Nah. 3:1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;

Nah. 3:2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.

Nah. 3:3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:

Nah. 3:4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.

Nineveh is pictured here as a bloody city, a city ripe for judgment. 

The comparisons to our country today are quickly growing and should bring our nation to its collective knees before Almighty God.

 

Nah. 3:5 Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.

Nah. 3:6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.

Nah. 3:7 And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?

Again, the terrifying statement by YHWH—ŇI am against thee.Ó  His intention is to expose Nineveh for the shameful, wicked city that it is.  Where once they were feared among the nations, they will now be despised.   The change will be so drastic that the nations will gape in amazement at their destruction.  It reminds me of how we were all so riveted to the removal from power and humiliation of Sadaam Hussein as it unfolded before our eyes on the television.  No one will mourn for NinevehŐs destruction.

 

Nah. 3:8 Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?

Nah. 3:9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.

Nah. 3:10 Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.

According to EastonŐs, No, better known as Thebes, was the capital of middle Egypt.  It description also includes the following:   ŇIt stood on both sides of the Nile, and is by some supposed to have included Karnak and Luxor.  In grandeur and extent it can only be compared to Nineveh.Ó

 

The LORD is basically saying that Nineveh is no more immune to defeat than No, the might city of Egypt.  No was surrounded with natural defenses—the rivers and the sea.  She had the mighty power of Egypt and her allies the Ethiopians behind her, as well as the support of Put and Lubim.  According to whom you believe, Put is a reference either to Libya (including Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco) or Somalia; Lubim would reference Libya.  In spite of all her assets, No was carried away captive and defeated.

 

Nah. 3:11 Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.

Nah. 3:12 All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.

These verses seem to indicate that those in Nineveh will try to bolster their confidence with drunkenness and seeking allies.  No matter how they try to fortify themselves, it will be in vain.  Their fortresses will fall as easily as figs fall from the fig tree when it is shaken.

 

Nah. 3:13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.

The implication here seems to be that the mighty soldiers of Nineveh will prove weak in the face of the enemy and will prove no defense against the advance of the enemy.

 

Nah. 3:14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.

Nah. 3:15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.

Again, they are given an admonition to prepare their defenses.  No matter how strong their fortifications or how large their army, the enemy will devour them as easily as they would a locust/caterpillar.

 

Nah. 3:16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.

Nah. 3:17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.

The number of merchants in Nineveh is compared to the stars in the heaven.  They are pictured as cutting their losses and running.   After reading several translations, it appears that the prophet is painting a picture of the ruling classes gathered en masse until they feel the heat of the enemy, and then they scatter like grasshoppers. 

 

Nah. 3:18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.

Nah. 3:19 There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

The shepherds seem to reference the leaders of the city.  The message declares to the king that though his people are being scattered, their shepherds could care less.  I get a thought that itŐs each man for himself.  God is very clear in stating that Nineveh will never recover from its bruise/destruction or wound/slaughter.  When the news of NinevehŐs destruction reaches the nations, they will rejoice because almost all had suffered at the hands of their wicked kings and armies.

 

The main lessons to learn from GodŐs message to Nineveh: