a day (as the warm hours) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
pool
כִבְרֵֽכַתkhiv.re.khat-
H1295
a reservoir (at which camels kneel as a resting-place) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
water
מַ֖יִםMa.yim
H4325
water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
away
נָסִ֔יםna.Sim
H5127
to flit · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
Stand
עִמְד֥וּ'im.Du
H5975
to stand · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
stand
עֲמֹ֖דוּ'a.Mo.du
H5975
to stand · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
back
מַפְנֶֽהmaf.Neh
H6437
to turn · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
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
Genesis 10:11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,
Isaiah 13:14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one int…
Isaiah 47:13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save…
Isaiah 48:20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; sa…
Jeremiah 46:5 Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for…
Jeremiah 50:16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn ev…
Jeremiah 51:13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
Jeremiah 51:30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Nahum 2:1-10
Here is, I. An alarm of war sent to Nineveh, Nah 2:1. The prophet speaks of it as just at hand, for it is neither doubtful nor far distant: "Look about thee, and see, he that dashes in pieces has come up before thy face. Nebuchadnezzar, who is noted, and will be yet more so, for dashing nations in pieces, begins with thee, and will dissipate and disperse thee;" so some render the word. Babylon is called the hammer of the whole earth, Jer. 1:23. The attempt of Nebuchadnezzar upon Nineveh is public, bold, and daring: "He has come up before thy face, avowing his design to ruin thee; and therefore stand to thy arms, O Nineveh! keep the munition; secure thy towers and magazines: watch the way; se…
But--rather, "Though" [G. V. SMITH].
of old--rather, "from the days that she hath been"; from the earliest period of her existence. Alluding to Nineveh's antiquity (Gen 10:11). "Though Nineveh has been of old defended by water surrounding her, yet her inhabitants shall flee away." GROTIUS, less probably (compare Nah 3:8-12), interprets, the "waters" of her numerous population (Isa 8:7; Jer 51:13; Rev 17:15).
Stand, stand, shall they cry--that is, the few patriotic citizens shall cry to their fleeing countrymen; "but none looketh back," much less stops in flight, so panic-stricken are they.
Adam Clarke on Nahum 2:8
But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water - מימי mimey, from days. Bp. Newcome translates the line thus: "And the waters of Nineveh are a pool of waters." There may be reference here to the fact given in the preceding note, the overflowing of the river by which the city was primarily destroyed.
Stand, stand - Consternation shall be at its utmost height, the people shall flee in all directions; and though quarter is offered, and they are assured of safety it they remain, yet not one looketh back.
John Gill on Nahum 2:8
But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water,.... This was a very ancient city, built by Nimrod, as some say; or rather by Ashur, as appears from Genesis 10:10 and it was like fish pool, full of people, as it was in the times of Jonah, who for their number may be compared both to water and to fish; and likewise full of wealth and riches, which for their instability may be signified by water also; and moreover, like a pool of standing water, had never been liable to any commotions and disturbances, but had remained from the beginning in a tranquil and prosperous state; besides, some regard may be had in a literal sense to its situation, being watered by the river Tigris, and which was for its p…
The Church Fathers
(Verses 8, 9.) And Nineveh is like a pool of water; its waters are fleeing. Stand! Stand! But there is no one who can turn back. Plunder the silver, plunder the gold; there is no end to the treasures, the desirable vessels. LXX: And Nineveh is like a pool of water; and they who flee do not stand; there is no one who looks back. They plunder silver, they plunder gold, and there is no end to its ornaments; it is burdened with all the vessels of its desire. It is evident that, when the cities of Nineveh (which Scripture calls her daughters) were led into captivity, Nineveh herself, which had nourished such great populations that it could be compared to the waters of the sea, now has a useless multitude because there is no one who resists and endures the attack of the Babylonians. For it had populations that only fled, and when the mother shouted, 'Stand, stand, close the gates, climb the walls, resist the enemies,' there was no one who would return, no one who would look back at the mother, but everyone turned their backs and abandoned the city to the spoils of the enemies. Where it is said to the Babylonians, because they fled, plunder the silver, and in such a long time gather riches and seize them by sudden devastation. For there is no end to riches, furniture, and vessels that were stored up in Nineveh; nor can you plunder as much as it offers itself for plundering. But because we have already said that Nineveh is splendid, that is, the world, let us see what kind of pool the world is. Scripture does not say that the waters of Nineveh are like the waters of the sea, nor like the waters of rivers, nor like the waters of springs, nor like the waters of wells, but like the waters of a pool: just as, in the book of Jeremiah, the people are accused who have forsaken the fountain of living water and have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that cannot hold water (Jeremiah 2): so also in Nineveh, all those waters that have fallen from the sky, leaving behind their former depth, have poured down into the lowest depths. For all the teachings of the world, which are outside the Church's source and sealed garden, cannot say: The river's current makes the city of God rejoice (Ps. 45:4): nor are they the waters that praise the name of the Lord above the heavens, although they may seem great, yet they are small and confined within a narrow boundary. Let no one be…
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
Nahum — Consolation, the seventh of the so-called minor prophets, an Elkoshite. All we know of him is recorded in the book of his prophecies. He was probably a native of Galilee, and after the deportation of…
Nineveh — First mentioned in Gen. 10:11, which is rendered in the Revised Version, “He [i.e., Nimrod] went forth into Assyria and builded Nineveh.” It is not again noticed till the days of Jonah, when it is…
Prophecy — Or prediction, was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a “miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human…
Nineveh · Situated on the river Tigris — Situated on the river Tigris
Pools And Ponds · Illustrative: Of Nineveh — Illustrative: Of Nineveh
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).
Nahum 2:8
8. But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.
8. Atqui Nineveh quasi piscina aquarum a diebus (hoc est, a longo tempore) fuit; ipsi autem fugiunt; state, state; et nemo respicit.
The prophet here anticipates a doubt which might have weakened confidence in his words; for Nineveh not only flourished in power, but it had also confirmed its strength during a long course of time; and antiquity not only adds to the strength of kingdoms, but secures authority to them. As then the imperial power of the city Nineveh was ancient, it might seem to have been perpetual: "Why! Nineveh has ever ruled and possess…
At the conquest of Nineveh the numerous inhabitants flee, and the rich city is plundered. Nah 2:8. "And Nineveh like a water-pond all her days. And they flee! Stand ye, O stand! and no one turns round. Nah 2:9. Take silver as booty, take ye gold! And no end to the furnishing with immense quantity of all kinds of ornamental vessels. Nah 2:10. Emptying and devastation! and the heart has melted, and trembling of the knees, and labour pain in all loins, and the countenance of every one withdraws its ruddiness." Nineveh is compared to a pool, not merely with reference to the multitude of men who had gathered together there, but, as water is everywhere an element of life, also with reference to th…
The people would run away as fast as water flows from a breached reservoir (see study note on 2:6).
Rashi on Nahum 2:8
And the queen Heb. וְהֻצַּב. She is the queen who stands to the right of the king, as is stated (Ps. 45:10): “The queen stands to your right.”
has been exposed and taken away—In the open, she has gone into captivity and has been taken away from the city.
moan like the voice of doves—They moan with a lamentation like the voice of lamenting doves. moan Heb. מְנַהֲגוֹת, gemissant in French.
beating their breasts Striking their hand on their heart like the beating of a drum.
