picturesque description of the warlike preparations made against Nineveh; or of the preparations of the king of Nineveh against the besiegers. Houbigant reads this verse, The shields of his mighty men blaze with splendour, his warriors shine in purple: the chariots, as they stand prepared, glitter with fire: the fir-tree spears or lances are terribly shaken;—and so on, in the present tense, which gives great force to the description. He renders the fifth verse, His nobles walk proudly: they march on with indignation; they hasten to the walls, where their tent is prepared.

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Nahum 2:6. The gates of the river shall be opened— Diodorus informs us, that there was an old prophesy, that Nineveh should not be taken till the river became an enemy to the city; and in the third year of the siege the river, being swollen with continual rains, overflowed part of the city, and broke down the wall for twenty furlongs; then the king, thinking that the oracle was fulfilled, and the river become an enemy, built a large funeral pile in the palace, and collecting together all his wealth, his concubines, and eunuchs, burned himself and the palace with them all; and the enemy entered at the breach which the waters had made, and took the city; so that what was predicted in chap. 1: Nah 2:8 was literally fulfilled. See Newton on the Prophesies, vol. 1:

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Nahum 2:7. And Huzzab shall be led away, &c.— Houbigant renders this, And the queen ascends into her upper chamber; [or the place where to see and lament the ruins of the city;] and like the voice of doves, so do her maidens lament, beating their breasts. Others suppose that Huzzab signifies a fortress, and denotes Nineveh, which is described as a great princess carried away captive, with her maids of honour attending her, and bewailing both her and their own condition, by beating their breasts, and other expressions of lamentation. According to these commentators, the maids denote the lesser cities of the Assyrian kingdom, which should share with the capital in the same calamities. See Grotius and Calmet. But the author of the Observations gives us the fullest and clearest explanation of this text. When D'Arvieux was in the camp of the great emir, his princess was visited by other Arab princesses. The last who came, and whose visit alone he describes, was mounted on a camel covered with carpet, and decked with flowers; a dozen of women marched in a row before her, holding the camel's halter with one hand, while they sung the praises of their mistress, in compositions expressive of joy, and the happiness of being in the service of so beautiful and amiable a lady. Those who went first, and were more distant from her person, came in their turn to the head of the camel, and took hold of the halter; which place, as being the post of honour, they quitted to others, when the princess had gone a few paces. The emir's lady sent her women to meet her, to whom the halter was entirely quitted out of respect, her own women placing themselves behind the camel: in this order they marched to the tent, where she alighted. They then all sung together the beauty, birth, and good qualities of this princess. Now, does not this account illustrate the passage before us? Nahum is speaking of the presenting of the queen of Nineveh, or Nineveh itself under the figure of a queen, to her conqueror. He describes her as led by her maids, with the voice of doves; with the voice of mourning; that is, their wonted songs of joy, with which they used to lead her along, as the Arab women dis their princess, being turned into lamentation. That the prophet is here speaking of a presentation to a conqueror, is evident from the term brought up; which is the same, in the original as well as in our version, with that used for the conducting of Zedekiah to the place where his conqueror held his court. Compare 2 Kings 25:6. Jeremiah 39:5. Nor were former distinctions altogether lost in captivity, as appears from Jeremiah 34:3-5. Though Zedekiah was to die a captive, yet some distinctions of royalty were to be paid him even in captivity: thus Huzzab was to be led by her maids into the presence of her conqueror, as princesses were usually led, but with the voice of lamentation, instead of the voice of joy. Thus we enter naturally into the force of the expression, her maids shall lead her, as well as of the term brought up. See Observations, p. 228.

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Nahum 2:8. But Nineveh is of old, &c.— Nineveh is become as a pool of water. Its waters subvert it: they who fled stand still; they stand still, and know not whither to fly. See Houbigant, and the note on Nahum 2:6.

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Nahum 2:9. Take ye, &c.— They have plundered the silver, they have plundered the gold: the weight of them is immense: it is more than all the precious furniture. We are told by Diodorus, that the conqueror of Nineveh carried away a great many talents of gold and silver. See Houbigant and Bishop Newton.

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