“Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing.
Parallel translations
- WEB Take the plunder of silver. Take the plunder of gold, for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture.
- KJV Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.
- NKJV Take spoil of silver! Take spoil of gold! There is no end of treasure, Or wealth of every desirable prize.
- NASB Plunder the silver, Plunder the gold! For there is no end to the treasure— Wealth from every kind of desirable object.
- NLT Loot the silver! Plunder the gold! There’s no end to Nineveh’s treasures— its vast, uncounted wealth.
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
The conquerors are told to plunder Nineveh's endless silver, gold, and treasures. The wealth Assyria amassed by violence is now seized by others.
Overview
Nineveh had grown rich through conquest and tribute extracted from many nations. Now its boundless store becomes spoil for its enemies, a fitting reversal of its plundering ways. This illustrates the biblical principle that ill-gotten gain offers no lasting security and that God can transfer it in a moment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 2 Chr 36:10In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar summoned Jehoiachin and brought him to Babylon, along with the articles of value from the house of the LORD. And he made Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
- Ezek 26:12They will plunder your wealth and pillage your merchandise. They will demolish your walls, tear down your beautiful homes, and throw your stones and timber and soil into the water.
- Dan 11:8He will take even their gods captive to Egypt, with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold. For some years he will stay away from the king of the North,
- Isa 33:4Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts; like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.
- Nah 2:12–13The lion mauled enough for its cubs and strangled prey for the lioness. It filled its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey.
- Jer 51:56For a destroyer is coming against her—against Babylon. Her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken, for the LORD is a God of retribution; He will repay in full.
- Jer 25:34Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For the days of your slaughter have come; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery.
- Isa 33:1Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.
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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 2:9 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
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