Nahum 2 1 An attacker advances against you, Nineveh. Guard the fortress, watch the road, brace yourselves, marshal all your strength!
The second chapter of this book begins with a visionary battle scene. The attacker is a conglomeration of armies that ultimately bring Nineveh to its knees. The Medes, led by Cyaxeres and the Babylonians, by led Naboploassar, entered into an alliance to fortify their armies and run up agains the Ninevites in 612 BC. Nahum most likely refers to these attackers. He also warns Nineveh to brace themselves for the attack. Bracing themselves for the onslaught is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek suggestion to the people of Nineveh. It is the only option for them. Since their spiritual ties with God have been severed, their only hope is in their own strength.
2 The Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and have ruined their vines. After Nineveh is destroyed, God’s choice is to restore the land to glory of what Israel once was. 3 The shields of the soldiers are red; the warriors are clad in scarlet. The metal on the chariots flashes on the day they are made ready; the spears of juniper are brandished.
The wording here could have a double meaning. First, we aren’t given a clear indication if these soldiers are the attacking army or the Ninevites. It also isn’t clear in the red/scarlet indicated in the passage is referring to soldier color or referring to blood. Nevertheless, the battle will be bloody.
4 The chariots storm through the streets, rushing back and forth through the squares. They look like flaming torches; they dart about like lightning. 5 Nineveh summons her picked troops, yet they stumble on their way. They dash to the city wall; the protective shield is put in place.
The scene inside the walls of Nineveh is frantic. The dash to the city wall is telling; the troops either aren’t prepared, caught off guard or inept. Nineveh’s giant fortification is hard to defend. The moat, which would need to be filled before the attacking troops arrived. The wall itself was over 8 miles long with over a dozen gates.
6 The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses.
The river ran through the city, and as the protective gates were opened, the battle weakened foundations of the city and some, if not all of it, and the structures collapsed. Some historians believed a storm weakened the foundation of some of the wall, allowing enemy troops to invade. This was the end of Nineveh.
7 It is decreed that Nineveh be exiled and carried away. Her female slaves moan like doves and beat on their breasts. 8 Nineveh is like a pool whose water is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
After the battle, the invading forces do what most militaries did at that time: they carried off the inhabitants to their land. This happened in both the Assyrian capture of Israel and the Babylonian capture of Judah. The end result is of resignation.
9 Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! The supply is endless, the wealth from all its treasures! 10 She is pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts melt, knees give way, bodies tremble, every face grows pale.
Nineveh is effectively destroyed and robbed of its treasures. Any military campaign of this era is about the gathering of resources, whether it be people or treasure. Most times it was both.
11 Where now is the lions’ den, the place where they fed their young, where the lion and lioness went, and the cubs, with nothing to fear? 12 The lion killed enough for his cubs and strangled the prey for his mate, filling his lairs with the kill and his dens with the prey.
The city of Nineveh was well-known for its affinity of lion images. Now they are gone. The strength of Nineveh, represented in that lion, is gone. It cannot nurture its people any longer.
13 “I am against you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will burn up your chariots in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will leave you no prey on the earth. The voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
The message is clear: no matter how strong a country is, no matter how personally strong an individual is, the strength cannot exist if it is in opposition to God. God is the great judge, the distributor of justice, and if the hand is against God, the hand will now stay raised.