The Pulpit Commentary — Nahum — Section 49

the Lord of hosts" (ver. 5). There is a wide difference between God's threateninge nnd man's. II. DEPICTED. (Vers. 2, 3.) 1. The advance of a hostile/Of'06. "The noise of the whip [of charioteers urging on their steeds], and the noise of the rattling of wheels [of war-chariots in motion], and prancing horses [i.e. horees lee.ping up e.nd starting forward e.s they feel the spurs dng into their sides], and jumping chariots [i.e. ~pringing up e.s they de.sh along the rugged ground]." 2. The attack upon the city. "The horseman mounting (or,• charging,' i.e. causing his steed to leap up and advance age.inst the city]; and the flashing sword and the glittering spear; " rather than "the horiseman lifreth up the bright sword and the glittering spear" (.Authorized Version). 3. The appearance qfter battle. "A multitude of sin.in, and a great heap of carcases." So numerous, indeed, e.re the fallen, the.t "there is none end of the corpses, e.nd they" the Medo-Be.bylonian invaders, "stumble upon their corpses," i.e. the dead bodies ~f the Assyrians. Ill. JusTIFIED. (Vers. 1, 4.) By the character of Nineveh. 1. A city of blood• literally," of bloods," i.e. of bloodshed or murder, alluding to the barbarous and inhuma~ character of her warfare. 2. A city of deceit. Referring to the vain promises of protection with which she beguiled the nations to put their trust in her-promiseij which she never kept any more than did Egypt. 3. A city of oppression. "'l'he prey departeth not." She is never done .rending in pieces and tearing some nation or people. 4. A city of seductiO'll,S. A city of witchcrafts, the prophet comparing be·r brilliance and prosperity, by which she fascinated surrounding powers and secretly drew them to seek her favour, to the grace and beauty with which a harlot attracts and bewitches passers-by. IV. EMPHASIZED. (Vers. 6, 6.) By Jehovah, who declares that her doom will be: 1. Certain; since he, Jehovah, is against her: "Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts." 2. Shameful; since he will treat her, not as a chaste matron, but as a polluted harlot, whose skirts are thrown above her head, that her person may be exposed (Isa.. xlvii. 8; J er. xiii. 22; Ezek. xvi. 37-41; Hos. ii. 3). 3. Visi'ble; since be will cause the nations to see her nakedness, and the kingdoms to behold her shame. V. ATTESTED. (Ver. 7.) By two things. 1. The horror of the nations. "It shall come to pass that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee." Not so much in disgust (Keil) as in terror (Ezek. xxxi. 16); cf. the effect produced by the fall of Tyre (Ezek. nvi. 21; x:x:vii. 35), and of the mystical Babylon (Rev. xviii. 10). 2. The absence of helpers. Her fate was so richly deserved that no one interposed to ward off the stroke. In her hour of sorrow no one bewailed her ; in her moment of weakness no one assisted her (Isa. li. 19). Learn: 1. 'l'bat greater woes have been pronounced against sinners in general than were uttered against Nineveh-read the woes of Christ in the Gospels (Matt. x:xiii. 13, 14, 15, etc.; x:xvi. 24; Luke vi 24, 25, 26; xi. 42, 46). 2. That these woes will no more fe.il in their fulfilment than did those directed against Nin~veh. God's word never returns to him void (Isa. lv. 11). 3. That God's judgments upon the wicked will eventually vindicate themselves in all men's eyes a.s just. 11 Salvation and honour e.nd power," etc. (Rev. xiL 1, 2). Vers. 8-13.-The story of No-A.'TTW'11,. I. THE BRILLIANT CITY. 1. Its sacred na1ne. No-Amon, in Egyptian, Nu,-Amun, or" Dwelling of Amun; " in Greek, 0ij/3a.,, or Thebes, with which corresponded the Egyptian Ta-ape, or "City of Thrones." Originally the capital of a nome, it subsequently rose to be a r~yal ~ity. It _became the residence of the Theban dynasty of Phare.ohs. Homer describes 1t as havmg had a hundred gates ('Iliad,' ii.'.383). 2. Its impregnable situation. "Among the rivers [or, 'canals']." "In all the long course of the Nile there is no site that can compare with that of Thebes," writes Stanley Leathes. At Thebes '' the mountains (Libyan and Arabian) open out a great amphitheatre, such as a king would choose to build his capital therein." '' Nothing more lovely than this great amphitheatre, with its border of yellow sand and rampart of cliffs, can be seen in all the land of Egypt"(' Picturesque Pah,stine' etc., iv. 190, 191). With the Nile running through, and canals formed round it, 'the city enjoyed a strong natural position. 3. Its miUtary strength. (1) Its oa,.m, 1-19,] THE BOOK Oli' N.A.HU.M. 17