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.
Nahum 2:1 in other translations
| BSB | One who scatters advances against you, O Nineveh. Guard the fortress! Watch the road! Brace yourselves! Summon all your strength! |
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| WEB | He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your waist! Fortify your power mightily! |
| ASV | He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thee: keep the fortress, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily. |
| YLT | Come up hath a scatterer to thy face, Keep the bulwark, watch the way, Strengthen the loins, strengthen power mightily. |
| DARBY | He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thy face: keep the fortress, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily. |
| BBE | A crusher has come up before your face: keep a good look-out, let the way be watched, make yourself strong, let your power be greatly increased. |
| Webster | 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. |
What does Nahum 2:1 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Na 2:1-13. The Advance of the Destroying Forces against Nineveh, after It Was Used as God's Rod for a Time to Chastise His People: The Capture of That Lion's Dwelling, According to the Sure Word of Jehovah.
1. He that dasheth in pieces--God's "battle axe," wherewith He "breaks in pieces" His enemies. Jr 51:20 applies the same Hebrew term to Nebuchadnezzar (compare Pr 25:18; Jr 50:23, "the hammer of the whole earth"). Here the Medo-Babylonian army under Cyaxares and Nabopolassar, that destroyed Nineveh, is prophetically meant. before thy face--before Nineveh. Openly, so that the work of God may be manifest. watch the way--by which the foe will attack, so as to be ready to meet him. Ironical advice; equivalent to a prophecy, Thou shalt have need to use all possible means of defense; but use what thou wilt, all will be in vain. make thy loins strong--The loins are the seat of strength; to gird them up is to prepare all one's strength for conflict (Job 40:7). Also gird on thy sword (2Sa 20:8; 2Ki 4:29).Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Introduction
Nineveh is now called upon to prepare for the approach of her enemies, the instruments of Jehovah's vengeance, Nah 2:1; and the military array and muster, the very arms and dress, of the Medes and Babylonians in the reigns of Cyaxares and Nabopolassar; their rapid approach to the city; the process of the siege, and the inundation of the river; the capture of the place; the captivity, lamentation, and flight of the inhabitants; the sacking of this immense, wealthy, and exceedingly populous city; and the consequent desolation and terror, are all described in the pathetic, vivid, and sublime imagery of Hebrew poetry, Nah 2:2-10. This description is succeeded by a very beautiful and expressive allegory, Nah 2:11-12; which is immediately explained, and applied to the city of Nineveh, Nah 2:13. It is thought by some commentators that the metropolitan city of the Assyrian empire is also intended by the tender and beautiful simile, in the seventh verse, of a great princess led captive, with her maids of honor attending her, bewailing her and their own condition, by beating their breasts, and by other expressions of sorrow. Verse 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.Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Nahum 2:1-10
Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain
Nahum 2:1 in the original Hebrew
Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.
Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for Nahum 2:1
- Joel 3:9-11
Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.
- 2 Chronicles 25:8
But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down.
- Jeremiah 51:20-23
Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
- Jeremiah 51:11-12
Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple. Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
- Jeremiah 50:23
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
- Jeremiah 46:3-10
Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines. 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 fear was round about, saith the Lord. Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates. …
- Isaiah 14:6
He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
- Nahum 3:14-15
Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln. 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.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- 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.
- Nahum 2:2
For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.
Nahum 2:1 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | SUBIÓ destruidor contra ti: guarda la fortaleza, mira el camino, fortifica los lomos, fortalece mucho la fuerza. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Voici sur les montagnes les pieds de celui qui apporte de bonnes nouvelles, de celui qui annonce la paix! Juda, célèbre tes fêtes, acquitte tes vœux; car le méchant ne passera plus par toi, il est entièrement retranché. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Der Zerschmetterer zieht wider dich herauf. Bewahre die Festung; überwache den Weg, stärke deine Lenden, befestige sehr deine Kraft! |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Ascendit qui dispergat coram te, qui custodiat obsidionem: contemplare viam, conforta lumbos, robora virtutem valde. |