The Pulpit Commentary — Nahum — Section 53

when he decll\red beforehe.nd the ruin or Nineveh. Men, through unbelief, Bre elO\V to &ecept these principles and to acknow\edae the inevitl\b\e msults of their working. They are deoei..-ed by present appearanCIJS. "'They reasou from things as they arc, &nd conclude that, where there is me.terial prosperity, this will of 1mce.,sity contiuue. Such was the difficulty with which Nahum had to contend. Assyril\ in his day was the <lominant power, acknowledgod and, on account of its tyre.nny and ambition, dreaded by all. How, then, oould the Hebrews credit the announcements of this prophet? Nahum felt their difficulty, and hence, in enforcing his tt>aching, he wisely turned from the future to the past, and, hy referring to what God had done, he indicated what mi~ht 3·et he expect<'d. He appealed to No-Amon as a sigu. Consider- I. J\o-AMON ·'- SIGN 'l'O THE PJ,:OPLE OF JUDAH 0ON0ERNING NINEVEH. By II No" (ver. 8) is intended the renowne,l city of Thebes, the capital of Upper Egypt, called No-Amon, from the idol Ammon enshrined there and represented in the Egyptian monuments by a. ram or by a ma.n seated on a chair a.nd with a. ram's head. The sign thus chosen by the prophet by wa.y of enforcing his teaching wa.s singularly nppropriate. Could Nineveh boast of remarkable natural advantages? So could No-Amon (ver. 8). "It was situate among the rivers," etc. It was surrounded by the Nile and its canals (rhetorically here called "the sea," and actually so called still by the Bedouin8), and which served as a natural fortification or bulwark. Could Nineveh pride herself in the multitude of her hosts ready to do her bidding? So could No-Amon. In this respect "her strength was infinite" (ver. 9). Cato computed the number of Egyptians connected with Thebe,; at seven millions. Could .Nineveh glory in her foreign i.llia.nces? So -could No-Amon (ver. 9). Yet despite all these advantages, No-Amon suffered defeat, and experienced the cruelties attendant thereon (ver. 10). The reference is not to the complete destruction of No-Amon (which was mainly effected by Cambyses, B.c. 525, and entirely completed by Ptolemy Lathyrus, B.c. 81), but to the expedition of Sargon against Egypt (Isa. xx. 3, 4), B.c. 714. Profane history gives no record of this; but the inscriptions on the monuments found in the .pa.lace at Khorsabad, built by Sargon, mention Egypt in connection with the wars of that king, and, when clearly deciphered, appear likely to strikingly confirm the scriptural representations (see Spiegel's 'Nineveh and Assyria' in Herzog's 'Cyclo- pied.ia '). And as No-Amon, despite her resourceR, suffered at the hands of Assyria, so in the time to come should Assyria, notwithstanding her present glory, suffer through the foes who shoul<l rise up against her. Complete destruction, should overtake her, and the records of her past triumpbs and glories lie hidden under the mounds (ver. 11). No power enabling her to withst.and the enemy should be available (ver. 11). Her strongholds when assailed should prove like fig trees with the first-ripe figs, which fall without effort on his part into the eater's month (ver. 12). Her proud warriors Bhould be in her midst as weak and timid women, their hea.rts failing them for terror. Her ga.tes should be thrown wide open, and their bolts consumed by fire (ver. 13). IL No-AMON il'D NINEVEH A SIGN TO M0DEBN NATIONS. ~o-Amon, which in Nahum's day had only been partially subjugated by the Assyrians, subsequently rell beneath the power of the conqueror, and so" proud Thebes,"" the world's great empress on the Egyptian plains," came to nought. Nineveh, too, which in his time was great .indeed in worldly glory, has likewise passed away, and is no more seen. Solemn impressions must be excited within the minds of reflecting men when they are privileged to visit the sites of these ancient despotisms, and to gaze upon the relics of departed greatness (see Sta.nley's 'Sinai and Palestine,' Introd. xxxviii.-xlv.; Wil- kinson's • Ancient Egypt," ill. 266, 329, 330; Layard's 'Nineveh and its Remains,' i. 6 7. A voice comes to us from the colossal statues, the decorated palace halls, and the r~yal tombs of No-Amon; and from the uncovered mounds at Nimroud and Khorsabad, and which seems to say to us: 1. " The Word of owr God shall stand for eve,·." (Isa. xL 8.) 2. National stability is not secured merely by (1) strong natural defences; (2) influential foreign allianceB; (3) vast accumu'/,q,wi trefl,sure; (4) great military prowess and BUCUSll. 3. Perm,1111,fflt inftu,enr,e, whether for individual,s or for ,,,atium, has ita f own,,J,a,ti<Jn laid in rightwusneas and in the fear and love. of God. (P~. cxliv. 15; lxvii.~5. D. H. Vers. 14, 15,-Hwman effort,~ directed, against tl.o Divine purposo, We h"vo IJH, III, 1-19,j THE BOOK OF N All UM. 51