Nahum 3:14

Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Draw	שַֽׁאֲבִי sha.'a.vi-	H7579	to bale up water · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
waters	מֵ֤י mei	H4325	water · noun, common masculine plural construct
siege	מָצוֹר֙ ma.tzOr	H4692	something hemming in · noun, common masculine singular absolute
fortify	חַזְּקִ֖י cha.ze.Ki	H2388	to fasten upon · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
holds	מִבְצָרָ֑יִךְ miv.tza.Ra.yikh	H4013	a fortification · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
go	בֹּ֧אִי Bo.'i	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
clay	בַטִּ֛יט va.Tit	H2916	mud or clay · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
tread	וְרִמְסִ֥י ve.rim.Si	H7429	to tread upon (as a potter · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
morter	בַחֹ֖מֶר va.Cho.mer	H2563	properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
strong	הַחֲזִ֥יקִי ha.cha.Zi.ki	H2388	to fasten upon · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
brickkiln	מַלְבֵּֽן mal.Ben	H4404	a brickkiln · noun, common 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

2 Chronicles 32:3-4 He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him.
Nahum 2:1 He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.
Jeremiah 46:3-4 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
2 Chronicles 32:11 Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the…
Isaiah 8:9 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be…
Isaiah 22:9-11 Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
Isaiah 37:25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
Jeremiah 46:9 Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and th…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nahum 3:8–end

Nineveh has been told that God is against her, and then none can be for her, to stand her in any stead; yet she sets God himself at defiance, and his power and justice, and says, I shall have peace. Threatened folks live long; therefore here the prophet largely shows how vain her confidences would prove and insufficient to ward off the judgment of God. To convince them of this, I. He shows them that other places, which had been as strong and as secure as they, could not keep their ground against the judgments of God. Nineveh shall fall unpitied and uncomforted (for miserable comforters will those prove who speak peace to those on whom God will fasten trouble), and she shall not be able to he…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nahum 3:14

Ironical exhortation to Nineveh to defend herself. Draw . . . waters--so as not to be without water for drinking, in the event of being cut off by the besiegers from the fountains. make strong the brick-kiln--or "repair" so as to have a supply of bricks formed of kiln-burnt clay, to repair breaches in the ramparts, or to build new fortifications inside when the outer ones are taken by the foe.

Adam Clarke on Nahum 3:14

Draw thee waters for the siege - The Tigris ran near to Nineveh, and here they are exhorted to lay in plenty of fresh water, lest the siege should last long, and lest the enemy should cut off this supply. Go into clay, and tread the mortar - This refers to the manner of forming bricks anciently in those countries; they digged up the clay, kneaded it properly by treading, mixed it with straw or coarse grass, moulded the bricks, and dried them in the sun. I have now some of the identical bricks, that were brought from this country, lying before me, and they show all these appearances. They are compact and very hard, but wholly soluble in water. There were however others without straw, that see…

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John Gill on Nahum 3:14

Dictionary and topics

Bricks — The making of, formed the chief labour of the Israelites in Egypt (Ex. 1:13, 14). Those found among the ruins of Babylon and Nineveh are about a foot square and four inches thick. They were usually…
Clay — This word is used of sediment found in pits or in streets (Isa. 57:20; Jer. 38:60), of dust mixed with spittle (John 9:6), and of potter’s clay (Isa. 41:25; Nah. 3:14; Jer. 18:1-6; Rom. 9:21). Clay…
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.…
Mortar — (Heb. homer), cement of lime and sand (Gen. 11:3; Ex. 1:14); also potter’s clay (Isa. 41:25; Nah. 3:14). Also Heb. ‘aphar, usually rendered “dust,” clay or mud used for cement in building (Lev.…
Brick · Ma — Ma
Brick-Kiln · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Mortar · .To be trod — .To be trod
Sieges · Cities invested by: Repaired and newly fortified beforehand — Cities invested by: Repaired and newly fortified beforehand

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 3:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nahum 3:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nahum 3:14

Adam Clarke on Nahum 3:14

John Gill on Nahum 3:14

Dictionary and topics

Nahum 3:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nahum 3:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nahum 3:14

Adam Clarke on Nahum 3:14

John Gill on Nahum 3:14

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Nahum 3:14-15

Keil & Delitzsch on Nahum 3:14-17

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Nahum 3:14

Rashi on Nahum 3:14