He remembers his officers; They stumble in their advance, They hurry to her wall, And the mantelet is set up.
Parallel translations
- WEB He summons his picked troops. They stumble on their way. They dash to its wall, and the protective shield is put in place.
- KJV He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.
- BSB He summons his nobles; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place.
- NKJV He remembers his nobles; They stumble in their walk; They make haste to her walls, And the defense is prepared.
- NLT The king shouts to his officers; they stumble in their haste, rushing to the walls to set up their defenses.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Nineveh's commander summons his best troops, but they stumble as they rush to defend the wall. Even the elite forces falter under judgment.
Overview
The stumbling of the picked troops signals confusion and the futility of resistance against God's decree. Hastily setting up the siege shield shows defenders scrambling, already on the back foot. The collapse of Assyria's vaunted military underscores that no human strength can stand when the Lord acts in judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Jer 46:12The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they both fall together.”
- Jer 50:29“Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp against her all around. Let none of it escape. Recompense her according to her work. According to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against Yahweh, against the Holy One of Israel.
- Nah 3:3the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies. They stumble on their bodies,
- Nah 3:18Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria. Your nobles lie down. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.
- Isa 5:27No one shall be weary nor stumble among them; no one shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the belt of their waist be untied, nor the strap of their sandals be broken:
- Isa 21:5They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield!
- Jer 51:27–28“Set up a standard in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her! Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz! Appoint a marshal against her! Cause the horses to come up as the rough canker worm!
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Christ at the center
The certain judgment on Nineveh and the comfort that 'the LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble' point to Christ, who is both the refuge of his people and the judge of their enemies.
How Nahum 2:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.