---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Verse Nahum 2:1. He that dasheth in pieces — Or scattereth. The Chaldeans and Medes. Keep the munition — Guard the fenced places. From this to the end of"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/nahum/2"
---

Verse [Nahum 2:1](../../../kjv/nahum/2/1). ***He that dasheth in pieces*** — Or *scattereth*. The Chaldeans and Medes.
***Keep the munition*** — Guard the fenced places. From this to the end of the fifth verse, the *preparations* made at Nineveh to repel their enemies are described. The description is exceedingly picturesque.
***Watch the way*** — By which the enemy is most likely to approach.
***Make thy loins strong*** — Take *courage*.
***Fortify*****thy*****power*** — Muster thy troops; call in all thy allies.

Verse [Nahum 2:2](../../../kjv/nahum/2/2). ***For the Lord hath turned away*** — Bishop *Newcome* reads, *for the Lord restoreth*, by a slight alteration in the text. I do not see that we gain much by this. The Lord *has* been opposed to Jacob, and the enemy has prevailed against him.
***Emptied them out*** — Brought them from their own land into captivity. This was the *emptying*!

Verse [Nahum 2:3](../../../kjv/nahum/2/3). ***The shield of his mighty men is made red*** — These things may refer to the war-like preparations made by the Ninevites: they had *red shields*, and *scarlet* or *purple clothing*; their chariots were finely *decorated*, and proceeded with amazing rapidity.
***The fir trees shall be terribly shaken.*** — This may refer to the *darts, arrows*, and *javelins*, flung with destructive power.

Verse 4. ***The chariots shall rage*** — Those of the *besiegers* and the *besieged*, meeting in the streets, producing universal confusion and carnage.

Verse 5. ***He shall recount his worthies*** — Muster up his most renowned warriors and heroes.
***Shall make haste to the wall*** — Where they see the enemies making their most powerful attacks, in order to get possession of the city.

Verse 6. ***The gates of the rivers shall be opened*** — I have already referred to this, [Nahum 1:8](../../../kjv/nahum/1/8); but it will be necessary to be *more particular*. The account given by *Diodorus* *Siculus*, lib. ii., is very surprising. He begins thus: Ην δ' αυτῳ λογιον παραδεδομενον εκ προγονων, κ.τ.λ. - "There was a prophecy received from their forefathers, that Nineveh should not be taken *till the river first became an enemy to the city*. It happened in the *third* year of the siege, that the Euphrates [query, *Tigris*] being swollen with continued rains, overflowed part of the city, and threw down *twenty* stadia of the wall. The king then imagining that the oracle was accomplished, and that *the river was now* *manifestly become an enemy to the city*, casting aside all hope of safety, and lest he should fall into the hands of the enemy, built a large funeral pyre in the palace, (εντοιςβασιλειοις,) and having collected all his gold and silver and royal vestments, together with his concubines and eunuchs, placed himself with them in a little apartment built in the pyre; burnt them, himself, and the palace together. When the death of the king (*Sardanapalus*) was announced by certain deserters, the enemy entered in by the breach which the waters had made, and took the city."
Thus the prophecy of Nahum was literally fulfilled: "the gates of the river were opened, and the palace dissolved," i.e., *burnt*.

Verse 7. ***And Huzzab shall be led away captive*** — Perhaps *Huzzab* means the *queen of Nineveh*, who had escaped the burning mentioned above by Diodorus. As there is no account of the *queen* being burnt, but only of the king, the concubines, and the eunuchs, we may, therefore, naturally conclude that the queen escaped; and is represented here as *brought up* and delivered to the conqueror; her maids at the same time bewailing her lot. Some think Huzzab signifies Nineveh itself.

Verse 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*.

Verse 9. ***Take ye the spoil*** — Though the king burnt his treasures, vestments, c., he could not totally *destroy* the *silver* and the *gold*. Nor did he burn the *riches of the city* these fell a prey to the conquerors; and there was *no end of the store* of *glorious* garments, and the most costly *vessels* and *furniture*.

Verse [Nahum 2:10](../../../kjv/nahum/2/10). ***She is empty, and void, and waste*** — The original is strongly emphatic; the words are of the *same sound*; and increase in their *length* as they point out *great, greater*, and *greatest* desolation.
בוקה ומבוקה ומבלקה
*Bukah, umebukah, umebullakah*.
She is *void, empty*, and *desolate*.

***The faces of them all gather blackness.*** — This marks the diseased state into which the people had been brought by reason of *famine*, c. for, as Mr. *Ward* justly remarks, "*sickness* makes a great change in the countenance of the Hindoos; so that a person who was rather *fair* when in *health*, becomes nearly *black* by *sickness*." This was a general case with the Asiatics.

Verse [Nahum 2:11](../../../kjv/nahum/2/11). ***Where*****is*****the dwelling of the lions*** — *Nineveh*, the habitation of *bold, strong*, and *ferocious* men.
***The feeding place of the young lions*** — Whither her victorious and rapacious generals frequently *returned* to *consume* the produce of their success. Here they *walked* at large, and *none made them* *afraid*. Wheresoever they turned their arms they were victors; and all nations were afraid of them.

Verse [Nahum 2:12](../../../kjv/nahum/2/12). ***The lion did tear*** — This verse gives us a striking picture of the manner in which the Assyrian conquests and depredations were carried on. How many people were spoiled to enrich his *whelps* - his sons, princes, and *nobles*! How *many women* were *stripped* and *slain*, whose spoils went to decorate his *lionesses* - his *queen, concubines,* and *mistresses*. And they had even more than they could assume; *their holes and* *dens* - treasure-houses, palaces, and *wardrobes* - were filled *with* *ravin*, the riches which they got by the plunder of *towns,* *families*, and *individuals*. This is a very fine allegory, and admirably well supported.

Verse [Nahum 2:13](../../../kjv/nahum/2/13). ***Behold, I*****am*****against thee*** — Assyria, and Nineveh its capital. I will deal with you as you have dealt with others.
***The voice of thy messengers*** — Announcing thy splendid victories, and the vast spoils taken - *shall no more be heard* - thou and thy riches, and ill-got spoils, shall perish together.

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/nahum/2#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Clarke's Commentary -  Nahum 2"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/nahum/2#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/nahum/2","name":"Clarke's Commentary -  Nahum 2","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/nahum/2#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Verse Nahum 2:1. He that dasheth in pieces — Or scattereth. The Chaldeans and Medes. Keep the munition — Guard the fenced places. From this to the end of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/nahum/2#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/nahum/2"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/nahum/2#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary","name":"Clarke's Commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/nahum","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/nahum","name":"Nahum"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/nahum/2","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/nahum/2","name":"2"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```