to cross over · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
flood
וּבְשֶׁ֣טֶףu.ve.She.tef
H7858
a deluge (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
make
יַעֲשֶׂ֣הya.'a.Seh
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
end
כָּלָ֖הka.Lah
H3617
a completion · noun, common feminine singular absolute
place
מְקוֹמָ֑הּme.ko.Mah
H4725
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
darkness
חֹֽשֶׁךְCho.shekh
H2822
the dark · noun, common masculine singular absolute
pursue
יְרַדֶּףye.ra.def-
H7291
to run after (usually with hostile intent · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
enemies
וְאֹיְבָ֖יוve.'o.ye.Vav
H341
hating · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ezekiel 13:13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger…
Isaiah 8:22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
Isaiah 28:17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters sha…
Job 30:15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.
Amos 8:8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast…
Amos 9:5-6 And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up whol…
Zephaniah 2:13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.
Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Nahum 1:2-8
Nineveh knows not God, that God that contends with her, and therefore is here told what a God he is; and it is good for us all to mix faith with that which is here said concerning him, which speaks a great deal of terror to the wicked and comfort to good people; for this glorious description of the Sovereign of the world, like the pillar of cloud and fire, has a bright side towards Israel and a dark side towards the Egyptians. Let each take his portion from it; let sinners read it and tremble; let saints read it and triumph. The wrath of God is here revealed from heaven against him enemies, his favour and mercy are here assured to his faithful loyal subjects, and his almighty power in both,…
with an overrunning flood--that is, with irresistible might which overruns every barrier like a flood. This image is often applied to overwhelming armies of invaders. Also of calamity in general (Psa 32:6; Psa 42:7; Psa 90:5). There is, perhaps, a special allusion to the mode of Nineveh's capture by the Medo-Babylonian army; namely, through a flood in the river which broke down the wall twenty furlongs (see on Nah 2:6; Isa 8:8; Dan 9:26; Dan 11:10, Dan 11:22, Dan 11:40).
end of the place thereof--Nineveh is personified as a queen; and "her place" of residence (the Hebrew for "thereof" is feminine) is the city itself (Nah 2:8), [MAURER]. Or, He shall so utterly destroy Nineveh that its plac…
But with an overrunning flood - Bishop Newcome thinks this may refer to the manner in which Nineveh was taken. The Euphrates overflowed its banks, deluged a part of the city, and overturned twenty stadia of the wall; in consequence of which the desponding king burnt himself, and his palace, with his treasures. - Diodor. Sic., Edit. Wessel., p. 140, lib. ii., s. 27.
Darkness shall pursue - Calamity. All kinds of calamity shall pursue them till they are destroyed.
John Gill
The Church Fathers
(Verse 8.) And in the passing flood, he will bring about its destruction, and darkness will pursue his enemies. LXX: And in the passing flood, he will bring about its destruction: those who rise up against him and his enemies will be pursued by darkness. The Lord is patient and full of mercy, and he will not be angry forever, nor will he be indignant for eternity; but when wickedness increases upon the earth, and all flesh has corrupted its way, he will bring a flood that will pass over, not one that will remain forever. But the consummation, or end, will be made by its place, that is, the flood, just as it is said of the wicked: 'And I passed by, and his place was not found' (Psalm 37:36); and: 'The way of the wicked shall perish' (Psalm 1:6); so let the way of the flood perish after the wrath of the Lord, with only His mercy appearing. This can indeed be understood according to history, because when it has devastated Israel, and has flooded the land of promise like a flood, it will bring an end to captivity by restoring them to their former dwellings. On the contrary, the Assyrians, who led the people into captivity, will be pursued by darkness. What we have said about Israel and the Assyrians can be understood in relation to the end of the world, and concerning the saints and the persecutors, or contrary virtues, it is possible that God will have mercy on the saints after his wrath; but the persecutors and their enemies, who have chosen darkness and not light, the very darkness they have chosen will overtake them. For they will be cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8 and 22). The word 'Macoma', which we have interpreted, its parts of speech they divided into two parts, so that 'Ma' was translated as a preposition, that is, 'from'; 'Coma' was interpreted as 'rising'. Finally, Aquila said 'from those who rise'; Septuagint said 'rising'; Theodotus said 'rising to him'; the fifth edition said 'from those who rise to him'. Only Symmachus, agreeing with our interpretation, said: 'And when the flood passes, he will bring about the completion of his place.' Some of our people, rising up and enemies, interpret Marcion and all the ancient heretics, who argue against the Creator.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Media — Heb. Madai, which is rendered in the Authorized Version (1) “Madai,” Gen. 10:2; (2) “Medes,” 2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; (3) “Media,” Esther 1:3; 10:2; Isa. 21:2; Dan. 8:20; (4) “Mede,” only in Dan. 11:1.…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Nahum 1:8
But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof,.... Of Nineveh, against whom this prophecy was, and upon whom it lay as a burden, Nahum 1:1; and now though the Lord was good to them that trust in him, and a strong hold to them in a time of trouble; yet he was determined to destroy their enemies the Assyrians, and Nineveh their chief city; and that by the means of a powerful army, which, like a flood or inundation of water breaking in, overruns and carries all before it; and very fitly may the Medes and Babylonians, who joined together in an expedition against Nineveh, be compared to such a flood for their number and force; since, as the historian tells (y) us, t…
Nahum 1:8
8. But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.
8. Et cum inundatione (vel, per inundationem) transiens consumptionem faciet locoejus; et inimicos ejus persequentur tenebrae (vel, persequi faciet inimicos suos a tenebris.)
The Prophet goes on with the same subject, -- that God can easily preserve his people, for he is armed with power sufficient to overcome the whole world. But the Prophet now includes the two things which have been mentioned: Having spoken in general of God's wrath, and of his goodness towards the faithful, he now applies his doctrine to the consolation of his chosen people. It is then a sp…
But the wrath of God does not fall upon those who trust in the Lord; it only falls upon His enemies. With this turn Nahum prepares the way in Nah 1:7. for proclaiming the judgment of wrath upon Nineveh. Nah 1:7. "Good is Jehovah, a refuge in the day of trouble; and He knoweth those who trust in Him. Nah 1:8. And with an overwhelming flood will He make an end of her place, and pursue His enemies into darkness." Even in the manifestation of His wrath God proves His goodness; for the judgment, by exterminating the wicked, brings deliverance to the righteous who trust in the Lord, out of the affliction prepared for them by the wickedness of the world. The predicate טוב is more precisely defined…
overwhelming flood: A metaphor for the powerful nature of God’s judgment (see 2:6).
Rashi on Nahum 1:8
But, with an overrunning flood—with flooding wrath.
He shall make a full end of its place—the place of the land. This refers back to “and the land raised up from before Him,” as is stated above.
